The Search The Secrets of Crittenden Cou - By Shelley Shepard Gray Page 0,11

. . she wasn’t. “Next time I see my father, I’ll pass on your thoughts on the matter.”

“I’m not trying to be critical.”

“But you are.” Her good eye saw him flinch. And immediately she felt bad. She didn’t know the detective all that well, but she was certainly coming to understand that he was a man used to being in charge, and used to saying what he thought.

Maybe a little bit like herself?

“Luke, I’m sorry if I don’t sound grateful for your concern. I thank you for that. And I thank you for coming here to check on me. It was kind of you.”

“What are the doctors saying?”

“I don’t know. Everything’s been pretty fuzzy.” She thought for a moment. “I think I remember them saying that they’d come back soon.”

“When they do, would you like me to talk with them, too?”

Just the idea of someone taking over her worries and questions sounded wonderful. With the way her head was pounding and her cheeks and face stinging, she was having trouble even keeping her good eye open. “Thank you for that,” she said quietly. “If you could get some information and hold on tight to it, I would be most grateful.” She leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

“You don’t need to thank me. I’ll be glad to help.” He paused. “I don’t usually argue with people all that much, you know.”

“I don’t argue that much, either,” she admitted. “I guess we bring out the worst in each other.”

“I hope not. I don’t want to always argue with you, Frannie.”

She didn’t know how to respond to that. Changing topics, she opened her good eye again. “One doctor stitched up my face, and another doctor examined my cornea. But neither of them wanted to tackle the cuts on the side of my eye. I’m waiting for that eye doctor. When he gets here, he’s going to fix the cuts on the side and lid of my eye. I might have to get operated on.”

“And that worries you.”

Her lip trembled. “I’m tryin’ to be brave, but in truth I’m scared.”

“You know what? You have every right to be, too.” As tears leaked from her good eye, Luke grabbed a tissue, hovered it over her, then set it down. “Fran, I don’t have a clue about how to wipe your tears away. Want some water? There’s a straw.”

“Okay.”

When she attempted to sit up, he placed a hand behind her shoulders and clicked his tongue. “Easy now. Don’t want you to hurt yourself. Just open your mouth like a baby robin and I’ll give you the straw.”

The image of the fierce-looking detective playing mama bird to her baby bird was so ludicrous that she opened her mouth without a complaint. And sure enough, a cool straw came filled with cooler water that tasted wonderful in her mouth.

Greedily, she swallowed, then swallowed again.

“Easy now. You’ll choke if you’re not careful.”

Following his words, she swallowed more slowly, then released the straw and leaned back again.

“Danke.”

“You’re welcome.”

“If you’d like to leave, that’s okay with me.”

“I don’t want to. I want to stay here and keep you company.”

“You must know that I’m not the best of company right now.”

He chuckled. “You must know that you’re not the best of company a lot of the time.”

By now she knew his words were only teasing.

“And?”

“And I don’t feel like doing much at the moment. As a matter of fact, I think I’m going to sit here with you, and wait for the doctors with you.”

“Don’t expect me to be grateful.” Because, of course, she was grateful. She hadn’t liked sitting alone.

To her surprise, he chuckled again. “Don’t worry, Frannie. I’ve come to discover that I shouldn’t expect much from you. You have a tendency to surprise me.”

Against her will . . . or maybe because of his frankness, she smiled.

Luke turned out to be an easy companion. He didn’t say much. Instead, he encouraged her to close both eyes and relax. A nurse came in to take her blood pressure and to tell her that the plastic surgeon for eyes was on his way.

When they were alone again, he leaned closer. “You okay?”

“Truth?”

“Always.”

“No. I’m frightened. I don’t want to be blind, and I’m not too excited about getting stitches around my eye neither. And my face hurts.”

“That’s to be expected. Do you want me to see if they’ll give you more medicine for the pain?”

“Nee. I need to be strong. I don’t want to be in a greater daze than