Page 86 of Life, Love and the Pursuit of Happiness

By then, after two more failed attempts to contact Merrill, she went to sleep on her sofa bed. Not that she slept much.

Merrill was either in trouble somewhere. Or he was in trouble with her.

Either way, Delilah knew there would be trouble come morning.

Chapter 17

Sometimes a high I.Q. doesn’t equate with smartness . . .

Merrill drove Delilah’s motorcycle directly to the hospital in Hatteras. The rain hit halfway there, and by the time he arrived, the pellets were coming down in torrents. He looked and felt like a drowned rat. Perfectly fitting for his mood!

He was shivering when he entered the air-conditioned premises and dripping a puddle where he stood at the reception desk. “I’m looking for a patient. Cordelia Good.”

A nurse (he knew she was a nurse because of the name tag hanging from a lanyard around her neck, which said: Melissa Adams, R.N.), who’d just come up beside him, asked, “Do you mean Dr. Good?”

“Yeah. Dr. Cordelia Good.” Man, even in an emergency his parents had to flaunt their academic credentials.

“Second floor IC unit. Room 203. The elevators are down the hall.”

Intensive care? Man, that is not good. He felt a twinge of regret for his negative thoughts about his parents’ academic snobbery at a time like this, and guilt for not answering phone calls as soon as he’d docked this morning.

He was about to walk away when the nurse said, “Wait a minute.” She put up a halting hand and passed over some papers to the receptionist on duty, explaining details about an incoming patient and his special needs. Turning back to him, she asked, “Are you Lt. Merrill Good, by any chance?”

“I was,” he said. At her confused look, he explained, “No longer in the military. What happened to my mother?”

“You should speak with her doctor.”

“I will, but in the meantime, can’t you give me a clue? Today is the first I knew she was in a hospital, and just now, the first I knew it was something serious enough to be in an ICU.”

“Well, your family has been expecting you for days.”

Was there a reprimand in there? Ah, so that was the reason for her snarky mood? The “family” had portrayed him as the black sheep, the unsympathetic son. “I’ve been away. Just got back in town.”

“No cell coverage?”

Definitely a reprimand. And out of line, professionally. “Actually, no.”

“A mild heart attack,” she revealed. Her stance indicated that would be the extent of her cooperation.

She gave him a quick once-over and remarked, “You need a towel.”

“Ya think, Melissa?”

Frowning at his sarcasm, and probably the use of her first name, she motioned for him to follow her to a utility room, where she handed him several towels, which he used briskly to dry his hair and bare arms. There was nothing he could do about his sopping clothes.

He was not unaware that she watched him closely, and that she was not unaware that he was physically fit. And, yeah, a SEAL or ex-SEAL.

“Come with me. I’m going to the ICU.”

She was back to being snippy again, probably because he’d caught her in the act of ogling him.

When they were in the elevator traveling to the second floor, she turned on him and said, “Wait. Are you the guy . . . the treasure hunter . . . who just discovered a billion dollars in gold in a sunken ship?”

“Uh. Where did you hear that?”

“A spot news flash this afternoon on NBX-TV.”

That damn Annie and Sam! Couldn’t keep their mouths shut for a minute. Bet Laura has gone to town, too. Literally. For the first time since he’d left Bell Cove three hours ago, he glanced at his cell phone.