Free The Accidental Witch by Jessica Penot Page B

bookshelf had fallen over and all the books had spread out across the floor. The spell book was on top of the pile and it was open. I glanced at the spell on the open page and shivered. It was an awakening spell. It was a spell to awaken a witch to the spirit world around her. I closed the book and pushed the bookshelf back up against the wall. It would take too long to put the books away, so I left them and went back to bed.
     

C HAPTER 3
    O PEN S ESAME
    The next day, I expected everything to be better. I expected things to work as easily as they had worked the first time I had built a candle garden, but as soon as I saw Candy screaming at the nurses, I could tell something had gone wrong. The nurses that day were Emma and Sandra and they were two of our better nurses. They worked hard and got the job done. The only bad thing that could be said about them was that they liked to gossip. When things were quiet on the floor, they would talk so loud, you could hear the director’s secrets all the way at the ER. I pretended to be above this, but secretly, I loved it.
    Apparently, Candy didn’t love the gossip. She was yelling as loud as she could and her face was red with the effort that came with her screaming. In fact, she looked so red and breathless, I half expected her to explode.
    “What’s going on, Candy?” I asked in my therapist calming voice.
    “This bitch won’t give me my oxycodone. I’m in pain!” Candy shrieked.
    “Calm down for a minute,” I said softly. “You’re going to pass out. Just take three deep breaths.” Candy shook her head and opened her mouth to fight, but I cut her off. “No one is going to help you until you calm down.”
    Candy took her deep breaths and her face turned from alizarin crimson to a soft pink. Tears of frustration formed in her eyes.
    “Now listen,” I said softly. “You can leave if you want narcotics, but we won’t give them to you. You didn’t have them when you came in and there is no reason for you to have them now, and cursing at Sandy isn’t going to change that. Do you want my help finding a place to go? Do you want the doctor to get you stabilized on your medication so your moods are under control? Or do you want us to discharge you to the streets and see how things work for you there?”
    Candy took two deep breaths. “I want help,” she whispered.
    “Then take the meds you’ve been given and go eat your breakfast,” I said.
    Candy nodded and reached up to the counter to take her medication. She swallowed her pills and wheeled away.
    “Thanks for that,” Emma said. “I was just about to kill her.”
    “I can see why,” I said.
    “How are you doing?” Sandy asked. “I heard a rumor, but I know it can’t be true.”
    “What rumor is that?” I asked.
    “I heard that you and Dr. Becket are a thing,” she said with the devilish smile she got when she’d found a particularly delicious piece of gossip.
    I smiled and shrugged.
    “Nooo,” Sandy said in a southern accent that wrapped around the word like icing.
    “Yes,” I said.
    “Well, someone’s been busy,” Sandy said.
    “Shame on you,” Emma said with a delighted tone. “And you didn’t even tell us. That ain’t very nice, you know. How long ya’ll been going out?”
    “Less than a week,” I said.
    “That is one fine lookin’ man,” Emma said. “Does he look as good with his shirt off as he does with it on?”
    “Shame on you,” Sandy said, but you could tell she wanted me to answer.
    I leaned over. “He looks even better,” I said.
    “Damn,” Emma said. “If I weren’t a married woman, I would give you a run for your money, you know?” Emma was well over fifty and had grown children that were older than Dr. Becket, but that didn’t stop her from looking. She kept herself up pretty well. Her platinum blonde hair was always pretty and she had long fake nails with little hearts on them. She was always the first to comment on what a waste it was if a good looking