Book Excerpts

.......... Dawn’s heart pumped faster than usual as she passed through the entrance of the luxury Hyatt Downtown Montréal. Maybe it was the adrenaline, the luxe surroundings, the exotic sequined jacket she had just purchased that afternoon on the Rue Saint Laurent. She wasn’t sure, but it didn’t matter. Stepping into the elevator, Dawn pressed the button for the main lobby, which, unlike most Montréal hotels, was situated on the fifth floor. Then she walked across the lobby, taking care not to bring attention to herself ...........

.......... "I’m from the agency." The warmth of her smile enveloped him. The tinkling of her voice hypnotized him. After a moment, he came to his senses.
"Oh. Yes. I’m sorry, do come in." He blushed. "I thought you were an angel."
Dawn acknowledged his compliment with a soft laugh. "You can call me that if you like." .........

.......... She sighed, gratified. "I ‘work’ so I can do God’s work." Her face flushed with an ecstasy he had not seen when they had made love. "I have a deep love for Opus Dei. Without them, their coaching and encouragement, I would not capable of being faithful to prayer. I would have given up by now." ..........

.......... He did emphasize, however, the difference between love and lust. The latter is driven by simple chemistry. ..........it can send oxytocin levels soaring and produce feelings of attachment to someone who is "inappropriate." Romantic love, driven by a whole other barrage of chemicals, can generate obsessive emotions about the sexual partner: a natural addiction that proves indispensable in keeping the partners together when pregnancy occurs. Infatuation goes a step further, causing persistent "intrusive thinking" about the object of affection...........

.......... Sanjay glanced at the patient, her face a ghostly white, laid out on the expensive ICU bed.
"She’s developed sudden disordered heart rhythm, doctor. Supraventricular tachycardia." Krista spoke in a loud, clear voice.
Sanjay watched the heart monitor, his eyes narrowing. He had no trouble recognizing the syndrome. "Yes. Torsade de pointes."
He was all too familiar with the malady, as if madly in love, "heart keeps on turning around on its axis," a well-known cause of cardiac arrest. Turning to the observing students, he explained in quick order while he assessed the situation further ..........

..........….Sanjay kissed Dawn for a long moment. "I love you as much as Jahan loved Mumtaz." She returned his embrace. "Then would you build me a Taj, too?"
Sanjay gave a soft laugh. "If I could, I would build you ten of them. But I’m afraid you’ll have to be content with a book."
"A book?"
"I promise you I will write a book, the book of Dawn. It will be the emblem of our love."
" ‘The Book of Dawn.’ I like the sound of it. Or maybe, ‘Dawnsearlylite?’ "
"I’ll name it whatever you want, my darling."
There, as the Taj had bore witness four hundred years before to the eternal love between Mumtaz and Shah Jahan, the embodiment of their devoted passion entered the souls of Dawn and Sanjay..........

"No. Don’t say anything." Grabbing her hand, he dragged her back towards his room. She didn’t resist.
They had no need for explanations or recriminations. All that existed between them was time, time to love and be loved, until dawn’s early light.