Quiver (Revenge Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

face, thin eyebrows, and big, expressive almond-colored eyes, she reminded Veda of an infant trapped in a teenage girl’s body. In the short time she’d been observing her, Veda already knew this girl never stopped smiling, loved to wave at strangers, and was way too excited about changing bedpans. An all-around ray of damn sunshine.
    Veda couldn’t help lifting an eyebrow. It was always strange to her, finding young girls who hadn’t yet been destroyed, tainted, mauled by the monstrosities of the ugly world they lived in. A world just waiting to tear a pretty young black girl like her limb from limb.
    She tilted her head, wondering when this one’s day would come. The day when some man walked into her life and tore it to pieces.
    Veda’s mind wandered, curling her lip as her thoughts raced back to Dr. Britler, who had breezed through the appendectomy that morning like it was nothing. She took the sucker from her mouth with a pop, gazing blankly ahead.
    “Is it terrible that I almost wanted something to go wrong with this patient’s airway, breathing, or circulation?” Veda asked. “Just so I could save the day and prove that asshole wrong?”
    The assistant giggled. “Kind of. But no one in this hospital would blame you. We don’t call him Dr. Bitler for nothing. You know. Britler… Hitler… Drop the r. Dr. Bitler ….”
    “Not the greatest play on words, but I’m onboard.”
    Giggling, the girl offered her hand across the still-sleeping patient. “I’m Coco. I student nurse here every summer.”
    Veda returned the lollipop to her mouth and shook her hand. “Veda Vandyke.”
    “Are you from Shadow Rock?”
    “I was born here. Left when I was eighteen and never looked back.”
    “You look really young to be a doctor.”
    “I’m 28.”
    “An anesthesiologist,” Coco dragged on. “That’s like a legit-ass job.”
    “I’d like to think so.”
    “Why anesthesia?”
    The real answer—that she wanted to learn how to kill without actually having to touch anyone—would only corrupt the wide-eyed angel sitting across from her, so Veda racked her brain for a more appropriate answer. “I wanted to be a clinician, but I don’t like ruining my nails. Nothing destroys a manicure faster than blood and guts. Not crazy about talking to people, so that ruled out psychiatry. X-rays bore me to tears, so adios radiology. Anesthesiology became the natural choice.”
    “Where did you go to med school?”
    Yep. This one liked to talk. Veda took one last taste of her lollipop before throwing it in the nearest trash bin, sick of talking around the stick. “Stanford.”
    Coco threw her head back, then let it fall dramatically forward. “That is my dream school. I have to wait until senior year to start sending in my applications, but I want to be a cardiovascular surgeon one day.”
    “I thought we hated surgeons.”
    Coco’s eyes widened and her smile vanished. She yanked the arms of her long-sleeve white top, which she wore under her pink scrubs, pulling them down until they covered most of her hands. “No, I totally hate surgeons too. I don’t know why I said I wanted to be one. That was stupid.”
    “I’m joking. If you want to be a surgeon, be a surgeon. It takes brains and balls. I talk shit about Dr. Bitler because I don’t like arrogant men, but I’d rather have an arrogant man cutting me open than an unsure one.”
    “Totally….” Coco frowned, her voice breaking away, eyes falling. “I totally agree.”
    Veda squinted at her. So someone had damaged this one. She was way too agreeable to be fully intact.
    “Hey!” Coco’s eyes lit up. “Do you want to hang out tonight?”
    “I don’t hang out.”
    “Oh, totally. I don’t hang out, either. It’s just that my brother, Todd, is having a get-together tonight for his birthday. I have to go because he’s my brother, but his friends are the worst. I can’t stand being alone with them.”
    “Todd Lockwood.” Veda’s heartbeat sped