Book Five Sample: Amelia
Prologue
Another day livin’ the dream.
Restocking patient rooms in the clinic sucked, but oh, so necessary. Nothing like needing gauze and not being able to find it while someone spurted blood everywhere. Fortunately, the few stations that Amelia and her colleague Dr. Mosley had used today hadn’t been of the horror flick variety. It’d been the usual ailments that April brings; allergies, sinus infections, minor cuts and bruises, and one bloody nose. Lots of empty tissue boxes to replace, but none of the majors, thankfully. The warmth of Holbrook, Arizona made for a nice welcome home, but the tree pollen and ragweed had been off the charts this past week.
Don’t forget the sanitizer dispensers. Days like today made her want to bathe in the stuff. Yep, home sweet home.
She’d worked her ass off through high school, and it paid off bigtime when the scholarship offers came pouring in. She’d chosen Johns Hopkins in Maryland, and finished with flying colors. The job offers had been pretty much nonstop after passing her boards, but she’d always known she’d come back to Arizona to practice medicine. She wanted to make a difference for the people she knew in Holbrook; a small town full of people with big hearts.
Her boss, Dr. Eric Mosley, possessed a kind heart, but a terrible judge of character. He’d been married three times in the past five years, and didn’t have a nickle to his name. She thought he would have learned after the first divorce, or maybe the second one, but apparently he liked the punishment. He’d already started on Ex-Mrs. Mosley number four.
“Don’t forget the sanitizer dispensers,” Dr. Mosley called from the other room.
Amelia smiled. “Got it.” She almost had the first baggy of sanitizer in the dispenser when someone hammered on the glass up front loud enough to make her drop the bag.
“Geez-us!” she gasped. “About made me jump outta my pants!”
Dr. Mosley peeked his bald head around the corner. “You want me to get that?”
“No,” she replied, not sure if he meant the door or her pants. “I’ll tell them we’re closed.” She turned around and power walked past all six of the clinic’s patient rooms toward the reception area.
The hammering became more rapid.
“You’re gonna break the glass!” Amelia shoved through the swinging doors that separated the waiting room from the patient rooms, and then came to a dead stop. The choice four-letter word she had ready to fire off died on her lips.
A girl in her mid-to-late teens pounded on the glass, frantic and covered in blood. “Please, you have to help him. He needs help, now!” Two lines of mascara ran down her face like skid marks on a race track. The long, brown braids she wore had come loose in several places, giving her a homeless look.
Just when I thought nothing happens in this town. Amelia hurried over to the door. “Why didn’t you go to the ER?!”
“I don’t know!”
Typical answer from a panicked teen. Regardless, Amelia fished out her keys and unlocked the door.
“Thank you so much.” The girl ran back into the parking lot and grabbed hold of someone wobbling toward the door, “C’mon, Wyatt. It’s gonna be okay.”
A lanky, young cowboy came into view with a blood soaked towel wrapped around one arm, and open wounds on his neck and face. Dried blood matted his blond hair and covered one side of his face. Amelia helped them as they stumbled through the door. Once inside, Wyatt practically fell into one of the chairs in the reception area.
“Eric,” Amelia called over her shoulder. “You need to have a look at this.”
Dr. Mosley came out from around back. “You know we’re closed—” His eyes widened as he took in the scene. “Good Lord!” He rushed over. “Help me get him to a table.”
The three of them dragged Wyatt to one of the rooms in back. Eric’s face tightened with concern when he looked under the towel around the young man’s arm. It must have been bad for him to react like that. They’d seen their fair share of brutal injuries here at the clinic, but someone always seemed to come along with more gruesome wounds.
Eric glanced at Amelia. “Looks like you’ll get to show me more of that fancy stitching you learned at Hopkins.”
“I aim to please,” she said, trying to keep the situation light. The girlfriend looked on the verge of pulling her hair out. Amelia didn’t want to end up treating two people tonight. “What’s your name?”
“Sadie,” the girl replied, her eyes still on Wyatt.
“Can you give me a hand over here?” Amelia walked over to the supply cabinets. “We need a few things to prep Wyatt for the stitches.” Not standard procedure, but Sadie needed a distraction.
