In A Whisper (Set Me Free Book 2) Read online

  IN A WHISPER

  BY DIANA NIXON

  Copyright © 2017 by Diana Nixon

  All rights reserved

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without prior written permission of the author except where permitted by law.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Edited by: Sarah Banks

  Cover design by: Amina Black

  IN A WHISPER

  (Summary)

  There are things that are so hard to say aloud. Especially when it comes to something that you never thought your heart was capable of feeling…

  In Ashton Bright’s life, there is no place for feelings. A successful surgeon, he knows how to make hearts beat faster, yet his own heart is as cold as a scalpel.

  He doesn’t know how to do romance, and even less does he know what love is. The day Nicola Holt comes to work as Ashton’s assistant, everything he believed was right for him becomes wrong. For someone whose everyday job is saving lives, Ashton finds himself too weak to stand against Nicola’s charm.

  But most of all, he hates that she makes him feel things – the things he once swore to never allow himself to be submerged in.

  “I have spent my whole life searching for what I have found in you. I do not want to let it go...”

  Never be afraid to say

  ‘I LOVE YOU’…

  PROLOGUE

  ASHTON

  New York, 12 years ago

  Blood froze in my veins.

  My eyes stopped at a huge deep-red spot on the wooden floor, next to my sister’s favorite rocking chair. One of the portraits she had been working on for weeks was standing nearby, all torn and ruined. The face of the man I hated with all my heart was now half-missing; a massive hole went straight through his snow-white shirt, right where his heart was supposed to be.

  Something must have gone terribly wrong between Melody and James. She would have never ruined his portrait without a good reason to do so. She loved him too much to hurt him, even if not for real. I hated to admit it, but sometimes I was glad to realize there was someone able to make her smile. Regardless of how little I trusted James or any other man who dared to step into Melody’s life for that matter.

  I was simply trying to protect her from disappointment; I surely never wanted her heart to be broken. Which was inevitable, because my sister’s life was so much different from the lives that other girls her age were enjoying. She was different. Only I refused to accept it.

  I didn’t want anyone to think that she was sick. I didn’t want anyone to look at her as if she were crazy, no matter how close it was to the truth. Her mental instability was the reason I never let her out of my sight. I tried to spend as much time with her as possible, combining my studies in the university, practice in the hospital and taking care of her. She was too dear to me to let one stupid mistake of the heart ruin her life. She was such a wonderful person, beautiful inside and out. She had the soul of a child. She was a naïve dreamer; her love spread all over the world she lived in, endowing people surrounding her with endless tenderness and care. But no matter how old she got, she was always my little sister.

  That’s why I was a bit overprotective when it came to men approaching her. As a future doctor, I realized that she would probably never have the life she wanted for herself. But I never interfered with her relationships. Until one day, I saw the way she was looking at James. She was in love with him; I had never seen my sister happier with anyone before him. I thought maybe it was a good idea to let them enjoy each other, at least for a while. Back then, I didn’t know it would make everything worse, including Melody’s mental state.

  I didn’t know much about James, but I had this weird inner feeling telling me that his existence in my sister’s life wouldn’t do her any good. But still, I gave their relationship a chance and stayed out of it. Until the worst of my nightmares came true.

  I came closer to the rocking chair, already knowing that the liquid on the floor was not paint, it was blood. And judging by its consistency, it had been there for a few hours, no less. Just then, I noticed a bouquet of white roses lying next to the chair. The velvet petals were drenched in blood.

  My heart raced in my chest.

  What the hell has happened here?

  “Mel?” I called out. I checked the room on my right and the bathroom, but she wasn’t there. Her workshop took up an entire floor in a house not far from where we lived with our parents. So I thought mom might know what happened while I was working another night shift in the hospital.

  With shaking hands, I took out my cell phone and dialed my mother’s number.

  Terrible scenarios started to fill my mind, but I shook my head, refusing to believe any of them could be real and patiently waited for mom to pick up the phone.

  I hoped Melody was all right and it was not her blood on the floor. Otherwise, James Collins was about to be dead. Because I was sure, it was him who brought her flowers, even though she asked him to stay away from her. At some point, she realized that she didn’t want to be with him anymore. Not because she all of a sudden stopped loving him, no. She simply thought it would be for the best. And we both knew why…

  “Ashton,” Mom said into the phone. Something about her voice felt off.

  “Where’s Melody? Is she all right?”

  There was a pause on the other end of the line.

  “Mom?” I asked, feeling my worry grow.

  “Your sister… She’s gone…” Mom cried into the handset.

  Unable to keep my balance, I sat down hard in the rocking chair and covered my mouth with one hand. The words died on my tongue. My whole body shook.

  “You need to come back to the hospital, son. Melody’s still here. We need to sign the papers...” Mom’s sobbing renewed with greater force.

  She must be kidding, I thought to myself. But then, who would be kidding about the death of their own child? My thoughts were in total disarray.

