Cadaver Lab, page 4
Even in a hospital surrounded by beeping machines and moaning patients, Harper was still on her marketing game. Natalie laughed. “I like it. Remind me later in case frying my brain has cost me my short-term memory.”
“I will.” Harper smiled then sobered. “How are you really?”
“Fine. Really. I just want to be home.” Or at least at the train depot, which was as close to a home as she had right now.
“We’re pulling as many strings as we can to get you out of here,” Harper promised.
Again with the we.
“I stopped by the front desk and talked to the head nurse or administrator or whoever she is. I promised that when you’re released, I’d stay with you so you wouldn’t be alone. That’s one thing they worry about when releasing a patient. And Jules’s older sister is a nursing student at Delhi so she’s done some training in this hospital and has some contacts. She’s been trying to get whatever information she can.”
The hope that she’d get out of there soon with all these people pulling for her was interrupted as Harper added, “Oh, and she’s taking care of your dog for you. How did I not know you had a dog?”
As a memory shot through the jumbled haze of the past few hours, Natalie’s eyes flew wide. The dog.
She covered her face with both hands and groaned. “I don’t.”
Just like she didn’t used to have a cat. It looked as if she might have both now.
“He just showed up along with the cat,” she continued.
Harper lifted a brow. “All right. Don’t worry about it. We’ll figure out who he belongs to. A really nice woman runs the animal shelter. She’ll help us. But for now, Jules is taking care of him at the shop.”
Jules was proving herself invaluable.
“I guess I have a new employee.” The weight of that new financial burden added to her already stretched budget pressed heavy upon her.
“I told you she was smart and capable.”
“Mm-hm. You did.” Natalie could only hope she also worked for cheap, as promised.
“She’s also a whizz with technology and social media. The girl lives on her phone. In fact, she sent me this.” Harper turned her cell phone to face Natalie.
On the screen she could just make out two forms through the rain. One, lying flat out on the ground while wearing a yellow rain slicker that looked suspiciously like her own. The second, kneeling above the first, appeared to be performing CPR.
Natalie swallowed hard. “Is this—”
“You and the hot doc,” Harper confirmed.
Heart clenched, Natalie asked, “How long did he—how long did it take?”
“Over three minutes, according to the video.”
Those minutes seemed an eternity as Natalie watched him relentlessly, tirelessly, pump her chest, manually forcing her heart to work. Long enough that the rain slowed. So long that Jules had moved outside to get a closer shot.
At one point he leaned back on his heels, felt for a pulse then glanced up at the camera with a heartbreakingly handsome, devastated expression worthy of any A-list Hollywood actor.
She saw the determination and a shadow of something else—anger maybe—cross his face.
That was when he fisted one hand and, focusing on her lifeless body lying prone beneath him on the ground, punched her in the chest hard, just once.
He checked for a pulse again and this time, his eyes closed as he drew in a deep chest expanding breath then let it out.
When he opened his eyes again, it was to look directly at the camera—or more likely at Jules—as he said on a breath, “She’s alive.”
At least now she knew why her chest felt so sore.
But she had a feeling it was this man who’d caused this newly onset symptom—a tight yearning in her now racing heart. Because he did something amazing next.
He smiled. Actually smiled. And the effect was devastating.
Hot doc wasn’t just handsome. He was ethereal. Godlike in his gorgeousness. Splendidly, sinfully sexy. Magnificently manly. Powerful in his prowess.
He was a literal heartthrob, as in her own heart pounded harder just from the video of this man. The man who’d forced her stalled heart to beat once again.
Seeing all of that alpha male energy focused solely on her in the video did one other thing.
It made her want that again. Him solely focused on her. On her body…just without the being dead part.
The nurse returned, interrupting her sexual fantasies about her savior to say, “You ready to go home?”
“Yes,” Natalie burst out with feeling.
She had a hot doc to thank.
seven
“So the dog really just showed up here?” Jules, Once Upon a Vines’ new eighteen-year-old, part time employee, asked.
“He did.” Natalie nodded and felt the stiffness in her neck and shoulders.
Her whole body was sore. It felt as if she’d done a super hard workout at the gym. Unfortunately, her muscle aches were caused by electrocution and not her enthusiasm for working out—which didn’t exist.
“You think he’s a stray?” Jules rubbed the dog’s snout which sent his whole body into a tail-wagging wiggle.
“I don’t know much about chihuahuas, but he looks like a purebred. Maybe he’s just lost or ran away,” Harper suggested while dutifully giving Mr. Darcy all the petting he demanded from her.
“He’s tiny but he does look healthy. Like he’s been well-cared for,” Natalie agreed.
“No collar though,” Jules observed.
Natalie let out a sniff. “His head’s so small maybe he slipped out of it.”
Next to Mr. Darcy, the surprisingly large black cat, the little white chihuahua looked like a toy.
“I’ll text Stephanie—she runs the animal shelter—and ask if anyone reported a missing dog. She can put a pic of this little guy on the shelter’s socials too,” Jules offered.
