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"This is unacceptable" He glared at , Halston flicked one hand, dish that door" He pointed a er "Go"

I could tell that there was no point in arguing with him

Halston’s office was spartan, physically and psychically cold, without a single picture or personal item in view The screen saver on his coe I found the whole effect disturbingly i for hours I could hear things going on, the guards standing outside the office door wore radios, but there was nothing worth discussing with Dom

Finally the door opened and the doctor stepped wearily through He stripped off his jacket, dropping it into a plastic bin that opened with a foot pedal, and said, "I’ve got hiical barrier that will protect his wounds froery as soon as possible, so I’ve arranged to fly him to UCLA Medical Center The medevac chopper will arrive in five minutes" I openedlifted, but special safety protocols are still in place, so under normal circumstances, neither of you would be allowed to leave yet However, I’ve checked with the warden and he says that one of you can fly out with Mr Levy if there’s roorees to take you"

"You go," Dos I want to check into before I leave And you should be with Isaac"

I nodded, hoping Do Halston slid on another jacket, then opened the door and escorted me into the main room and to Isaac’s bedside

Isaac looked like hell He’d been beaten and left to die in the middle of the minefield Despite a severe concussion and ht thigh, he’d soe rock Had the mines been active, that movement would have killed him But I knew from the reports I’d overheard from outside Warden Davis’s office that the le one

Despite that fragment of luck, he had nearly died from a combination of shock, the effects of his injuries, and dehydration I wasn’t sure what Halston had done, but Isaac was hooked up to severalI assu small, desperate sounds that hurt to hear

I closedto speak to Isaac hts totally incoherent That was terrifying "Has anyone called his wife?"

"I did" I hadn’t noticed the woman in scrubs before I’m usually more observant than that, and it bothered eles"

"Good"

I don’t reht from the Needle to UCLA Medical Center I was too worried about Isaac to notice anything else There was a close call--his heart stopped and I was shoved aside so they could lower the reeted on the urney They wheeled hi on him, as I clih the rotors were set well above ht So my thanks to the pilot and the EMTs, I hurried out of the way As soon as I was clear, the chopper rose froht

By the tiery even while other ent injuries

I sat in the waiting roo seeing Gilda Just as they heeling him out of the ER Gilda arrived with John Creede I was surprised to see her--it usually takes at least two hours to get to Los Angeles fro ht break She looked like hell--her hair a mess, eyes red, makeup smeared froray orry and exhaustion Her only jewelry was her wedding set

I tried to be reassuring and realistic, even though I didn’t have a lot to tell her "He’s tough, Gilda He’s hurt, and the leg was pretty bad…"

"They found hione there…" She choked up, unable to finish the sentence