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home and get some rest. She looked pale, but she was more coherent and seemed to be in less pain. Matt said he was going to take Pip home for a while, but they promised to come back that afternoon. And on their way out of the ICU, Pip looked at him conspiratorially and asked him if he thought he should talk to her mother now, about the matter they had discussed the night before.

“Now?” He looked startled. “Don't you think we should wait until she feels a little better? She might be more receptive if she's not in so much pain.”

“Maybe it would be better if you talk to her when she's still a little dopey and on drugs.” Pip was willing to resort to any means to get the desired results, and he laughed at her, as they left the hospital and headed for his car.

“Apparently you think she needs to be doped up to agree to marry me,” he said, feeling a lot more jovial than he had since Ophélie got shot. Things were starting to look a little less precarious, and the patient looked a lot better than she had. But he was still nervous and worried about her.

“Well, it might help,” Pip said, responding to his comment about Ophélie being sedated when he proposed. “You know how stubborn she is, and she's pretty scared of getting married again. She told me so.”

“Well, I won't shoot her at least. That ought to count for something,” he said with a grim look.

“It might,” Pip said, and laughed.

They went home, and Mousse was ecstatic to see them. He couldn't understand why everyone had abandoned him. Matt cooked for all three of them, and lay down for a little while. He'd been up for two nights straight. And Pip seemed in better spirits as she bustled around the house. She loved having Matt there, and he had promised to stay with her until Ophélie came home.

They went back to the hospital later than they'd planned, and Ophélie was having a rough night. The nurse said it was expected, postsurgery, after the trauma she'd had. She was in a lot of pain, and they had sedated her pretty heavily with morphine. But her condition was moved from serious to stable in spite of it. She was making a remarkable recovery, much to everyone's amazement, and that night Matt decided to take Pip home. He told her they could both use a night in a real bed, and reluctantly she agreed. She kissed her mother goodnight before leaving her, but Ophélie was sound asleep. And by nine o'clock that night, they were home, and half an hour later Pip was in a deep sleep in her own bed, and Matt was unconscious in Ophélie's.

Neither of them woke till morning, and they had breakfast before going to the hospital. And when they saw Ophélie, they were both immensely relieved. She had a little color in her face, and the nasogastric tube that had been bothering her had been removed. She was still listed in stable condition, and she was complaining about everything, which the nurse said was a good sign. And she smiled when she saw Matt and Pip walk in.

“What have you two been up to?” she asked as though she had been there for a rest and not three gunshot wounds, and both of her visitors beamed at her.

“He made French toast for breakfast, Mom. And he says he makes great pancakes.”

“Good. Bring me some,” she said, but they both knew that she was going to be on a liquid diet for a long time, and she was still on IVs. And then she turned to Matt with a serious look. “Thank you for taking care of Pip for me.” She had no one else to ask, which they both knew. Time and circumstances, and Ted, had isolated her from a lot of people. And she had no real relatives other than Pip. “I'm sorry all this happened. It was stupid of me, I guess.” But she had loved her work with the outreach team.

“I won't say I told you so, but you know how I feel. Jeff tells me they're not going to let volunteers do that work anymore, which seems right to me. It was a wonderful idea, but much too dangerous.”

“I know. It sure got out of hand fast that night. I didn't even know what had hit me when I went down.” It didn't bear thinking