Page 94 of Freak Show

It licked my hand and, surprisingly, her tongue was extremely rough.

Before I could move around her, though, she walked past me with a rub of her body along my pants, and then moved into the shadows.

The drive to the hospital was uneventful.

When I arrived, though, that was a completely different story.

It was a madhouse, and I could now see why the medics wouldn’t allow any of them to come.

Pushing through the doors, I looked around to see if I could spot anyone that looked like they were in a position of authority.

Not spotting any of them but seeing the door to the back slightly ajar—that was a security problem that needed to be addressed—I walked right on through into chaos.

The door I’d walked through led down a long hallway where there were people sitting on cots, a lot of them holding buckets, as they waited, I guessed for it to be their turn.

I passed one particular gurney that definitely had a dead body on it and kept going.

“What in the world?” I heard someone say. “Why is there a dead body in the hallway?”

I silently agreed.

The least they could do was push it to a hallway where it wasn’t going to be looked at constantly.

“Sir, can I help you?” a frazzled looking nurse called out.

I moved toward her, my stomach in knots, and said, “I’m looking for my…wife.”

Not quite wife. But hopefully, one day she would be.

“Oh.” She frowned. “There aren’t supposed to be any family members here right now. We don’t have the room.”

I didn’t bother to argue. “She came in with a broken neck.”

Her shoulders slumped. “Oh, yeah. Her.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and said, “Why do you say it like that?”

“Well.” She blew her hair out of her eyes and said, “She’s just been very problematic and combative.”

“Problematic and combative,” I repeated. “Are you sure we’re talking about the same person? That doesn’t sound like my Ari.”

“Oh.” Her cheeks pinked. “I guess I just…”

She didn’t finish her sentence as I said, “Where is she?”

“In the hallway on the bed closest to the linen closet,” she answered swiftly.

I blinked. “Okay. What has the doctor said so far?”

She led the way to the gurney she was talking about, and my stomach sank.

My heart was in my throat when I realized the “dead person” everyone was talking about was her.

Everyone kept casting her quick glances, and I felt my heart start to beat triple time.

“She’s not…” I couldn’t finish the sentence.

The nurse, pissed now, yanked the blanket down and scowled at Ari.

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