Waiting in the Wings by Gina Ardito

Author:Gina Ardito
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: suicide, Vietnam War, reincarnation, Afterlife, redemption, terminally ill children, dealing with the death of pets, World War II, past lives
Publisher: Gina Ardito
Published: 2015-04-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Osiris found Alex feigning sleep in a hospital bed while Jason, standing near the window on the other side of the room, argued in hushed but furious tones with some strange woman. Stuck inside Puff’s body beside Alex, Osiris was too far away to hear the discussion, but the anger in both combatants’ expressions caught his full attention. Who was that woman, and what were they fighting about? Using Xavia’s advice from their previous talk, he focused all his energies on closing out all other distractions and honed in on the heated conversation between Jason Kendall and the stranger.

“You could’ve given me some advance notice,” Jason said, arms folded over his chest.

The woman, dressed in a red wool suit with a white blouse and sensible shoes, shrugged. “Why should I? She’s my daughter, too.”

Ah. The ex-wife. Monica. The congresslady from San Francisco. That explained the outfit. And the weird bun she’d confined her honey blond hair in. She was pretty, he supposed, in a white-bread rich bitch way. With plump lips, cantilevered breasts, and a lineless face, she had the best looks money could buy. And she was totally wrong for a down-to-earth man like Jason Kendall. Osiris didn’t need to read the gray aura flaring between them to see they were mismatched, though the hue did confirm his suspicions. Flat. Dull. Dead. Like their marriage.

“If I want to take Alex to DisneyWorld for a week,” she continued in the same resentful tone, “what’s the harm? Her doctor said it would be okay.”

DisneyWorld? Osiris cast a glance at the shrunken figure curled up in the bed. The doctor gave his okay? She hardly looked ready for such a grueling trip with her sallow complexion, the IV drip attached to one scrawny arm, the dark shadows under her eyes, and that right cheek still bulging from the tumor that slowly destroyed her from the inside out.

“The harm is,” Jason retorted, “that you think you can just swoop in when you need a photo op because you’re lagging in the polls. Now you want to use your daughter’s condition to bolster your campaign numbers.”

“Oh, for God’s sake, that’s not what this is about.”

“No? My mistake then. I must have imagined the press junket camped out in the hospital lobby.”

She waved a dismissive hand. “You know I can’t control them. They’re like a pack of wild dogs; they go where they smell blood.”

“And you know just how to get that scent into their nostrils, don’t you?”

She didn’t seem to take offense at any of the accusations Jason hurled her way. Sure, she denied her motives were mercenary, but if her ex hadn’t struck some kernel of truth, Osiris would have expected to see a helluva lot more vehemence from her regarding her innocence. Or maybe that was the politician in her? Never let ‘em see her sweat.

“We’re getting off the topic here, Jason. I cleared my schedule for the next ten days, Dr. Hasan says she’s okay to go, so I’m taking her.

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