The fear-stricken girl followed her over and stood, continuing to look at her boyfriend.
“Can you tell me what happened?” Amelia asked, as she collected supplies.
“It happened so fast… I don’t know where to start.” Tears welled in Sadie’s already swollen eyes.
“It’s okay,” Amelia assured, pausing to put a hand on the girl’s arm. “You’re safe now.”
Sadie’s lower lip trembled, but she nodded.
“Do you remember where the attack took place?”
“Coming up Highway 77. We’d just left a party out on the flats. A guy stumbled into the road that didn’t look so good.” She began to cry again.
Eric glanced up from his work, questioningly.
Amelia gave him a negating gesture. Sadie had to get a hold of herself in her own way, and Wyatt needed more help than his girlfriend anyway.
“It’s my fault,” Sadie cried. “I told Wyatt to stop… to see if the guy needed help.”
Well, shit. That kind of guilt couldn’t be comforted with words from a stranger. “This guy in the road, he attacked Wyatt?”
Sadie nodded.
“Can you describe him?”
Sadie chewed on one of her fingernails, her eyes darting back and forth. “An older guy, his clothes all torn and bloodstained. He limped out into the middle of the road. He looked hurt, that’s why I had Wyatt stop.”
“I see.” Amelia continued to pat Sadie’s arm. “Why don’t we go out to the waiting room, and I’ll call the sheriff.”
“What about Wyatt?”
“He’ll be okay,” Amelia reassured, though he didn’t appear to be doing well. “Dr. Mosley’s an excellent physician.”
“Best in the county,” Eric bragged. He then looked at Amelia. “Once you get her settled, I’ll need your help here.”
“Sure thing,” she said, escorting Sadie to the waiting area. She sat the girl down next to the receptionist’s desk, and then took a seat behind the computer. She made a quick call to the sheriff’s office to let them know someone had been attacked. They informed her they would send someone over shortly. She focused her attention back to Sadie. “Were you hurt?”
Sadie shook her head slowly. “No. Wyatt told me to stay in the car while he checked on the man. I only started to get out when I heard Wyatt scream.”
“Okay,” Amelia replied, as she opened up a new patient file. “What’s Wyatt’s full name?”
“Davison, Wyatt Davison.”
Amelia entered his name, and asked Sadie the standard questions: address, phone number, insurance, and if she knew if he was allergic to anything. Of which, she only knew his address and phone number. “Looks like we’ll need Wyatt’s wallet. You just sit and relax, I’ll get it.”
Sadie didn’t respond, but stayed put when Amelia went back to join Eric.
“Good,” Eric said, glancing up at her. “We need to stop this bleeding.”
“What’s going on?” she asked, as she pulled on some rubber gloves.
“The radial artery in his upper forearm has been severed. I’ve got a hold of it, but it’s still seeping.”
No wonder the kid’s so pale. She noticed that Wyatt had passed out. “I’ll get a clamp.”
“There’s one on the other side of me.”
Amelia leaned around Eric and grabbed the clamp, but before she could compress the artery Wyatt started convulsing.
“Oh, shit!” Eric’s fingers slipped off the vein, and he scrabbled to get hold of it.
Wyatt bucked wildly, thrashing his arms about, knocking the doctor back. The clang and clatter of metal containers hitting the floor accompanied Eric’s fall.
“Hold him down!” he cried.
Amelia tried to jump on top of Wyatt, but caught a wild hand to the face for her effort. Tiny lights danced across her vision as she stumbled away, grimacing in pain. “Shit!”
Dr. Mosley struggled to his feet and managed to hold the flailing boy on the table. Wyatt frothed at the mouth, his eyes rolling back into his head.
Amelia shook off the effects of the blow, and rushed to the refrigerator for a shot of lorazepam. She stripped the syringe out of its packaging and joined Dr. Mosley. “Help me with his arm!” Together, she and Eric pinned Wyatt down and administered the shot.
Wyatt continued to struggle, the lorazepam having no effect.
“What’s happening?” Sadie stood in the doorway with a hand over her mouth in shock. “Wyatt!”
The young man suddenly went rigid, and blood began pouring from his ears and nose.
Amelia leaned close to Wyatt’s mouth. “He’s not breathing!” She put her head on his chest. “V-fib!”
