Happily Never After by Bess George Page B

in self-destructive behavior. But he’d been one of the lucky ones. His family rallied around him and kicked his ass until he broke free of the cycle.
    Once off the booze and back in decent shape, a friend of his father’s decided to take a chance and offered him a job. That’s how he ended up in Redding. Now, there was nothing that would make him give this up.
    The police scanner interrupted his musings. Four Eight Zero at First and Broadway .
    He thrust his car door open and exploded into action. That was right down the street. Jogging down the sidewalk, he hustled past oblivious pedestrians. A small crowd had gathered on the next block, and he muscled his way through the gawkers.
    Long blond hair helped him recognize the victim at a glance, and he knelt beside Kelsey. His touch remained gentle while he ran his hands over her body searching for injury. Her eyes looked back at him, glassy from shock.
    “Are you all right? Be still. I’ve got you but don’t try to move,” he crooned to her.
    Her body resembled a piece of chalk, and he knew the pain would register once the shock wore off. Dazed eyes stared up at him. He placed one hand along the side of her too cold face.
    “An ambulance is on the way, Kelsey. You’re going to be okay.”
    She raised a shaky hand to grasp his shirt, and the strong grip surprised him. “Make him leave me alone.”
    Her frightened words shot adrenaline into him. “Who? Who won’t leave you alone? Did someone do this to you?” he demanded but she had retreated into her mind again.
    Uniformed officers informed him of the make and model of the car. They had already issued an APB. When the ambulance arrived a few moments later, they checked her vital signs and made sure she was okay to transport.
    All he could do was wait patiently as the medics did their probing. The EMT’s strapped on the oxygen mask and loaded her on a gurney. One of his hands reached out to stop them before they placed her in the back of the vehicle.
    “Don’t worry.” He pulled one of her limp hands into his. “I’ll be right behind you, and I’ll be there when you get to the hospital.”
    He stared at the vehicle as it sped away. The reality of what a close call she’d had shook him. She could be dead. He braced himself on his knees to calm the adrenaline still coursing through him. He straightened and strode away to get his car.
    It was time to be a cop.

Chapter 10
    Kelsey’s hip throbbed. She swallowed back the need to vomit. Tears threatened to fall, but she clamped her teeth together to keep from crying out when the ambulance bumped and swayed. Upon arrival, everyone moved so fast the details blurred in her pain fogged mind.
    Whisked into an examining room, the nurses removed her clothing to dress her in a gown. She held back a cry of dismay at the rips in her favorite suit. But, they were, after all, just clothes.
    The extent of her injuries was still unknown, so people moved in and out of the cubicle taking one test after another. A doctor came in to examine her and ordered an MRI for further evaluation because of the large bump on her head. The pain was intense, and her hip already displayed a nasty purple color. The nurse gave her something to reduce her discomfort.
    She hadn’t seen Bode since being taken for x-rays. He’d stuck by her side until they instructed him to leave. The techs ran the MRI and other tests the doctor had ordered. Meanwhile, her teeth chewed on her lower lip, and she replayed the accident over and over in her mind.
    This was all her fault. She had refused to admit that she wasn’t getting any better. In fact, considering that she was now being stalked by a dead man, her symptoms seemed to be growing worse. The hallucinations and nightmares weren’t going to disappear just because she moved to a new city. What a naive nitwit .
    Lying to herself was one thing, but she needed to be honest with David. She wasn’t capable of controlling these panic attacks.
    The exact