I Am an Invisible Stalker (Guardians #2)

Chapter 2

Eliza's POV

I'm still gaping at my charge when the door leading into the private hospital room cracks open. A woman with long blonde hair and a pearl white doctor's coat enters the room. Her name tag, the one I assume has the name Julie Sierra written across it, swings left and right as she struts toward the bed. Despite heading toward me and Xenia, she never glances at either of us. Not that she can.

Once beside the bed, she doesn't immediately note the stillness of the old man's chest. Instead, her eyes first jump to the soundless heart monitor.

"Why is his pulse oximeter off?" With furrowed eyebrows, Julie clasps the small finger clip back on the old man's index finger.

"The constant beeping noise was making my head hurt," Denise says from where she's still inspecting her painted nails across the room.

The moment the pulse-something meter is back on the old man's finger the same uninterrupted beep announces the absence of his heartbeat.

Julie staggers a step back. "Oh my God. Basile, he's... He's..."

"He's dead," Denise finishes instead of her.

"Guess why she already knows this," I say aloud, despite knowing that my fellow Guardian Xenia is the only one who can hear me.

While Xenia remains focused on her charge—doctor Julie Sierra—I detach myself from the wall. My brain is still spinning with the realization of whose reincarnation Denise is, which is why I stagger across the antiseptic-filled air. As I reach Denise's side, I don't stop; not until I'm standing right in front of her. In front of the soul that was once responsible for my death.

Before I can stop myself, I lift my hand and flick the Princess's forehead. It might not be much, but it's all I can do right now.

While I'm busy staring down at my oblivious charge, Julie presses the call button beside the old man's bed. Then she hurries toward the door but stops just before she exits the room. "Did you know?" She turns toward Denise.

"Of course." Denise shrugs. "I've seen enough movies to know what an uninterrupted sound means."

"So, you're the one who removed the pulse oximeter," Julie whispers. She lifts her hand to her forehead, but just before the tips of her fingers can touch her dyed hair, she drops her arm back to her side. "Why didn't you call me? Or alert one of the nurses?"

"I was going to as soon as I finished my nails." Denise shimmers her hot pink nails in Julie's direction and then rolls her eyes at the horrified look Julie shoots her. "Stop over-reacting, Mom. We both know you didn't like the old crook any more than I did."

Julie pinches her lips into a tight line. "Basile is still your grandfather and your father's father. If nothing else, act sad for your father's sake."

Without another word, Julie strides out of the room, while Denise bends down to put her nail polish into her beige school bag, which is resting on the floor beside the armchair. As she straightens back up with the same unbothered expression, I flick her forehead again. This time with twice as much force. All the Princess does, however, is swat the air in front of her face, probably thinking it's nothing but a bug.

If only she knew.

By the time Julie returns, Denise and I are both beside the door. Because a young doctor and two nurses follow Julie, I move a couple of wide steps back. The Princess, on the other hand, barely makes half a step of room for the trio to rush past her.

"Are you staying with your charge?" I ask Xenia, who is still standing a few steps away from the bed.

Xenia's only answer is a brief nod, while she keeps her eyes focused on the young doctor. The human begins to push against the old man's chest as soon as one of the nurses tells him that she doesn't feel a pulse. With the energy he's giving it, he looks like he believes he'll be able to bring the old man back. How naive of him.