A Breath of Life (Shadowy Solutions Book 4) by Nicky James

Author:Nicky James [James, Nicky]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2025-09-18T00:00:00+00:00

21

Diem

Jolted from a dreamless sleep to a shrill ringing, I bolted upright, peering around the dark bedroom in confusion, already reaching for the gun under my pillow. Groggy and not putting the pieces together swiftly enough, it took far too long for me to comprehend that it was my phone.

Tallus hadn’t stirred. The man would sleep through the apocalypse if it ever happened. Echo, who had somehow found her way onto the bed in the middle of the night, huffed with annoyance and turned her back.

Still not fully awake, I stumbled from bed, reaching blindly for my phone, fearing it might be the Consigliere checking in. If I didn’t answer promptly, he might punish me. As I yanked my phone from the charger, I noted the incoming call was not from Asshole but from Nana’s nursing home.

I froze. A pit opened in my stomach. Snagging the leather pouch—in case I had to leave in a hurry—I hustled down the hall and pressed Connect.

My voice came out crackly and panicked. “Hello?”

Only after I answered did I remember I wasn’t supposed to talk to anyone at the home.

“Mr. Krause?”

“Yes. Is something wrong?” Every horrific scenario my mind could come up with flashed across my retinas. Had I broken the rules? Had Ace’s men retaliated against a perceived wrongdoing? Had Nana passed in her sleep? It was a call I’d been expecting for years, but I wasn’t ready.

“I’m sorry to disturb you at such an early hour. This is Nathan Guilliam from Evergreen Estates. I’m the head nurse on Hazel’s floor tonight.”

“Is Nana okay?” He was taking too long to get to the point.

“Physically, she’s no better or worse than she’s been.”

I collapsed on the couch with relief and closed my eyes as the man continued.

“I don’t usually do this. Especially at this hour, but Hazel seems… troubled.”

“Troubled? What does that mean?”

“I honestly don’t know how to explain it. Hallucinations or imagining people and conversations that aren’t real or never happened are common in dementia patients. Sometimes, those perceived illusions can feel threatening. Sufferers can obsess over them for a time, but mostly, we’re able to distract them and break the cycle. The other day, Hazel started expressing concerns of this nature, but we haven’t been able to redirect her attention.

“She hasn’t slept much tonight and has grown persistently more agitated over the past two hours. She’s insisting I call you.”

“Me? She asked for me specifically?”

“Yes. She said she has to talk to her grandson, Diem, and I’m to get you on the phone. We have an on-call doctor, and protocol dictates that I should call him, not you. He can give her something to calm her down, but—”

“No. Let me talk to her.”

“Are you sure?”

“My grandmother hasn’t recognized me or asked about me in almost six months. If she said my name, you put her on the goddamn phone right now.”

“Hang on.”

I glanced at the time. Quarter after four. Instinct made me want to get in the Jeep and race to the home, but the card in my hand warned me not to.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.