Page 67 of Ruled By Fate

Rashida nodded. “They issued a statement a few months back asking doctors in the area to report any cases with similar pathologies to these. It looks like this has been going on up and down the coast. Two of my colleagues from med school have been seeing upticks in the same thing this past year.” She shook her head and sipped her tea. “I just don’t see how they haven’t figured out what it is yet. Those guys are no joke.”

It was silent for a moment before Rashida hopped down from her chair. “Well, I need to get back to work. But thanks for listening. I hope I didn’t bore you.”

Brie flashed a worried look. “Absolutely not boring. In fact, keep me in the loop, alright? That’s some pretty alarming stuff, Ida.”

“Aw, you remembered,” Rashida replied, looking pleased. “Sure, if you like. I’ll let you know if I hear anything. Cheers.”

They tapped their drinks together and got to work.

? ? ?

An hour later, Rashida was done with her postmortem paperwork, and Brie was nearing the last leg of her marathon charting session.

“Alright, lady. I’m off. Can you lock the door behind you when you leave? Unless Bryan’s here already, then just let him deal with it. And don’t forget, your shoes are in number five.”

Brie grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. “You got it. Enjoy your night.”

“I’m gonna enjoy my bed. Even though I’m not sharing it with a big hunk of man candy like you.” Rashida grinned. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten. I have a moral obligation to interrogate you about that handsome young thing sometime in the not-so-distant future.”

Brie forced another smile. “I can’t wait.”

The woman shut the door behind her, laughing, as Brie took a deep breath, bent her head left and right to crack her neck, and got back to work.

Twenty minutes later, once she was satisfied neither Charlie nor Denise would be able to find a single typo anywhere in her charts, she got the tablet ready and packed up her things.

I’m forgetting something. Something important.

She looked down at her socks.

Ah.

With a tired sigh, she went over to the body lockers and found number five on the bottom row, bending down to open it up. There was a moment of natural hesitation before she concluded that not only was the occupant beyond the point of caring, but she really did need her shoes.

She pulled it open and groped around blindly. When she finally grasped her shoes, one lace caught on part of the locker.

Oh, for the love of—

She had to pull the slab carrying the body out before disentangling the laces and yanking the shoes towards her with a look of triumph. She didn’t notice the way her pendant had slid out of her blouse and looped around the corpse’s finger. She didn’t even notice when the corpse sat up and stared around the chilled, locker-filled room in a blinking disorientation.

It wasn’t until a polite voice chimed in, disturbing the quiet, that she realized something was wrong. “Excuse me, miss. Could you tell me where I am?”

Chapter Fourteen: Resurrection

?

“Cameron!”

Brie had held it together in the morgue. The moment she’d scrambled backward and her pendant had disentangled itself from the poor soul’s thumb, he slumped back to the slab, and she sat on the floor on the other side of the room, too shocked even to scream. She’d stared in complete disbelief, first at the corpse and then at the pendant, before stuffing it back into her shirt. She’d rearranged the dead man’s body and slammed it back into the locker. She’d checked the lock five times.

Brie had held it together in the hospital. She’d locked up the morgue, turned in her tablet, and even managed to smile at Sherry as she told tales of her parking lot heroism all the way home. She’d waved goodbye and agreed to some yoga, biking, walking exercise, and a shopping day during the upcoming weekend.

Brie had held it together on her front porch. She’d fitted her key into the lock without breaking it with her shaking hands. She’d shut the door behind her without once screaming at the top of her lungs and waking all her new neighbors.

Brie was done holding it together.

“CAMERON!”

He walked into the room a moment later, dressed in a white T-shirt and jeans. “Hello there. How was—?” His expression changed into a look of alarm as he rushed over. “Are you alright? What happened?”

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