SPIRIT OF CONSEQUENCE (A Spirit Walking Mystery Book 1) (26 page)

“Dodge,” I whispered between gasps.

He didn’t answer - didn’t hear me.

I slipped away.

Chapter 27

I was back in the damn hospital bed. This time I wasn’t floating above my body – I was trapped inside, unable to move or get back to Dodge.

A stocky short woman with chestnut brown hair twisted into a bun stood next to the bed, checking a set of monitors and writing on a clipboard. She wore white scrubs and a stethoscope hung from her neck.

A few minutes later, a tall, lanky, older man with bits of gray at his temple and serious brown eyes came into the room. “Any change?”

“No, Doctor. Her blood pressure and heart rate are slowly falling, although a few seconds ago, her vitals went crazy again.”

“I don’t know what that’s all about.”

“I thought she’d expire when she was disconnected from the machines,” the nurse said.

“I did, too.”

“I’m right here!” I shouted, but neither of them heard me.

Uncle George came in. He wore his usual baggy khaki Dockers, polo shirt, brown leather loafers and a huge smile I had seen so many times before. “How’s my girl?”

“The same,” the nurse told him, shaking her head and frowning.

He patted my hand. “I told them you were a fighter, Princess. Now come back to me.”

“She’s not going to…” the doctor began.

“Sh!” Uncle George waved his hand in the air. “Nonsense, she’ll be back. After all, she’s already outlived all of
your
expectations.”

The doctor nodded. “That’s true, but her body is dying.” He pointed to the machines. “Everything is slowing down. She won’t last another day.”

Uncle George kissed me on my forehead and whispered, “If this idiot’s right, you’re running out of time, Sammie.” Then Uncle George turned to them. “Leave me alone with my girl.”

The doctor and the nurse left the room.

Uncle George pulled up a chair next to my bed, picked up a book and started reading it aloud. It was
The Monster at the End of the Book
, my favorite story when I was a little girl. Whenever I spent the night at his house, which was often, he read this book to me, using Grover’s voice. I closed my eyes and remembered all the wonderful times I had spent with him.

Then I hovered above my bed again, out of my body. There was an awful beeping noise coming from the monitors.

Uncle George stopped reading and jumped up.

The doctor and nurse ran in. The nurse went directly to the machine and turned off the alarm. The doctor grabbed a stethoscope and listened to my heart. It was weird watching my own body being examined.

Uncle George pushed the doctor aside. “Damn it, Sammie! Get your ass out of that bed!”

Then I was trapped back in my body again.

“She doesn’t have much time,” the doctor said.

“Then turn off that stupid monitor and let her go in peace and quiet,” Uncle George murmured, tears in his eyes.

Seeing him this way pulled at my heart. I wished I could reach out and touch him. He was suffering so much. I wanted to tell him that I was here, that I’d always be with him – no matter what.

The doctor shut off the monitors. The nurse glanced at her watch and said, “Her physical therapist should be here to work her muscles in a few minutes.”

“Send her away and leave me alone with her,” Uncle George said, tears rolling down his cheeks.

I had never realized he loved me this much. I had taken him for granted, just as I took everything for granted.

Just then Jed came into the room, dressed in black from head to toe. His usual attire, but in this case it seemed morbid. Was it an omen of what was to come?

Uncle George didn’t look up. Jed walked over and put his hand on Uncle George’s shoulder.

Uncle George jumped, then bellowed. “What?”

“Dad, there’s someone at the door insisting on seeing Samantha.”

“Tell them to go away,” Uncle George muttered under his breath.

“It’s not a reporter, Dad. It’s a couple of cops.”

Uncle George laughed. “Great, they’re finally here to arrest her for driving under the influence and getting in a crash. They’re a little late.”

“I don’t know why they’re here. They won’t say. They just insist on seeing her.”

Uncle George let out a big sigh. “Sammie’s here, instead of a stupid hospital, so she isn’t disturbed by anyone. Tell Carl to throw them off my property.”

Carl was Uncle George’s butler, security consultant, and the family’s all around bodyguard. He’s over six feet tall and built like a truck. I used to call him to pick me up at the police station rather than my dad or Uncle George. He was much more discreet.

“Carl’s the one who called me. One of the cops pulled a gun on him,” Jed said.

Uncle George glanced at Jed and raised his eyebrows. “They got the jump on Carl?”

“Yes and I quote one of the cops, ‘If I don’t get to see Samantha right now, I’m going to start shooting people.’”

Uncle George stood. “I don’t want her bothered. I’ll go down and talk to them.”

Two cops coming to visit me on my deathbed. It had to be Dodge and Dexter. It would be nice to say goodbye, even if he couldn’t hear me. I concentrated on Dodge and my love for him and then slipped out of my body to follow Uncle George down the stairs.

Dodge and Dexter were in the foyer. Dodge had his gun pulled and Carl stood with his arms crossed in front of him. Neither looked willing to move.

I quickly ran down the stairs and said, “Dodge.”

He didn’t respond.

I waved my hands in front of his face. “Dodge.”

Nothing. He couldn’t see or hear me.

Uncle George cleared his throat. “What’s going on here?”

Carl stepped to the side. “These two cops would like to see Miss Samantha,” then he pointed to Dodge, “and this one is willing to shoot us to get to her.”

Uncle George frowned and nodded to Carl. “I’ll take care of them.”

“Are you sure?” Carl said, then smiled. “I could have thrown them out, but I didn’t want them shooting up the place.”

“I appreciate your concern for my home,” Uncle George said.

Carl laughed and walked away.

