Hot Pursuit - Denise A. Agnew [41]
“Coffee?” She kept her voice down in deference to the hour and the few people several chairs away who still dozed. “This time of night?”
He handed her one cup. “Large, decaf, with lots of cream.” He settled into the chair to her left and cradled his even larger coffee. “You were dreaming, muttered something about being cold, and when I touched your hand, it was icy.”
“Still is. It’s always been that way with me. Cold hands. Cold feet.”
He grinned and ventured a sip of his coffee. He winked. “I remember the cold feet part.”
A blush filled her face. He’d complained a couple of times about her cold feet while they were in bed, but she took it with a grain of salt.
She sipped the hot coffee. “This isn’t half bad. I’m surprised.”
“From the coffee cart two doors down. I’m surprised they’re open this time of night. I expected to find one of those nasty machines that dispense motor oil.”
Lucy swallowed one more sip before replying. “Thanks. I’m feeling warmer already.” She placed her coffee cup on the small table to her left before saying what she knew he had to be thinking. “Maybe we should go home. I didn’t know he’d be in surgery for so long.”
Vic shook his head. “He shouldn’t have been. Maybe there were complications. Even if his artery wasn’t severed, a leg as messed up as his would take some work to repair.”
She kept her hands cupped around the coffee, using it as much to have something to do with her hands as to warm them up. “Did you…did you have to save anyone like that in combat?”
“No.” His eyes turned harder. “He could just have easily died right there in front of me.”
“But he didn’t. Thanks to you.”
She didn’t get another word in. A man and woman pushing seventy entered the emergency room, and it wasn’t long before the nurse named Anna pointed toward Vic and Lucy.
“Those must be his parents,” Lucy said.
The man and woman turned toward Lucy and Vic. The man was bald and with a solid baring and sternness that reminded Lucy of Danny on a good day. The salt-and-pepper-haired woman appeared around the same age, her form petite, her pretty face haunted. Lucy felt something inside her clench with apprehension. She never thought she’d meet Danny’s parents this way in a million years. God, what a horrible way to have to introduce herself.
“Mr. and Mrs. Mendoza?” Lucy said as the couple walked up.
“Yes,” the man said. “I’m Danny’s father. You’re…”
“Danny’s friend, Lucy Creed.” She touched Vic’s shoulder. “And this is the man who saved Danny’s life.”
Chapter Ten
As Lucy drove him to her home from the hospital, Vic ached in every muscle. Once in a while his body shivered, and he couldn’t be certain if it was just cold or leftover reaction to the accident and watching a man almost die in front of him. He wanted to sleep, yet he was pretty damn certain he wouldn’t for some time. He needed to talk, yet he couldn’t think of a thing to say. It stayed bottled within, his mind whirling, unable to land on one subject for long. Only Lucy kept him anchored.
Outside the streets passed by, everything quiet, as if they were the only ones inhabiting the city. Three in the morning would do that to a person. With ice on the streets, it took them longer to reach Lucy’s house. Once there he figured his head would hit the pillow and it would be lights out.
Inside the house, they stripped off their boots and coats and moved into the living room.
“Want to try and get some sleep?” she asked.
“Yeah. Let’s try.” He ruffled his hand over his hair and blew out one weary breath. “Might not work, but my brain is like mush right now.”
They stumbled into the bedroom