He met Brenna's eyes as she rose, nodded, then took Mollie's hand and led her back to a chair.
'Tell me what happened,' Darcy demanded the minute they were out of earshot. 'And how bad it is.'
'I didn't see it, exactly.' Because her voice felt rusty, Brenna cleared her throat. 'It seems Bobby Fitzgerald lost his footing while he was hauling block up on the scaffold. Dad turned, I think, to steady him, but they were both off their balance and the floor of it was a little slick from a spot of rain. He just tumbled off. I'm thinking the brace of block Bobby was hauling up knocked him, and he went over the safety bar. God!'
She stopped, pressed her hands to her face. 'I saw him fall. I heard a shout and turned round, and I saw him hit the ground. He just lay there. He just lay there, Darcy, with his head bleeding.'
She sniffled, rubbed her fingers over her eyes. 'It wasn't such a terrible long fall, really, but he landed so hard. They stopped me from moving him. I wasn't thinking and just wanted to turn him over, but thank God, cooler heads were there in case there were spinal or neck injuries. Poor Bobby- Bobby's beside himself. I just had Shawn take him out for a walk around outside.'
'It's going to be all right.' She took Brenna's shoulders. 'We'll make it be all right.'
'I'm glad you're here. I can't tell them how scared I am. Mary Kate's prone to hysteria in any case, and Maureen's pregnant, and Alice Mae's so young. Patty can hold on, and God knows Ma can, but I can't tell them how it was to see him hit the ground, and how scared I am he won't wake up again.'
'Of course he will.' When Brenna broke, Darcy just gathered her in. 'They'll let you see him soon, I'll wager, then you'll feel better.'
Over Brenna's head she watched Trevor come down the hall. He paused, laid a hand on her shoulder. 'I'll see to the tea. Go sit with your family.'
'Thanks for that. Let's go wash your face,' she said briskly to Brenna. 'Then we'll have some tea and wait for the doctor.'
'I'm all right.' Brenna scrubbed at her face as she drew back. 'Go be with Ma. I'll go wash up and be right along.'
Back in the little waiting room, Darcy sat on the arm of Mollie's chair. 'Tea will be right along.'
'That's fine, then.' Mollie reached up to pat her knee, then left her hand there for her own comfort as well. 'That's a fine man, Trevor is. To break off his business and come back because my Mick's hurt.'
'Of course he came back.'
Mollie only shook her head. 'Not everyone would. That he did says something about what kind of person he is. And just now, he sat here and he told me I wasn't to worry about anything but concentrating on helping Mick get better. He'll see to all the hospital charges and doctors. He says Mick'll get full pay even though he's off the job for a while. He expects it'll only be a bit of a while,' she continued, then stopped when her voice trembled. 'He expects Mick to be back to work, as both O'Tooles are required to do the job right.'
'He's right, of course.' Tears, this time of gratitude, filled Darcy's throat. How had he known just the right things to say to people he barely knew?
Darcy got to her feet when Trevor came to the doorway and, leading only with her heart, walked to him. She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him, soft and warm on the lips. 'Come sit with the family,' she told him, and brought him in.
Even as she resigned herself to waiting, the doctor stepped in. 'Mrs. O'Toole.'
'Yes. My husband?' Mollie was on her feet, her hand clenching Alice Mae's, as it was closest.
'He's a tough one.' With a reassuring smile, the doctor stepped over as Brenna raced up. 'Let me tell you first, he'll be fine.'
'Thank God.' Mollie reached out to grip Brenna's shoulder. 'Thank God for that.'
'He has a concussion and a broken arm. The bone-' He demonstrated, putting his own hand on his forearm. 'Snapped rather than shattered, and that's fortunate. Some of the lacerations were deep, and there's considerable bruising at the ribs, but no breaks there. We've run tests and haven't found any internal damage. We want to keep him for a day or two, of course.'
'Is he awake?'
'He is, yes. And considerably alert. He asked for you-and a pint, though you came first.'
Her voice broke in a laughing sob. 'I damn well better. Then I can see him?'
'I'll take you into recovery, then the lot of you can have a minute with him once we've got him settled in a room. He looks a bit fierce with the bruises and the cuts, and I don't want you to be alarmed by it.'
'You don't raise five children without seeing plenty of bruises and cuts.'
'That you don't.'
'You wait here now,' she said, turning to her family, 'while I go see your father. And when it's your turn, I don't want any weeping and wailing, so get it all out of your system now. And we'll all of us have a good cry if need be after we're home again.'
Darcy waited until Mollie walked away with the doctor before she turned to Brenna. 'All right, how do we go about sneaking him in a pint of Guinness?'
CHAPTER Twelve
'Darcy, there's my girl. You've come to spring me from this place, haven't you?'
Twenty-four hours after he'd taken a hard tumble and landed for the most part on his head, Mick O'Toole looked pink and alert, bruised and battered, and just a little desperate. Darcy leaned over the bed rail and kissed his forehead fondly.
'I have not. You've one more day to go, if all's as it should be in that rock you call a brain. So I've brought you flowers.'
One of his eyes was blackened, there was a gouge in his cheek held together by a trio of butterfly bandages, and the forehead she'd kissed was a symphony of raw braises and rawer scrapes.
All in all it gave him the look, Darcy thought, of a brawler who'd come out on the wrong side of fists.
When his big, hopeful smile faded immediately into a long, put-upon sigh, she wanted to cuddle him.
'There's nothing wrong with me head or the rest of me, save this busted wing here, and that's hardly enough to keep a man chained in hospital, now is it?'
'The doctors think different. But I've brought you something to cheer you up.'
'The flowers are very nice indeed.' But he said it with a pout, very much like a twelve-year-old who hadn't gotten his way.
'They are, yeah, and right out of Jude's own garden. The rest of it's from somewhere else altogether.' Slipping the flowers out of the bag she carried, Darcy set them aside and pulled out a plastic tumbler with a sealed lid. 'It's Guinness-only a half pint, as that's all I could manage, but it'll have to do you.'
'You're a princess.'
'I am, and expect to be treated as such.' After popping off the lid, she passed the contraband to him, then lowered the rail to sit on the side of the bed. 'Do you feel as well as you look?'
'I'm fit and fine, I promise. My arm pains me a bit, but nothing to speak of.' He took his first sip, then closed his eyes in pure pleasure. 'It was sorry I was to hear you and Trev rushed all the way back from London. It was nothing but a false step and a bit of a tumble.'
'You scared us all to pieces.' Affectionately, she brushed at the hair on his brow. 'And now I suppose you'll have all your ladies fussing over you.'
His eyes twinkled. 'It's hard to mind it, as I've such pretty ladies, though they've been in and out of here since I got my senses back. I'm ready to get back on the job, but Trev won't hear of it. A week, he's telling me, minimum, before I can so much as show me face, and then only with the doctor's say-so.'
Mick's tone turned wheedling. 'Maybe you could have a word with him, darling, tell him how much better off I'd be working than lying about. A man's bound to listen to a beautiful woman such as yourself.'
'You won't get 'round me, Mister Michael O'Toole. A week's a short enough time. Now, you rest and stop fussing about work. The theater won't be built before you're back to it.'
'I don't like taking a wage while I'm flat on my back.'
'It's right he's paying you, as you were hurt on his job, and he can well afford it. Doing so shows his character,
