Dead of Winter

Chapter 78

Davidson and Harding stood alone in his office. Harding was still on the phone to her ex-husband. On the other end of the phone Simon was feeling a growing nausea in his stomach. She had it on loudspeaker for Davidson to hear.

‘I thought it was a miraculous thing, but you have to understand: I was the surgeon standing there with a woman with her chest open, waiting for a donor heart. I wanted to have a happy ending for this scenario. When Martingale said he had another heart I was relieved, I didn’t really give a shit where it came from. I wanted my patient to survive. We waited another hour and the heart arrived. It was healthy. The blood supply to the new heart was good. We performed the transplant and I left.’

Carmichael walked towards Nikki. She didn’t move. She stood waiting for him. When he reached her she took his hand and placed it on her chest.

‘You knew when we met. . when we made love. . our hearts recognized one another.’ She smiled sadly. ‘You can’t kill me; the heart that beats for you inside this breast is your wife’s. I’m dying. She’s coming home to you. Let me go.’