“Yes, but…” Winnie stopped, horrified, as the television, overhead, began with the lead story of the day’s news. The first bit was a photo of Ella Welsh and news about her murder. That was what she and Clark had rushed back into Keely’s room to tell him, because they knew the television had been on although turned down, so they could catch the evening news. They’d seen the beginning of this broadcast on the wall televisions as they passed through the waiting room. They hadn’t thought about the murder story being broadcast so soon.
Keely burst into fresh tears, almost hysterical.
“Damn that thing! Shut it off!” Boone shot at Clark as he started toward the call button next to Keely’s pillow. While Clark shut off the television, Boone pressed the button and asked the nurse to come in, before he bent to curl Keely’s face into his shoulder. “It’s all right, honey. It’s all right. I’m so sorry. I never meant you to hear it like that!”
The nurse came in. Boone explained quietly what had just happened. The nurse grimaced and went to call Coltrain, who was, she explained, still making rounds.
The redheaded doctor was in the room scant minutes later. He ordered a sedative for Keely and waited until it took effect before he called the siblings out into the hall.
“It was the damned television,” Boone said angrily. “Why do you have those things in every room in the first place?”
“It wasn’t my idea, believe me,” Coltrain replied at once. “Keely’s going to have a hard recuperation if she has to go back to that house alone.”
“She won’t,” Boone said at once. “She’s coming home with us. I’ve already discussed it with Hayes Carson.”
“Good thinking,” Coltrain replied. He drew in a heavy breath. “I never expected that story to come out so soon. Hell, we don’t even have a local television broadcasting station in the county.”
“San Antonio is plenty close enough to pick the story up, especially on a slow news day,” Winnie murmured. “There’s nothing but political news, and everybody’s sick of that.”
“You’d better hire some bodyguards to protect you at home,” Coltrain advised. “These guys are desperate enough to go after money any way they can get it.”
“Everybody knows they killed Keely’s mother—at least locally we know it,” Winnie said. “They’d be stupid to stick around.”
“These guys will never get work building spaceships,” Coltrain said, tongue-in-cheek. “Otherwise, they wouldn’t have risked coming here in the first place. Hayes Carson would love to get Brent Welsh in his sights on any pretext.”
“So would I,” Boone replied grimly. “He stood by and watched while Keely got mauled saving a kid from a mountain lion. Those scars are going to be permanent, aren’t they?” he asked Coltrain.
Coltrain grimaced. “We might be able to get a plastic surgeon to clean them up, but they’re very deep. She’d have half a dozen surgeries to anticipate, at least. And there’s something else—the sutures weren’t done well, either. She may face some real problems down the road. I’d recommend plastic surgery for that reason alone. But she has no insurance, you know.”
“What the hell does that matter?” Boone asked blithely. “I’ll take care of it. You talk her into it, and I’ll pay the surgeon.”
Coltrain grinned. “That’s a deal.”
Winnie didn’t say anything, but she felt terrible that she and Keely had been friends for so many years, and Keely had never told her about the encounter with the mountain lion. She wondered if she’d said or done something that would make her best friend uncomfortable telling her about it.
“Is Keely asleep?” Boone asked Coltrain.
He nodded. “She’ll be out for a while. It’s just as well. That snakebite is still giving her hell. If Winnie hadn’t found her when she did… Well, it doesn’t bear thinking about,” he added, cutting short the remark when he saw Boone’s tortured eyes. “I’d better get back to work. If you need me, just tell the nurse on duty. They can always find me.”
“Thanks,” Boone said.
Coltrain shrugged and smiled. “I like Keely.”
The siblings gathered around to discuss their plans. Boone decided that he’d better go and see Eb Scott in person. He was going to need specialized talent. Clark and Winnie would take turns staying with Keely. Nobody was going to get past them. They weren’t armed, but they could certainly call for help.
* * *
It was morning before Keely woke up again. The combination of all the drugs and the emotional upheaval of her mother’s death had knocked her out for the night. She blinked sleepily, her mind clear and untroubled until she remembered quite suddenly what she’d seen on television the night before. It was like a rock on her heart. Tears stung her eyes, all over again.
“I’m so sorry, Keely,” Winnie said gently, from her vigil in the chair beside the bed. “About your mother.”
Keely glanced at her. She sighed. “I knew I’d lose her someday,” she said, “and we were almost enemies for so long. But we were just getting to know each other again, and we were becoming friends…” She bit her lip, hard. “It’s been a rotten week,” she said after a minute.
“Yes, it has.” She hesitated. “I wish you could have told me about your shoulder,” she said. “I feel that I’ve failed you, because you couldn’t trust me enough to tell me.”
Keely grimaced. “I was afraid you’d tell Boone,” she said softly. “Not that it would have mattered. He hated me…”
“No, he didn’t,” came the immediate reply. “You have no idea what’s been going on, while you were out of it.”
