worried that she would grow to fear him. Although she never had, she’d glimpsed the violence inside him. They’d fought, bitterly, when he’d returned. Over what, Meliana couldn’t say, but at the root of it had been both a lifestyle and an alter ego he’d embraced just a little too fully for a little too long.
Determined not to dwell on that now, she went about her business as usual at the hospital.
She made her rounds, turned the envelope, stockings and card over to Julie, covered the overload in the E.R. and even sat in on one of Charlie’s clinics for twenty minutes during an afternoon break.
The man was amazing. She knew serious skeptics who were willing to give his methods a try.
“He’s a whacko genius.” Julie came up behind Meliana, who’d paused in the doorway to observe Charlie’s newest group. “Do you think he does hypnotism?”
“I doubt it.” Meliana swiveled her head. “Are you looking to get hypnotized?”
“No, I’m looking first for you, whom I’ve found, and second for Sam, who’s been complaining of headaches again.”
Sam Robbins was Julie’s stepbrother, a quiet young man with a talent much more freakish to Meliana’s mind than Charlie Lightfoot’s. He was one of those rare people who could scan a page in a phone book and memorize it instantly, names and numbers.
“Sam’s probably downstairs unloading food trays.” Meliana gave Charlie a quick wave before closing the door. “I’ll talk to Elizabeth Truman in Neurology. Maybe she can schedule a round of tests. It could be that Sam’s brain takes too much in at one time and can’t cope with the overload of information. Tell him to stop reading for a while.”
“Maybe I’ll send him fishing with Johnny up at Blue Lake. No praise intended, and no idea why, but Johnny’s really good with Sam. Must be a big-brother thing.”
“You’re worried about him, aren’t you?”
“A little. Don’t forget, his father died of a brain aneurysm.”
“I’ll talk to Liz,” Meliana promised. “So what’s the deal with the stockings?”
“Zip so far. Whoever this guy is, he’s taking all the necessary precautions. Is Johnny still around?”
“He went back to Blue Lake. Broken pipe in the downstairs bathroom. Eileen Crawford found it when she came to clean.” She nodded forward. “There’s Sam now.”
“With an overstuffed cart as usual.”
“It’s a long way down to Food Services.” Meliana grinned. “He’s saving himself a trip.”
“Sam!” Julie called.
He halted so abruptly he almost rolled the cart into a housekeeping trolley.
“Head in the clouds,” Julie muttered.
“Hi, Sam,” Meliana greeted. She saw him press his temple under a messy cap of dark curls. “Headache?”
“They come and go.” He sent her an affable grin. “Julie says it’s all the junk food I eat.” The smile faded and he stared at her lab coat. “Your pager’s going off.”
“It is?” Surprised, Meliana felt her pocket. “I don’t hear it.”
He regarded her with innocent brown eyes. “That’s because it hasn’t…”
When the device began to beep, Meliana and Julie both frowned at him.
“It just—came to me,” he said and checked the cart for slippage. “I need to get this downstairs. Later, okay?”
Meliana started for the nurses’ station. “This is a new thing, right?”
“I have no idea.” Julie strode along beside her. “Do you think—He couldn’t be, like, psychic or something, could he? I mean, we use psychics from time to time on impossible cases. My captain half believes they’re for real.”
“That seemed pretty for real to me,” Meliana said. “Problem?” she asked the duty nurse.
“You’re needed in Emergency, Dr. Maynard. We’ve got a four-car pileup with injuries.”
“On my way. Try not to see it as a burden,” she said to Julie as they took the elevator down. “Call it a gift, and let Neurology check him out.”
“Yeah, sure. Mel.” Julie caught her wrist as the door opened. “I’m only a little spooked about Sam. I’m worried about you. This rose guy could be totally deluded. At the very least he’s got a big problem. And you’re sitting right at the heart of it.”
I’M ANGRY. I’ve been that way for days now. It’s not Meliana’s fault, it’s her ex-husband’s. Except he isn’t her ex yet, which is partly why I’m angry.
I warned him to stay away from her. He didn’t listen. I’m going to make him listen.
Meliana will understand. She has to. I don’t know why she lets him into her house. It’s her house, not his, not anymore. They’re finished. Meliana’s mine now. My dream will come true.
I won’t let him come back into her life. I hope she understands that. I can’t believe she’d want him back.
I think I might have to hurt him.
Chapter Four
“I’ve heard about Blue Lake.” Nick followed Meliana out of the O.R., whipped off his cap and held her Ella Fitzgerald disk up between two fingers. “I burned this a couple nights ago, along with Coldplay and Janice Joplin.”
“That’s quite the combo, Nick.”
“I have eclectic taste. But actually, I did Janice for Dr. Lightfoot. That’s why I mentioned Blue Lake. Word is, he’s thinking of buying a retreat outside the city, and he knows you have one there.”
“Bit of a story attached to that, but yes, I do.”
“Can I ask you a personal question?”
“Sure.” She slid her gaze sideways. “I might not answer it, though.”
“Are you and your husband together or separated?”
It hurt more than it should by now. “We’re not together, Nick.”
He beamed. “That’s twenty bucks to me.”
Meliana wasn’t surprised. Bets based on gossip flowed more freely around the hospital than tap water. “Who’s the loser?”
“A guy in Administration. So—I’m having a wine-tasting party next weekend. You’re invited. I plan to cover California, France, Italy and Australia.”
“If I’m off the duty roster, I’ll think about it.” She paused outside her office. “Do you know Sam Robbins?”
“Only through you.”
“Have you ever sat and talked to him?”
“Once or twice. He seems a bit Forrest Gump–like to me, but I know he shot through business administration in college.”
“He’ll be running Food Services in a few years,” Meliana predicted, “whether officially or not.”
“Do you want me to invite him to my party?”
“I want to know what it is about him that makes his memory so instantaneous and so incredible.”
“Ah, you’d like me to ask my grandfather what the deal is with someone like him.” Nick tugged on his spiky hair to straighten it. “No problem, but I’m not sure, even with all the studies he’s done on the human brain, that Granddad will have an answer for you. Sometimes life just throws people a weird curve. Like Dr. Lightfoot and his touchy-feely stuff. Granddad thinks Lightfoot’s