Read Online Angel of Mercy by Andrew Neiderman - Free Book Online Page A

blow you over like a feather,” she said.
    Tommy smiled.
    “Maybe you could.”
    “Of course, I could. Keep eating, Mr. Livingston, even if it’s just something you do mechanically.”
    Tommy nodded and lifted the spoon.
    “Yes, ma’am. I guess I do need someone like you around right now,” he confessed.
    “Of course you do. It’s what I do best, too.”
    “Oh? And what’s that exactly?”
    “Help grieving people deal sensibly with their grief.
    Faye says it’s a logical thing for a nurse’s sister to do, when you think about it. For hours and hours after she returns from her nursing work, she talks about her patients and the doctors and all that goes on.
    I’ve learned a lot about medicine and treating people just by sitting and listening to her.
    “And what is grief? Grief is like a sickness, like a disease. It debilitates, tears down the body, has symptoms like… like the flu.
    It fatigues you, rains your appetite, fills your stomach with butterflies.”
    “Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” Tommy said, impressed with how vehemently she spoke about it. He ate some more of the oatmeal and drank some of his coffee.
    “Grief over a lost loved one, especially a wife, turns grown men such as yourself into little boys again,” she continued. “Our daddy was like that. It got so I had to remind him to brush his teeth. I stood over him and forced him to eat, just like I’m hovering over you and forcing you to eat. He became forgetful, too, and left things everywhere.”
    “Sounds like he was quite along in years when your mother passed away.”
    “No. He was your age. Don’t underestimate what’s happened, Mr.
    Livingston. Your wife was a much bigger part of your life than you realize even now.”
    Tommy stared at her for a moment. She looked so confident and sounded so positive. He began to wonder more about this young woman. Where were she and her sister from? How long had they been in Palm Springs?
    What sort of a childhood had she and her sister had?
    “You’re from L.A.?”
    “Pacific Palisades, originally, but Faye and I have lived in a lot of places.”
    “Don’t say? You seem too young to have lived in too many places,” he said.
    “Faye’s work has taken us all over the country.”
    “How long you been here?”
    “A few months. I like it here,” she said quickly. “My father would have liked it here, too.”
    “What happened to him? After your mother’s passing, that is.”
    “He…”
    “Yes?”
    “Took his own life eventually,” she said and looked away. She sighed and turned back to him with a soft smile. “It was sad, but I understood.”
    Tommy continued to gaze at her for a moment. He had half suspected something like this. “How did he…?”
    “He swallowed a bottle of sleeping pills. But when Faye and I found him…”
    “Yes?”
    “He was smiling. My mother must have been waiting for him, don’t you think?”
    For a long moment, Tommy said nothing. Then he shook his head.
    “I’m afraid I don’t believe in much after this life,” he replied finally.
    Susie was devastated. She sat back aghast.
    “But if you don’t believe in anything after… how will you ever…”
    Tommy looked up sharply.
    “Ever what?”
    “Be with your wife again?”
    “I don’t expect I will,” he confessed and rose from his seat, obviously anxious to end this topic. “Thanks for preparing my breakfast. I’d better go call some of these people back,” he said referring to the list. Susie watched him go to the den to use the phone and then she rose slowly.
    “It’s just his way of dealing with his sorrow,” she muttered. “He didn’t mean it. Daddy would never have said anything like that.
    “Never.”
    She brought the dishes to the sink and thought for a moment. Then she turned and stared angrily after Tommy Livingston.
    “She’s waiting for you. You can’t leave her waiting.
    You won’t,” she vowed, and she vigorously sponged down the bowl, the glass, and the cup as