Mac returned with a satisfied grimace on his face. “They’re going to send someone to talk to us.”
A few minutes later, a short, thin young woman wearing a white lab coat walked toward us down the hall. As she approached I tried to assess her age. Her dark hair escaped from the ponytail she had apparently put in many hours ago, freckles dotted her nose and cheeks, and even though she appeared tired, she had an energy that I envied. Definitely younger than me, she looked barely older than Seth.
“I’m Dr. Baker, the intern taking care of Mr. Reed,” she said as she approached. “Are you his family?”
We all glanced at one another and shook our heads. I didn’t think he had any family in the area.
“I’m Detective McKenzie. We found him after the accident and I’ll be investigating. We’re all his . . . friends.”
Not really true, but it worked for the doctor.
“He’s stable right now, but his right leg is broken in several places. He’ll need surgery tonight. We’re calling the surgical team in now.”
“Can we see him?” Diana’s voice cracked.
The doctor nodded. “Very briefly. He’s in a lot of pain.”
We followed her down the hall and into the brightly lit emergency room. Doctors and nurses rushed past on their way to various curtained cubicles. Dr. Baker led us to a spot at the far end of the room. “Mr. Reed, some friends are here to see you.” She whisked the fabric open for us.
Lucan was covered up to his neck in white. Tubes snaked toward the bed and disappeared under the blankets. His face was ashen under his bright red beard. He looked as if he didn’t recognize us at first and then his eyes rested on Diana and a hesitant smile formed.
She rushed forward. “Luke, are you in much pain? Is there anything I can do?”
The blanket moved and he fought to pull his hand out from underneath. “Diana, it’s good to see you.” His voice was so quiet, we all leaned toward him.
She took his hand, and Mac pulled up a chair for her to sit in.
“Lucan, is there anything you can tell me about the car that hit you?” Mac asked. “The sooner I start looking, the better chance I have of finding out who did this.”
“It was a big SUV. Dark. I don’t know if it was blue or black. I didn’t get a good look.” Lucan stopped and his breathing became shallow. He was clearly in pain. “I heard it come up behind me, and I realized it was going too fast.”
One of the machines started beeping.
“It came right off the road and slammed into me,” Lucan said. “Then it stopped and backed up right over my legs.” He stopped again.
A nurse came in and glowered at us. She turned off the beeping and turned, taking a deep breath.
“That’s enough visiting for now. He needs to rest.” The nurse tried to push us out of the room, but Mac pulled out his badge. She hmphed and reminded me of Vi. “Three more minutes,” she said and jerked the curtain closed.
“Another car must have come by because the SUV took off. I don’t know how long I was there before you found me, but I don’t think it was more than a few minutes.”
“I don’t suppose you have a helpful license plate number?” Mac asked.
Lucan shook his head. “It happened so fast.”
“Okay, I’ll see what I can do,” Mac said. He tilted his head at me to meet him out in the hallway. I followed him out into the busy corridor.
“I need to get back to the station and get started on this.” Mac kept his voice low. “Do you want to get a ride home with Diana, or come with me?”
I stole a peek through the slightly open curtain. Diana clutched Lucan’s hand and spoke quietly. The nurse had entered and was putting something into his IV.
“I doubt she’s going home anytime soon. I better stay with her.”
Mac nodded once, and leaned forward to give me a quick kiss on the cheek.
I pulled the curtain aside far enough to enter and snapped it back into place. The nurse said he would be sleepy soon as she had just given him more pain medicine.
“Clyde. . . .” Lucan opened his eyes and searched the room.
“I’m here.”
“Talk to Neila. Tell her . . .”
“Tell her what? Lucan?”
“About me . . . tell her I’m sorry.”
Diana’s eyes grew wide and she shook his shoulder. “Luke?”
The monitors all beeped and hummed contentedly. Lucan had passed out.
A few minutes later the nurse came to tell us they would take him to the OR soon and we would have to wait in the recovery waiting room or we could leave a phone number to be called when he was out of surgery.
“It could be a while,” she said quietly. “They’re prepping the room now, and the surgery will be a long one.”
Diana refused to leave the hospital and we spent the next several hours dozing and worrying in the family waiting room.
“When were you going to tell me about Mac?” she asked.
“When were you going to tell me about Lucan?” I replied.