Page 55 of Cadaver Lab: Mind Over Murder

Harper reached out and covered Natalie’s hand with her own. “Shh. I know. I know. He told me. It’s okay. Don’t think about it. Liam was there. He pulled you off the tracks in time and called for help. You’re okay and that’s all that matters.”

Her being okay was definitely not all that mattered. That an evil entity with the power to kill was still on the loose was the only thing that mattered now.

“No.” Natalie shook her head and tried to sit up. “I have to get up… get back to Mudville.”

“Natalie, stop. You can’t. You almost died—again. You have to rest.”

“I can rest at home.” Natalie frowned at the railing keeping her contained.

The low double rail might as well be a prison cell given how impossible it was for her to figure out how to lower it so she could get out of this bed.

She shook the railing and noticed the tubes and wires attached to her arm, and elsewhere. Her exit might not be as easy as she anticipated.

Harper’s cell vibrated with a call, interrupting Natalie’s escape planning.

“It’s Liam,” Harper announced before answering it. She’d barely said hello before thrusting the phone at Natalie. “He wants to talk to you.”

Good. Liam would listen to her. He’d help her escape this place. She grabbed the cell. “Liam. I have to get out of here.”

She heard the whoosh of breath through the receiver and Liam saying, “You’re okay.” It was more comment than question.

“I’ll be better when you get me out of here.”

“I don’t exactly have any pull at this hospital. Especially now. I’m lucky they haven’t had security escort me off the property completely. Harper’s been keeping me informed of your progress since they won’t even answer my questions when I call. I’m keeping out of sight, sitting inside the Jeep parked in the lot opposite the front entrance.”

Liam was here. Parked right outside the building.

How long had he been sitting out there, just to be near her? As much as that thought gave her a squishy warm feeling in her chest, they were in a code red situation here. There’d be time for romance later. Fighting evil was the priority now.

“Stay there. I’ll sneak out. Pick me up outside.” She glanced around, hoping her clothes were somewhere nearby. She’d have to pretend she was just a visitor, leaving. But it would be infinitely harder to slip past the nurses and security wearing a hospital gown.

“Nat. You were in acute respiratory failure when I found you. As much as I hate to say this, because I can’t be there with you, but I think you need to stay another night.”

“Another night?” Her voice, still scratchy, somehow rose an octave higher than normal at that revelation. “How many nights has it been? How long have I been in here?”

“Just one night,” Harper supplied.

“Twenty-one hours,” Liam answered more precisely.

Twenty-one hours.

Nearly a full day. A whole day during which that thing was out there doing God only knew what to the people of Mudville.

“I need to be home. Now. The brain ghost is not contained. It’s what attacked me. And can attack again.”

Both Harper and Liam were silent for a moment. Natalie could only see Harper’s expression of horror though.

She had to imagine Liam’s reaction to the news until he finally spoke, biting out an obscenity before saying, “I was afraid that was the case. The battery in my cell phone had been drained. The neighbors’ phones too. They heard me shouting for help and had to use a landline to call 9-1-1. It was gathering energy for the attack… The lights— Fuck! They flickered right before your attack. This thing can harvest electricity. I should have realized. Dammit! It’s my fault for assuming the solution would be as easy as a stupid lead pig.”

“Liam. Stop. It’s not your fault. We all thought it worked. But I need to be in Mudville. We need a plan.”

This was going to take a full town effort and she needed to be there for it.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“I wish you’d stayed in the hospital,” Liam said with a scowl.

“Why? You’re a doctor. You can be my doctor.” She smiled sweetly up at him.