The Dream Doctor Mysteries by J.J. DiBenedetto Book Tour and Giveaway :)
Dream
Student
The
Dream Doctor Mysteries Prequel
by
J.J. DiBenedetto
Genre:
Paranormal Mystery
Sara
Barnes has her life totally under control. All she has to worry about
is college exams, Christmas shopping, applying to medical school--and
what to do about the cute freshman who has a crush on her. And
everything is going according to plan, until the night she starts
dreaming other people's dreams.
It's
bad enough that every night is a theater of her friends' and
classmates' secret fantasies. Worse yet are the other dreams, the
dark ones featuring a strange, terrifying man committing unspeakable
crimes.
As
the nightmares increase, Sara's life becomes a blur of waking and
sleeping, of terror and urgency. Because if she was given this
dream-sharing gift for a reason, it must be to stop the killer madman
she's come to know all too well. But how can she stop him when she's
just a student, and they're only dreams?
Dream
Student is
the thrilling prequel to the Dream Doctor Mysteries.
**Start
the series FREE!!**
From
Dream Student (book 0 prequel) – Sara realizes her dreams are real
I glance at the front page, and then I
look again. There’s a photo there. I grab the paper out of his
hands, completely ignoring his protest, and I look closely at it. I’ve seen her before. No. No. It can’t be. It’s not
possible. The girl in the picture looks exactly like the girl in my
dreams. It’s not possible, except that I’m seeing it with my own
eyes. I start reading the story. “Seventeen-year-old Amelia
Morgan–high school senior–found murdered–body discovered on Old
Tree Road…” No, no, no. I read it again, and the words don’t
change. Of course they don’t. No. Yes. I just start wailing, shouting
nonsense. I’m standing in the middle of the room screaming my head
off. Ray comes out to me, puts his hand on my shoulder, starts to
tell me to calm down and I push him away, shove the newspaper in his
face. “It’s her! It’s her! It’s her, and she’s dead!” She’s dead, she’s dead. She’s
dead and I saw it and she’s dead and–and–that’s all I know.
She’s dead and I saw it and it’s all real and–and what? I don’t know, so I keep on screaming.
Dream
Doctor
The
Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 1
Between
adjusting to life as a newlywed and trying to survive the first month
of medical school, Sara Alderson has a lot on her plate. She
definitely doesn’t need to start visiting other people’s dreams
again. Unfortunately for her, it’s happening anyway.
Every
night, she sees a different person and a different dream. But every
dreamer has one thing in common: they all hate Dr. Morris, the least
popular professor in the medical school, and they’re all dreaming
about seeing him – or making him – dead.
Once
again, Sara finds herself in the role of unwilling witness to a
murder before it happens. But this time, there are too many suspects
to count, and it doesn’t help matters that she hates Dr. Morris
every bit as much as any of his would-be murderers do.
**only
.99 cents!**
From
Dream Doctor (book 1) – Sara sees a dream about murder
Sara
is in an office, a very cluttered office. From the titles of the
books scattered all about, it’s clear that it belongs to of one of
her teachers, but which one? She searches around fruitlessly, until
the door opens and in walks Dr. Morris. It’s
his office, but not, she knows, his dream. Whose, then? The answer
comes walking in right behind Dr. Morris – an older woman, an inch
or two taller than Sara, her hair just beginning to gray, a frown on
her face. Sara thinks she’s seen the woman in the halls – she
is, Sara thinks, Dr. Morris’ secretary. “I
won’t be ignored, Abraham!” she shouts as she slams the door shut
behind her. “Not after so many years, not after everything I’ve
done for you!” Dr.
Morris sits down in his chair, leans back, sighs deeply. “You’re
being childish, Maureen. This is a delicate time, and I cannot allow
any suggestion of impropriety if I am to be the next Dean.” The
secretary – Maureen – does not sit. She glares at Dr. Morris,
momentarily speechless. Then she picks up a crystal paperweight from
his desk and hurls it at the wall, where it shatters instantly.
