Uninvited: A Paranormal Urban Fantasy Novel (The Dark Skies Trilogy Book Two) by Lysa Daley Page A

unusual hospital I’ve ever seen. About half of the beds are filled, each with different species of aliens. The one common denominator between them is that they all seem pretty human.
    If I hadn't just been to the Gathering, where I saw a crazy assortment of alien beings, this might be a whole lot weirder. And, of course, there’s Tom. So, I know aliens come in all shapes and sizes.
    After all, under my skin, I don't look exactly 100% human either.
    When I ask the nun wearing pink scrubs if they have any less human aliens, she says, “Oh yes! We're quite lucky to have one of the best space critter docs in the whole galaxy working with us.”
    “Space critters?” I repeat. “Is that what you call them?”
    She winks. “No sugar, that’s just what I call them. It’s officially called the Non-humanoid Recuperation Center.”
    Actually, the patient who seems the most out of place in this ward looks entirely human. When I first arrived, he was asleep, but while I'm reading a magazine, he’s awake and making a funny repetitive tick with his face.
    “Oh hello, girlie,” the man says, seeing me glancing his way. “Are you one of the new students?”
    “Oh. Uh. No, I’m just visiting.”
    “The name’s Ray,” he says with a toothy smile. “Thought maybe you were one of the kids who goes to school here.”
    Ray looks like he's maybe 35 years old, but it’s clear he's lived the hard life. Wrinkles line his tanned face, and his big hands are chapped from some form of manual work. Something makes me think he's a farmer or fisherman.
    “Hey, Ray,” I reply. “I’m Astrid.”
    “I have a bug in my head,” he tells me.
    “I’m sorry to hear that.” I’m not sure if he’s kidding or not. “What kind of bug?”
    “Oh, you know, the same one everyone’s got crawling around up there. That why you’re here too?”
    “No, I’m here with my uncle. They just brought him in now.”
    “The big blue guy? He’s your uncle?” Ray’s eyes narrow.
    I keep forgetting my uncle is currently a huge blue alien.
    “He’s not my actual blood uncle. But he raised me from the time I was a little girl, so I call him uncle.”
    “Gotcha.” Ray picks up a heart-shaped candy box sitting on his bedside table. “Would you like a turtle?”
    “A turtle?” I’m afraid he has real turtles in the candy box, but as he removes the lid I see he means the chocolate, pecan and caramel turtles. “My kids gave them to me. I think they're worried about my surgery. Have one with me, please.”
    I take a bite of a nice fat piece. It's delicious. “These are really good.”
    Ray takes one too. “They're taking the bug out of my head tomorrow. It's a pretty tricky surgery. But I got a good feeling about it. If Dr. Maggie thinks she can do it, then I believe she can.”
    As if on cue, Dr. Maggie glides around the corner, stopping in her tracks when she sees us eating the turtles. “Ray! You know you're not supposed to eat 12 hours before your surgery.”
    “I'm sorry, Doc,” Ray says, quickly chewing and swallowing his turtle. “Just trying to be welcoming to Miss Astrid here.”
    Dr. Maggie confiscates the heart-shaped box. “I'm taking these to the nurses’ station, and you can have them back after your surgery.”
    “You know as well as I do those fat nuns are going to eat all of my candy.”
    “That’s not nice, Ray,” Dr. Maggie says as she walks away. “And I personally promise they will not eat your candy.”
    When she’s gone, Ray turns to me and asks, “So your uncle one of them good aliens or bad aliens?”
    “He's a good alien.”
    “What happened to him?”
    “He got stabbed by one of the bad aliens.”
    “Them evil ones put the bug in my head.”
    “I'm sorry to hear that.”
    “Well, pleasure to meet you, Astrid.” Ray yawns. “Come back tomorrow after my surgery and I'll give you another turtle.”
    “Nice to meet you too,“ I say as Ray closes his eyes. “And I'll see you tomorrow for that