Phoenix Tonic by Shelley Martin

Author:Shelley Martin [Martin, Shelley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Silver Seraphim
Published: 2014-10-19T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Hailey sat ramrod straight next to Kallian. The seventh reporter settled in before them and introduced himself.

“Hi, I’m Ronnie Browne, from the Inner Circle.”

Kallian nodded. “Mr. Browne, you have two minutes.”

The photographer started snapping at the couple as the reporter became flustered at his unexpected time limit. “Uh, how long have you been together?”

“Around two years.” Hailey stretched a tense smile. “Because of my illness I didn’t want to lead him on. I tried to break it off several times, but he just wouldn’t give up.” The weight of Kallian’s stare annoyed her. She refused to look at him. He kept flashing those puppy dog eyes at her, filled with apology. All she wanted to do was repair the damage she’d done to the company and get away as fast as she could. Her face heated up at the thought of Malachi. How dare he? She trusted him. If there was one thing she couldn’t stand, it was a liar. Most of her doctors were liars. She dropped them like rocks when she realized they were sharing vital information with her parents and not her. She’d rather be hit with the truth than left in the dark.

She blinked back her anger and struggled to pay attention to the flurry of questions. Kallian had been answering the last few, but they suddenly turned to her. She faked exhaustion. “I’m sorry, what was the question?”

Markham brushed the side of her arm, causing only a slight rush of goose bumps to form. “Are you feeling alright, Sweetheart?”

Hailey squeezed her eyes tight in response to Kallian’s endearment. She resisted the urge to smack him.

“Just a little headache. Go ahead.”

“Uh,” The reporter hesitantly looked from Kallian to her. “I was just mentioning how much better you seem to be doing. Is the drug Mr. Markham produces really helping that much?”

She gave a dry smile. “Vitamins. The FDA and FBI already went through the facility this morning, they can confirm that Mr. Markham only deals with natural sources that promote health. The vitamins help, but as you can see, they don’t cure cancer. They just help my body deal, along with the chemo, radiation, acupuncture, meditation and rest. I think it’s safe to say anyone in my situation would try anything. I just wanted to be close to Kallian before I died. But the tumor seems to have stalled on its progress, and that’s just fine with me.”

“So, there’s no animal testing, as Mr. Redding claims?”

Hailey scowled. “That’s a desperate man’s twist of the truth. The Markham’s have done an amazing job saving animal lives. Many of them have been traumatized and a vitamin supplement is provided for their recovery. I said drug to Redding, referring to the vitamin. As you can imagine, having a tumor tearing down your body doesn’t feel like rainbows and sunshine. Therefore, I’m on a lot of pain medication. The right words don’t always come out, and he misunderstood. I wholeheartedly apologize for the huge misunderstanding, and promise not to speak to strangers on my bad days again.

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