Page 34 of Cadaver Lab: Mind Over Murder

The way Margaret’s eyes widened at the sight of Natalie and Liam. The way her gaze kept shooting past them at the doorway, then to the corners of the room. The way she held her body, like her nerves were strung too tight.

More than fear. Terror.

Something had frightened Margaret Trout to death. Literally. The woman’s heart had stopped and if it wasn’t for luck and timing, and some good Samaritans with medical skills and a defibrillator, she wouldn’t be alive today.

The situation almost exactly mirrored Natalie’s own history, except she’d been electrocuted… which led her to Liam’s hypothesis.

Did Margaret’s fear here in the hospital room stem from the fact she could now see ghosts too?

Natalie glanced at the corners of the room. Then out in the hallway. There was nothing to see there. At least nothing she could see.

In fact, the only spirit she’d seen since entering the building had been an old man pushing a broom down the hall—and through the wall. Aside from that, it had been a ghost free visit. Which would seem odd, given the hospital had seen more than its share of death, except for what Gabe had told her once. That the Mudville ghosts avoided going into funeral homes on principle. Perhaps hospitals were the same.

But that didn’t mean Margaret hadn’t seen a ghost in her days here. Watching that janitor sweep through the wall would be enough to freak out a novice ghost conduit.

And if that were the case then Natalie, as a veteran in this area, should help guide Margaret… even if she did have mixed feelings about the whole thing.

As Natalie lowered herself into the chair near the bed, Margaret frowned as if she couldn’t figure out why Natalie was there.

“Margaret. Hi. We came to see how you’re doing,” Natalie said with what she hoped was a sincere sounding mix of upbeat cheer and empathetic commiseration.

“Why?” Margaret asked, then shot another terror-filled glance at the doorway.

Natalie twisted in the chair to look for herself but again didn’t see anything. She met Liam’s gaze and raised her shoulders in an I-don’t-know move.

He pressed his lips together. She recognized his go-to expression. He was fighting the urge to take over the conversation and she knew from experience he was going to lose that fight.

“Margaret, I’d like to ask you some questions,” Liam began.

Yup, there it was.

Natalie leaned back in the chair. She might as well relax. This was the Liam show now.

He didn’t talk much, or to many people, but when it involved science and research and he got on a roll, they were all in for a long haul.

“What kind of questions?” Margaret asked, suspicion coloring her tone and features, until her gaze shifted again toward the darkness outside her window and her expression turned once again to fear.

“Are you seeing things?” Liam asked outright.

Natalie cringed at the direct question.

“Are you accusing me of being crazy?”

“No. I’m a doctor currently researching the field of brain science. I know what oxygen deprivation can do to a brain. And I know you. Not well, but well enough to see something happened. Something is bothering you. I’ve encountered things, Margaret. I’m wondering if you have too. I’m here to help you.”

Damn him and his handsome face and warm sultry voice. It melted Margaret’s cold hard heart right in front of Natalie’s eyes.

She watched as the tension left Margaret’s shoulders until she slumped against the pillows looking more like the old, frail woman she was and not at all like the sharp-tongued contrarian Natalie knew.

“I’ve been so afraid to say anything to anyone. Even my husband.” The tears began to fall, prompting Liam—deep in chivalry mode now—to reach for a tissue and deliver it to Margaret as he perched one tight butt cheek on the edge of the hospital bed.

“Tell me,” he said in a voice that sounded like honey warmed by the sunshine.

The damn man was practically wooing Old Lady Trout into confessing all to him and Natalie wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

Luckily she managed to keep her mouth shut on the subject and let Liam do this thing. She needed answers as much as he wanted them.

Natalie’s primary motivation here, now, in this horrible hospital room with this horrible woman, was to prove that Harper didn't scare her, or Doug, to death. And if Liam could somehow manage to do that, she had to let him.