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of steroid-enhanced body builders.
    Reluctantly, her mind acknowledged she’d seen him before. He’d been part of her hallucinations. Her worst nightmares were becoming a reality.
    Somehow not as frightened as she should have been, she stared into his icicle blue eyes as he continued to move slowly toward her. She waited, holding her breath in expectation.
    Why did she feel this tingly sense of excitement? This glimmer of anxiousness mixed with fear? Why did she feel like she might explode with anticipation?
    He halted a couple of steps in front of her and lifted his hand, brushing it along the scar on her cheekbone, causing a shudder in the pit of her stomach. A current moved in the air, like a burst of electricity.
    “The first time was the night you got this.” His words were a whisper along her skin, as was his touch...almost as if his caress was the hint of a sensation, but not actual contact. Her eyes drifted shut and she swayed toward him. Her nipples tightened. She swallowed back a moan as heat seared between her thighs. She wasn’t even dismayed at her sexual response to his nearness. It felt so right...so deliciously right. One slight move forward and she could touch him, press her aching breasts against his chest. Biting her lower lip, she just barely held back from giving in to the urge.
    Softly, she murmured, “That night—I—you...” The only words she could form were incoherent drivel. Her heart pounded, her belly clenching with the strangest feeling she’d ever had. She lifted her lashes, staring up at him, wanting to lose herself in his glittering blue gaze. Wanting to feel his hands on her body...his full, sensual lips on hers. Wanting to be swept away in whatever madness this was. It felt so strange, yet at the same time, exhilarating, compelling, irresistible... dangerous.
    Yes, Dangerous. Gulping in a breath, she stepped back. His touch fell away, breaking the strange hold he had on her.
    “You! It was you there that night. In the alley...” Her breath came in short gasps as the odd yearning was replaced by fear. “Then again, at the hospital.” She shot her gaze around the room. “Where’s the other one? The blond guy? Who the hell are you?”
    Her voice had risen, and she glanced at Ms. Chapman. Audra had almost forgotten she was there, but of course, the woman hadn’t heard a thing. She had remained oblivious to the world around her since the surgery.
    Audra turned back to the man...her hallucination. Now so real she could almost feel his touch.
    I’ve suffered brain trauma. Dear God. There’s something seriously wrong with me.
    He gazed at her, his expression a mixture of concern and unhappiness. “I hoped this wouldn’t happen. I didn’t want you to—”
    The heart monitor’s slow, steady beep turned into one, long monotone. Ms. Chapman had flat-lined.
    Whirling from the stranger, Audra pressed the emergency call button and grabbed the bed board from beneath the bed. As she was sliding it under the patient, the code team—Jaxon in the lead—burst into the room with the crash cart. Audra took position at the patient’s head and placed the Ambu Bag over Ms. Chapman’s nose and mouth. She began squeezing in five second intervals to help the woman breathe, while each of the other team members assumed their roles.
    Heart racing, knowing it was unlikely she could save her, Audra continued her attempts to resuscitate. Jaxon and the others moved with efficiency and speed born of practice as they administered aid to the rapidly fading Ms. Chapman.
    From her peripheral vision, Audra was aware the apparition was still in the room. He reached his hand out toward the elderly woman in the bed. Audra shivered.
    Ignore him, concentrate on Ms. Chapman. He’s not there...he’s not real.

 
     
     
     
    Chapter 4
     
    That evening, Audra filled a tub with hot water and tossed in some bath beads she’d received for Christmas a few years back. They’d been part of a relaxation gift pack