3
Since she had nothing to do, Amanda scooped her hand into her purse and pulled out the black shard. The stone was just as she remembered it, but with one important difference. The thing now radiated heat like the larger piece she’d given to Tony for him to toss back onto the mountain. Her hands trembled as she hugged the fragment to herself and shuddered at the feel of the soothing warmth flowing through her arms and up into the rest of her body. She was delighted enough to almost laugh out loud, but a sudden noise in the hall interrupted her paradise.
Amanda hastily hid the stone in her pants pocket and turned in time to see the door open. Dr. Gerber, a gentleman of about forty with friendly, bespectacled eyes, came into the room and closed the door behind himself. He had a wide
