found myself smiling; not only was it Ivy, but Glenn, too, moving slowly and supported between Ivy and the IV stand. The black man looked awful, and it wasn't just from the hospital gown. Still, I met him grin for grin when he looked up from the floor, clearly pleased to be functioning even on this reduced level. His face was an ugly purple in places, and his hand gripping Ivy's arm was swollen, the cuts covered with stark-white bandages. "Hi, Rachel," he breathed, then focused on the tile and moving forward.
Marshal nodded his hello to Ivy, and after nudging the tomato behind the flowers before Glenn spotted it, he moved to the distant couch, built into the wall under the window, so the ailing FIB agent could have the closer chair. Oddly enough, Ivy looked like she knew what she was doing, competently shifting him around and making sure his IV didn't get tangled. She even knew to hold his gown shut while he angled to sit in the chair.
He eased into it with his arm muscles straining, and he exhaled long and loud when his weight left his feet. "Rachel," he said before he got his breath back altogether. "Ivy told me you were here, and I had to see it for myself. You look as bad as I feel, girl."
"Yeah?" I shot back. "Give me a few hours, and I'll wipe the floor with you in a game of 'round the nurses' desk.'" As far as I was concerned, he was in way worse shape than I, but he looked a whole lot better than when I'd seen him last, unconscious and surrounded by white sheets. That I couldn't stand up yet didn't mean anything. I'd be walking before sunset even if I had to crawl to do it.
Ivy came closer, and a pang of emotion went through me. The chair Glenn was now in had been pulled to the bedside when I woke up. I'd be willing to bet she'd been sitting in it all night. She looked tired, and I wondered if she had slept at all this morning. "Hi, Ivy," I said as I reached out-knowing she wouldn't. "Jenks said Remus hit you. You okay?"
Jenks clattered his wings behind the flowers, and Ivy's calm face scrunched up. "I'm fine, more mad at myself than anything." Her fingers touched mine, and I heard everything she wasn't going to say. "I'm glad you're awake," she said softly. "You had us worried."
"My pride took a hit," I said. "I'll be fine soon as I can stand." Jenks looked out around a plastic vase with a questioning expression, his hands full of pollen, and Marshal popped his knuckles. Realizing the men had become uncomfortable, I flushed. Our fingers parted.
"Marshal, you've met Glenn, haven't you?" I said suddenly. "He's the FIB's Inderland specialist. Glenn, Marshal is the swim coach at the university."
Marshal came forward. Leaning past the corner of the bed, he carefully shook Glenn's bandaged hand. "Nice to meet you," he said, and I couldn't help but notice there hadn't been a flicker of concern or reluctance in meeting an FIB officer. Not like with Nick. And I smiled.
"It's a pleasure," Glenn responded. "Have you and Rachel known each other long?"
"No," he said quickly, but I felt he deserved more than that.
"Sort of." I spoke up before Jenks, who had risen up above the flowers, could. "Marshal helped Jenks and me on that run up in Michigan. He's been in Cincinnati since Halloween, pulling snakes from under my kitchen floor and teaching me how to rock climb."
Ivy snickered at the reference to Tom, and Glenn's head went up and down in slow consideration, his gaze becoming more accepting. I knew he believed Nick was still alive, which he was, the son of a bastard-and seeing that my ex-boyfriend and master thief had a record thicker than the phone book, I wouldn't be surprised if the FIB detective grilled Marshal later over what he knew about Nick.
Ivy made a small sound of interest when she opened the card from the second batch of flowers. I wanted to ask her about her leg, but she wasn't favoring it, and I knew she wouldn't appreciate me bringing it up in front of other people.
"Slacker," I said to Glenn, and when he gave me a tired, lopsided smile, I added, "How's your aura?"
"Thin. I don't know how it's supposed to feel, but I feel...weird. Three witches looked at me after you came