Natalie pouted. “I don’t want him to go to a shelter, but I just don’t think I have the bandwidth for a dog right now. The cat is one thing. He comes and goes as he pleases. But a dog needs to be walked…”
“No worries.” Jules ruffled the dog’s head. “I’ll take the little guy home with me until we find the owner.”
“Are you sure your parents won’t mind?” Natalie asked.
The girl shook her head. “Won’t mind at all. I promise.”
Natalie wasn’t sure she believed that but it was easier to just agree. She had too many other things on her mind.
“And he was hiding under the dumpster in that storm?” Harper asked.
Natalie nodded. “Along with Mr. Darcy, which was the reason I went outside in the first place.”
“Which led to your epic meet cute with Doctor Hottie.” Jules grinned.
Meet cutes didn’t usually entail one of the parties being dead, even temporarily.
Natalie lifted a brow. “Not sure I’d call it a meet cute.” Or epic—his bringing her back from the dead notwithstanding.
“I would.” Harper grinned.
“There he is,” Jules hissed, even though the he in question was outside, yards away, and wouldn’t be able to hear them speaking about him—again.
Natalie followed Jules’s gaze out the shop’s window and saw hot doc was indeed walking toward the warehouse.
“I should probably say thank you to him, right?” Natalie turned to ask Jules and Harper for their opinion.
“Heck, yeah, you should.” Jules nodded.
“I agree. Go.” Harper spun Natalie toward the door. “Quick before he gets away.”
He was about to go inside the warehouse, which wouldn’t exactly be getting away, but she wouldn’t feel comfortable knocking on the door of the mysterious and decrepit building in an attempt to chase him down just to say thank you.
“Okay. I’m going.”
Abandoning the shop and whatever customers might come in to Jules and Harper’s care, Natalie took off in a jog, weaving between display tables and shelving until she reached the door.
She yanked it open, sending the bell above jangling wildly. She trotted across the distance between his building and hers, cautiously leaping over the puddle still there even though the downed power line had long since been repaired.
As he was just a couple of steps from the warehouse door, she panicked.
What was hot doc’s name? She couldn’t remember so she called, “Um, hey! Wait up a second.”
He did, stopping in his path to turn slowly and level a stare upon her as she ran toward him.
She was embarrassingly out of breath when she finally reached where he stood.
One dark brow quirked up as he said, “Yes?”
“I, uh, wanted to thank you for… you know.” She gestured toward the nearby standing water with the flip of one wrist.
“Bringing you back to life after you ran into a puddle with a live wire in it even though I yelled for you to stop?” he asked.
Her face heated. “Yeah. That.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He turned to go.
That was it?
“Wait.” She grabbed his forearm and—holy hell did he have some muscles on him.
He glanced down at where she held him, even though her fingers didn’t come near to wrapping around the full girth of his arm. The fire in her cheeks intensified as she wondered what else on him might be girthy—
She dropped her hold on his massive muscles. “I, um, wanted to thank you properly.”
“You’ve already done that.”
“But can’t I—I don’t know—buy you a drink or something?” She had a vague memory of him not drinking at the bar and quickly added, “Or lemonade or coffee or—”
“I’d prefer if you didn’t buy me anything and just let me get back to work. I have a lot to do.”
Her cheeks burned now for a different reason. Embarrassment. Shame. Anger. It all swirled into a pulse pounding internal cacophony of emotion caused by this man.
What the hell? How could a person be so rude in the face of someone offering to do something nice for them?
She frowned and lifted her chin to glare up at him—darn, he was tall. “Oh, you can get back to work. I won’t be bothering you again.”
“Thank you.” He said it in a flat, matter of fact tone, completely devoid of attitude. Without heat. Just cold, calm words as he turned away.
He tugged open the warehouse door with a groan and a squeak—the door, not him—and then closed it behind him with a definitive slam.
Left reeling in his wake, Natalie grumbled all the way back to the shop. She’d barely cleared the doorway when Harper and Jules, virtually bubbling over in their quest for information, attacked her.
“How did it go? What did he say?” Harper asked.
“We tried reading hot doctor’s lips but it didn’t work,” Jules added.
“Shh.” Natalie glanced around to see if there were any customers nearby to hear them. “And it went horribly. I hate to break it to you both, but hot doctor is a rude, obnoxious, horrible man. Even if he did save my life.”
Some people just weren’t fit to live in polite society. Hot doctor was obviously one of them.
What a shame all those good genes were wasted on him. Great hair. Incredible body. Amazing eyes. The packaging was perfection. But inside? Things were not so good. And why couldn’t she remember his name? It must be the effects of the electricity. A frightening one she hoped didn’t last.
Pawing through her memories she flashed back to all the past discussions about hot doc. There were too many considering what a dick he was. William Wallace? No. That was Mel Gibson’s character in Braveheart. There was a W though…
Walsh. Doctor Walsh. That was it. William Walsh.
Phew. No brain damage after all. Thank God.
Meanwhile, Jules looked crestfallen as her lips formed a pout and her brows drew low. “Oh, no. I hate he’s not as nice on the inside as he is on the outside.”