“Really!” Dr. Morris stares at her with a combination of alarm
and contempt. “You
liked that, Abraham? Then you’ll love this!” Maureen digs into
her purse, pulls out a pistol. She aims it with shaking hands at Dr.
Morris. “Maureen,
calm yourself!” “Good
luck becoming the Dean with a hole in your head!” Maureen shouts as
she pulls the trigger…
***
I
wake up with the sound of – was it a gunshot? – echoing in my
head. What the hell are they getting up to next door? No – not
next door. It was a dream, it was – of course, Dr. Morris again.
I remember it all now. This
time it was his secretary. He’s having an affair with her – I
don’t see how else to interpret “I won’t be ignored.” I
think it’s safe to assume that Dr. Morris isn’t the type to have
a pet rabbit, so I guess she just decided to escalate straight to
murder. That’s officially four different people who’ve dreamed
of killing him now. I wonder if he has the slightest idea just how
many people hate him? Yes,
I think he probably does. And no, I don’t think it bothers him one
bit.
Dream
Child
The
Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 2
Dr.
Sara Alderson can deal with eighty-hour workweeks as a resident at
Children’s Hospital. Dealing with crises in the Emergency Room or
the OR is second nature to her. But now she faces a challenge that
all of her training and experience hasn’t prepared her for: Lizzie,
her four-year-old daughter, has inherited her ability to see other
people’s dreams.
After
Lizzie befriends a young boy on a trip to Washington, DC, and then
wakes up in a panic that night because of a “bad funny dream,”
Sara knows exactly what it means: her daughter is visiting the boy’s
dreams. Complicating matters is the fact that the boy’s father is a
Congressman, and he’s dreaming about a “scary man in a big black
car” threatening his Daddy.
Unraveling
a case of political corruption and blackmail would be hard enough for
Sara under the best of circumstances. But when she has to view
everything through the eyes of a toddler, it may be an impossible
task.
From Dream Child (book 2) – Sara gets a nasty surprise
At two o’clock we’ve got an appointment with one of our outpatient kids and her father. Grace Sorrentino is a very cute seven-year-old who unfortunately has Type 1 diabetes. She’s been in and out of the hospital ever since she was first diagnosed last year, but she’s been doing better the past couple of months. Usually it’s her mother who brings her in, but today her father will be here, and that’s the cause of some commotion on the floor. Even Laurie is flustered, and she never gets flustered. “God, Paul Sorrentino. I hope Security knows he’s coming, I’m going to call down there and make sure.” I know the name, but I can’t quite remember how or why I do. I keep hoping that it’ll come to me, but at five minutes to two I have to ask, and I get an incredulous look from Laurie. “I know we don’t have a lot of free time, but you don’t live in a cave, for Heaven’s sake! Paul Sorrentino, the mobster? Do you seriously not know that?” Oh, my God. I did know that, but I never connected it with the reality of Grace and her family. “Of course I know who he is,” I answer. “I just - I feel like an idiot now.” “I always wondered why you weren’t as nervous, especially when Grace first came in,” Laurie says, shaking her head at my lack of awareness. “I gave you credit for being more professional than the rest of us and not letting who her father was interfere with how you treated her, but you were just oblivious the whole time!”
Dream
Family
The
Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 3
Dr.
Sara Alderson didn’t think she had a problem in the world, when she
walked into the office for her first day as a partner in her own
medical practice. And then the police showed up and arrested her for
a crime she couldn’t possibly have committed. Twenty four hours
later, after a horrifying day and night in jail, Sara comes home a
different – and completely broken – woman.
Clearing
her name is her first challenge, but that’s nothing compared to the
task of rebuilding her shattered psyche. And the only way she can do
that is with the help of the supernatural dreams, the same dreams
that have nearly cost Sara her sanity – and almost got her killed –
in the past.
