Vickie: Doctor by day. Zombie Hunter by night: Chapter 10

The day went faster than I thought it would. True to his word, Peter lessened my load by helping me with whatever patients I felt comfortable having him see. It was both refreshing and reassuring when several of them insisted on seeing me. I know it’s silly of me to worry, but with such a large education debt looming over me, I was a little fearful of failure. Not to mention that walking in Peter’s shadow was a bit intimidating.

He kept himself busy in between patients by tending to some of the filing and making reminder phone calls to those who had appointments the next day.

When the last patient left, I leaned against the door after locking it and smiled my thanks to him. “I appreciate your help.”

“We make a good team,” he said as he

stood up and stretched in a cat-like manner. “How about some dinner?”

“I’m too tired to cook.”

“I’ve lived off humble home cooking for years. I want rich, spicy, aromatic, commercially cooked cuisine. No offense to your cooking, of course.”

“None taken,” I said as I worked my shoulders to ease the tension in them.

“I think I should order in,” he mused. “You look too spent to go out. We had pizza last night. So, it’s either I go pick up diner food or we have Chinese delivered.”

“Does that mean you plan on staying again tonight?” I asked with smirk and a raised brow.

“Would you really send me away after what we shared? We’ve become as one, don’t you think? I’m talking about working with the patients, of course.”

I emitted a humph and headed for the main part of the house. “I want General Tso’s Chicken and some wonton soup.”

“Yes, ma’am. Coming up.”

Hearing his teasing and light tone helped pick me up enough to make the stairs. The realization that I was dating the handsome doctor I’d silently mooned over for over a decade gave me a sudden burst of energy, I practically skipped to my bedroom so that I could change into my sweats and a tee shirt. It didn’t even dawn on me to go to a little more trouble to look my best because the man I’d thought about for years and had sex with twice that day was still in the house. I was tired and aiming for comfort. I guess that’s where my lack of dating skills showed. I not only didn’t know any better, I didn’t care.

It’s always been a habit of mine to take a quick shower at the end of a busy day when I’ve been interacting with so many people, so I hopped into the tub and pulled the curtain closed. As much as I reveled in sinking into that claw foot tub when it was filled with hot water and bubbles, I didn’t enjoy it doubling as a shower. If I ever had the opportunity to purchase the house, the first thing I’d do would be to install a proper shower stall.’

That burst of energy that I had was short lived. By the time I stepped out of the shower, I was exhausted, once again.

I’d just finished towel drying my hair when my phone rang. It was Megan making a friendly call to see how things were going with me and my tenants. Even though they’d been with me a few months, she always started her conversations by saying she was calling to see how they were working out.

Normally, when she’d call, I was happy for the upbeat and witty conversation, but I felt abnormally drained of all energy and wasn’t up to talking to anyone. In fact, it was my intention to go downstairs and make my excuses to Peter. I wasn’t even sure I had enough strength in me to eat dinner.

Noticing a shift in my personality, she questioned me about what was wrong. I assured her that all was well and that I was simply tired from a long day with patients. I don’t know if she believed me, but as far as I was concerned I was telling the truth. Why else

would I feel so completely wiped out?

I decided to lay down on my bed for a few minutes before I ventured down that long, winding staircase to make my excuses to Peter. My heart beat a bit harder than would be considered normal as I pushed my body to move when it clearly hadn’t the energy to do so. I told myself that if I took just a few minutes of rejuvenation on the bed, I should be fine to go downstairs to let Peter know that my party was over for the night.

I don’t remember lying there, so my guess is that I fell asleep just as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I was plagued with nightmarish dreams.

I woke up to the sound of the floorboards creaking as someone walked past my room. Since I was the only one with a room on that side of the wing and no one else had reason to be on it, I ran to the door and stepped out into the hall in time to see the back of a man I was positive was Jacob Tripp. My mouth fell open for want of what to say or do as I watched him walk to the wing that I’d placed Peter in and go in and out of the rooms. He turned so that I could see his face. It was a distance away, but I was sure it was Jacob. Suddenly, Peter stepped out into the hallway and stood talking to Jacob. It was all too creepy and frightening. I ran back into my room in a panic and locked my door before flinging my body onto the bed and willing myself back to sleep.

My body finally settled down, but it

wasn’t restful. Then it was dark all around me until I saw Peter dancing around a campfire with natives who wore masks and had painted bodies. He threw something into the fire that made the flames shoot high into the air. Then, I saw us lying on the ground next to the fire. We were naked and having sex. We acted as if we were completely oblivious to the fact that the natives danced around us.

Suddenly, Max stepped out of the dark and into the firelight. His gun was drawn. He pulled Peter and me apart before he shot and killed most of the natives when they tried to stop him from taking me away with him.

I woke up the following morning, sweating profusely.