Listen to the Child. Carolyn McSparren

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      Now she did look up at him. “How long will he have to stay here? I mean, I’ve only had him two weeks, but I already depend on him.” She dropped her eyes. “And I like him.”

      He touched her arm. “Come on. They’ll have moved him to ICU by now. You can see him.”

      She eyed him with suspicion. “Are you making some kind of exception for me?”

      This time Nancy touched her arm. She said slowly and with a smile, “No special treatment. Dr. Mac is an equal-opportunity offender.”

      Back in the ICU, the little dog lay on his good side on an air mattress in the middle of the floor. Cages holding dogs and cats were stacked almost up to the ceiling, and despite the low light, several animals woke and began to bark or whine when Mac opened the door to let Kit in.

      She went down to her knees on the mattress and began to stroke the dog and croon to him softly. After a moment Mac recognized the melody—an old Scottish folk song, some kind of lullaby. His Highland-born grandmother had sung him songs like that when he was a child.

      “Kev’s such a burly little dog,” she said. “He seems like such a tough little character, and now this.”

      He reached down and squeezed her shoulder to reassure her.

      She looked up at him. “Will there be somebody here with him tonight?”

      “Dr. Liz Carlyle will be here all night. As soon as he starts to wake up, she’ll move him to one of the cages.”

      “Doctor something will put him in a cage? Is that what you said?”

      “Close enough.” He offered her his hand, but she stood up easily without assistance. She was as lithe as a dancer.

      “Thank you for letting me see him. Can your receptionist call me a cab?” She walked out ahead of him, but turned her head to watch his reply.

      “You need a cab?”

      She stopped in the hall and faced him. “I can drive legally, but I try not to drive at night without Kevlar. During the day I keep a close eye out for ambulances or police cars bearing down on me, but after dark, I rely on Kev to alert me. My mother brought us over tonight.”

      “Won’t she come back to get you?” He was beginning to learn the cadence of speaking to her.

      “This late—it would be complicated. A cab will be fine. But unfortunately, I can’t call one myself. I can give them the address, but if they ask directions, I won’t be able to hear.”

      He’d never have thought of that. “In the rain and this far out, a cab could take a while. Where do you live?”

      “I have a town house in Germantown.”

      He made a decision that ordinarily he wouldn’t make in a hundred years. He never, ever, got involved with clients. Their animals, yes. But not the clients. “I live in Germantown, too. I’ll drop you. We can go now before another emergency comes in.”

      She looked confused. “I got about a quarter of that. But you don’t have to take me home.”

      “Come on.”

      He picked up one of the telephones on the wall and told Alva Jean he was leaving. “Nancy gone yet?”

      “Uh-huh. And Dr. Carlyle is on her way to check the patients. What about Mrs. Lockhart?”

      His stomach lurched. Alva Jean had called her Mrs. initially, but then she always called women Mrs. until she knew different. In the last few minutes, he’d grown used to thinking of her as a woman alone, unmarried. It suddenly seemed important to him that there not be a husband lurking somewhere.

      If there was, why wasn’t he picking up his wife?

      He’d find out somehow on the drive home.

      “I am driving Mrs. Lockhart home.”

      “You are?” Pause. “You just better be sweet to her, Dr. Mac.” She hung up.

      He stared at the telephone in his hand. Alva Jean didn’t exactly cringe when he walked by her desk, but she seldom said anything more to him than to announce his appointments. He’d have been less surprised if Kevlar had stood on his hind legs and roared like a lion. He glanced at Kit Lockhart who waited patiently. Sweet? He’d never been sweet in his life. He certainly wasn’t about to start now.

      AT FIRST he found the silence in the car disconcerting. Because she couldn’t see him in the darkness, there was no way to speak to her. He felt frustrated because he wanted to talk. He wanted to ask her how and when she’d gone deaf, and what, if anything, could be done to correct it.

      He was amazed to discover he wanted to know everything about her. There was an irony here, he realized. Most of the women he knew talked too much. They seemed uncomfortable with companionable silence. But then, he wasn’t exactly the companionable type. And until now, he was the one who decided when he needed silence.

      But this woman could tune him out simply by turning her head. That gave her control of the situation. He loathed loss of control.

      His entire life was based on keeping an iron grip on himself and his environment. If things started to get out of hand, he bellowed until somebody fixed them. He tried to use his bellow sparingly so it wouldn’t lose its effectiveness, but he’d found over the years that sometimes a little shouting worked wonders.

      Most of his colleagues here in Memphis had learned to ignore his tirades. Nancy Mayfield had worked with him so long she knew he was a marshmallow inside. Rick Hazard, the managing partner of Creature Comfort, laughed at him. Apparently even Alva Jean was losing her fear.

      Not good. His reputation as a terror was his only protection from the world. Without his shell, the only defense a snapping turtle had was to bite. Mac didn’t like biting.

      He could bellow his head off at this woman. She wouldn’t care any more than if he’d whispered.

      “Second driveway from the corner on your right,” she said.

      He’d been so deep in his own thoughts that her voice startled him. “Sure,” he said automatically.

      The moment he stopped his Suburban, she opened the door and jumped out, then turned to him. “Thank you for helping Kev. I’ll be by to see him first thing tomorrow morning.”

      “He’ll still be groggy.”

      She pointed at the ceiling of the SUV. “Lean into the dome light, please. Then tell me again.”

      He started to growl, but realized that wouldn’t impress her, either, so he did as she asked, then repeated his statement and added, “Come late morning or early afternoon.”

      She nodded. “Thanks again.”

      “I’ll walk you to your door.”

      “I beg your pardon?”

      “I said…”

      She shook her head. “I СКАЧАТЬ