From
Dream Family (book 3) – Sara has serious trauma
“Dad,
don’t say it. You don’t have to.” “Yes,
I do, Sara. I know in my heart it wasn’t an accident. And I also
know it happened – he did it because whatever happened in those two
days, it ate away at him until – until there wasn’t anything left
inside.” Does
he think that I’m like Uncle Albert? Is that why he’s telling me
all this? He
grabs my arms, turns me to face him. “If I had kept at him, made
him talk about it, maybe he could have worked through everything.
Maybe getting it out would have helped him keep hold of himself.
Maybe he wouldn’t have,” his voice finally breaks, “Sara, I
don’t want to lose you the way I lost my brother. I failed –
everyone failed him. I’m not going to fail you, too.” “I’m
not – Dad, I’m…” Does he really think I could ever – that
I’m so far gone? That my one night in jail compares with what
happened to his brother? To getting shot and seeing friends killed
right in front of him? “I
know that more happened to you than we saw in the courtroom,” he’s
gripping my arms tightly. “And I know that if you don’t talk
about it, it’s going to – you will end up like Albert.
We’re not meant to carry things like that around inside us. Nobody
can do that, not for long.” “What
do you want from me?” I’m fighting to keep my voice level. “Talk
about it. You don’t have to tell me or your mother. But you’ve
got a brother. And a best friend who might as well be blood family. And your husband. You know how I feel about him. If I could have
picked out someone for you, I wouldn’t have dared to ask for
someone half the man Brian is. You have all these people in your
life who love you. You have to talk to someone, and you have to tell
it all. And I’m going to keep on you until you do. I love you too
much to lose you.” He
really does think I’m that far gone. And the truth is, I’m
afraid he’s right.
Waking
Dream
The
Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 4
After
nearly a decade of visiting other people’s dreams, Sara Alderson
thought she had made peace with her supernatural gift. Until one
night, while watching her husband dream, she saw someone else
watching him, too: a mysterious woman in a red dress.
The
woman in red keeps appearing in the dreams of Sara’s husband and
his co-workers. Sara doesn’t know if this mystery woman is trying
to steal her husband, drive him mad or something even worse. All she
does know is that now she has something she never imagined: a
nemesis. And the only thing more dangerous than a nemesis who shares
her ability to step into other people’s dreams, is one who knows
far more about that ability and how to control it than Sara does.
From Waking Dream (book 4) – Sara remembers her first kiss
…This isn’t right. Mom and Dad think that Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery are home. They have no idea that Belinda and her brother Vince are home alone, and they definitely have no idea that Vince is throwing a party. I don’t know why I’m even here. I don’t want to be at a party with a bunch of juniors and seniors I don’t even know. We’re sitting in Belinda’s kitchen, just her and me. “So how big is this party supposed to be?” Belinda shrugs her shoulders. “You know Vince. It could be a hundred people.” A hundred? Now I really don’t want to be here! But I don’t want to leave Belinda all alone. She’s my best – my only close friend at school. I can’t ditch out on her. Here comes her brother now, with one of his friends, a short, stocky guy I think I’ve seen in the corridors at school. They’re each carrying two cases of beer – I wonder which one of them has a fake ID, or maybe they got somebody to buy it for them? They set the beer down on the kitchen table right in front of us, and open one of the cases. “Here you go, ladies,” Vince says, handing Belinda and me each a can. I don’t want – I’ve never even had beer before! But everyone else is opening theirs and toasting each other. I – I don’t have to, but Belinda’s my friend, right? I open mine, salute them and take a sip. I barely swallow it down without spitting it out; how does anybody drink this stuff? Belinda doesn’t like it much more than I do, but she forces her beer down, and I follow suit while the boys laugh at us. “Hey, Belle, why don’t you put out some food?” She’s