Mary Daheim
the front desk, because of some dumb press conference. So,” Mike continued, lifting his hands, “I went to
the fourth floor, to see how the other Flynn was doing.”
Judith smiled fondly at her son. “I’m so glad. I
haven’t seen Joe since they brought him in here. It’s
been terrible. How did he look?”
Mike laughed ruefully. “Like hell. And bitching like
crazy. I guess he was in a pretty bad way, but the surgeon who worked on him was some kind of wizard.”
“Dr. Garnett?” Judith put in.
Mike shrugged. “Whoever. Anyway, they moved
him out of intensive care last night.”
“We know,” Renie said dryly. “We thought he’d
been kidnapped. Or worse.”
“What else did he say?” Judith asked eagerly. “Does
he know who stabbed him?”
Mike shook his head. “I didn’t want to wear him out,
so we didn’t talk much.” He paused, his gaze wandering around the room. Maybe, Judith thought, Mike was
aware that since her marriage, he and Joe didn’t ever
talk much.
‘So,” Mike went on, “I left and came down to this
floor. Whatever they were doing here was over by then,
and I was able to see you. But you weren’t in your
room, and somebody told me they thought you’d gone
to the shower.” He shrugged again. “That’s where I
went, and found Aunt Renie. I feel bad that I scared
you.”
“It’s been a scary kind of hospital stay,” Renie said.
“You don’t know the half of it.”
Mike looked unsettled. “Do I want to?”
“Probably not,” Judith said with an ironic smile.
“It’s a long story, and really doesn’t have anything to
do with us. I don’t think.”
SUTURE SELF
285
Mike eyed both Judith and Renie curiously. “What
does
Judith winced. “Nothing. Have you had lunch? It’s
almost noon. How are Kristin and little Mac? Will you
take me to see Joe?”
Mike grinned at the onslaught of queries. “Kristin
and Mac are great. I’ll get some lunch in the cafeteria.
I didn’t have much breakfast this morning because I
wanted to get an early start.” He hesitated and grew serious. “I don’t know if I can take you to see Joe. I had
to sort of sneak in to see him myself.”
“Why?” Judith demanded. “Is his condition still
critical?”
“No,” Mike responded, “it’s not that. It was more
like a question of security or something. In fact, there
