Chapter 51

True to her word, the nurse returned a short time later to tell me I couldn't stay. It was torture to leave him helpless and alone in that room, but if sitting in the waiting area kept him alive, I'd suffer in silence.

"You can come back every two hours." The rest of the people in this place could stand to take a lesson in kindness from this nurse. It wasn't what she said so much as the sympathetic way she said it. "I promise, if anything changes, I'll come find you."

Rounding the corner to the waiting room that was going to be my home for the next few days, I was thrilled to see Beau sitting in the spot where he'd left me last night. He'd showered and shaved, and he looked like he felt a hell of a lot better than I did.

I sat down next to him.

"How's he doing?"

I shrugged with one shoulder and continued toward him. "Okay, I guess. He looks dead. It's eerie."

"I brought your bag so you could change clothes and freshen up."

"Thanks." I reached out to take it from him. "Hav