told me she hates being called Belle, but she’s not going to get her older brother to stop doing it anytime soon. I go to help Belinda set out several bowls of chips, and then she goes up to her room to change. That’s all I need – not only will I not know anybody, but I’m going to look like crap compared to everyone else. I thought my sweater was cute, but I’m sure Belinda will be back downstairs in five minutes with an outfit that puts me to shame. And I can’t even borrow anything from her – she’s only a couple of inches taller than me, but she’s at least three sizes bigger. Oh, well. As I watch her go up the stairs, I see something hanging from the ceiling at the foot of the staircase. Mistletoe. I start to wonder who hung it there when there’s a hand on my shoulder, and I turn to see Vince. He’s not much taller than Belinda, but he seems bigger somehow, or maybe that’s just my imagination. I can smell the beer on his breath; we’re only a few inches apart. He’s looking up at the mistletoe, too. He puts an arm around my waist and pulls me still closer. I let him; he is cute. And I’ve never had an older guy show the slightest interest in me before. Is this why he didn’t complain about Belinda inviting me? Does he have a – a thing for me? He’s leaning in towards me, coming closer. I tilt my head up to meet him, I close my eyes, and I feel his face just an inch from mine, then his lips are touching mine, and – I – God! I go limp, I don’t respond, but I don’t have to; his lips and his tongue are doing all the work – then from out of nowhere there’s a voice. Belinda’s voice, loud and shrill: “Jesus, Sara! Get your tongue out of my brother’s mouth!” And then I feel her hands on my shoulders, pulling me away from Vince. I don’t look at her; I run straight into the kitchen, grab my coat from the back of the chair, and I’m out the back door before anybody can say another word…
Dream
Reunion
The
Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 5
Dr.
Sara Alderson is heading back to college for her ten-year class
reunion. Her husband and two of her children are coming with her –
and so are her supernatural dreams.
One
of her old classmates is becoming more frantic with every passing
night. Sara can’t see his face, but she can see everything else in
his dreams, and he’s coming closer and closer to committing a
desperate act to try and save his business. Sara’s the only one who
can save him, and his family – if she can figure out who he is and
what he’s planning in time.
From
Dream Reunion (book 6) – Sara reveals an embarrassing secret
“You want me to tell you a secret?” Now he looks at me more curiously; I’ve
really got his attention. “I thought you didn’t keep secrets
from me.” There’s almost a playful hint in his voice; he’s
trying. The kids are already downstairs, and
I’ve got their attention, too, especially Lizzie and Grace. “This
goes way back, when I was Grace’s age – maybe a year older. I
guess I was thirteen.” They’re all staring at me intently now,
and I realize I’ve built this up too much already. “It’s
nothing earthshaking. Just a little embarrassing. Grace’s poster
made me think of it.” “Tell us, Mommy!” Lizzie is quite
insistent and Brian’s very nearly smiling now. “Well, when I was thirteen, I – I
kind of had a crush.” Grace rolls her eyes. Her thoughts
might as well be written on her face: I don’t have a silly crush
on Orlando Bloom! I just think he’s handsome and a good actor,
that’s all. It’s perfectly normal. That’s what I told
myself, too. Brian asks, “On whom?” He’s
definitely smiling now, and fighting to keep laughter out of his
voice. It’s worth a little embarrassment to lift his mood. I say it quickly, as though I’m
tearing a band-aid off. “Rick Springfield.” Before Brian can
respond, I say, “And don’t judge! I was thirteen!” “’Jessie’s Girl?’ That Rick
Springfield? Seriously?” “I said, don’t judge! And anyway,
he wasn’t just a singer! He was Dr. Noah Drake on ‘General
Hospital.’ I was only interested because of that.” And that’s
what I told myself as I stared up at his poster on my wall every
night for six months, too. Brian buries his face in his hands and
mutters something that might be “I bet. That and the leather
pants.”
Dream
Home
The
Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 6
Dr.
