Timmie held on tighter, felt a flutter of a response in his hand. "How you feeling, Da?"

"Like... crap. Who hit me?"

"O'Doole."

The nurse glared, but Timmie knew better. Her father didn't have the strength to unravel the last few days. Let him nod in peace.

"Ah... he's got a mean left, that one."

"Yep."

"Timmie?"

"Yes, Da."

"Am I going to die?"

She sucked in a breath. "I don't know, Da. Are you?"

It took him a minute to work up the energy to answer. "Don't know. If I do, though..." Timmie leaned closer, and he nodded, that quick, wry quirk his father had taught him. "I gave it a good pull, didn't I, girl?"

Timmie couldn't say she was surprised at all by the tears that splashed against her hands. "Yeah, Da. You did that."

He nodded again.

Behind Timmie, the nurse snuffled like a horse. "'I will arise and go now, and I will go to Innisfree,'" she intoned, as if she were viewing a saint.

Joe Leary turned toward his daughter. "Timmie..."

"Yes, Da."

"Will you tell me... why people are always saying that to me?"

Timmie could hardly stop laughing. "It's from 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree,' Da, by Yeats. It's your favorite poem."

That got his eyes wide open. "Aw, Jesus, who said that? Do you know how tired I am of hearing that damn thing?"

Timmie laughed until the sun came up and the fairies fled into the darkness.

The End

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Bad Medicine

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Excerpt from

Bad Medicine

A Suspense Novel

by

Eileen Dreyer

New York Times bestselling Author

BAD MEDICINE

Awards & Accolades

4 ½ Stars, Gold Medal, Romantic Times Magazine

"With her own unique blend of dark humor, complex motivations and riveting suspense, Eileen Dreyer is a very tough act to beat. Molly Burke is an extraordinary character whose life experiences have made her a woman performing a delicate balancing act with mental and emotional stability. A nerve-shattering suspense."

~RT Magazine

Nobody noticed that there was something wrong with the mayor's press conference. It was a small thing, and the press was preoccupied with the breaking airline strike story at the airport, not to mention the ongoing investigation into morals charges against the Speaker of the House, on which most of them had sizeable bets. So they all slumped in the stifling room in the city hall waiting for Mayor Martell Williamson to announce who was finally going to be given the contract to open the casino on the St. Louis riverfront, and not one of them noticed who was missing.

The citizens of the St. Louis metropolitan area didn't notice, even though they were being dished up the news live with lunch. Most St. Louisans found politics tiresome—especially city politics. It wasn't even as if it was that important an announcement. During the two years the Board of Aldermen had carried on their public and often bitter debate over the contract, some thirty riverboats had already set up business on the nearby Missouri and Meramec rivers, which were much preferable places to park and wander than north St. Louis anyway.

Besides, it was hot out, and the people of St. Louis were far more interested in their weather than their politics. If they were even home to watch the news, instead of lurking half-submerged in one of the neighborhood pools to escape the humidity or at the stadium watching the Cardinals warm up against the Phillies, they were busy refilling their iced tea during the press conference so they wouldn't miss Wally the Weatherman telling them just when they could expect a break from the two solid weeks of hundred degree weather.

Harry McGivers and Peg Ryan would have noticed.

Unfortunately they were already seated at the Missouri Athletic Club Grille about a mile away, celebrating the news with their favorite scotch and pharmaceutical chaser as they waited for the star of the story to return from the press conference and fill them in.

That was the problem. The star of the story wasn't there. Up on Hodiamont Street where she lived with her mother, Pearl Johnson had the television turned to the news conference as she drifted off to sleep. Pearl was dressed in her best nightgown and robe, buttoned neatly to her chin, her hair brushed out, and her lipstick on. Her door was locked, and her Bible was at her side. Her pill bottles were lined up along her nightstand, and they were empty, each and every one of them.

Pearl knew what was wrong with the press conference. She was listening to her betrayal. But she wasn't really paying attention. She was too busy dying.

Bad Medicine

by

Eileen Dreyer

~

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Bad Medicine

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Nothing Personal

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Nothing Personal

A Suspense Novel

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New York Times bestselling Author

NOTHING PERSONAL

Reviews & Accolades

"A Master of the Suspense genre."

~Rave Reviews

"Dreyer levels a roguish humor at the medical establishment."

~Publishers Weekly

1994

On February 20, Kate Manion had the chance to see her hospital from the other side. It was an opportunity she hoped never to have again.