Page 60 of Ghost's Obsession

“Yes, that’s me. Sarah called me to come in for a new blood draw.”

She looks down at her paperwork. “Right. You’re here for the redraw. Just sign in and we’ll get you right back.”

Brittany leans over the counter with a smile. “I’m her emotional support human.”

The receptionist laughs a bit uncomfortably. “Wish every patient had one.”

I scribble my name on the clipboard and take a seat. Brittany plops down next to me and starts scrolling through her phone.

The way the receptionist is so stiff and keeps looking towards the back. She catches my eye and then looks meaningfully towards the front door.

Before I can work out why she did that, a nurse appears in the side doorway leading to the back rooms where they do blood draws. She’s wearing scrubs and her expression is totally blank, no smile, no nothing.

“Heather? They’re ready for you,” she states in a polite monotone, stressing the word they.

I frown, thinking my mind is playing tricks on me. When I come to my feet Brittany stands and starts to follow, but the nurse stops her gently, by raising one hand. “Sorry. Only patients are allowed in the back. Clinic’s enforcing a new safety policy.”

Brittany hesitates, eyes flicking to mine. “What kind of safety policy? Is something unsafe going on here today?”

“Of course not. We had an instance of someone interfering with our hygiene protocols and the office manager instituted a patients-only rule until our owners can come up with a new policy.” I turn to Brittany.

“I’ll be back in a flash,” I promise. “Ten minutes, right?”

“Probably less,” the nurse says with a sigh. “It’s just a redraw.”

I follow the nurse down the hallway. She’s not the one I talked to on the phone. I wonder where Sarah is as I try to shake the unease clinging to my spine. The hallway is quiet, butthen again, it is normally fairly quiet. This time there are no ringing phones, chatter from behind the closed exam doors, or employees walking around.

I glance around. “Where’s everyone else today? It’s usually busier than this.”

The nurse murmurs, “They’re all doing their jobs as best they can under the circumstances.”

All I can think about is what circumstances? At this point, my Spidey senses are starting to go off, big time. We reach a door. She opens it and gestures for me to enter.

“Make yourself comfortable. The phlebotomist will be with you shortly.”

Just when I’m starting to second-guess myself, she steps out of the room, shuts the door, and locks it. I can tell because I hear the distinct sound of the lock turning. My stomach drops.

“Oh my God. What is going on here?” I mumble to myself. I rush to the door and turn the knob. Sure enough, it’s locked. This isn’t making any sense, but my mind is scrambling to come up with reasons why they may have locked the door.

That’s when Carnage steps out from behind a privacy screen, wearing a pale-blue scrub jacket over a black shirt. It’s still strange to see him with short hair and no beard. The man has a weirdly weak chin. He’s also wearing glasses. Wire-rimmed ones, clearly meant to make him appear nerdy and harmless. But his gray eyes are just as cold and emotionally vacant as I remember.

My blood runs cold, and I start moving away from him until my back hits the door. I want to tell him to get away from me and my baby, but the words won’t come.

“Took you long enough,” he barks impatiently. “But I’m glad you came.”

“I don’t understand. Why did you do all this? What do you want?”

My heart is pounding so hard it sounds like roaring in my ears. Carnage doesn’t move closer or try to grab me. He lifts his chin, “Why do you think? I wanted to find out why you ran out on me instead of talking to me. What did I do to scare you off?”

“You were controlling, shoved me around, threatened me, and even had your hand around my throat at one point.”

“You weren’t easy to live with either, you know.” When he rolls his shoulders, I realize the scrub jacket he’s wearing is too small for him and likely uncomfortable. “If I did something you didn’t like, you should have told me. Instead, you ran out on me with my baby in your belly. Why did you change your number?”

“Why do you think? Because I was, and still am, afraid of you.”

“Is that why you got cozy with some biker trash from the Savage Legion?”

“You were Savage Legion yourself at one time,” I state quietly.

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