“We’re losing him!” Eric pulled out the defibrillator.
Amelia ripped Wyatt’s shirt open and stepped back.
“Clear!” Dr. Mosley hit Wyatt with a charge.
The young man’s body surged, but his heart still only quivered.
“Clear!” Eric tried again.
This time Wyatt went completely limp.
Eric pressed his hand against the young man’s throat. “Damit!” He hopped up on the table and began CPR. “Get me the Epinephrine!”
Amelia ran to the cabinet, and grabbed another syringe. “Here!”
Dr. Mosley took the needle and jabbed into Wyatt’s chest, and then continued CPR.
Amelia pressed her hand to the side of Wyatt’s neck.
Nothing.
She let Eric continue CPR for another few minutes before shaking her head.
Dr. Mosley stopped, breathless. He looked up at the ceiling for a moment, and then at Sadie. “I’m sorry, he’s gone.”
“Oh, Wyatt,” the girl cried. She slid down the door frame and wept.
Amelia pulled her gloves off. She’d seen people die before, but that didn’t make it any easier to witness, and by the frown on Eric’s face, he struggled with it too. His genuine empathy for his patients made up for the bad judgement he practiced so often. He cared about people’s well being as much as she did, which made him okay in her book.
“C’mon, Sadie,” Amelia said, as she walked over to the girl. “Let’s go in the other room.”
Sadie got to her feet with some help, and went with Amelia. “We’ll need to call his parents. Do you know their number?”
“It’s on his cell... in the car.”
“You have his keys?”
The girl nodded. She dug them out of her pocket, and handed them over without a word.
“Okay, sit tight. I’ll be right back.” Amelia got up and went outside. She walked over to the only vehicle not familiar to her, a Dodge Ram 1500. The passenger door was ajar, which also proved a pretty good sign the truck belonged to Wyatt. She crawled in and found a phone on the dash. The cover had a bull rider in mid-ride on the back. Yeah, this is his. She headed back inside.
Once Amelia got closer to the entrance, she realized that Sadie was no longer in her chair. In fact, the girl couldn’t be seen anywhere. Amelia pulled the door open. “Sadie, where are—”
The sound of medical instruments and trays hitting the floor accompanied a scream from the patient area. “Get him off me!” Eric yelled.
“I’m trying!” Sadie sounded panicked.
Fear raced through Amelia as she ran toward the sounds of struggle. She came to a juddering halt at seeing Wyatt up and moving around. “What the hell?” That can’t be. He’s dead, she thought, in stunned silence.
The undead teenager had Dr. Mosley pinned against the cabinets, raking at him furiously. Sadie clung to Wyatt’s back, and yanked on his shoulders in vain. Wyatt beat through Eric’s defenses and clamped his teeth down on the doctor’s neck.
Eric screamed in agony, as the dead man tore out a chunk of his throat. Blood sprayed everywhere, covering the cabinets and wall. The three of them fell to the floor, still struggling.
Amelia staggered forward, still shocked. Time seemed to slow, as she made her way to the counter and pulled a scalpel out of the drawer. Eric’s life spilled out onto the floor, while Wyatt continued to gnaw away, Sadie screaming uselessly. The sight made Amelia nauseous, but she walked up to the wrestling trio, and batted Sadie aside. Amelia’s hand raised as if it belonged to someone else. Dagger clenched tightly in her raised fist, she began stabbing Wyatt repeatedly.
“What are you doing?” Sadie asked in horror.
Amelia didn’t respond, she just continued to stab Wyatt. Only small amounts of blood pooled from each wound, which she found odd... actually, the fact that she even thought of such a thing seemed odd. I must be in shock. Shit, I’m beyond shocked. I’m totally freaked out.
“Stop it!” Sadie yelled. “You’re killing him!”
“He’s already dead!” Something snapped inside Amelia. Her mind came rushing into the present. The fog of shock evaporated in the blink of an eye. She focused on Wyatt’s back. There must have been a dozen stab wounds, and yet, he hadn’t stopped his attack on Eric. The cowboy hadn’t even acknowledged her presence, or Sadie’s for that matter. What the fuck is happening?
Eric only twitched now, no fight left in him.
