Angel Falls

“You will. Someday … when you’re ready. ”

He’d touched her face, brushed the flyaway hair from her eyes. “That boy is dead, Kay. He isn’t coming back. I like being Julian True. It’s who I want to be for you. ”

“Don’t you see, Jules? You could be anyone, anywhere, and I’d love you till I die. ”

He’d opened his eyes and stared down at the photograph.

She had loved him like no one else ever had, before or since. Loved him, not the one-dimensional celluloid image of a man that was Julian True. She had said often that when Julian cut himself, she bled. Even in the blurred afterglow of a life half lived and fifteen years gone by, he knew that he was right in that one belief. She had loved him.

Chapter Thirteen

Liam sat at his desk. He didn’t bother to turn on any of the lights, or to leaven the silence by playing one of the CDs stacked by the stereo.

The intercom buzzed. Carol’s staticky voice came through the small black box. “Doctor? Are you in there?”

He pressed the button. “I’m here, Carol. You can go ahead and go home. We’re done for the day. ”

“You’re not going to believe this, Doctor. There’s a man on the phone who says he’s Julian True. ”

Liam’s heart skipped a beat. “I’ll take it. ”

“Do you think it’s the real—”

“Patch him through, Carol, and go on home. We’re done for the day. ”

“Yes, Doctor. ”

The red light on line one started flashing. Liam took a deep breath, stabbed the button, and picked up the phone. “This is Dr. Campbell. ”

There was a pause at the other end, then: “Dr. Liam Campbell?”

Even through the impersonal medium of the phone lines, Liam would have recognized the voice. “This is he. ”

“This is Julian True. You left a message with my agent, Val Lightner, regarding Mikaela Luna—”

“She’s been injured. ”

“Oh, God. How bad?”

“She’s in a coma. ”

Another pause crackled through the lines, and Liam realized that Julian was on a car phone. “A coma. Jesus … What can I do? I’ll pay for her hospital bills, and for the best doctors in the country—not to say that you’re not great, Dr. Campbell, but—”

“She doesn’t need your money, Mr. True. I called you because … well, she shows some response to your name. I … we thought that maybe if she heard your voice—”

“You think she’ll wake up for me?”

Liam was unprepared for the pain that came with that simple question. “We think there’s a chance. ”

“I’ve got an interview this afternoon, but I can be there tomorrow. Where is she?”

“In the Ian Campbell Medical Center in Last Bend, Washington. About sixty miles east of Bellingham. ”

“Okay, I’ll get Antoinette to set me up. ”

“When you get to the medical center, ask for me. I’ll be in my office there. ”

“Okay. ”