The Witness Read Free

give her anything to calm her down because she's nursing."
     
The deputy glanced at the baby, then at Kendall's chest.
     
His face turned the color of a ripe tomato. "Well, I reckon it'll keep for a spell. But it's got to be done."
     
"Sure, sure," the doctor said.
     
The nurse lifted Kevin from Kendall's arms. He remained asleep. "I'll find this little precious one a crib in the nursery.
     
Don't worry about him. You go with the doctor."
     
The deputy fiddled with the brim of his hat while shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "I'll just sit out here.
     
Then, whenever you're ready, ma'am, to, uh, you know, finish up here . .."
     
"Have a cup of coffee, why don't you?" the doctor suggested, humoring the officer.
     
The doctor was young and brash and, in Kendall's estimation, very full of himself. She doubted that the ink on his medical diploma was dry yet, but he obviously enjoyed asserting his limited authority. Without a backward glance at the deputy, he ushered her down the corridor.
     
"He has a tibia! shaft fracture, or your basic broken shin bone," he explained. "There was no displacement, so he won't require surgery, or a rod, etcetera. In that respect, he was extremely lucky. From the way you described the car"
     
"The hood was pleated like a paper fan. I don't know why the steering wheel didn't crush his chest."
     
"Right. I was afraid he'd have busted ribs, internal bleeding, organ damage, but I see no evidence of any. His vital signs have stabilized. That's the good news.
     
"The bad news is that he took quite a knock on the head.
     
X rays show only a hairline fracture on the skull, but I had to take several dozen stitches to close the wound. It isn't too pretty right now, but eventually his hair'll grow back over it.
     
Won't spoil his good looks too much," he said, smiling down at her.
     
"He bled quite a lot."
     
"We've given him a unit of blood just to be on the safe side. He sustained a concussion, but if he's quiet for several days, he'll be okay. With his leg broken like it is, he'll be on crutches for at least a month. He won't have much choice but to lie around, be lazy, and let himself heal. Here we are." He steered her toward a room. "He just regained consciousness a few minutes ago, so he's still groggy."
     
The doctor went into the dimly lighted room ahead of her.
     
She hesitated on the threshold and surveyed the room. On one wall was an atrocious paint-by-number picture of Jesus ascending into the clouds; an AIDS awareness poster hung on the opposite wall. It was a semiprivate room with two beds, but he was the only patient.
     
His lower leg, secured in a cast, was propped up on a pillow.
     
He'd been dressed in a hospital gown that reached only to the middle of his thighs. They looked strong and tan against the white sheets, out of keeping with an infirmary.
     
A nurse was taking his blood pressure. His dark eyebrows were drawn into a frown beneath the wide gauze bandage encircling his head. His hair was matted with dried blood and an antiseptic solution. A ghastly number of bruises discolored his arms. The features of his face had been distorted by swelling, contusions, and bruises, but he was recognizable by the vertical cleft in his chin and the hard slant of his mouth, from which protruded a thermometer.
     
Briskly, the doctor moved to the bedside and consulted the blood pressure reading the nurse had noted on the patient's chart. "Looking better all the time." He also murmured approval when the nurse showed him the patient's current body temperature.
     
Although Kendall still hesitated just outside the door, the patient's eyes instantly homed in on her. They penetrated the shadowed depths of their sockets, which were sunken and dark from blood l oss and pain. But his unflinching stare was as incisive as ever.
     
The first time she had looked directly into his eyes, she had sensed and respected their keen perception. She had even feared it a little. She still