Suddenly Psychic (Glimmer Lake #1)(9)

The nurse looked up. “I don’t think so. You’re a lucky lady, that’s for sure.”

Robin smiled. The older woman was wearing the exact same uniform Robin remembered from when she’d been a child getting her tonsils out. A smart white cap perched on her head, and her crisp collar was neat at her throat. Her uniform read D. Hawkins.

“I didn’t know nurses even wore those anymore.” The older woman had probably worn the same uniform since she’d been a student nurse. Funny that they let her keep the hat. Robin was used to seeing nurses in scrubs.

“Wear what, honey?” The nurse kept looking through her chart. “Looks like they’re keeping you off the big painkillers for the moment. You having any headache? Body aches?”

“Body aches. Some headache, but just like I get when I’m really tired.” She touched her face. “Is my face bruised? I hit the airbag in the car pretty hard.”

“The what?” The nurse frowned. “You’re scheduled for a few more tests, but I want to check on these. I think Dr. McMurty might have written something down wrong.” She smiled. “That man. His handwriting is just awful.”

Robin frowned. “Doctor who? I think my doctor is named Patel.”

“Patel?” The nurse’s eyes went wide. “Never heard that one before.”

“Really?” Patel was a pretty common last name.

She patted Robin’s foot. “There’re so many doctors in and out of this hospital, I can hardly keep track. He must be new.”

“It’s a she.” Robin was confused. How did the nurse not remember the nice young doctor who looked like she’d barely graduated from high school? Maybe this nurse was one of those rotating nurses who filled in sometimes. That might explain the uniform.

She came closer to check her IV. Maybe Robin had hit her head harder than she realized. The nurse’s hands felt ice-cold. Then again, the air-conditioning in the hospital was ridiculous.

“Can I get another blanket?” Robin shivered.

“Sure thing.”

Robin felt slightly queasy. “I’m feeling a little nauseated.”

“When was the last time you ate?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Let me get you some juice, but I’ll let Doc McMurty know about that too.” She rearranged the pillows behind Robin but didn’t adjust the bed. “Maybe get you some pudding. Might be good for your tummy.”

Robin barely registered the words the nurse was saying. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Her eyes were fixed on a spot of red that had appeared on Nurse Hawkins’s crisp blue uniform. It was right below her pointed white collar.

The red grew darker. It spread.

“There’s something…” Robin couldn’t breathe. She felt like she was drowning again. Everything in the room was cold. Her heart was racing.

“What’s that, honey?” The nurse’s voice was muffled, as if Robin was hearing her from underwater.

“Your shirt.” Robin looked up.

All the color had leached from the woman’s face. The single red spot had been joined by another, brighter, scarlet stain.

“I don’t…” Robin’s voice was a whisper. “I don’t feel well.”

Nurse Hawkins frowned and her pale white forehead crinkled in concern. “I can see that. Let me run and get the doctor. I think you may need something for the pain after all.”

She turned to walk to the door, and Robin choked back a scream. On the back of her blue nurse’s uniform were two bloody wounds, one in the shoulder and one in the chest. Gunshots. She’d been shot. The blood was bright red, dripping down the back of her uniform, over the clean white belt, and onto her skirt. She moved toward the door, reached out, and walked straight through it.

Robin tore off the oxygen mask and screamed.





Dr. Patel was staring down at her, a tiny line marking the space between her perfectly groomed eyebrows. Robin let her gaze follow the doctor’s finger as instructed. She tried not to blink when the light flashed in her eyes.

“Your eyebrows are really great,” Robin muttered. “Do you do them yourself?”

“Oh no,” Dr. Patel said. “I do the threading thing.”

“Really? I tried that once, and it hurt like a mother. I decided to stick with wax.”

Dr. Patel smiled. “I’m used to it.” She shut off the light. “I definitely want to do an MRI. I’m a little worried that the oxygen deprivation was more severe than we originally thought.”

“You think I have brain damage because I saw a nurse walking around with bullet holes in her back?” Nurses had rushed into her room as soon as she’d started screaming, but it had taken hours before anyone listened to her.

Her parents were waiting in the hall while she talked with the doctor. Grace Lewis had finally put her foot down and raised holy hell with the staff until someone came and talked to her daughter about the strange incident.

“I don’t think you have brain damage.” Dr. Patel stepped back. “You suffered a near-drowning incident, and though it was likely a very short time, your brain was deprived of oxygen. It’s very common to have hallucinations after brain hypoxia. Add the trauma to that, and I’d be surprised if you weren’t seeing and hearing strange things.”