  After a few silent moments, I forced myself to speak. “I’m on my way,” I said, rising to my feet. One of my shoes stepped into the pool of blood on the floor and I felt sick. I dropped my phone and rushed to the bathroom. Bending over the sink, I took a few deep breaths and waited until the nausea let me go.

  My head was spinning. I looked at my reflection in the mirror – my face was as pale as ever. Pain filled my eyes and my heart. I didn’t have a chance to ask mom what actually happened in the workshop. But I didn’t need to know the answer because I knew whatever it was, it was James’ fault and he was going to pay…

  By the time I arrived at the hospital, Melody’s body had been transported to the morgue. Doctor Morrison met me at the reception desk.

  “I’m so sorry, Ashton… There was no way to save her. She lost too much blood.”

  “Where are my parents?” I asked absent-mindedly.

  Nothing of what was happening felt real, but it was real… Too fucking real to deny the obvious – my little sister was gone, and there was no way to bring her back.

  “They are in my office now. Some paperwork needs to be done. Come with me.”

  My legs refused to carry me, but I followed Doctor Morrison, Brandon as he once told me to call him. He was in charge of supervising my practice at the hospital, and he and I became good friends, even though the man was almost twenty years older than me.

  “Wait,” I said when he stopped at the door to his office and was about to open it. “I need to see her first.”


  He gave me a careful look. “Are you sure?” He asked, obviously doubting it was a good idea.

  I nodded. No matter how terrible whatever I was about to face was, I needed to see my sister.

  “Okay.”

  I followed him to the elevator, we entered the cabin and he pushed the button for the ground floor, where the morgue was located.

  I gathered all the courage I could muster at the moment, and asked, “How did it happen?”

  Brandon sighed. “She cut her veins.”

  I should have figured that out on my own. It was the only explanation for the amount of blood I saw on the floor.

  “Who called my parents?” I asked.

  “I don’t remember the guy’s name, but I guess he is your sister’s boyfriend.”

  “Was,” I corrected him. “He was my sister’s boyfriend.”

  Brandon didn’t comment on that.

  “Was she alive when the ambulance arrived?”

  He shook his head ‘no’. “Your parents… They wouldn’t let the med experts take the body away. That’s why it has been brought here.”

  “So James Collins was the last person who saw my sister alive…”

  “Actually, she was already dead when he got there.”

  “What? Did you believe him? The asshole wouldn’t give her a break, even though she told him to stay the hell away from her!” My anger hit the roof. I could no longer restrain it.

  “Calm down, Ashton. The police were there too. They checked the records from the security cameras installed at the entrance of the building and gave us the time of his arrival. But according to the medical expert review, she died long before that.”

  “Why the fuck didn’t anyone call me?” I didn’t care about watching my language. Brandon knew how much I loved my sister, as well as he knew about her health problems. For years, he had been visiting her once a week, to check on her state. She liked him, that’s why he agreed to come and talk to her, even though he wasn’t an expert in psychiatry. My parents and I thought it would be better to let her stay at home, paint and enjoy her life as much as she could. We couldn’t begin to think about sending her to one of those mental health institutions. To me, everyone there, including doctors, were out of their minds.

  “We did call you,” Brandon said. “Many times. But your phone must have been out of the coverage area. I tried to catch you before you left the hospital, but the receptionist told me you left a few minutes before the ambulance arrived.”

  I had to stop by the pharmacy to grab the pills the doctor had prescribed for Melody. She had been having trouble with falling asleep. And maybe if the damn traffic hadn’t slowed me down on my way to the workshop, I would have been there in time to save her. Uh, if only I could be there to save her…

  When the elevator doors opened and we entered the morgue, I couldn’t help but shrink. The smell of death hit my nostrils, and even though I knew that everything around me was sterile, I could never shake off the feeling of death surrounding me. Whenever I came down to the morgue, I felt nothing but terrifying cold paralyzing me.

  Brandon came to the desk where a nurse was sitting, making notes on a piece of paper.

  “We need the key to block ‘B’,” he said to her.

  She turned around, opened a glass box hanging on the wall behind her, and gave him the needed key. He signed for it and went to the mentioned above block. I followed him.

  As we stepped inside the block, I suddenly felt like I was about to vomit. On a single metal table, there was a body, covered with a white sheet.

  My fists clenched in my jeans pockets. With my heart beating wildly in my chest, I stepped closer, pulled the sheet down, and then my world collapsed…

  CHAPTER ONE

  NICOLA

  New York, Present Day

  After almost ten years of non-stop studying, I was two minutes away from screwing up my medical career and letting it go down the drain.

  I looked at my watch and cursed aloud. There was no way in hell I would make it to Doctor Bright’s office in time for my scheduled appointment. After what I had heard about the man, I was sure he would show me the door before I even got a chance to say ‘hello’.

