Page 127 of Samson

Slowly, she stood, then changed her mind. Every part of her body ached although she couldn’t understand why, and she’d refused to take any heavy medication that would leave her in a stupor, but she wondered at the wisdom of that now that the anesthetic was wearing off.

When they’d first brought her in, she had been in a hurry to leave again, but the idea of going home to be by herself with her own thoughts was overwhelming. The doctor told her to get some rest, but that last thing she wanted to do was close her eyes.

“Hey there,” Luca said from the door.

“Hey, I told you you didn’t have to come.” But she was glad he did.

“I know. But I had to see for myself that you were okay. The news coverage freaked me out.”

“That’s their job. To scare everyone into watching.”

“Yeah.” He crossed his arms and leaned on the door frame. “What exactly do you think you’re doing?”

She looked down at herself. “Sitting on the bed.”

“I spoke to your doctor.”

“Oh yeah?”

“He said he recommended you stay in overnight.”

“He told me that too.”

“He also said you were insisting on leaving as soon as you could.”

“Did he tell you I could go home if I felt well enough?”

“You don’t think it would be best to follow the doctor’s recommendation?”

“I don’t like hospitals very much. It reminds me of when my mom was sick.”

“Okay, then why don’t you stay at my place so I can keep an eye on you?”

She pushed up onto her feet, holding her breath to avoid grimacing. “That’s a generous offer, but I don’t want to do that to you.”

“Do what to me?”

“Inconvenience you.”

He walked over to her and pulled her into an unexpected hug. “You’re an idiot.” His voice was muffled in her shoulder. “I want you to inconvenience me.”

“So you’re saying I would be a nuisance?”

He laughed, then pulled back. “No. What I’m saying is I’m sorry you had to go through all of that. And it’s all my fault.”

“We can’t ignore Marc and Demir’s part in all of this. They are a lot more responsible than either one of us.”

“Is that how you really feel?”

“No. Mostly I blame myself.”

Luca nodded. “At least Marc’s in prison.”

“And Agent Trevors said he’s confident Demir was in the building.”

“Good.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

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