John’s thoughts had obviously paralleled his own. “I never mentioned Pam’s sister’s last name, did I?”
“No.” Michael shook his head, with a shrug. He didn’t bother to explain having that piece of information would not have clued him in. He had never known her by any other name than Winter.
“You’ve come at a good time! We just heard. Chloe is going to get better!”
“I’m glad to hear that!” Michael felt a sharp shaft of relief. A grin broke free. His smile faltered as Winter stepped away from him, still wearing an expression of profound shock on her face.
Cathy felt all of the morbid fascination she might have at watching a train wreck. Her gaze flicked back and forth between the two men. The thudding of her heart was so loud she wondered that no one said anything. Her brother-in-law and Michael knew each other. It was inconceivable. It was appalling. It was a disaster.
Shame and panic hit her. They were going to know. Pam and John.
She tried to breathe. Crushing pressure built, squelching the air out of her lungs. She practically flew out of the waiting room. “Cathy!”
She evaded Pam’s hands. “Please! I can’t bear—not now. Just let me go!”
She heard her brother-in-law’s voice. “No, Pam! Let her go. She’s got to do this her way.”
Cathy didn’t turn or look back as she ran down the hospital hall to the elevators. She repeatedly stabbed the down button, the breath sawing harshly out of her lungs.
At her sister’s hasty retreat, Pam shook her head. “I’m glad you came, Michael. She needs her friends. She needs all of us. She’s carried the burden alone for so long.” Tears glittered in her eyes. “When I think about everything she’s had to go through…”
John put his arm around his wife, and she leaned into him. “Hush, baby. It’s going to be okay. We’re here now. We’ll take care of Cathy and Chloe.”
Pam nodded. “I know. She’ll have to give up that awful apartment now.” She turned to Michael. “We’ve leased a house. John was able to apply for leave, and we’re going to stay in town for awhile until Chloe is stronger. Later, if Cathy decides it is what she wants, I hope that both of them will come back to Singapore with us.”
“Singapore?” Until then, Michael had just stood there, trying to take everything in. He had kept his gaze trained on Winter. She was still waiting at the elevator doors, and he watched her pull on her long black coat. He was impatient to get away from her relatives. But now, his attention swung back to Pam Thompson. There must have been something telling in his expression or in his voice because she looked startled.
Sudden compassion flashed over her face. “I’m sorry, Michael. I didn’t mean to—Nothing is really settled.” She looked up in mute appeal at her husband.
John cleared his throat. “Why don’t you go talk to Cathy, Michael?”
“I’ll do that.” Michael saw that the elevator had arrived at last. The door slid open, and Winter bolted forward into it, her coat flaring back. He strode down the hall, but the elevator had closed. He didn’t stop to wait for it. Instead, he pushed open the exit door to the stairwell and began running down the flights of concrete stairs. Winter had a start on him, but he hoped to catch up with her.
When Michael emerged from the hospital and walked outside to the parking lot, the winter wind whipped him. He turned up the collar of his coat and shoved his hands deep into the pockets. The fingers of one hand crinkled paper. He vaguely recalled stuffing a leftover napkin into his pocket at a fast food place earlier in the week.
Winter was waiting for him beside the Porsche. Her auburn head was bowed. Her arms were folded over her breast. She looked cold and miserable.
Michael’s heart began to beat thickly in his chest. He clenched his hands inside the coat pockets. He passed between the parked cars and crossed the graveled pavement.