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A Serpent's Tooth: A Walt Longmire Mystery wl-9

Page 31

by Craig Johnson


  He glanced at the door I was about to go through. “I don’t suppose you’d care to return to the blissful state of ignorance in which you were as of a minute ago?”

  I leaned against the doorjamb, still feeling more than a little weak in my knees. “So that she can tell me herself.”

  The doc nodded. “Yes.”

  “What if she doesn’t?”

  “It’s very possible that she’s unaware, in which case I will inform her, but either way it’s between the two of you, and I am removed from the equation, which I desire most greatly.”

  I gathered my strength and smiled at him as I carefully pushed open the door, finally remembering to mumble some words. “You bet.”

  It was dark except for the light coming from the dusk-to-dawns in the parking lot outside. In an attempt to keep the room from being too stuffy, Isaac must’ve raised the window a few inches to let in a little fresh air, a practice of his that drove the nurses crazy.

  She was asleep and breathing steadily, the IV at her side set on a steady drip.

  I stood there in the middle of the room and listened to the vague sounds of the football game drifting through the space at the bottom of the window.

  I looked at her and rubbed my hand over my face; finally, I lifted the guest chair from against the wall and quietly placed it beside the bed. My legs carried me around and seated me before I collapsed.

  Her cheek made a small movement, and she swallowed.

  I was as quiet as I’d been in the jungles of Vietnam.

  She settled against her pillow, and I studied her.

  My God, she was beautiful.

  I don’t know how long I sat there watching her. I could feel myself nodding off and even went so far as to rest my elbow on the bed, cupping my chin in my hand and studying her some more.

  The noise from the ball game reached a distant crescendo and then subsided—the Dogies must be putting a pasting on the Warriors. I thought about what Henry Standing Bear had said when I asked if he thought that those early times in our youth had been simpler. He’d said no, but then had added—but we were.

  The crowd roared again, and I opened the white cardboard box and carefully removed the dyed chrysanthemums, tied together with ribbons. I breathed in the scent of her along with that of the black-and-orange corsage that I carefully placed on the pillow beside her head.

  FB2 document info

  Document ID: 549e6786-a67b-455c-92db-e9de268906b9

  Document version: 1

  Document creation date: 7.6.2013

  Created using: calibre 0.9.32, FictionBook Editor Release 2.6.6 software

  Document authors :

  Craig Johnson

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