So much blood. Amelia screamed in rage, and slammed the scalpel into the side of Wyatt’s head. The blade shattered against his skull, but the handle sank deep into his brain.
Wyatt groaned, and then fell over, unmoving.
“Is he dead?” Sadie asked, slowly crawling over.
Amelia ignored her, and dragged the body off of Dr. Mosley. “Eric!”
His eyes stared up at the ceiling, empty. The blood had stopped flowing out of the gaping hole in his neck, all of it now pooled on the floor.
“Hello?” a familiar voice called from the front. “Amelia? You still here?”
David. Amelia got to her feet, tears welling in her eyes. “Back here.”
Officer David Frye came in through the doorway. Average height and broad shouldered, he was a comforting sight, despite their history. “They told me you guys had an assault victim—” His hand went to his sidearm after seeing the two dead men, but he didn’t draw the weapon. “Holy shit!” He moved into the hallway, glancing in each patient room as he did. “Are you two all right?”
“He’s dead!” Sadie cried. She curled up next to Wyatt and pointed at Amelia. “She killed him!”
Officer Frye frowned, looking at Amelia. “Come again?” The rankled expression on his face reminded her of what he looked like back in high school when he appeared half confused and half pissed off.
“He attacked Eric,” Amelia replied. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
David walked over to the two bodies, and squatted down to look at Eric. “Man, that’s bad.”
“Aren’t you going to arrest her?” Sadie asked.
Jesus, you little bitch, Amelia thought. “I didn’t have much choice, Sadie.”
“Yes you did! You could have knocked him out or something... you didn’t have to kill him!”
“He was already dead, dammit!” Amelia couldn’t hold back her anger and fear anymore.
“Hang on a minute,” David said, getting to his feet. His dark eyes scanned Amelia intently. “What are you saying?”
“The kid flatlined just after I called your office.” She returned his scrutinous eye. “He was dead, David.”
His brow rose in that patronizing way she always hated. “He could have had drugs—”
“No!” Amelia interrupted. “I know what I saw.”
“Really, a guy coming back from the dead?”
“Don’t be an asshole. I’m a doctor, remember?”
David raised his hands. “So, resurrection is part of medical practice now?”
Times like this reminded her why they broke up. “Look, I know it sounds crazy, but the kid died on that table.” She pointed to the wreckage where Wyatt’s body had been. “A rare disease maybe. I don’t know, but I intend to find out.”
“So you’re not going to arrest her?” Sadie asked.
“Shut up!” David and Amelia barked in unison.
“Wyatt wasn’t dead and he didn’t do drugs!” Sadie screamed at them. “He wouldn’t hurt anyone!”
“Tell that to Eric!” Amelia shouted back.
David sighed. “Okay, let’s all calm down and go into the other room.” He helped Sadie off the floor and escorted the two women into the front area.
The place seemed more than just empty now. Eric’s murder made it feel hollow. He’d been the lifeblood of the clinic—the beating heart. Amelia had earned her place as his partner in health care, but Eric had been the one to push for the clinic’s opening initially. Death had claimed more than Dr. Mosley. The clinic itself seemed a dark shell of its previous self.
I can’t believe this is happening. Amelia rubbed her eyes, fighting back the tears.
David took a seat next to Sadie. “What happened before you got to the clinic? I was told there’d been an attack.”
The young woman nodded, and began to tell Officer Frye her story. Amelia listened halfheartedly, as she’d heard the tale already, but the mention of Wyatt being bitten made her wonder about the wound on his arm and if the teenager had indeed been exposed to some strange disease.
“I’ll be right back,” Amelia said, standing. David gave her a concerned glance as she walked back to the patient area, but he remained with Sadie.
Amelia tried not to look at the bodies while gathering supplies to take a blood sample; she didn’t think she could handle seeing Eric’s corpse again. Her peripheral vision did enough to remind her of what had happened. Focusing more on the syringe in her hand than the gory scene or Wyatt’s heinous injury, she knelt down and inserted the needle directly into the bite wound. She drew as much blood as she could and then, with a new syringe, did the same with Dr. Mosley’s neck injury.
