LITMIR.BIZ

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he added quickly, stepping outside the room.

      And then he turned around to see if his grandmother’s doctor was behind him. She was.

      “Doctor, here’s my card.” He thrust the small, white card with its dramatic black lettering at her. “Call me if something goes wrong.” It wasn’t a request but an order. “You can reach me at the last number on the bottom anytime.” He tapped it with his forefinger. “Anytime, night or day,” he emphasized.

      Nika slipped out of the room for a moment, easing the door closed behind her. It touched her that he was so concerned. Looking at him, at his chiseled features and the hard set of his mouth, she would have said that he didn’t particularly care deeply about anyone—including himself. There was nothing soft about him, nothing vulnerable to indicate intense concern on any level.

      Just went to show that you definitely couldn’t judge a book by its cover, she told herself. Not even after the first few pages were glimpsed.

      Her hand closed over the card he’d offered her and she tucked it into her pocket.

      “I won’t have to use it,” she assured him kindly. “Your grandmother strikes me as a woman who can more than meet any kind of curve that life has to throw at her and come out smiling.”

      “She used to be,” he acknowledged and a strain of sadness, which he couldn’t quite cover, echoed in his voice. “But that was before she got this old.”

      Nika had known her patient for a total of less than five minutes so far, but some things she could just instinctively sense from the very beginning.

      “I wouldn’t let your grandmother hear you say that if I were you,” Nika advised. “Otherwise, you’re going to have to be sleeping with one eye open for the rest of your life.”

      It wouldn’t be the first time he’d had to sleep lightly, he thought, thinking back to some of the undercover cases he’d worked. But he saw no reason to say anything about that to this woman. This wasn’t about him, it was about his grandmother. About keeping her well and thriving the way she always had been.

      “Keep the card anyway,” he told her. “Just in case. It’ll make both of us feel better.”

      “Us?” she questioned uncertainly.

      “My grandmother and me.”

      “Oh. Of course.” What was she thinking? Why in heaven’s name would the man be making a reference to the two of them as “us”? Of course he was referring to himself and his grandmother.

      That stretch in the elevator addled you more than you’re willing to admit, Nika, she upbraided herself. Get a grip.

      Nika rallied, pushing on, as the detective, satisfied that he’d made himself clear, started to leave. “And don’t forget to give me your bill,” she called after him.

      He didn’t bother turning around or answering her. He just kept walking.

      “Um, Nika, I don’t know if anyone’s explained this to you, but eventually, we’re supposed to be charging them for our services, not the other way around,” an amused female voice said behind her.

      Turning around, Nika saw that she’d guessed right. Her older sister—older only by eleven months—stood behind her. It was amazing, though, how much Alyx sounded like Sasha, her oldest cousin and the very first Dr. Pulaski to come to this hospital.

      “Alyx, what are you doing here?” Nika asked. And even as she formed the words, the answer came to her and her whole countenance lit up. “Did they send you here to help me?” She tried to recall if Alyx had mentioned anything about having the flu. She couldn’t remember.

      “No, I snuck up here as soon as I heard. I wanted to make sure you were okay.” Alyx’s eyes washed over her quickly, taking inventory of every limb.

      “Heard? Heard what?”

      “Someone in the E.R. told me that there was a resident stuck in an elevator in between floors,” Alyx told her.

      Nika looked at her, a little surprised. “And you immediately thought of me?” she questioned, then pointed out the obvious before her sister could answer. “Alyx, I’m not the only resident that this hospital has.”

      Alyx raised her slender shoulders. “What can I tell you? Some of Mama’s paranoia rubbed off on me.” She looked down at a particularly dark streak of dirt on her sister’s lab coat. It was all the evidence that was needed. “It was you, wasn’t it?”

      “Busted.” Nika laughed. She was already moving away. “But I don’t have time to talk about it right now. I have a patient to get back to.” One of many, she added silently. Nika nodded toward Ericka’s door. “I’ll tell you all about it tonight, I promise. Call me when you’re free. If you’re free,” she qualified, thinking of the very handsome policeman her sister had introduced her to when she’d arrived. The policeman who had arrested Alyx’s heart and placed it behind bars for all eternity. Alyx was going to be the first of them to get married, Nikka thought, with a little mistiness tugging at her soul.

      “And you’ll start by explaining what you’re offering that somber-looking hunk money for?” Alyx asked, still standing where she was.

      “A clean breast of everything,” Nika promised, crossing her heart with her forefinger.

      Not knowing the whole story immediately, she could see, was all but killing her older sister. Alyx had always been insatiable when it came to her curiosity. She always had to know everything about everything.

      “It’s not nearly as exciting as you think,” was the only crumb she had time to toss her sister before she hurried back into Ericka Baker’s room.

      “About time you came back,” Ericka said, her eyes narrowing as she looked at her doctor. “I thought maybe you decided to run off with my grandson.”

      Nika flashed a smile at the woman as she took her stethoscope out of her pocket. “Sorry to disappoint you, no running off.”

      “I’m not the one who’s disappointed,” Ericka informed her with conviction.

      “Oh? And just who would be the one who’s disappointed?” Nika asked, humoring the woman.

      Ericka didn’t answer her. Instead, the elderly woman merely watched her intently, her message silently conveyed.

      And then, sitting up straighter, Ericka announced, “Let’s get this show on the road already,” and began to unbutton the top of her nightgown—she’d brought her own, no doubt refusing to be caught dead in the one that the hospital issued.

      “Not so fast, Mrs. Baker,” Nika cautioned, placing her hand over her patient’s to stop the older woman from disrobing. “There’s a little matter of a history and physical to get out of the way first.”

      Ericka seemed somewhat annoyed and very impatient. “Nothing’s changed since I saw my doctor two days ago,” the woman told her.

      “That might be true,” Nika agreed, humoring her, “but I need to acquaint myself with you and I’ve never taken down your history before.”

      Very slowly, a smile of approval slipped over the older woman’s lips. “Believe in crossing your t’s and dotting your i’s, do you?”

      “Every time,” Nika told her.

      “Not a bad quality, I guess.” She didn’t quite succeed in sounding indifferent. Ericka eyed the physician’s left hand. “You married?”

      She thought of her mother, who had been crusading for each of her daughters to get married since Alyx turned twenty. She was desperate to be a grandmother—and have more grandchildren than Uncle Josef and Aunt Magda. “No, I’m not.”

      “Planning to be?” Mrs. Baker prodded, watching her carefully as she answered.

      “Someday, yes.” But that someday was a long

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