His Dream Lover

By Lee Brazil

Through the gates of the sun lies the land of dreams, and beyond that...the realm of the lost.

In a private hospital room, motionless and still beneath a sheet, lies Joseph Caldwell. His surgery has passed, to all intents and purposes, successfully. The doctors offer no explanation for why he hasn't awakened from the medically induced coma. The stream of visitors trickles down to nothing, and still he lies in endless sleep. Nearly everyone has given up any hope for his recovery.

Anaesthesiologist Oliver Gideon is racked with guilt and confusion. Could he have somehow done something wrong? His superiors assure him he is not at fault, the science he reviews tells him his dosages were correct, but the longer Caldwell sleeps the more Oliver is haunted by the loneliness of the figure in the bed. He spends every possible moment with the patient, reading, talking, trying to fill the little room with sound, to stir a response that science isn't sure is possible.

Morpheus, King of Dreams has welcomed Joseph to his realm. Some dreams, he explains, are true, and some are false. There's only one way tell. Joseph loves the dream world Morpheus has woven for him, for in it, he's found something he never found in reality—a soul mate. For the first time, his life is perfect.

In the end, he has to choose. He cannot stay in the Realm of Morpheus forever. It's either back to the land of the sun, and potential loneliness or on to the realm of the lost.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pride Publishing
• Release date: Jan 17, 2014
• ISBN: 9781781849132

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A Totally Bound Publication

His Dream Lover

ISBN # 978-1-78184-913-2

©Copyright Lee Brazil 2013

Cover Art by Pamela Sinclair ©Copyright December 2013

Edited by Jennifer Douglas

Totally Bound Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Totally Bound Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Totally Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

Published in 2013 by Totally Bound Publishing, Newland House, The Point, Weaver Road, Lincoln, LN6 3QN

Warning:

This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has a heat rating of Totally Burning and a Sexometer of 2.

This story contains 44 pages, additionally there is also a free excerpt at the end of the book containing 7 pages.

HIS DREAM LOVER

Lee Brazil

Through the gates of the sun lies the land of dreams, and beyond that…the realm of the lost.

In a private hospital room, motionless and still beneath a sheet, lies Joseph Caldwell. His surgery has passed, to all intents and purposes, successfully. The doctors offer no explanation for why he hasn’t awakened from the medically induced coma. The stream of visitors trickles down to nothing, and still he lies in endless sleep. Nearly everyone has given up any hope for his recovery.

Anesthesiologist Oliver Gideon is racked with guilt and confusion. Could he have somehow done something wrong? His superiors assure him he is not at fault, the science he reviews tells him his dosages were correct, but the longer Caldwell sleeps the more Oliver is haunted by the loneliness of the figure in the bed.

He spends every possible moment with the patient, reading, talking, trying to fill the little room with sound, to stir a response that science isn’t sure is possible.

Morpheus, King of Dreams, has welcomed Joseph to his realm. Some dreams, he explains, are true, and some are false. There’s only one way tell. Joseph loves the dream world Morpheus has woven for him, for in it, he’s found something he never found in reality: a soul mate. For the first time, his life is perfect.

In the end, he has to choose. He cannot stay in the Realm of Morpheus forever. It’s either back to the land of the sun, and potential loneliness, or on to the realm of the lost.

Dedication

Dedicated to Hank Edwards—because if memory serves, it was all his fault.

And also to Dianne Hartsock, who suggested the prompt, Dream Lover by Bobby Darrin.

Trademarks Acknowledgment

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

Starbucks: Starbucks, Inc.

Dream Lover: Bobby Darrin

Frankenstein: Mary Shelley

The Road Not Taken: Robert Frost

Chapter One

It’s my half day today. As though having time off means you’ll be away from the hospital. Dr Oliver Gideon perched on the edge of the uncomfortable chair beside the bed in room thirty-two B at Beachport Memorial Hospital and searched the pale face on the pillow for any sign that his words had been heard.

The night nurse had turned the patient’s face so he looked into the room. If he could see, that was. The comatose man’s eyelids remained obstinately closed after six months of long sleep. There wasn’t even a flicker of eye movement that Oliver could latch onto and pretend the patient dreamed, or merely slept. Those lids lay stubbornly still, immobile as the rest of the man.

Coma. It was supposed to have been a short-term state induced to enhance the body’s natural healing processes following Joseph Caldwell’s surgery. Instead, hours had stretched into days, and days into weeks, and still the man slumbered on, if sleep it could be called.

It didn’t matter that the patient’s eyes refused to open of their own accord. Oliver knew they were slate gray, almond-shaped and, when he was conscious, they telegraphed every emotion the man felt. Oliver knew that, because he’d stared down into those eyes on an operating table six months before, seen the interest in the gray depths turn to fear when he’d caught sight of the gas mask. Fear wasn’t unusual in his patients—he had a practiced litany of words designed to ease the uncertainties of patients who were scared of losing consciousness.

Some people feared spiders, some feared the unknown. Joseph Caldwell, he sensed, feared losing control. He was a man who was accustomed to being careful. His whole being screamed caution and reserve, from the precisely trimmed hair to the neatly plucked eyebrows. If he