Sara Alderson thought she was securing her and her family’s future
when she moved them to a small town in New York and took a job as
Chief of Pediatrics at the local hospital. Unfortunately, things
aren’t going quite according to plan. For one thing, she has
enemies at work who resent her from the moment she sets foot in the
hospital.
For
another, she’s visiting the dreams of an old man who’s seeing
nightly visions of a storm that will wipe out the entire town. He’s
convinced that the visions are true – and as winter closes in, Sara
is starting to think he might be right.
From
Dream Home (book 6) – Sara experiences a winter storm
For the next two hours, I’m the only
person on-duty. Shelly Gianetti arrives at eight, and she’ll be
stuck here all day. Both of our new nurses already had out-of-town
plans for Thanksgiving before we hired them, so she’s here until
eight o’clock tonight, when Maxine returns. “Everyone’s fine, Shelly,” I tell
her when she arrives, tightly clutching a cup of coffee. “You
don’t look so hot yourself, though.” I can hear her teeth
chattering. “Heater on my car’s broken,” she
says, sipping the coffee. The warmth – and the caffeine – begin
to revive her a bit. “What a morning for it. It’s going to be
even worse going home tonight. I just heard – temperature’s
going to get down into the single digits. The roads will be sheets
of ice.” I walk over to the corner of the
waiting room, where the ancient TV is mounted on the wall. The
weatherman for Channel Seven is talking, calling for eight inches of
snow in New York City, “and a foot or more in the Hudson Valley.”
I crane my neck and strain my protesting eyes to try and read the
numbers on the map behind him. “Twelve to fifteen inches,” Shelly
says. “They said two to three inches when I
was driving in this morning!” Out the window, I can see that it’s
coming down a lot more heavily. The bare branches of the trees out in
the lot are already covered with snow – and they’re also swaying
alarmingly in the wind. We can both hear it, too; Shelly looks at me
nervously when an especially strong blast rattles the front door. I give her a weak smile in return. “I
guess they were a little bit off with the forecast.” But how can
they be this wrong? They have radar and satellites and all of
that. It’s a science – they always say it is, anyway. I know
things can change quickly, but this is ridiculous. By ten o’clock, it looks like even
the forecast of over a foot of snow is conservative – and the wind
is getting worse, too. The front doors are rattling constantly now,
and even some of the windows are, too. And then, looking out at the
parking lot, which is a true winter wonderland now, I see it – one
of the trees that’s been swaying finally gives way, and a huge
branch comes crashing down. I hear myself shouting, “Look out!”
even though nobody’s outside, as the branch smashes right onto the
roof of Shelly’s blue Toyota, shattering the windshield. I hear
her come up behind me, and she begins cursing. But after a minute or
two, her curses turn into hysterical laughter. “Guess I don’t
need to worry about the heater anymore, do I?” The noise attracts just about everyone
else who’s working this morning: Glenn from the Pharmacy; Andre,
who’s manning the snack bar today; and Vincent and Alicia, our
orderlies. “You know, that’s going to kill the
trade-in value,” Glenn says, putting an arm around Shelly. She
goes right on laughing; not that it’s actually funny, but what else
is there to do? Besides, she did buy the car from his brother in the
first place, so if anyone can joke about it, it’s probably him. She’s just calming down when the
whole building shakes five minutes later and the lights flicker off
momentarily, followed a second later by an echoing boom. None of us
take that with any humor at all. “That was the substation
over on Quail Run, I think,” Andre says, his voice wavering. Our
house is only a few blocks from that station – I wonder if the
electricity is out at home?
Dream
Vacation
The
Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 7
Thanks
to her unique ability to step into other people's dreams, Dr. Sara
Alderson has solved murders, unraveled conspiracies and saved lives.
But when a crisis hits close to home, even her supernatural gift
might not be enough to avert disaster.
On
a family vacation to Paris, Sara's fifteen-year-old daughter Grace
disappears without a trace. The only way to find her is through
Sara's dreams. But her gift has taken an unwanted vacation, and
without it, Sara has no idea how to rescue Grace. In a foreign city,
with no clues, and her dreaming talent failing her for the first
time, Sara must figure out another way to find Grace before it's too
late.
