Page 28 of Dark Visions (Strange Gifts #1)

Krauss felt the vibration of his cell phone in his pocket but ignored it. He was checking the breath sounds of a two-year-old who was struggling with bronchitis. Her tiny body was hot to the touch, her temperature reading at one hundred and one. She let out a small hoarse cry that nearly broke his heart.

“It’s alright, angel. Everything will be alright,” he cooed.

“She’s just been so sick, and her pediatrician told us to just bring her here. The antibiotics don’t seem to be helping,” said the worried mother. She was young, as was the father, but they both seemed genuinely concerned for their child.

“Well, I’m glad you brought her in when you did. She’s quite sick right now, but we’ll have her fixed up in no time,” he said, smiling down at the little girl, “won’t we, sweetheart?” She gave a weak, faint smile, and his heart nearly melted.

“Thank you, Dr. Krauss,” said the father, reaching for his hand.

“Andrew will get you all set. We’ll admit her for a few days, pump some heavy-duty antibiotics into her and get some breathing treatments started. Once we’re able to get her temperature down, she’ll feel more like eating, and that should help.” The grateful parents nodded again, her mother picking up the child and hugging her close to her chest.

Krauss handed Andrew the set of orders and walked toward the lounge, where he sat to check his phone. Three missed calls from Deborah and one from his brother. He hit redial and heard the exhausted voice of his brother.

“Hello.”

“Hey, I saw you called. What’s up?” he asked.

“I was arrested.”

“What?!” he said, shocked. A large pit formed in his stomach.

“Yea, it’s nuts. Someone, someone gave an anonymous tip that I killed these people. It was, shit, it was awful.” He could hear the strain and confusion in his brother’s voice, and his stomach bottomed out.

“That’s crazy! You’d never hurt anyone!”

“Says my brother,” he grinned on the other end of the phone.

“Do you want to meet for dinner tonight?” he asked.

“That would be great,” he breathed with a sigh of relief. “I could really use your support tonight.”

“Of course,” he said, standing as the nurse entered the room, indicating he had another patient. “The usual place?”

“Sounds good,” he said. “And Michael? Thank you. I know things have been strained for a while, maybe the word is different for us, but I miss my big brother.”

“I miss you too, Christopher. See you tonight.”

He ended the call and followed the nurse down the corridor to another waiting patient. This one was an adult who had stepped on a piece of lumber with a rusty nail protruding from it. A simple cleaning of the wound and a tetanus shot was all that was needed. A motor vehicle wreck came in moments later, sending the quiet calm of the emergency room into complete distress.

Three hours later, when he had time to breathe, he hit redial.

“It’s about time you called, baby,” said the seductive voice. “I have some fun planned for tonight.”

“I can’t,” he said resolutely. In fact, he thought, I can’t ever do this again. I won’t risk my brother’s career and life.

“You can,” she said calmly, “and you will.”

“Don’t threaten me, Deborah,” he said casually. “I won’t hesitate to tear you apart.” He had no remorse in his voice at all, no regret.

“But I’m certain this is the couple,” she said sweetly. “I’ve done my research.”

“You haven’t done any research at all, Deborah. You and I both know that. You never do your research. You’re just a sick, twisted human being. Don’t call me again. I’m done.” He ended the call and immediately deleted her number, blocking it as well, from his phone.

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