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"That’s what they say"

"In another year, if Tiain But for the rateful just to be able to sit down there for a while each day, holding his little boy’s warm hand" She looked Tal over and demanded: "What’s with the street clothes?"

"I’ed"

"Fantastic!" Lisa said

Tihty-two-year-old inn as hooked up to an IV, a beeping cardiac h Timmy was attached only to an IV, he was in the eenarian’s coer than a minute at a time, the boy’s eyelids fluttered or his lips twitched or a muscle ticked in his cheek That was all

Bryce sat beside the bed, his hand through the railing, gently gripping his son’s hand Since Snowfield, just this h to satisfy hi better

There wasn’thad come On the wall at the head of the bed, there was a dilow only as far as Ti his sheet-covered body in shadow In that wan illu weight in spite of the IV solution The cheekbones were too prominent There were dark circles around his eyes His chin and jawline looked pathetically fragile His son had always been s to a er child than Timmy; it seemed like the hand of an infant

But it aro He shtened the sheet, fluffed the pillow

It was ti He didn’t want to step into the hall with tears on his face

He pulled a few Kleenex froot up, went to the , and looked out at Santa Mira

Although he wept every day when he came here, these were different tears from those he had cried before These scalded, washed away the misery, and healed Bit by bit, slowly, they healed hirinned "Says me"

"Since when have you becoht a second opinion seemed called for, so I asked o ho’s gone Haven’t run a temperature in two days I’m a prime candidate for release If you try to er, my death will be on your hands"

"Death?"

"The hospital food is sure to kill ," Lisa said

"And when’d you get your ree?" Jenny asked To Tal she said, "Well… let me have a look Take off your shirt"

He slipped out of it quickly and easily, not nearly as stiff as he’d been yesterday Jenny carefully untaped the bandages and found that he was right: no swelling, no breaks in the scabs

"We’ve beaten it," he assured her

"Usually, we don’t discharge a patient in the evening Orders are written in the ; release comes between ten o’clock and noon"

"Rules arefor a policeman to say," she teased "Look, Tal I’d prefer you stayed here one ht, just in case – "

"And I’d prefer I didn’t, just in case I go stir crazy"

"You’re really determined?"

"He’s really deterun in a safe, along with their drug supply I had to wheedle, beg, plead, and tease a sweet nurse naet it for ht for sure Now, see, Paula’s a soul sister, a very attractive lady, single, eligible, delicious-"

"Don’t get too steamy," Lisa said, "There’s a minor present"

"I’d like to have a date with Paula," Tal said, "I’d like to spend eternity with Paula But now, Doc, if you say I can’t go home, then I’ll have to put my revolver back in the safe, and maybe Paula’s supervisor’ll find out she let ht lose her job, and if she loses it because of et a date with her, I’ to be able to marry her, and if I don’taround, not ever, because I’ll go away to aas how I’ve made up my mind that Paula’s the only woethe world of a little black Einstein or hed and shook her head "Okay, okay I’ll write a discharge order, and you can leave tonight"

He hugged her and quickly began putting on his shirt

"Paula better watch out," Lisa said, "You’re too s women without a bell around your neck"

"Me? Smooth?" He buckled his holster around his waist "I’ood old Tal Whitman, sort of bashful Been shy all my life"

"Oh, sure," Lisa said

Jenny said, "If you-"

And suddenly Tal went berserk He shoved Jenny aside, knocked her down She struck the footboard of the bed with her shoulder and hit the floor hard She heard gunfire and saw Lisa falling and didn’t know if the girl had been hit or was just diving for cover; and for an instant she thought Tal was shooting at the his revolver out of his holster

Even as the sound of the shot slalass shattered It was thebehind Tal

"Drop it!" Tal shouted

Jenny turned her head, saw Gene Teer standing in the doorway, silhouetted by the brighter light in the hospital corridor behind hi in the deep shadows by the , Bryce finished drying his tears and wadded up the damp Kleenex He heard a soft noise in the rooht it was a nurse, turned-and saw Fletcher Kale For aat the foot of Tiht He hadn’t seen Bryce He atching the boy-and grinning Madness knotted his face He was holding a gun

Bryce stepped away fro for his own revolver Too late, he realized he wasn’t in unifor a sidearm He had an off-duty snubnose38 in an ankle holster; he stooped to get it

But Kale had seen hiun in Kale’s hand snapped up, barked once, twice, three tiehah and on the left side, and pain flashed across his entire chest As he cruun roar three more times

"Drop it!" Tal shouted, and Jenny saw Jeeter, and another shot ricocheted off the bed rail andbecause a couple of squares of acoustic tile fell down

Crouching, Tal fired two rounds The first shot took Jeeter in the left thigh The second struck hiut, lifted him, and threw him backwards, into the corner, where he landed in a spray of blood He didn’t move

Tal said, "What the hell?"

Jenny cried for Lisa and scra if her sister was alive

Kale had been sick for a couple of hours He was running a fever His eyes burned and felt grainy It had co there at the foot of the boy’s bed, he began to feel nauseated His legs became weak He didn’t understand; he was supposed to be protected, invincible Of course,five days before leaving the caves Maybe this illness was a warning to get on with His work The symptoms would probably vanish the moment the boy was dead Yeah That was probably ould happen Kale grinned at the coan to raise his revolver, and winced as a crauts