Uncle George turned his attention to Dodge. “Would you please put the gun away and tell me why you would like to see my wife?”

Dexter scoffed, then said, “Don’t you mean your daughter-in-law?”

Uncle George looked at him and nodded. “Very resourceful.”

Dodge glared at Dexter, then back to Uncle George, “Are you going to let me see her?”

“Determined, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Dodge said.

Uncle George scratched his chin, the way he always did when he weighed options. Then he shrugged. “Okay, follow me.”

Dodge put away his gun and followed Uncle George up the stairs. Dexter and I trailed after them.

As soon as Uncle George opened the door to my room, Dodge ran past him and over to my bed. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it. I could see him doing it, but I couldn’t feel it.

“Samantha?” Dodge said, his voice was low, almost a whisper.

“I’m not there, Dodge. I’m over here.” I told him, but he didn’t respond.

Uncle George stayed by the door, but Dexter came up and stood by Dodge. “She doesn’t look very good, Dodge.”

Dodge brushed the hair from my face and put it behind my ears. “No, she looks wonderful.”

Dodge turned to Uncle George. “What do the doctors say?”

Uncle George hesitated for a moment, then took a step into the room. “They say she’s dying.”

Dodge shook his head in disbelief. “No, she can’t be. Isn’t there something else they can do for her?”

An expression of puzzlement crossed Uncle George’s face. “I’ve got a question for you.”

“Sure, what?”

“When exactly did you fall in love with Samantha?”

Dodge smiled. “The first time I saw her.”

Uncle George sat down on the chair next to my bed. “Tell me about it.”

Dexter stepped toward the door. “I’ve heard this before. Is there anything to eat in this house? I’m starving.”

“Ask Carl, he’ll get you whatever you want,” Uncle George said.

“The guy with no neck?” Dexter asked.

“Yes, but I wouldn’t say that to his face.” Uncle George smiled.

Dexter left and Dodge brought over another chair. He set it next to Uncle George. He told him everything. From the moment in his apartment to the plane ride to Sacramento, although he did edit out all of the hot and steamy sex. Halfway through the story, I slipped back into my body without even knowing it.

Uncle George never said a word the entire time.

When he was finished, Dodge looked back at me and said, “I love her so much. All I want is for her to come back to me.”

Uncle George cleared his throat. “Well, that’s one thing we do have in common.” He patted my hand. “That’s quite an interesting story, young man. I don’t think I caught your name?”

Dodge extended his hand. “Dodge Benson.”

Uncle George shook it. Then he looked back at me. “Jumped right out of your body, did you? I’ve never heard of anything like that, but if anyone could,” he laughed and continued, “it would be you, Sammie.”

“I actually read some research on it when I first met Samantha and looked into ghosts.”

I didn’t know that.

“What did you find out?” Uncle George asked.

“It has happened to other people before. I found two accounts on the Internet about it.”

“They were probably branded lunatics.”

“Oh yeah, one of them is currently a resident in a psychiatric facility.”

Uncle George laughed. “What were their stories?”

“Both were involved in car accidents and high on drugs and alcohol.”

Uncle George nodded. “I could never get her to stop or even slow down. She was always looking for a bigger high, a bigger thrill.”

“Sounds like Samantha,” Dodge agreed.

“Hey! Stop talking about me like I can’t hear you. It’s rude!” I said, although neither of them could hear me. It was damn aggravating!

“How did they get back into their bodies?” Uncle George asked.

Dodge shrugged. “They had no idea how or why.”

“Were they in a coma during the time they were gone from their bodies?” Uncle George asked.

“Neither of them was gone that long. They just left their bodies right before the car crashed, then got back in afterwards.”

“Is Samantha the only one who has left and not returned?”

“I couldn’t find anything about anyone who left their body for five years,” Dodge said.

“It’s just like Sammie to wander off and forget to get back into her body,” Uncle George scoffed.

“I guess she was having too much fun being a ghost,” Dodge chuckled.

Then Uncle George started laughing and Dodge joined him. Okay, it was kind of funny, but I didn’t like the two of them laughing at me.

Dexter came in carrying two huge sandwiches and handed one to Dodge. “What are you laughing about? A disembodied soul is not a laughing matter.”

The room went silent immediately.

Dexter continued, “We’ve got to get her back into her body before her body dies, right?”

Uncle George and Dodge nodded.

Dexter took a big bite of his sandwich. “Can’t we just reconstruct the circumstances that caused her essence to take a walk?”

“Fill her with drugs and alcohol and have her crash her car?” Dodge asked.

“No.” Dexter shook his head. “Why do you think she went wandering around the world?”

“The car crash,” Uncle George said.

“No, that’s why she got out of her body. My question is why did she stay out?”

Dodge looked at Uncle George. He looked at me. Then both men looked at Dexter and shrugged.

“From what I read about Samantha Gerald,” Dexter glanced my way, “she was all about experiencing life, getting the biggest thrill, right?”

“Yes,” Uncle George and Dodge said in unison.

“She really didn’t give a damn about anything but herself, right?”

“No!” Both men said together.

Dexter shook his head. “I hate talking to people who are in love. Samantha was an egotistical, self-centered bitch.”

Dodge stood up but Dexter put his hand out. “Sit down, buddy. I’m just stating the obvious.”

“She might have been before, but she isn’t that way now,” Dodge told Dexter.

“That’s right!” I shouted. “How could he talk about me that way? I saved his life, doesn’t he remember that?”

“Let’s see, she had you for,” Dexter glanced at Uncle George, cupped his hands and whispered, “sex.”