Her gaze drifted to Eric’s face. His dead eyes stared up at the ceiling, blood seeping from the corners. She looked away, squeezing her own eyes shut in an attempt to banish the horrid image of her friend. I’m so sorry, Eric. If only I had reacted sooner, or not let them through the door to begin with. You’d still be alive. She wiped the tears away with the back of her hand. Pull it together Dr. McBride, it’s gonna be a long night. She turned back to Eric to close his eyelids. It was the least she could do. When she looked down at him, his dead, milky pupils shifted to meet hers. She gasped.
He lurched up, grabbing her wrist.
Amelia screamed. “David!” She tried to yank her arm free, but couldn’t break Eric’s steely grasp. He pulled her closer, mouth agape.
“David!” she rammed a hand against Eric’s throat, stiff-arming the ravenous ghoul.
Dr. Mosley swung his other arm around, clamping a vice-like grip onto her shoulder.
“Help!” she cried. Her arm began to buckle under the force and power of Dr. Mosley’s unrelenting strength. The rankness of his breath filled her nostrils as his gaping maw inched ever closer.
Another set of strong hands tore her free of the deadly grapple. “What the hell?” David asked.
Amelia didn’t answer—couldn’t answer. She scrambled backward across the blood-covered floor as far away from undead Eric as she could get. Her heart hammered so hard she could hear and feel the beat throbbing against her eardrums. This can’t be happening.
Eric struggled to his feet, expelling air in the form of deep groans as he bent and twisted.
“Stay down Dr. Mosley,” David ordered, using an authoritative tone. “I don’t want to hurt you.” He pulled the taser from his belt.
Eric paid no heed to David’s warning, and rushed forward. David fired the taser, which had no effect on the charging creature that used to be Eric. The two men collided, Eric bowling David over. They came to sliding halt right at Amelia’s feet. Eric chomped at David’s face, who held him at bay with his forearms.
“Get off me!” David yelled.
Déjà vu struck Amelia as she watched David and Eric struggle. This time she wasn’t going to watch another person she knew die. Screaming in fear and rage, she kicked Eric’s corpse in the head. Over and over, her heel bashed into the side of his face, until David finally threw him off.
“Get out of here, Amelia!” David ordered, as he got to his feet.
Amelia didn’t argue. She bolted for the doorway once regaining her own feet, only to slam into Sadie, who’d come in from the other room.
“Hey!” Sadie yelled, stumbling back. “What the—” Her question cut short as she caught sight of Eric. “Not again!”
“Yes, again,” Amelia answered. “Now move!” She took hold of the girl and shoved into the front room.
David backed in behind them, pointing his gun. “Stop Eric! I don’t want to shoot you!”
As much as Amelia hated it, she knew what had to be done. “Shoot him, David.”
“I can’t just open fire on a civilian!” David yelled.
“He’s trying to kill us!” She couldn’t see Eric, but she could hear his groaning from the other room. “You have to shoot.”
“I know him, dammit!”
Sometimes Amelia forgot how endearing he could be, and that he wasn’t just the ex-boyfriend that had broken her heart. “So do I, David, but you have to shoot.”
A hissing screech echoed from the patient area, and then Eric bolted out of the doorway. He didn’t look like Eric anymore. The enraged snarl, and blood covered clothes had turned the once Dr. Mosley into a deranged madman. He charged David like a rabid animal.
The sound of David’s pistol deafened Amelia as he fired three quick shots. She and Sadie covered their ears, though a bit late.
Another shot sounded, but Eric continued his charge.
“The head!” Amelia bellowed. “Shoot him in the head!”
David adjusted his aim as Eric descended upon him. The gun thundered one more time, dropping Eric like a stone and putting an abrupt end to the attack.
The three of them stood in silence, staring at Dr. Mosley’s body. Amelia half expected him to get up again, and proclaim it had all been a sick joke, but deep down, she knew what she’d seen to be real. She knew Eric was dead.
David holstered his sidearm. “I’m going to have to call this in. I’ll need statements from both of you.” He’d gone on automatic pilot, his police training taking over.
Amelia gripped the two vials of blood in her hand tightly. She had her own calls to make. The CDC would need to know about this. Hopefully they could supply a rational explanation as to what happened here tonight. If not, Amelia would do everything in her power to find one of her own.