Page 50 of Rainshadow Road

“I’m not shouting.”

“I wouldn’t call that your inside voice, Sam.” Justine lifted her phone and tapped on the small screen.

“No,” he growled.

“No, what?”

Sam took a deep breath, yearning to put his fist through a wall. “I’ll—” He broke off and cleared his throat roughly, and gave her a wrathful glance. “I’ll take her.”

“To your house,” she clarified.

“Yes,”he said through gritted teeth.

“Good. Thank you. My God, all this drama.” Shaking her head, Justine went to the vending machine and punched some buttons to get a drink.

***

Lucy blinked in bewilderment as Sam Nolan came through the curtain partitions. “What are you doing here?” she asked faintly.

“Justine called me.”

“She shouldn’t have. I’m sorry.”

His gaze slid over her, not missing a detail. When he spoke, his voice was quiet and gruff. “Are you in pain?”

“It’s not bad.” Lucy gestured to the IV bag. “They’ve got me on some kind of narcotic something-or-other.” Fretfully she added, “There’s a needle in my hand.”

“We’ll get you out of here soon.”

She focused on Sam’s T-shirt, dark blue with the printed white outlines of what looked like an old-fashioned telephone booth. “What is the phone booth for?”

“Police box. FromDr. Who.” Seeing her incomprehension, he explained, “It’s a time-traveling spacecraft.”

The shadow of a smile crossed her lips. “Geek,” she said, and blew her nose.

Drawing closer, Sam settled his hand on her hip, exploring the outlines of a polyurethane bandage, adjusting the drape of the hospital blanket over her splinted leg. There was something oddly proprietary about the way he touched her. Lucy stared at him in bewilderment, trying to fathom what was the matter with him. He had the air of a man who was facing an unpleasant duty.

“You look angry,” she said.

“I’m not.”

“You’re clenching your jaw.”

“That’s the way my jaw always looks.”

“Your eyes are glaring.”

“It’s the hospital lighting.”

“Something’s going on,” she insisted.

Sam took her icy hand in his, careful not to dislodge the pulse oximeter that had been clamped to her forefinger. His thumb rubbed lightly over the backs of her fingers. “For the next few days, you’re going to need someone to help you out. This is more than you can handle on your own.” A measured pause. “So I’m going to take you to Rainshadow Road with me.”

Lucy’s eyes widened, and she tugged her hand from his. “No. I…no,I won’t do that. Is that why Justine called you? God. I can’t go anywhere with you.”

Sam turned quietly ruthless. “Where are you planning to go, Lucy? The inn? Being closed off in a room by yourself with no one to help you? Even if Zoë and Justine didn’t have a big event going on this weekend, they’d still have a hard time getting you up and down all those stairs.”

Lucy pressed a clammy palm to her head, which had begun to ache fiercely. “I… I’ll call my parents.”

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