“In deference to your wife, Agent Savich, I’m closing your skin real pretty so she’ll think your scar’s sexy.”

His brain wasn’t floating anymore, it was hovering, and things made sense now, more or less. He said, “Sherlock thinks everything about me is sexy,” and was pleased because it was true. “Another scar’ll just give her someplace new to kiss.” He’d lost all sense and his tongue had lost its brakes. He heard a laugh, from Katie. Then he saw Troy Ward again, stuffing that huge doughnut into his mouth, and there was Gifford Fowler, dangling Silverado keys in front of him, winking, and then he threw the keys, and they went higher and higher and even though Savich jumped a good three feet in the air, they kept flying away.

“A woman with great taste,” Katie said. She squeezed his hand. “You guys married long?”

“I don’t know about long,” Savich said. “I knew her before I ever saw her. She says I’m her fantasy.”

“I’d sure like to be a woman’s fantasy,” Dr. Able said.

“She likes to scrub me down when we get home from the gym.”

“There, you see, Clyde, she treats him just like a truck—keeps him nice and clean and revved up.”

Dr. Able stopped stitching a moment because he was laughing. Savich was grateful he’d stopped.

“We have a little boy, Sean. She says he looks just like me, not fair since she did all the work. All I did was just have fun, and not even think about it.”

Dr. Able said, “I had a little boy once. And you know what? The little bugger grew up. Can you beat that? After all I did for him, he had the nerve to grow up on me and leave. There, done, no more needles pulling through your skin.”

“Sherlock got knifed once. I watched the doctor put stitches in her skinny white arm. It shouldn’t have happened. I wanted to kill her for taking such a chance.”

“Did she succeed?” Katie asked.

“Oh yes,” Savich said. He sounded so proud and so pissed, with a layer of dopiness over it, that she had to smile.

“I doubt you’ll remember any of this when you wake up tomorrow, Agent Savich,” Dr. Able said. “But, can you understand me?”

Savich nodded.

“Your antibiotics are in and the wound looks fine. We’re going to keep you here tonight so that the drugs wear off, and make sure there aren’t any complications, not that I expect any. Your blood tests look okay. Now, I don’t want you worrying about anything, just rest. Again, you were very lucky. I know this wasn’t a piece of cake for you, but if that metal had sliced your back any deeper, it wouldn’t have been any fun at all. Now, I’m going to make sure you get a real good night’s sleep. I sure hope you like sleeping on your stomach.”

Savich never opened his eyes though he heard everything. He smelled everything, too, including a hint of lemony soap. Maybe he’d said some things that he normally wouldn’t have said. Who cared? Now, he thought, he could just let go.

Life was unexpected. You woke up in the morning, fed your little kid some Cheerios with a sliced banana on top, walked out into the sun, everything going along just fine, and then whap!—that night you’re laid out in an emergency room in Tennessee.

“You got anything to say to Agent Savich, Katie?”

She lightly touched her fingertips to his cheek. “Just that I can’t wait to meet Sherlock, and you need to rest,” she said as she pulled off the surgical mask. Savich wanted to say something, maybe to thank the doctor, but it just seemed too hard. He sighed, and slept.

Katie asked, “How long will he be out?”

“He could wake up at any time, but I hope not until morning, not all that long a time away. You know that sleep is the best thing for whatever ails you. Like I said, this man was lucky.”

“I’m grateful to you, Clyde, and to his luck,” she said. “I’ll be in the waiting room with Sam, his father, and Keely. Let me know when Agent Savich is settled in. I know Miles will want to see him, not to mention Sam.”

“You sure you don’t want me to check out Sam?”

“Nah, the kid’s fine. Real proud of himself and that’s good, it’ll help him keep the fear at bay.”

She gave him a small salute, thanked the ER personnel she’d known all her life, and went down to the women’s room to wrap her wet clothes in a towel she’d pulled out of the hamper.

She went out into the deserted hospital corridor wearing green scrubs to call in to the station. Wade was still there, just as she’d known he would be. He brought her up to date, then gave her over to Special Agent Hodges.