Wings on Fire ~ Falling (Book 1)

Chapter 1

Kerry

The tubes and lines connecting me to beeping machines made me feel more like a computer, than a human being. Only the fact that my entire body hurt let me know that I was indeed among the living.

I tried to swallow, but my parched throat felt like it had been sliced with razor blades. Turning my head to the side, I realized that even my hair seemed to ache. Whatever had happened had taken its toll on me. My mind felt too fuzzy to pull up any details, but I sensed that my life had taken a truly terrible turn.

When I attempted to open my eyes, the bright fluorescent lighting in the sterile hospital room nearly blinded me. I snapped them closed again as my head started pounding like a bass drum.

Deciding that sleep would be my only relief, I started to doze off again. The tingling warmth on my hospital gown covered shoulder caught me off guard. The tender touch felt both healing and incredibly caring.

Not wanting to risk the fluorescence again, but needing to see the source of this glorious touch, I tentatively opened one eye to peer out the tiny slit between my eyelids.

Unable to believe my narrow, one-eyed gaze, I fluttered both eyes open and gazed up at the man beside my bed. To say he was gorgeous would be the understatement of the year. He was good-looking in the traditional tall, dark, and handsome way, but there was also something almost otherworldly sexy about him.

The most striking thing about him was his multi-colored aura. Beams of light shot out around him like a prism in a discotheque. I had previously heard rumors about people with rainbow auras, but since I had never actually seen one in person, I hadn't imagined that its beauty could be this breathtaking.

"Hi." I beamed up at him, completely dazzled. My voice sounded dry and croaky.

"Hi." He grinned right back at me.

I couldn't take my eyes off him. The pain that radiated throughout my body was forgotten as I gazed at the man at my bedside. I wanted to ask who he was, but my mind felt too muddled to formulate a logical question.

Taking the pressure off me to find words, he answered my unasked question. "I'm Daniel." He told me in a deep, smooth as 30-year-old Scotch, voice.

"Daniel." I let the name roll of my tongue, enjoying the sound of it. It didn't take me long to decide that it was a good, strong name for this hunk of manhood standing beside me. "Do you have a last name, Daniel?" I tried to sound flirty, but probably failed miserably.

"Just Daniel will do," he grinned down at me as if I were the most adorable thing he had seen all day.

I couldn't help wondering if I looked as battered and bruised as I felt. If I did, Daniel was sure doing a good job of covering up his disgust. Trying to make sense of why this hunk was with me, I asked, "Are you my doctor?"

My voice was losing its croakiness, but it sounded rather dreamy, as if I were floating in the clouds, high as a kite. I decided that one of the multiple tubes connected to my body must be injecting me with some pretty powerful painkillers.

Daniel chuckled at my question, and I discovered that I really liked the sound of his laugh. I would be happy to listen to that warm, silky laugh until the day I die. Finally answering my question, Daniel said, "No, I'm not a doctor, but I am here to take care of you."

His response raised more questions than answers. I didn't feel clear-headed enough to solve a riddle, so I changed tactics. "Can I call you Dan or Danny?" I knew I must be giving him a loopy, enamored look, but I couldn't seem to stop myself.

"Daniel will be fine." His grin told me that he was enjoying our banter and eased the harshness of his answer.

"So formal and stuffy," I pouted aloud. When I heard my whiny tone, I realized that I sounded like a brat, so I brought up a new topic. "This will probably sound crazy," I told him, "but your aura is the most beautiful rainbow."

As soon as the words left my mouth, I feared that I had made a gigantic mistake with this chiseled beefcake. The vast majority of my life had been spent hiding my talent for seeing people's aura color energies, due to being ridiculed about it at a young age. Why in the world would I spout off about it now––with Daniel, of all people? Was I trying to sabotage any tiny sliver of a chance that he might actually like me?

My face must have registered my troubling thoughts because Daniel immediately set my mind at ease. "That doesn't sound crazy at all. Tell me what you see," he encouraged.

"It's like seeing the most brilliant, colorful diamond you can imagine." I continued gazing up at him, no longer embarrassed to be caught gawking. If he called me out on it, I could easily say that I was enamored by his aura, not the man himself. Besides, the drugs pumping into my system gave me an automatic pass for acting loopy, right?

"Maybe what you are seeing in me is a reflection back of what you are, Kerry." He suggested kindly.

Unable to see my own aura, I had always wondered what my dominant color was. I had always assumed that I would have a little bit of pink, like my judgmental and artistic mother, as well as a good amount of blue to indicate my spiritual intuition. It had never dawned on me that I might reflect a rare rainbow sunburst like a deep, highly evolved spiritual being.

The idea was intriguing, but I was fairly certain that Daniel was the one with the colorful crystal aura. It was so fun looking at his bright, shiny emanations that it took me a while to process what he had said.

"Hey! How do you know my name?" I asked, almost completely certain that I hadn't mentioned it to him.

"I know all sorts of things about you, Kerry." His words probably should have concerned me, but something about this man made me feel safe and protected, like I was ensconced in a beautiful, brightly lit cocoon of shelter when he was nearby.

I was a big believer in trusting my gut and women's intuition, but I also had a good amount of common sense. Even though every nerve ending in my body was shouting that this man was to be trusted, I arranged my face into a mask of suspicion. Narrowing my eyes at him, I asked, "Like what?"

At that point, I couldn't have known that his answer would absolutely take my breath away.

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