Was she mental? “Not without you.” Luke gave Opal the exasperated look he wanted to give Faith. “I’m not sure why she doesn’t want to be seen with me. Look at me. I’m rocking these scrubs. I have these cool bruises and stitches. I’m red-carpet worthy.”
Opal chose to side with Faith. “Honey, hold out for a man who knows how to put an outfit together and doesn’t get shot on a regular basis.”
“Tell me about it.” Faith shook her head in mock sadness. At least he hoped it was mock sadness. “But in all seriousness, Opal, we need to check with our protection before we leave this room.”
“Already got you covered, sweetheart.” Opal’s delight in being a step ahead was clear. “There are a couple of nice officers outside who are not letting anyone near you. We’ll clear the hall and take you up in the staff elevator. It’s the same route we take surgical patients, and it’s away from the hospital’s open corridors. They plan to stay with you until they deliver you to a safe location. You won’t be coming back to this room.”
Faith let loose an overdone sigh. “Rats. It was starting to feel like home.”
Opal smiled at Faith’s joke but grew serious as she looked between the two of them. “I like you two, so keep yourselves out of the crosshairs. You hear me?”
Luke climbed off the bed as Faith gave Opal a side hug. “Yes, ma’am. Thank you for taking such good care of us this afternoon.”
Opal patted Luke’s good arm. “I mean it. No more bullets.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Okay, then let’s go.”
Luke and Faith followed Opal from the room. The police officers waiting outside their door fell in around them, and their party of five made an awkward trip through the hall and to the elevators. When Opal left them at the recovery room, Luke thought he saw her wipe her eyes.
“I wonder what her story is?” Faith watched the elevator doors close. “She looks like she could be a real battle-ax type, but she’s a total marshmallow.”
“We should send her a thank-you. Maybe some flowers or something.”
Faith turned toward Luke, eyes overflowing in shock.
“What?” Luke’s defenses rose like a tsunami. “She was nice to us. And worried about us. What would be wrong with sending her a little token of appreciation?”
“Nothing.” Faith whispered the word. “Nothing at all.”
He wanted to find out why something as simple as sending someone flowers would surprise her. Was it because she didn’t think anyone did that kind of thing? Was it because she was surprised that he’d had the idea in the first place?
Or was it because she wasn’t used to anyone showing appreciation for a job well done?
Or for anything at all?
13
FAITH NEEDED TO GET SOME SPACEbefore she made an even bigger fool out of herself.Way to hang your crazy out for the world to see.Luke couldn’t know how the idea of sending someone flowers would make her so ... ridiculous. And she wasn’t about to tell him. She led the way through the doors to the recovery room and promptly found a small section of wall to park herself against. “Go ahead.” She pointed toward the room with the police officers standing guard.
Luke searched her face. “Don’t leave.”
She swallowed hard. What had he seen? Could he possibly know how much she wanted to run screaming from this place? How the need for some privacy was clawing at her insides and driving her nuts? No. He couldn’t. But he might be closer to the truth than she was comfortable with. He didn’t seem inclined to leave until she responded, so she forced a calmness she didn’t feel and said, “I’ll be here.”
He frowned as if her answer confirmed something he didn’t like, but he approached the officer and gained admittance to the small room. Faith closed her eyes and prepared to wait for however long it took. She wouldn’t begrudge Luke time with his friend. They’dbeen through a lot this morning. These Secret Service agents had a tight bond. Tighter than anything she had with her coworkers. Of course, she hadn’t given any of her coworkers the chance to get to know her, so maybe it was her own fault.
“Ma’am?” A young voice broke into her musing.
She opened her eyes, and the youngest of the officers assigned to her gave an apologetic smile. “Sorry, ma’am, but they want you over there.” He pointed to Gil’s room.
Sure enough, Luke stood there, waving at her. “Gil wants to see you.”
“Me?”
“You.” Luke held the door open, and she didn’t have much choice but to enter Gil’s room. She took slow steps. Why would Gil want to see her?
“Hey.” Gil’s voice had a rasp it hadn’t had this morning.
