TALL DARK AND HUNGRY Page 0,79

nod. "You didn't like it."

"And you said there was something in it that you just didn't take to," she reminded him.

"Yeah, salmonella. That's what you didn't like, and you didn't take to," Vincent commented, pointing at first one then the other. Then he turned an impatient glance back to the busy E.R. waiting area. "How much longer do you suppose they're going to keep him?"

Bastien shook his head wearily. "I hope not much longer. I could use some sleep."

"Yeah, me too. I want to be well rested for the trip this weekend."

Terri turned to Vincent in surprise. "What trip?"

"I'm leaving this afternoon to go home to Califor¬nia for the weekend," he told her. "I'm missing my old haunts."

"Oh?" Bastien asked with interest. "What's her name?"

"I said my old haunts, not a woman," Vincent pointed out.

"Uh huh." Bastien grinned, then repeated, "What's her name?"

His cousin hesitated, his mouth twisting with dis¬pleasure. At last he gave in and muttered, "No one you know."

Bastien opened his mouth, but before he could pursue the matter further, a woman in a white coat opened the door to the waiting area and called out, "Bastien Argeneau?" She glanced around.

He was on his feet and at the woman's side at once. Terri and Vincent watched as the two spoke, then he followed her back through the door.

"Hmm." Vincent sat up a little straighter and glanced at her. "What do you suppose that's about?"

Terri shook her head. She didn't have any idea, but it didn't seem like a good thing. The good thing would have been a pale and weak but recovering Chris Keyes coming out to the waiting room ready to return to the penthouse.

They both fell silent as they waited. As the minutes ticked by, Terri found her gaze sliding around the emergency waiting area, something she'd been able to avoid while the men were talking. They'd distracted her from where she was. It was better for her to be distracted. The first trip with Chris had been easier because it had all been in panic. By the time they'd reached the hospital, the editor had almost been blue from his difficulty breathing. There had been all that rush and fuss when they'd arrived. They'd all of them been hurried through the waiting area and into one of the examination rooms to answer the questions the doctors were barking--questions Chris hadn't been able to answer in his state. Then Vincent, Bastien, and Terri had been hustled out into the hallway to wait while the professionals worked. But they hadn't had to wait long, and Terri had been so worried about Chris she hadn't had a chance to worry much about where she was.

Tonight was different. While the editor was sick as a dog, she didn't think the ailment was life-threatening. There wasn't as much to distract her, and now there was no Bastien or Vincent holding up the conversation to distract her either.

Terri hated hospitals. Hospitals meant illness and death to her. The two most important people in her life had gasped their last breaths in hospitals: her mother and Ian. And both had been nightmares to endure. She'd stood helplessly by, watching them die long lingering deaths filled with suffering and count¬less indignities. She took a deep breath in an effort to ease some of the tension building in her, but let it out quickly and closed her eyes at the scent that filled her nose. Hospitals all looked and smelled the same.

"There he is."

She glanced up at that announcement from Vin¬cent, and watched with relief as Bastien walked to¬ward them.

"They're keeping him overnight," he announced as Vincent and Terri got to their feet.

"Is it that bad?" she asked anxiously.

"No. I don't think so. He's very dehydrated, and they have him on an IV, but they said he should be fine. It's just that he's been through so much trauma the last week, they'd feel better keeping him here to be sure of his recovery."

"Oh," Terri said. That didn't sound so bad. It even seemed sensible.

"So? Are we out of here?" Vincent asked. "Or do we have to do something else? Sign papers, or whatever?"

"We're out of here." Catching Terri's hand in his, Bastien turned toward the door.

The three of them were silent as they walked to the car. It had been a long night and they were all ex-hausted. At least, Terri suspected the men must be; she knew she herself was. While she'd caught a couple minutes' nap before waking to the sound