Son of Cerberus (The Unusual Operations Division Book 2) by Jacob Hammes Page A

Even though he had his back turned to her, she could see the sadness set in. His shoulders slumped beneath the white coat he wore and his head swayed slowly from side to side. It made her heart sink within her chest, knowing that he thought that she was now an orphan.
    “I don’t know,” he said. “Unfortunately, we can only know what we learn. Without an identity, you are basically a ghost. You have no home, no name, and nothing that could help give us clues to where your family is. We have no way of knowing if the people on the boat were your family, or whether you were kidnapped. I’m sorry.”
    Amy contemplated her predicament. She was basically what the doctor said: a ghost. She didn’t exist. Her name was made up and her clothes belonged to someone else. All that she could call her own was her skin, her hair, and those awful scabs on each of her arms. She wondered what they were for a brief moment before falling back into the misery of her current situation.
    She was truly alone, besides Belle the nurse and Robert the doctor. They were only being nice to her because they had to be. She knew that they were genuine, but if she had died they wouldn’t have noticed. Her family, if she had one, would definitely notice her disappearance. They would have to know that she was missing. They would come and find her, wherever she was, and she knew it.
    Tears dripped from her eyes onto the bed like large raindrops. She didn’t mind crying in front of Robert. She had found despair and it was deep, and Robert the doctor was her only comfort. He softly patted her back before she buried her head into his chest and whimpered like the child she was. Long racking sobs came and went, leaving her feeling like she was being wrung dry. However she tried to stop, though, she could not.
    After what seemed like forever, she started drifting off to sleep in the smell of the doctor’s embrace. He was warm and smelled like someone who was powerful, strong, and intelligent. His touch on her back was warm and comforting and all she wanted was stay forever in the arms of a man who cared. 
    Eventually the crying stopped. Robert laid her sleeping head upon the pillow of the hospital bed and wrapped her in the generic hospital sheets. He shut the blinds and turned the lights down low so that she could sleep uninterrupted. He even took care to step quietly when he left the room and shut the door behind him. Amy would need as much sleep as she could get so that she could get better, or at least remember something useful for the upcoming investigation. It would be painful to everyone involved, even the doctor who was sure that he would have to testify in someone’s murder trial about the young woman.
    A torrent of colors surrounded Amy as she slept. They flew this way and that, like a kaleidoscope stuck in a multihued sandstorm. They were comforting at first, then frightening, then comforting again—the entire ordeal was confusing. She felt relaxed, though she didn’t feel entirely safe.
    She couldn’t be sure in the dream, but Amy swore that she could see a face. It was the only thing about the dream she could remember when she woke. It was an old man’s face, smiling a genuine smile of happiness at her. It was the happiest she had felt since arriving in the hospital.
    Amy hoped she would dream about the man again. Maybe next time, he would be less colorful and more jovial. 
     
    Marcus dreaded telling his girlfriend he was going on an adventure without her. The timing was just too perfect for the situation to sound like a coincidence. He slipped into his sleek sports car and let the leather massage his back through the thin black shirt he was wearing. It was always the perfect temperature, though he wasn’t sure how it had gotten that way. It took his mind off the task at hand—calling Julie.
    The phone rang once, then twice, and then her voice broke the silence in between rings. Somehow, she managed to sound annoyed right off the bat.