feeling of helplessness, she closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall.
“Bug breath.”
It was a fair comment on her condition, as well as her state of mind.
* * *
This time when Stone entered Vanderbilt Memorial, he went in the front door and took the stairs on the right to the third floor. He came out of the stairwell, his long stride carrying him down the hall with single-minded intent. Under the weak glow of the generator-powered lighting, the shadows beneath his eyes seemed darker, the strain lines at the corners of his mouth deeper, and the sun-bleached highlights in his hair gleamed like wheat in a noonday sun. His expression was grim. It was what his friends called his “cop face.” But all he needed was some more rest. And that would come, after he’d seen for himself that Jessie was really all right. He’d tried to talk himself out of this trip all the way to the hospital, yet when he’d parked and gotten out of his car, he knew he would never have been able to rest without seeing her face…hearing her voice…even suffering the guilt he would feel when he saw her. He had to know she was all right. Then he could rest.
“Richardson, haven’t you gone home yet?”
Stone paused and turned. Noah Howell was coming out of a room he’d just passed.
“Hi, Doc. I thought I would look in on Jessie Hanson. Last night, they said she’d been put in 339. Do you know if she’s still there?”
Noah nodded. “But not for long. I just released her to go home. In fact, I’m on my way to the nurse’s desk to call her sister to come and get her.”
Stone didn’t stop to think why he was offering, he just blurted it out before he changed his own mind.
“Don’t bother. I’ll see that she gets home okay.”
Noah grinned. Stone’s defenses went up.
“Get that look off your face,” Stone warned. “Just because I’m concerned about an old friend, it doesn’t mean anything. Hell. I dated her sister once. Besides, she’s just a kid.”
“If my memory serves, she’s twenty-six, old buddy. That’s hardly robbing the cradle,” Noah said.
Stone ignored the comment and knocked, waiting for an invitation to enter. When it came, he went in, unprepared for the woman inside.
* * *
Jessica jerked as the knock sounded on her door. Still sprawled in the chair with the T-shirt clutched to her chest and expecting one of the hospital staff, she spoke without thinking.
“Come in.”
When Stone walked into the room, she gasped and grabbed her shirt with both hands, holding it up beneath her chin.
“How dare you!” she muttered, and tried hard to glare, but frowning made her head hurt worse.
Stone was transfixed. He’d expected her to be safe in bed and covered up with a sheet, not half dressed and sprawled out in a chair with a shirt clutched to her front like a shield. All he could think to say was “You told me to come in.”
Jessica’s lower lip slid forward. “But I didn’t know it was you.”
She looked so lost and hurt sitting there. Stone fought the urge to hold her.
“Sorry, do you want me to leave?”
She nodded, then groaned. If only she could remember to speak instead, it would be a lot less painful.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
She grimaced, closing her eyes to steady the sudden sway of the room.
“Of course I’m not all right!” She sighed, trying to relax the tension knotting at the back of her neck.
Stone frowned. The past two years had certainly changed one thing about Jessie. She never used to be so angry.
“I told Doc Howell I’d take you home.”
Jessica’s eyes flew open, and the shirt began to slip. When it revealed two mounds of creamy flesh held fast beneath a white lace bra, Stone reacted by pointing at the T-shirt.
“You gonna wear that home or just carry it?”
Jessica’s eyes teared in frustration as she stopped its escape. “I got dizzy.”
His expression softened. “Need some help?”
She hesitated.
“Come on, honey. I’ve seen it before.”
The look on her face was priceless, and Stone knew he’d reminded them both of something better left forgotten.
Jessica’s ire rose. “Just turn around, you mealymouthed snake.”
He grinned slightly as he turned. “Dare I turn my back on a woman who’s just called me a snake?”
Jessica glared at his backside, reminding herself to ignore the wide shoulders, narrow hips and long legs as she thrust both arms in the shirt, yanking it down over her head in haste. But she’d forgotten the bandage at the edge of her hairline and yelped in pain when the neck pulled too tight for comfort.
Stone spun, took one look at the predicament she’d put herself in and stalked across the room without waiting for an invitation.
“Easy,” he warned, and pulled the shirt back up enough to give himself room to maneuver. She started to sputter. He frowned. “Calm down, damn it. I’m trying to help.”
When she muttered something he didn’t understand, he figured it was better to let lost curses die. This time when he eased the shirt down, he started the opening at the back of her head first, then pulled it toward the front, stretching the fabric as it slid past the bandage. When it cleared her nose, he looked down. Two orbs of pure blue were gleaming up at him with malevolence.
“You’re welcome,” he drawled.
She resented his arrogance. Why did devastating men always smirk?
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
The question took him off guard. What was he doing here? Last night had resulted in a multitude of disasters that had sent literally dozens of Grand Springs residents to the hospital. And Jessica wasn’t the only one he knew who’d been admitted. Why had he felt the urge to make sure she, above all others, was going to be okay? Uneasy as to how to answer her, he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“I was on my way home. Thought I’d stop by.”
“You live on the other side of town.”
His eyes narrowed. He wasn’t prepared to pursue the issue. Not with her. Not even with himself.
“I know where I live. Do you want to go home or not?”
Jessica’s shoulders slumped. “Yes, please.”
Satisfied to be back on firm ground, Stone nodded. “That’s fine, then.” He looked down at her feet. “Where are your shoes?”
Jessica pointed toward the closet and started to cry. Not loudly, just huge, silent tears spilling out of her eyes and down her face.
At that moment, something tore loose inside of Stone that had nothing to do with compassion. If he hadn’t been so rattled by a particular tear hanging on the edge of her lip, he might have realized the emotion for what it was. But he was, and he didn’t, and by the time he got the shoes on her feet, the notion of pursuing the thought had long since passed.
Their drive home was silent. A half hour later, he pulled into Jessica’s driveway and parked. Every house on the block was little more than a dark shape against the shadows of the coming night. Now and then a weak glow of some lantern or candle could be seen shining through curtains, but it was the depth of darkness out on the streets that made Jessica jumpy.
After offering to carry her