Gabriel's Hope (#1, Rhyn Eternal)

Gabriel’s hope

Book I, Rhyn Eternal

A continuation of the Rhyn Trilogy Saga

By Lizzy Ford

http://www.GuerrillaWordfare.com/

Cover design by Regina

http://www.MaeIDesign.com/

MOBI edition

Gabriel’s Hope
copyright 2012 by Lizzy Ford

 Cover design copyright 2012 by Mae I Deisgn

All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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Chapter One

Deidre rubbed her hands on her legs. The papery hospital gown was rough beneath her palms, the dark room too cold. She sat on the table in the exam room facing a line of backlit x-rays and cat scans on the wall. Gazing at the obvious mass in her brain, she knew the results were bad, but were they
worse
?

Impatiently waiting for her longtime surgeon, she pushed herself off the table and crossed to the desk, where a small folder sat. If its contents were like the reports she’d seen in the past, it would be full medical nonsense. She was able to decipher some of it after all the tests she’d been through. She flipped it open. The summary of results might as well have been in a foreign language with the medical terminology, abbreviations and sprinkling of what seemed like random numbers.

“Come
on
,” she muttered at the file. Skimming it, her gaze settled on the last line of the first page.

When patient presents, inform of advanced deterioration of tumor stability. Recommended local hospices attached to report.

Hospice? They wanted to shove her away for the last few months of her life? Deidre closed the file, chewing her lip. Dr. Wynn knew better. Every week, he asked how many things she checked off her bucket list. She wasn’t the kind who sat around waiting to die, not when she wanted so badly to enjoy every day until she was no longer able to.

Which would be soon. She blinked away tears. She didn’t want to die. At twenty-six years old, she must’ve done something pretty bad in a past life to deserve this. Karma was a bitch, but it wasn’t indiscriminate, was it?

Dr. Wynn knocked and opened the door. He was tall and slender with cocoa skin, dazzling blue eyes and prematurely white hair that made him appear twice his age. His features were heavy and roughly hewn. Though not traditionally handsome, he moved and spoke with a diplomat’s grace. He kissed her cheeks and waited for her to heft herself back onto the table. Instead of seating himself on the traditional doctor’s stool, Dr. Wynn sat beside her on the table, hands folded across one knee.

His smile didn’t reach his eyes. It never had. She’d thought him cold and distant at first, until she learned his background. He was one of those medical prodigies that mentally existed on a level too removed for most people to follow. He’d stuck by her for over three years, though. It had to mean something.

“It’s not good, is it?” she asked.

“No,” he replied in the smooth, velvety voice that talked her down from hysterics several times many times.

She swallowed hard and gazed at the charts on the wall. She already knew, but it seemed worse when a doctor said it.

“There really is nothing I can do this time,” he said. “We’ve been through every option.”

“How long?” she whispered.

“Three months at most.”

Deidre nodded, not sure how to respond. He’d told her the chances were slim long ago, but she wasn’t ready for him to admit defeat quite yet. She’d been anticipating this moment for awhile. Sitting through it, she didn’t think it was ever possible to be prepared for the news.

“I am very sorry, Deidre. You are a sweet girl,” he said.

“No worries,” she said, forcing a smile. “We all have to go at some point. At least I know how and when, right? You’ve …done so …” She couldn’t finish it through the sudden tears.

Dr. Wynn hesitated then hugged her. Deidre closed her eyes and rested against him, trying to imagine what the last days of her life would be like. She’d let herself grieve for a day – maybe two – and then fill her world with as much sunshine as possible. She’d been on the verge of death for years. She could handle this turn of events.

“Logan won’t take this well,” he said, referring to her boyfriend of almost two years. “I will always meet you both for dinner again to explain, if it helps you.”

Deidre drew a shuddering breath then groaned.

“If there is a Logan still?”

“More or less,” she said. “He seems to be waiting for the inevitable while I try to check off my bucket list. He doesn’t get that I’m not going to waste my time mourning when I can
live.
”

“It’s a difficult time for both of you.”

“Yeah.” She moved away from him, wiping her face. “I think he feels guilty for wanting to leave his dying girlfriend. Most days, I just want to tell him to get it over with and move on.” She rolled her eyes.