From
Dream Vacation (book 7) – Sara’s daughter Grace runs away
What’s going on? I – I was
sleeping, but there’s a sound. Banging, louder and louder. And
yelling. It’s – oh, God. It’s the door. It’s Lizzie. She
woke Brian up, too – he’s halfway to the door already. Two steps later, with me right behind
him, adjusting my pajamas as I go, he’s at the door. He opens it
and Lizzie runs inside immediately. “Mom! Dad! It’s Grace!
She’s gone!” What? What did she say? Grace? Gone?
That doesn’t make any sense. How could she be gone? They’re
all in the room together, next door. Where would Grace go? How
could she be gone and her siblings not notice it? Brian’s as confused as I am.
“Lizzie, what happened?” “Grace! She’s gone! She even took
her new boots with her!” Lizzie’s grabbing my hand, pulling me
back towards the door. Her boots? I feel my legs go out from under me
suddenly and I have to grab onto the door to hold myself up. My head
is spinning. I feel – I don’t even know – nauseous, for a
start. It all hits me: I know exactly what happened. If she took
her boots – if she snuck out of the room – there’s only one
thing she could be doing. “How long has she been gone?” I
try to keep my voice level, but I don’t really succeed. “I don’t know, Mom. She woke me
up, just for a minute, and I thought she was going to the bathroom
and I closed my eyes and I guess I fell right back asleep. I didn’t
look at the clock. But then just now, I had to go, and she wasn’t
in the bed. And I saw her boots were missing.” She blurts it all
out without taking a breath, but she’s still managing to keep
herself calmer than I am. I glance at the clock: it’s 12:15 AM.
We got back a little before eleven. Ben and Steffy were nearly
asleep on their feet, and Lizzie wasn’t far behind them. So, say
they actually got to sleep by a quarter after eleven. Grace must
have been pretending to sleep, and then as soon as she thought all
her siblings were out for good, she made her move. She probably
waited at least fifteen minutes, and then after she disturbed Lizzie,
she probably sat there in the bathroom for another fifteen minutes or
so, just to be safe. So she probably left the room half an hour ago. “Brian, go down to the lobby, see if
there’s anyone there. Ask if they saw Grace. And then go outside,
maybe she had second thoughts but she’s afraid to come back up.”
I turn to Lizzie. “Did she take the room key?” She shrugs. Of
course she didn’t look for that – she came to us immediately.
Exactly what she should have done. “That’s OK, I’ll come and
look in your room.” Brian’s already got his shoes on; a moment
later he’s out the door and halfway to the elevator. Lizzie and I go back to the kids’
room. The twins are still asleep; I can’t imagine how Lizzie
didn’t wake them up. Even without turning the lights on, I can see
the room key on the table in between the two beds. Why didn’t she take it? How did she
think she’d get back into the room without her siblings knowing, if
she didn’t have the key? There are only two answers. Either she
just didn’t think at all, the same way she didn’t think about how
she was going to get home from Coney Island with no money a couple of
weeks ago. Or she doesn’t plan on coming back.
Fever
Dream
The
Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 8
Dr.
Sara Alderson isn’t used to her patients dying for no reason. When
a young boy succumbs to a mysterious illness that defies all her
efforts to treat it, she refuses to accept defeat.
After
two months of questions, Sara has attracted the attention of powerful
people who don’t want their secrets uncovered, and will go to any
lengths to make sure they stay hidden.
Now,
time is running out for Sara to unravel the mystery before anyone
else falls victim to the illness. And before her career, her family
and her freedom are taken from her by enemies she doesn’t even know
she has.
From
Fever Dream (book 8) – Sara is losing a young patient
This shouldn’t be happening. I don’t
understand it. I haven’t had a patient like this in years – not
since my first months of residency. Connie Marchetti brought her son
to me three days ago because he couldn’t shake a cold, and now I’m
fighting to keep him alive.
