And Michael? He couldn’t care less about her. That little kiss hadn’t fazed him . . . the big jerk.
Enough already. She didn’t want to think about him any longer. Keeping busy was the solution.
With that notion in mind she opened her laptop and began to answer her emails. It took a long while and she was about to close up when another email appeared. This one was from Xavier. She was almost afraid to open it. Her immediate thought was that he had changed his mind and no longer wanted her to sing, which would have been a disappointment but also a big relief. Just thinking about
getting up onstage in front of thousands of people terrified her. There was another worry, too. What if he changed his mind and no longer wanted to buy her song? That would be devastating.
“Just open the thing,” she whispered.
The message Xavier sent was upbeat, telling her how eager he was to meet her. He also included a clip of him onstage singing the song he wanted Isabel to sing with him. He thought she might want to work on it, and Thursday they’d sing it together as many times as necessary to get it the way he wanted. He also explained that he had reserved a suite overlooking the stage for her family and friends. His assistant just needed to know the number of tickets Isabel would need. He added his assistant’s email address and ended his email with his full name.
Her thought to keep quiet about Xavier and let the focus be on the parents’ celebration wasn’t possible now. Isabel would tell all of them tonight, she decided.
The next order of business was for Isabel to “man up,” as Dylan would say, and watch the video of her shooting that horrible man.
She found the text the woman on the street had sent and activated the video. As she watched it, she paid close attention to Detective Walsh stumbling into her arms. Just as she suspected, he was mumbling something to her, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying.
“Isabel?” Michael knocked on her door and said her name again.
“Come in.”
He opened the door and said, “Do you still want to see Detective Walsh?”
“Yes, I do. Now?”
“Yes, now.”
She didn’t know why Michael was suddenly being accommodating, but she wasn’t going to question his motives if it meant he’d take her to Walsh.
“Give me five minutes. I’ll meet you downstairs.”
It took her fifteen minutes to change. At her request, the bell captain had put her suitcase for Scotland in storage, and most of the clothes she had brought in her backpack were meant for a casual visit to Nathan’s Bay, but thankfully she had thought to pack a couple of dresses. She quickly changed into a yellow cotton sundress and hurried downstairs.
Michael had changed, too. Instead of jeans he wore khaki pants and a button-down shirt with the cuffs turned back. Even when he didn’t try, he looked gorgeous.
When they reached the hospital, they cut through the emergency waiting room to get to the elevators. The ICU was quiet. A nurse wearing the name tag “Terry” was behind the desk. The second Isabel introduced herself, the nurse’s face lit up. As she led them down the hall to Walsh’s room, she gushed, “I took your advice, and you were right,” she said. “I did overreact. John and I had a long talk, and we’ve decided to keep the dog, slobber and all.”
“I’m glad you worked it out,” Isabel said.
A uniformed policeman stood by Walsh’s door. When they identified themselves, he told them Samuel had authorized their visit, and he let them pass.
A multitude of tubes and wires were hooked up to the poor man. The nurse explained that the breathing apparatus had been removed, and he was breathing on his own now. There were other
improvements as well, but he was still unconscious, and everyone was anxious for him to open his eyes.
Isabel thought he looked peaceful in sleep, and yet she still wanted to shake him to help him wake up. She didn’t give in to the temptation, thank goodness, not only because it would be wrong to manhandle a patient, but also because the guard was giving her suspicious looks. Later that same guard was telling her how he was drowning in debt. All she had done to elicit such a lengthy declaration was to thank him for watching out for Detective Walsh and ask him if this was his usual duty.
Isabel listened to his worries for a good ten minutes before he finished. She shook his hand, wished him well, and was ready to leave, but then one of the orderlies wanted to chat with her.
Michael guessed it was going to take a while, so he leaned back against the wall with arms crossed and waited. He couldn’t figure out why people were so prone to unload their problems on her. She didn’t hand out any wisdom. As to that, she didn’t say much of anything. She usually engaged them in conversation, chatting amicably about mundane things. Once they started talking, she just listened and nodded every now and again. Michael noticed that everyone who talked to her walked away smiling.