better than mine." The fingers of her right hand beckoned toward him and he clasped them. Their coldness melted in his warm palm.
Edmonds snapped his pen shut and folded his arms across his chest. "Two things, Mr. and Mrs. Brewer," he said, raising his brow toward Nicholas on Trissa's title. "The x-rays look good, so I don't think we have anything to worry about there. But I have asked a colleague, Georgia Pulasky, to come in and have a few words with Mrs. Brewer before I sign the release."
"Another of your standard procedures, Doctor?" Nicholas asked.
"No, it is not standard. And, Trissa, I hope you will be more forthcoming with her than you have been with me. We only want to help you, but to do that you will have to help us a little, too. Will you at least try?" He ignored Nicholas and spoke only to Trissa. She sensed antagonism between the two men. It confused her.
"I don't know what you want," she said.
"Just answer her questions honestly."
"Yes, Doctor."
"Thank you." There was a smug look of triumph on Edmonds' face. "I'll check in on you again, later. Good day, Mr. Brewer.
*****
Nicholas gave Trissa's hand a squeeze then released it to pursue Edmonds out of the room. "Doctor Edmonds, I need a word with you."
"I have rounds to make, Brewer. You've wasted enough of my time." Whatever pleasantness he had contrived to gain Trissa's trust was erased from his voice now that she could no longer hear it. He did not slow his pace down the hall, and once again Nicholas was forced into a limping gait to keep up with his long strides.
Ignoring the disadvantage, Nicholas injected a similar sharp aggression into his tone. "Then why not just release her and cease your damned meddling?"
"Release her to you? You probably have no more right to her than I do."
"Than you do? Is that it, Edmonds? Is that the reason for all your interest?"
"Don't be an ass, Brewer. My interest is only that of doctor for patient."
"And this colleague of yours? You didn't call her doctor. Just what is her interest?"
"She is a psychiatric social worker."
"Psychiatric--" Nicholas took a breath to control the snap of panic the word induced in him. Even so, when he spoke again, it tinged his voice. He wondered if Edmonds would detect it. "No, I refuse. I won't give my permission for that. You're not sending some shrink in there to play around with Trissa's mind."
Edmonds waved a hand to dismiss him as if Brewer's objections were no more than a petty annoyance. "Your permission is not needed. And probably wouldn't be binding if it were. I have the patient's permission. You heard her agree to talk to her yourself."
They had reached the end of the hall and Edmonds finally paused and turned to face him with undisguised contempt. "As for playing around with her mind, you've done your share of that, haven't you? Was that endearing scene in there just for my benefit, or are you always so loving with your wife? Somehow, I doubt it. Whatever happened last night, it has damaged that girl more than just physically. She's so overwrought she can't frame a straightforward response to a simple question. But then, you don't want her to be able to answer questions, do you?"
In a way, Nicholas felt more comfortable now that Edmonds had shed all pretense of civility. He knew Edmonds expected him to reply in kind, and it pleased him to muster enough composure to answer the doctor's outburst with cool, even-toned disdain. "You are an arrogant bastard, Edmonds. But then most doctors are. You have made a lot of assumptions about me and about the accident. For Trissa's sake, I regret I won't have the pleasure of showing you just how wrong you are. But I will promise you one thing. However long you dawdle with this release, Trissa came into this hospital with me and she will leave with me."
"That remains to be seen."
The doctor turned and shouldered his way through the door to the stairwell. Nicholas judged himself the victor in this round. But then, Nicholas had already made up his mind he was going to win. He had battled his way to that decision in the car when he had awakened with the image of Janey as fresh in his mind as the last day he'd seen her.
If he had dreamed of her, he did not remember the details of his dream. There was only