And I’m losing. Two days ago, I sent out a full panel
of blood tests, including several things that I would never normally
check on an eight-year-old boy. He must have some sort of
auto-immune disorder, but he’s been my patient for three years, and
there’s never been the slightest sign of it. And, anyway, boys are
far less prone to most auto-immune diseases than girls are. There
was never any reason to suspect it. There is now, though. I’m fighting
to save him, but his own body is fighting against me. I haven’t
been able to get his temperature below a hundred and one, I haven’t
been able to get his breathing anywhere close to normal and he hasn’t
eaten solid food in close to a week. “Damnit, Michael, I didn’t save you
three years ago just so you could die on me now!” Yelling at him
isn’t going to help, but I don’t know what else I can do at this
point, except to admit defeat and send him to a bigger hospital.
Someplace with more resources to, hopefully, figure out what’s
going on with him and treat it in time. Three years ago, Michael Marchetti and
his sister Celia were trapped in a basement during that awful winter
storm. I went into Celia’s dream and figured out where they were,
so that they could be rescued before they froze to death. But dreams
aren’t going to help now. The answer, if there is one, is in his
bloodwork, or, far more likely, in the mind of another doctor who can
see whatever it is I’m missing. I don’t want to do it. But the
patient has to come first. I stand over Michael’s bed for a couple
of minutes, watching him sleep, seeing his troubled breathing and his
almost complete lack of color. I really don’t have a choice. I leave the room, and the person I want
to see is passing right by me in the hallway. “Shelly, can you get
hold of Connie Marchetti? I need her to come back in right away.”
Either Connie or her husband have been here pretty much non-stop
since Michael was admitted, but she had a meeting at school with his
teacher this afternoon. And her husband David works at the Indian
Point nuclear power plant, twenty minutes south of here. He had a
safety drill today, and obviously he couldn’t get out of that. But
I need to speak to at least one of them in person, and right away.
“I want to send Michael to Mount Sinai.” It’s the best
children’s hospital in New York; there’s nowhere better to try
and figure out what’s wrong with him. My head nurse stares at me. “Are you
serious?” I hold her stare, which is all the answer she needs.
“You think it’s that bad?” “I don’t know.” He could recover
by dinnertime tonight. He might be home tomorrow, trying to sneak a
peek into the closet and see what Christmas presents are waiting for
him. I’ve had it happen before – patients suddenly turning the
corner, all on their own. But “could” and “might” aren’t
good enough. I can’t bet his life on them. “I’m afraid it
might be.”
Dream
Wedding
The
Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 9
It
ought to be a joyful time for Dr. Sara Alderson. Her daughter,
Lizzie, is about to graduate college, and marry her longtime
boyfriend. But the family’s happiness is shattered when a drunk
driver seriously injures her teenage son in a hit-and-run
accident.
Now,
instead of planning her daughter’s wedding, Sara must fight to save
her son’s life. And when she discovers who the drunk driver was –
someone she thought was a colleague and a friend – she has to fight
her desire for revenge. Because Sara knows she has the power to visit
the driver’s dreams, and in those dreams, she holds the power of
life and death.
From
Dream Wedding (book 9) – Sara’s son is in a car accident
The patient is still alive. And I
don’t think he has spinal damage. But that’s the extent of the
good news. He’s still unconscious, which is a mercy for him, but I
can’t evaluate him for any neurological issues until he’s awake.
He’s got three broken ribs. His left tibia is broken, too –
shattered is probably a better word. And his left knee is a mess.
