Read Online No Time to Die by Kira Peikoff - Free Book Online Page A

him. No asinine doctor is going to mess with my kid”—he turned his fiery gaze at her—“even if you did ask for it.”
    She jumped to her feet, clenching her fists. “You think I asked to be born this way?”
    â€œEnough,” came a voice, low yet so steadfast that everyone froze. Gramps was standing without the aid of his cane, holding his palms out to signal quiet. Zoe had never seen him with such a severe expression, like that of a prison guard toward a delinquent. He spoke slowly to her father.
    â€œHow you raise your daughter is not my business—until you cross the line. I tried to respect your parenting, Stephen. I tried to back off like you wanted—” Her father made a motion to interrupt, but Gramps’s eyes narrowed. “Stop. Yes, I know I’m a guest in your house, but you know what? I don’t give a damn. That’s who I am, and if you don’t like it, throw me out. But over my dead body will I stand by and let you bully either of my girls.”
    He spoke with the authority of a judge, even as his hands were quivering, reaching for the steadiness of the couch. Pam rushed to hand him his cane and Zoe felt a sob rise up in her throat. Endless love poured through her. She looked at her father: He was sitting completely still, his lips pressed hard together.
    Gramps lowered himself back against his recliner. “Now that that’s out of the way,” he said, “we can get to the real issue. What you have failed to recognize”—he paused, looking at each of them—“is that Ray Carlyle is no fraud. Zoe, you’re a medical marvel.”
    Her mother looked frightened. “How—how can you be sure?”
    â€œEvery doctor knows his name, Pam. He’s a legend in the medical community. If this is what he told Zoe, I’d hang my life on it.” He looked at her with a small smile. “Darling, we weren’t expecting this, but what a relief! You’re not ill, you’re not dying.” He held out his arms and she rushed into them from her lonely perch. She buried her face against his shoulder and he wrapped his gaunt arms around her. It felt ineffably good to be held.
    Pam cleared her throat, taking her husband’s hand. Her face had drained to ashen pale. “So this is for real?”
    Zoe pulled away from Gramps and nodded. “He said only one other girl in recorded history had a similar condition, but she died before they could research why.”
    â€œNo wonder you had such a tough time at Northeastern. I feel terrible!”
    â€œIf this is really true, we’ve been awful to blame you,” her dad conceded. But then his expression hardened again. “So they probably want to drag you into some lab now, don’t they?”
    Pam pressed her husband’s hand. “Honey, we’ve all had quite a shock for one day. Why don’t we talk about that later?”
    Gramps smoothed Zoe’s silky blond hair. “What do you want to do, dear? Do you want to go up and take a rest? We don’t need to figure anything out today.”
    â€œNo,” she said, staring at her father. “Let’s be clear. I will never be a pawn of a bunch of scientists, okay?”
    â€œAmen!” he said, looking relieved.
    â€œI want to go to the lab,” she went on. “It’s my body, my choice, and I choose the truth. Dr. Carlyle said he would refer me to the NIH so I could get into their program on undiagnosed disorders.”
    â€œOh Jesus,” he muttered, holding his forehead. “Do you know what these guys are after, Zoe? They don’t care about you. They just want money, power . . .” he gestured wildly, slicing the air with his palm. “They’re cutthroat.”
    â€œYou just think that because you spend all day suing doctors,” Zoe retorted. “Admit it. You think they’re mostly bad. But you don’t really know.”
    â€œAnd