Harper, on the other hand, simply appeared resigned. She pressed her lips tightly together and breathed out a loud breath. “Oh, well. That’s a shame,” she said.
“It really is.” Natalie nodded in agreement.
They all took a moment to mourn the death of the fantasy of what might have been between her and hot doc, then Natalie dragged herself back to work mode. “So, tonight.”
“Tonight.” Harper nodded. “You have triple R’s very first meeting.”
“Triple R?” Natalie asked, confused.
“They gave themselves that name while you were in the hospital. The Raunchy Romance Readers Book Club,” Harper elaborated.
Natalie’s brow furrowed. “That’s what they want to call themselves?”
“Right?” Jules agreed. “That’s what I said.”
Harper shrugged. “My aunt said they’re tired of being shamed for reading romance novels and it was time to unapologetically proclaim their love of the genre. Hmm… That might be a good line to use for promotion.”
“On it.” Jules whipped out her phone.
“Good. So anyway, Agnes asked if it would be all right if they brought in refreshments. I believe it’s iced tea and cookies. They’d bring cups and napkins and everything they’ll need. I said yes. I hope that’s okay.” Harper cringed.
“Whatever they want to bring in is fine.” Natalie waved away her concern.
Although that brought up one thing she’d been meaning to do. Buy a trash can. She’d been making do with a garbage bag, sans can. But the variety slash hardware store down the block had some. Metal. Plastic. Big. Small. She’d noticed them last time she’d been there buying paint to spruce up the meeting room.
And actually, the store had cheap wine glasses too. Perhaps if she supplied a dozen wine glasses or so and a corkscrew, casually placed on a side table in the meeting room, it might encourage the groups meeting there to buy a few bottles of wine to enjoy during their meeting.
Excited now, Natalie asked, “Would you mind watching the shop for five minutes while I run to the hardware store?”
“No problem. You know I love playing shopkeeper.” Harper smiled.
“I know you do.” Natalie laughed. “Okay, back in a few.”
She grabbed her wallet and hustled out the door and toward the shop that, typical of a small-town Main Street store, sold everything from greeting cards to electrical and plumbing supplies.
Also typical of a small town, everything was right there on Main Street, clustered together. On the way to the village variety store, she passed the pharmacy, the community center, the architecturally beautiful historic church and its attached and even older cemetery.
For some reason, the cemetery was exceptionally active today. The one time she’d walked through she’d noticed gravestones from as far back as the Revolutionary War. She hadn’t thought it was still a working cemetery, as in there were no modern-day internments, but it was teeming with visitors today.
Maybe there was some sort of historical society tour going on.
With a brief regret that she couldn’t participate, she headed into the store.
Inside she found exactly what she needed. Boxed wine glasses. A dozen for nine bucks. She grabbed two and then a sturdy good-sized trash can. That cost more than both boxes of wine glasses added together, which stung since she’d get far less enjoyment and no additional wine sales from the trash can.
She probably should have taken the car rather than walking but she managed to fit the two boxes inside the trash can and make her way up to the cash register.
As the clerk rang up her purchases, she asked, “What’s going on over at the cemetery today?”
“The cemetery?” The man, whose name tag pronounced him as Frank, shrugged. “Nothing as far as I know.”
“There’s a bunch of people walking around. I thought maybe it was a tour or something.”
He shook his head and glanced toward the front of the store where an employee was pricing a box of mosquito repellent. “Chris! You know of anything happening over at the cemetery today?”
“Nope.”
“This lady says there’s a bunch of people over there doing something.”
Chris leaned to peer through the large front windows of the store. “I don’t see no one.”
“Really? They were just there.” She frowned. Had the tour wrapped up and they all left?
Frank shrugged again and said, “Sorry. Can’t help you. That’ll be forty-two-twenty-six.”
And with that she had no answers to the cemetery mystery and an additional forty-two dollars and change added to her credit card balance. But at least she had wine glasses. Maybe she’d liberate a bottle from her stock and try to forget the mystery, the charge and her recent electrocution. Not to mention her encounter with rude doc.
She certainly had plenty to forget today.
eight
“Jules.”
“Yes, Natalie.” There was a distinct tone of forced patience mingled with amusement in the eighteen-year old’s voice as it came through the cell phone. Her unspoken words clearly said, why are you calling instead of texting?
Faced with the group of women in front of her now, Natalie felt justified in committing the cardinal sin—or at least faux pas—in her Gen Z employee’s eyes.
Forcing a smile for the ladies’ benefit, she said, “There are some…lovely ladies here at the register that say they spoke with you about meeting here tonight. But we have the book club in the meeting room already.”
“Oh, right. Didn’t I tell you? Maybe I mentioned it to Harper instead. They have to meet tonight because of the full moon.”
Not understanding the significance of that and thinking she was screwed and about to have nine very unhappy women on her hands, Natalie held up one finger to indicate she’d only be a moment, then turned to face away from them as she said, “Okay. But where did you plan on putting them if the meeting room is occupied?”
