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haven’t heard from her in a while and I’m worried.”

      â€œShe’d call you this early?”

      â€œThis late. Yeah. I’d take her call anytime, though.” The click of a pen. The shredding of a sheet of paper. Change of subject. Just as well, chitchat wasn’t his forte. “What do you need?”

      â€œAnything you can dig up on coma and brain damage. Recovery.” The word tasted dry and made him wince.

      â€œJeez, Falconer,” Rory said as she scribbled down what he’d told her. “I’m really sorry. I hope she’s all right. She has to be a saint to put up with someone like you.” She gave a mirthless chuckle. “I’ll see what I can find for you.”

      Not a saint, but his angel. “Thanks, I’ll owe you.”

      â€œI’ll hold you to that.”

      AS SEBASTIAN WAS disconnecting, the emergency-entrance doors burst open and his sister-in-law strode in like a witch riding a twig broom. Her ICBM-like gaze zeroed in on him. He didn’t stand a chance, so he braced for the blow.

      â€œWhy wasn’t I called immediately?” Her question screeched across the room, making the nurses at the desk look up. Her bottle blond hair bobbed with every laser-sure step in his direction.

      â€œI’m just coming up for air myself.”

      One of Paula’s hands beat the air like a conductor gone mad. “For hours no one answered the blasted phone. I was going out of my mind. Then I had to find out about Olivia from that man.”

      That man being Mario Menard, the Aerie’s groundskeeper and handyman. That man was even now installing another layer of protection to keep Paula’s baby sister safe. Sebastian couldn’t figure out if she treated Mario like a nonentity because he was the hired help or because he was always polite to her even when she was giving him her best impression of a third-degree black belt witch. The situation only seemed to get worse after the bankruptcy and suicide of Paula’s husband and Paula had to get a job.

      â€œYou were next on my list, Paula,” he said gently. After all, Paula had raised Olivia. Paula had been more of a mother to Olivia than their own mother, who hadn’t wanted the burden of a menopause baby.

      â€œNext? I should have been first. What happened? How is she? When can I take her home?”

      â€œWhoa, there.” He put up both hands against her verbal assault. “She’s coming home with me where she belongs.”

      Paula’s eyes narrowed to barbed slits. “She’s coming home with me. We both know she was leaving you. That’s where she was going at that ungodly hour. To my home. Away from you. I figured you were giving her a hard time and that’s why she was so late. I never thought you’d actually hurt her.”

      â€œI would never hurt her. The hour wasn’t ungodly. She left before seven.”

      Both of her hands exploded upward. “Seven? That was almost six hours ago!”

      â€œI had other things on my mind—like Olivia and her welfare.”

      Paula’s hands hitched to her bony hips. “Her welfare? When have you ever bothered with her welfare? She wasn’t happy with you. You should have seen that years ago. But no, not Mr. Important Deputy Marshal.” She pecked her fingernail into his chest. “You were too busy doing your important job to see that she was dying inside. If you’d once bothered to ask her what she wanted instead of assuming she wanted whatever you wanted, then we wouldn’t be in this situation right now.”

      â€œPaula—”

      â€œNo, don’t Paula me. Your selfishness almost killed her.” Rusty mascaraed tears dripped from Paula’s pale blue eyes. Her voice cracked. “I want to see her.”

      â€œShe’s not allowed visitors yet.”

      Hand at her throat, she gulped. “How bad is it?”

      â€œWe won’t know until she wakes up.”

      â€œComa?” One hand covered her trembling lips; the other wrapped around her waist. The drips of tears turned to a stream. “Oh, God, no.”

      â€œI have another neurologist scheduled to see her first thing in the morning.”

      Paula keened. “Neurologist? There’s brain damage?”

      Sebastian tentatively reached for his sister-in-law and patted a shoulder. “She’s going to be okay, Paula.”

      Paula’s eyes narrowed and skewered him with pure hatred. “She’d better.”

      Sebastian backed away. Knowing what to push was only part of an investigation; you also had to know when to let things slide. This was a slider. He headed toward the entrance.

      â€œWhere are you going?” Paula called after him.

      â€œHome to shower and change. I’ll be back.”

      Paula’s gaze rested on his shirt and traced the pattern of Olivia’s blood staining the white cotton. “What if she wakes up while you’re gone?”

      â€œYou’ll be there to make your final bid for her to leave me. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

      Her shoulders bowed and she wrapped both arms around her stick figure. “I want what’s best for Olivia.”

      â€œThen we agree on one thing.”

      EVEN AT EIGHT in the morning, the lights in the hallway outside Olivia’s room seemed unnaturally bright. Such a dazzle should have cheered Sebastian, made him expect the best. But as the doctor exited the room, the brilliant islands of light only served to rush all that could go wrong at him in a giant black wave. Olivia, you can’t die. You can’t leave me this way. We never got to talk.

      â€œHow is she?” Sebastian asked, hands fisted deep in the pockets of his pants. He’d demanded the best neurologist available and been told this beat-up dog was it.

      Dr. Iverson crossed both arms over his chest like a shield. Fatigue seemed to sag his aging features into bloodhound droopiness. “Prediction of improvement is difficult at this stage.”

      Sebastian closed his eyes for a second. Patience, he reminded himself. “When will you know?”

      â€œAgain, making predictions at this stage is impossible.” Dr. Iverson shrugged. “There are many factors involved in your wife’s recovery. A loving, stable relationship is a great asset and will do more for your wife than anything we can offer her.”

      Stable relationship. A ticking like a time bomb settled in Sebastian’s gut. Would she want to come home? Would she let him help her? He frowned. “What does that mean?”

      â€œIt means time is the best healer, and she’ll need all the support you can give her. As soon as she wakes up, we’ll know the extent of the damage.”

      Damage. He swallowed hard. Trying to ignore the mad ticking, he grasped on to “wakes up.” “She’ll be okay then.”

      Dr. Iverson’s forehead wrinkled more deeply. “We’re optimistic, but we’re dealing with an acceleration/deceleration head injury and you should be prepared.”

      The ticking flared, started to burn. That could mean anything. Let him explain. “For what?”

      â€œIn this type of injury, the head, which was moving forward, came to a sudden stop

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