The Stars Will Guide Us Back by Rue Sparks

Author:Rue Sparks [Sparks, Rue]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rue Sparks

James bangs his hand one more time against the clear acrylic of the vending machine before his forehead follows suit with a slightly gentler thud.

That was my last dollar bill. Fuck. This.

“You might as well try the slots instead,” Miranda snickers. “You’d have about the same amount of luck.”

James peels himself off the machine in defeat. He pads over to the table, and his muscles and bones drain into the creaky plastic chair next to her like molasses. He lets his head hit the table — gently this time — and pulls his arms up to rest over the back of his head.

“I’d probably have better luck with the slots, but I’m pretty fucking sure they aren’t allowed in hospitals, so I’m really shit out of luck.”

Miranda pats his shoulder lightly. Hearing a crinkling, James looks up to see her sliding a bag of baked potato chips his way.

He knew she was his favorite resident for a reason.

“So what’s it this time?” Her question is to the point, and he puzzles on the best way to respond as he tries to open the metallic bag without the blessed food flying everywhere.

“There’s an investigation, actually. Both the hospital, and the police. All asking the same goddamn questions.”

Miranda doesn’t seem to be able to decide whether he is being facetious, but soldiers on anyway. “About what? You work with the almost-always-terminal cancer patients, right? Who’s gonna murder them or whatever?”

James shrugs, finally getting the bag open. “It’s kind of the opposite, actually. Some really freaky things going on at our floor.”

Miranda grabs the bag out of James’ hands, holding it up and to her other side. “How can you do the opposite of murder? That makes no sense. And this is a bribe, not a free lunch. Welcome to America.”

James rolls his eyes, halfheartedly swiping for the bag out of his reach. He’s secretly glad to relay what little he’s gleaned from the chaos sweeping through his ward. “You know, I was born and raised in America. You came from London or whatever. I’m pretty sure that should be the other way around, but fine.”

James leans back in his chair, valiantly trying to rearrange his spine back to its original, healthy position but giving up as he always does after a few loud creaks.

“First it was this kid. The fairly typical case — diagnosed stage four, goes through chemo and radiation, is looking like he’ll be a good candidate for surgery but then he suddenly flat lines one night. They pronounce him dead, the parents see him, they send for the coroner.”

Miranda pulls a single chip out of the bag now, waving it near his nose, like the aroma would entice him more. As if a small bag of stale chips smells like anything but mothballs.

“And?” She sounds impatient yet still curious.

“When the coroner comes up to take him to the morgue, the kid’s sitting up and asking about his Nintendo DS. Thinks he’s had his tonsils removed or something. Scared the shit out of her.

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.