Free Seeking Asylum by Mallory Kane Page A

doors through the main hallways gleamed with polish, accenting their high, ornate glass transoms. Long draperies hung to the hardwood floors and accented the rows of paned windows.
    In contrast to the main corridors, the back halls were dull and shabby. They were used to transport meal carts and trash bins.
    Stepping past bags of trash, Rachel headed west toward the neurology wing. Passing a cleaning woman pushing a mop and bucket, Rachel stopped at the elevator lobby, about twenty feet from the nurses’ station.
    She was facing the main hall of the neurology wing. It was after eleven. Most of the patients would be asleep. Gracie had just come on duty, and if she were following her usual routine, she’d be in the medication room, counting the narcotics.
    Rachel slipped down the hall, trying to think of a plausible excuse for being here if Gracie caught her. Neither Dr. Patel nor Dr. Metzger had specifically told her she was banned from the neurology ward, but the implication had been obvious.
    The counter in front of the nurses’ workstation was deserted. The door to the medication room was ajar and thelight was on. Rachel let out a careful sigh of relief. Gracie was right where Rachel had expected her to be.
    Carefully, quietly, Rachel slipped up the hall to Room 3— Caleb’s room. The door was closed.
    With her hand on the door handle, Rachel considered the consequences of what she was about to do. If another nurse or an orderly were in Eric’s room, Rachel would be caught. Considering what Patel had said, she’d probably be fired.
    She took a deep, calming breath and pushed open the door. The room was dark, the only light coming from the night-lights above the bed.
    Eric lay still and pale, the sheets tucked neatly around his bare torso. His eyes were closed and his hands were at his sides.
    A pang of apprehension streaked through her. He looked so much like Caleb and yet so different. His dark lashes rested against his cheeks. His strong, stern mouth was relaxed.
    “Eric?” she whispered.
    He didn’t stir. How much sedative had they given him? She stepped closer and touched his forearm. The muscle under his sleek skin quivered and his eyelids twitched.
    She placed her mouth against his ear, trying to ignore the way his dark hair tickled her nose. “Eric. Please wake up.”
    Eric heard his name. Who was bothering him? The faint scent of something tart and sweet, something familiar, surrounded him.
    The voice that rang like a bell in his head called his name again. He opened his eyes.
    And blinked. Why was everything so hazy?
    “Eric. Thank God, you’re awake.”

    It was Rachel. He squeezed his eyes shut then opened them again.
    “Damn,” he whispered hoarsely. “What’d they do to me?” He coughed and tried to sit up.
    “Don’t move too fast. You’ve been sedated.”
    He fell back against the pillows. “Oh, yeah.” A fog still clouded his brain, but memories began to surface. He flexed his left arm, where he still felt the sting of the injection. “Damn big needle.”
    He licked his lips. His throat felt raw.
    Rachel picked up an insulated cup and held the straw for him to drink.
    “I can do it.” He reached for the cup but his fingers didn’t want to work.
    She put her hands over his and secured them around the cup.
    It was an automatic gesture, one she’d probably used a hundred times to help her patients, but her touch streaked through him, straight to his groin, and he felt himself stirring. He raised his drowsy gaze to hers. The damn sedative had lowered his natural defenses. Oddly it seemed to have increased his libido.
    Her eyes were sharp, assessing, but behind the physician’s scrutiny, there was something else. In the depths of her gaze was a sad look. Was it pity?
    He took a long swallow of water, shivering as the cold liquid hit his empty stomach.
    His head felt as heavy as a rock. He lay back against the pillows and closed his eyes. “What happened to that whopping dose of