He’s going to need surgery to repair it, if that’s even possible,
considering how bad it is. Oh, and he’s got at least three broken
bones in his right arm as well. That’s almost trivial in
comparison to everything else. The leg and arm have been
immobilized, even though the odds are that the patient won’t be
awake to try and move them any time soon. I have to force myself to think of him
as “the patient” rather than my son. I’ve seen enough accident
victims, from my very first night as a volunteer EMT, to medical
school, right up until today, that I know the procedures for
assessment and treatment by heart. That helps keep my mind off who
the patient is. If I let that discipline slip, I’ll be useless to
him.
The patient has another problem. He’s
still hemorrhaging. I’ve already done an ultrasound, and Amanda
agreed with me that it’s almost certainly damage to his spleen. I
think – I know – we’re going to have to operate. If
Marsha Pierce weren’t on her way, I would have started already. And here she is, with Shelly Gianetti
right behind her. Shelly gasps at the sight of the patient. Marsha
puts an arm around me and asks for a rundown. I give it to her, and
when I’m done, she lets me go and examines the patient herself. “I think you’re right.” I know I
am. I wish I wasn’t. “The only question is, do we do the
procedure here, or transport him to a level one trauma center?” I already thought about that. It would
take fifteen or twenty minutes to get an ambulance here, and then an
hour drive to St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, which is the
closest trauma center to us. “I don’t know if we have that much
time.” I’ve already wasted twenty minutes waiting for her as it
is. “We have to do it now.” I give her a moment to object. I
think, if she really did believe I was wrong, that she would. Even
though the patient is my son. Especially because he’s my son. But
she doesn’t object. “Let’s scrub in.”
Dream
Fragments:
Stories
From the Dream Doctor Mysteries
The
novels don’t tell the whole story!
Readers
of the Dream Doctor Mysteries know that Sara and her family have a
very busy life outside the pages of the ten Dream Doctor Mysteries,
and here’s your chance to peek into it.
Twelve
stories are included in this collection, and you’ll discover what
happened on Sara’s final Spring Break of college; Lizzie’s first
day of school; Betty and Howard’s first trip out of the country;
and much more!
J.J. DiBenedetto is author of the Dream Series and the Jane Barnaby Adventures and lives in Arlington, Virginia with the love of his life and a white cat who rules the roost.
His
passions are photography, travel, the opera, the New York Giants, and
of course writing.
Mr.
DiBenedetto is devoted to writing books with a sense of mysticism to
entertain and perhaps invite his readers to suspend belief in a way
they might never have.
Since
he was very young , he has always been intrigued with the
supernatural and things that can't be explained rationally.
By
always asking way too many questions, it piqued his interest to the
point of setting his writing off and running when he grew up! All the
curiosity building up all those years were finally getting put into
words to captivate readers. And it hasn't ended. His main goal is to
share all the stories he has inside, putting pen to paper. And that's
how the Dream Series was born.
Judging Books By Their
Covers
Here’s the cover of Dream Doctor, the
first book of the Dream Doctor Mysteries:
It’s not the original cover. I
changed it last year, when I retitled the series (it was first called
simply “the Dream Series”). This is what the previous cover
looked like:
Both covers were designed by a
fantastic cover artist, Emma Michaels (www.emmamichaels.com).
I gave her basically no direction, other than the genre of the
series and a couple of words for the tone and feel of each individual
book. But even that wasn’t the original
cover. The original cover was hand-painted by a good friend and
artist, to whom I gave VERY detailed direction. And while it’s
really cool (at least I think so!), in no way does it do much as far
as selling the book. See if you agree: The artist, Ami Low, did a fantastic
job of giving me exactly what I asked for – which was exactly wrong
for the book! So I learned my lesson – I’m good at writing, but
visual artists are good at, well, visual art, and I should stick to
what I’m good at and let the artists do what they’re good at! Speaking of art, here from the archives
is my original sketch, done in MS Paint, to illustrate to Ami what I
was looking for, for the cover of Dream Doctor: I’d say that my stick-figure skills
are right up there with your average first grader! Luckily, I’m a
much better writer than I am an artist, and I hope that if you take a
look at the book, you’ll agree with me!
Follow
the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!
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