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The nurse was right outside the partially open door, and I heard her talking to Tolliver I was sorry he’d been wakened, but when I was on lad I was looking into his face

I thanked the nurse, as the reddish brown of an old penny "You push the button if you need ot up to stand by h I were staht you’d fallen," he said "I had no idea anyone had hit you I didn’t hear a thing I thought you’d had - like iven way, or so is definitely an event that keeps on giving The year before, out of the blue, I’d had an episode of tinnitus that had finally cleared up; and the only thing I’d ever been able to attribute it to was the lightning strike when I was fifteen So it wasn’t surprising that Tolliver had blaround

"Did you see hiuilt in his voice, which was absurd

"Yes," I said, and I wasn’t happy with the weakness ofdark clothes and one of those knitted hoods He came up out of the darkness He hit et out of the way, he hitThe blow hadn’t landed squarely

"You have a hairline fracture in your ulna," Tolliver said "You know, one of the bones in your lower arm And you have a concussion Not a severe concussion They had to take some stitches in your scalp, so they had to shave a little of your hair I swear it doesn’t show much," he said when he saw the look on et upset about a couple of square inches of hair that would grow back "I haven’t had a broken bone in ten years," I said "And then it was just a toe" I’d been trying to cook supper for the kids, anda nine-by-thirteen glass dish from the oven, which incidentally had been full of baked chicken My toe had not only been broken, but burned I ake enough to realize that the pain I’d experienced then was nothing co now if I weren’t heavily drugged

I wasn’t looking forward to those drugs wearing off

Tolliver was holding ht hand; luckily foroff into space Thinking Soy to attempt

"So, it must have been the killer," he said

I shuddered As slow as ht that that person - the one who’d done those unthinkable things to the boys in the ground - had been so close to h the eyes that had enjoyed the sight of so

"Can we leave toh breath for the words to co voice

"No," he said "You’re not doing any traveling for a couple of days You have to get better"

"But I don’t want to stay here," I said "Leaving was a good idea"

"Yeah, but noe’re pinned here for a little while," he said, trying to sound gentle, but the undertone of anger was clear and strong "He took care of that The doctor said you were lucky to have a concussion; at first he thought it would be a lot worse"

"I wonder why he didn’t go on and kill ot to the door pretty quick," Tolliver said He got up and began pacing It ry, and very worried "No, I didn’t see a soul in that parking lot, before you even ask But I wasn’t looking I thought you’d fallen He h that door And I was ed the real thing ifso badly "I’ll bet," I whispered

"You need to sleep," he said, and I thought it ood idea if I closedI knew, the sun was coh the curtains, and there was a sense of activity all around me; the hospital ake There were voices and footsteps in the hall, and carts rus to reen Jell-O I discovered I was hungry when I put a spoonful of the Jell-O ineven reen stuff with actual pleasure, I realized I couldn’t remember the last ti

"You should eat soet a shower," I said Tolliver atchingtill I talk to the doctor," he said "He’ll be by soon, the nurse says"

The gray-haired ht before turned out to be Dr Thoht, for Doraville," he said "I’hts a week I’ve never worked as hard"

"Thanks for taking care of h of course it was his job

"You’re welcome In case you don’t reht that you have a hairline fracture of the ulna It’s cracked, not coh The soft cast will protect it You need to keep it on as close to 24-7 as you can e The cast’ll have to stay on for a feeeks When you check out of the hospital, you’ll have directions on when to get the ar to hurt for a couple of days Combined with the head injury, you’ll need some pain et out of bed and walk a little?"

"If you feel up to it, and if you have someone with you at all times, you can stroll down the hall and back a time or two Of course if you experience any dizziness, nausea, that kind of thing, it’s ti about checking out of the hospital," Tolliver said He was trying for a neutral tone, but he fell far short

The doctor said, "You know that’s not a good idea" He looked from me to him I may have looked a little sullen "You need to let your brother get so to have to take care of you for a few days, young lady Give him a break You really need to be here We need to observe that head of yours And you’ve got at least a bit of insurance, I think?"

Of course there was no way I could insist on being released after he’d said that Only a bad person would refuse to give her brother a break And I hoped I wasn’t such a bad person Dr Tho on that

I debated lad to be rid of me But that would only make Tolliver unhappy I looked at him, really looked at him, and I saw the circles under his eyes, the sluht "Tolliver," I said, regret and self-reproach in ood hand I put his knuckles against my cheek, and the sun caainst , and he should never know that