Free Love Is in the Air by Carolyn McCray Page B

brought out the tiniest of vials. It seemed cut from a glacier, and it sparkled in the low light.
    “Of all the essences that blood holds, love is the most potent. Its use is rare, but irreplaceable…” As he looked at the vial, his face clouded over. “It has been empty too long.”
    Tyr extended his hand to her, as he had done in that crimson hallway and again to the baby boy. “May I?”
    Without thinking, Sal placed her wrist in his palm, this time knowing what came next. “Of course.”
    “You must think of him. Feel in all the ways you love him as you speak his name.”
    Which became difficult, since Tyr’s warmth stirred a longing she hadn’t known possible. Sal didn’t rattle easily. Yet, she stood trembling at his touch. Sal had to close her eyes in order to even picture her fiancé.
    Richard was shorter, slimmer, and you couldn’t smell the testosterone on him. But that’s not what Tyr had asked.
    What was the single, most appealing characteristic that she could name about Richard? The answer came in the form of their captivity. They wouldn’t have been trapped in the office if her fiancé hadn’t been so concerned about her that he searched her out. If he didn’t measure up in any other way, Richard did love her.
    “Richard Updike.”
    This time, the blade cut sharply into her flesh and each drop of blood stung as it fell from her skin into the vial. Tyr tenderly fit the crystal stopper as he met her eyes.
    “Even though you shall remember none of this once we are parted, I shall be eternally grateful.”
    Sal knew that Tyr might be right, but only partially. At night, in her dreams, the worst memories would return. Those flashes of the death and despair would haunt her, and she wouldn’t even remember why.
    She glanced through the blinds. Richard and the nurse were moving off. In just a few moments, Sal would be left with the sight of Maria’s dead eyes forever. If knowing all that she had learned didn’t lessen the pain, why keep such a memory for an eternity?
    “I know I told you not to…” She didn’t even know how to ask. “But is there any way to make me forget? All of it?”
    Tyr’s lips turned downward. “I am bound by my promise.”
    “I release you.”
    To Sal’s surprise, Tyr’s hand slipped under her hair to grasp the back of her neck. He pulled her close, so close she both feared and thrilled at the idea that he would kiss her. Their bodies pressed so close together that the leather lapel of his coat dug into her skin. Breath mingling, Sal didn’t know if she’d rebuff or accept his advance.
    Instead, he brought his palm to her forehead. “Forget.”

CHAPTER 26
    “Sal! What are you doing up here?” Richard asked as he rushed over.
    But she wasn’t sure where she was, let alone what she was doing. The last thing she remembered was charting. “I was just…”
    As Richard pulled her into a hug so tight that he nearly squeezed the breath from her, Sal heard a baby’s cry, then another. Glancing around, she realized she was up on the peds ward. Over his shoulder, she spotted the NICU. What was she doing up here?
    Then she found the chart in her hand. Dimitri Rollins.
    “Hey, that’s one of ours,” the nurse announced, snatching the metal-backed record from her.
    They both looked at her, but she had no idea how where she had gotten it. Near panic, she spouted the first lie she thought of. “I was just checking on a patient.”
    The nurse studied the chart. “There are orders here for a CT scan stat, but I can’t read who wrote them.”
    Richard glanced over. “That’s Sal’s writing.”
    Again, they both looked at her for answers she simply didn’t have.
    Granted, something nagged at the back of her mind. Like she had forgotten to turn off the stove or lock her car in the Filmore district.
    “I didn’t realize we’d asked for an ER consult,” the nurse said with as much condescension as she could pack into the words.
    Her fiancé raised an eyebrow.