  Holding my umbrella in one hand, I pressed my CV tight to my chest and picked up my pace; losing the papers would be a perfect ending to my already fucked-up day.

  I woke up at five in the morning, which was the earliest I had ever woken up in my entire life, except a few times when starting the day that early didn’t have anything to do with leaving the bed, or getting dressed. I wished today was just that kind of a day - lazy, sunny and with no work - but there was something very important that I needed to do before I could go back home and get under the sheets to enjoy my boyfriend’s foreplay talents.

  After I got out of bed, feeling a little jealous about Jared’s sleep that didn’t need to be ruined by worry about the upcoming day, I brushed my teeth and washed my face, then I put on my running clothes and went outside. Just to get back a few minutes later, after I realized that running in the pouring rain wouldn’t do me any good. Needless to say, my mood left much to be desired. I was stressed and scared as shit because today was the day I had been waiting to come for weeks – I was going to start my work as one of New York’s best surgeons’ assistant.

  A twelve-month surgery residency was like the best of my dreams coming true. Being a certified surgery assistant, I wanted to improve my knowledge and skills in the field, and working side by side with Doctor Bright was just the perfect way to achieve it. Also, I had never met him in person, I had heard a lot about him, or to be exact – about his medical experience and numerous successful operations he had under his belt. I truly hoped I would be good enough to meet his high expectations.

  I had been pacing my living room for almost an hour when I felt Jared’s arms wrap around me. He tried to talk me into going back to bed and staying there for another hour or so, but I was too stressed to think about anything but the upcoming appointment. So, I made breakfast, swallowed the contents of my enormous cup of coffee, changed into a black pencil skirt, the matching jacket and a cream-colored silk blouse and left the apartment, hoping the rest of the day would be better than my morning.

  And now, standing at the desk of Doctor Bright’s secretary, waiting for her to finish her phone conversation, I felt like I was about to faint. I was a nervous wreck.

  It didn’t look like she was going to pay attention to my presence any time soon; the woman looked just as pissed as she sounded, trying to reschedule one of the doctor’s appointments for the next day. Apparently, the patient was not cooperating.

  I went to a small couch opposite from her desk and took a seat.

  “Crap,” I cursed under my breath, watching the drops of water dripping from my umbrella and turning into a dark, wet spot on the carpet. I was glad to know the thing was big enough to cover me from the damn rain, but now it was about to turn the waiting room into a pool. Which, I was sure, would not help explain my late arrival.

  The clock on the wall showed 9:20 AM; I was ten minutes late for my appointment. I looked at the closed door to Doctor Bright’s office and considered going in there without waiting for his secretary to announce me.

  As if reading my mind, the woman said, “He’s not here yet. You will have to wait.”

  I let out a sigh of relief. I was not late after all. He was.

  The secretary ended the call, made a few notes and looked up at me, finally. “Sorry, hectic morning.” She smiled politely, causing her features to soften. “You must be Nicola Holt.”

  “That’s right, ma’am.”

  She was in her late forties, I would say. Her dark-brown hair was carefully made into a bun. She was wearing massive glasses in mahogany colored frames, that I bet were more for fashion than the actual need to see better.

  “Doctor Bright called me earlier this morning and said he would be late, but I didn’t get a chance to warn you. Sorry again.”

  “No
worries. I will wait.” I had been waiting for this day to come for what felt like forever, a few more minutes of waiting wouldn’t kill me.

  “Doctor Morrison said you were one of his best students back at the University.”

  I felt my cheeks heat. I was not the blushing type, but when it came to hearing praises from one of my favorite teachers ever, I couldn’t help myself. He was like an icon, a superhero to me, so naturally, when a few weeks ago he called to tell me about the opening in his hospital, I was all for it.

  I chuckled, a little nervous. “He liked giving me a hard time. But in the end, I knew it was his way to help me understand the importance of my profession.”

  The woman smiled, nodding. “He loves giving people a hard time. Trust me; I know what I’m talking about. I have been working for him longer than I can remember. But now, that he is on vacation, I agreed to help Doctor Bright. His previous secretary got fired...” She suddenly stopped talking and lowered her eyes, as if she had said something she was not supposed to say.

  “May I ask why she got fired?” Curiosity was killing me. And I don’t mean right now, I had always been damn good at nosing into the things that were not my business. My family called me Nosey Parker the Great.

  “Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself,” the woman said, ignoring my question. “I’m Livia, Livia Bays. Would you like a cup of coffee? Or tea, maybe?”

  I looked at the dripping umbrella I was holding with one hand and shook my head. “No, thanks. I’m fine.” I was sure that moving it, even an inch, would cause more wet trouble.

  “Oh, silly me, let me take this.” Livia jumped from her seat, went around the desk and came to take my umbrella. “I’ll take it to the coffee-room. We don’t want Doctor Bright to drown in his own waiting room, do we?”