Michael had changed, too. Instead of jeans he wore khaki pants and a button-down shirt with the cuffs turned back. Even when he didn’t try, he looked gorgeous.
When they reached the hospital, they cut through the emergency waiting room to get to the elevators. The ICU was quiet. A nurse wearing the name tag “Terry” was behind the desk. The second Isabel introduced herself, the nurse’s face lit up. As she led them down the hall to Walsh’s room, she gushed, “I took your advice, and you were right,” she said. “I did overreact. John and I had a long talk, and we’ve decided to keep the dog, slobber and all.”
“I’m glad you worked it out,” Isabel said.
A uniformed policeman stood by Walsh’s door. When they identified themselves, he told them Samuel had authorized their visit, and he let them pass.
A multitude of tubes and wires were hooked up to the poor man. The nurse explained that the breathing apparatus had been removed, and he was breathing on his own now. There were other
improvements as well, but he was still unconscious, and everyone was anxious for him to open his eyes.
Isabel thought he looked peaceful in sleep, and yet she still wanted to shake him to help him wake up. She didn’t give in to the temptation, thank goodness, not only because it would be wrong to manhandle a patient, but also because the guard was giving her suspicious looks. Later that same guard was telling her how he was drowning in debt. All she had done to elicit such a lengthy declaration was to thank him for watching out for Detective Walsh and ask him if this was his usual duty.
Isabel listened to his worries for a good ten minutes before he finished. She shook his hand, wished him well, and was ready to leave, but then one of the orderlies wanted to chat with her.
Michael guessed it was going to take a while, so he leaned back against the wall with arms crossed and waited. He couldn’t figure out why people were so prone to unload their problems on her. She didn’t hand out any wisdom. As to that, she didn’t say much of anything. She usually engaged them in conversation, chatting amicably about mundane things. Once they started talking, she just listened and nodded every now and again. Michael noticed that everyone who talked to her walked away smiling.
It was, in his opinion, the strangest thing he had ever seen, and it kept happening. People were drawn to her . . . just like he was, though he sure as certain wasn’t going to pour his heart out to her.
He had to drag her out of the hospital or they never would have left.
“Why are you in such a hurry?” she asked, trying to keep up with him as they walked down the hospital corridor.
“I have things to do,” he said.
She checked the time and then said, “Do you have plans tonight?”
“Yes.”
No further explanation, just a simple “yes.” She guessed what that meant. He had a date. Probably with that lawyer, Amanda Something-or-Other. She wasn’t going to grill him. If he didn’t want to tell her, she wasn’t going to nag.
“That nurse . . . ,” Michael began, as he turned the key in the car’s ignition.
“What nurse?”
“The one behind the desk.”
“You mean Terry,” she said, turning toward him. “What about her?”
“When did you talk to her?”
“I’ve talked to her several times on the phone,” she explained. “I’d called to check on Detective Walsh, and she answered. She’s a lovely woman, isn’t she?”
“Yeah, sure,” he said. “She thanked you for all your advice, but you didn’t give her any, did you?”
“I asked her how her day was going, and she told me.”
He shook his head. “It’s the damnedest thing.”
“What is? That people need someone to listen to them? There are a lot of lonely people in the world who don’t have anyone to turn to. You wouldn’t understand because you come from such a big family. If you need anything, you can turn to your brothers and sisters, and you have parents who love you. I hope you realize how fortunate you are.”
He glanced over at her and said, “Yes, I do realize how fortunate I am. What about you? Were you lonely growing up?”
“No, not at all,” she replied. “I was very close to my mother.”
“And your sisters?”
“Yes.”
“But they weren’t around all that much, were they? Kiera was away at college and medical school, and Kate went away to college, then got her graduate degree in business—”
“Okay, no, they weren’t home all that often, but I knew they would be there if I needed them.”
Several minutes passed in silence, and then Michael said, “Were they home when your mother got sick?”
“Off and on,” she answered. “Toward the end our aunt Nora moved in to help.”
He nodded. “I understand now.”
“Understand what?”
“You have tremendous empathy for others, and that’s why they’re drawn to you.”
“They? Who are you talking about?”
“Terry, the nurse,” he said. “And the orderly. What was he telling you? He looked agitated.”
“His name is Cruz, and he was upset. He told me he’s one of six children, and their single mother raised them. Now she’s sick, and none of them want to take her into their home and care for her. The more he talked, the more he realized that her children have an obligation to take care of her.”
“What do you think?”
“Brothers and sisters and parents should be loyal to one another, no matter what.”
He reached over and put his hand on top of hers. “I agree.”
Michael was slowly beginning to realize how much he liked being with Isabel. When he first met her at Dylan’s wedding and wasn’t trying his damnedest to avoid her, he had thought her opinions were naive, but now he realized how strong her character was. He had learned not to trust anyone but his family and his SEAL team brothers. Trust was unconditional with all of them. Outsiders weren’t to be trusted. In his past line of work, that was the reason he stayed alive.
“Do you trust Dylan unconditionally?” he asked.
“Yes, I do.” There wasn’t any hesitation at all.
“Do you trust me unconditionally?”
“Yes.” Again, no hesitation. Before he could gloat, and Isabel was sure that he would, she added a caveat. “And I can’t give you a reason why.”
On one hand, Isabel aggravated the hell out of him, and on the other, she made him feel good. His only explanation was that his reactions to her were just plain crazy.
“I’m not going to ask if you trust me unconditionally,” she continued, “because I know the answer.
You’re too cynical to trust anyone out of your core group.”
He didn’t disagree. Instead, he changed the subject. “There’s the bridge to home. Notice the sign on that post?”
“Yes.”
“What does it say?”
Here we go again. Isabel silently groaned. “Do not pass. The sign says, ‘Do not pass.’ Michael, are we going to argue again?”
Fortunately, her cell phone rang before he could get worked up thinking about their near misses while she was driving. She didn’t bother to see who was calling. A minute later she wished she had.
James Reid was on the line, and he was even more eager than the last time he’d called.