She placed the still packaged phone next to my hip. “Second most important, a sandwich and a range of snacks, because we both know they only do main meals in hospitals, and you will never survive overnight without at least some Snakes to munch on.”
“I amnotaddicted to Snakes, no matter what you think.”
“You have them stashed in your car, your desk drawer at the office, yourhomeoffice, and god only knows where else.”
I grinned. “Okay, I concede I love the things, but addiction that does not make.”
She snorted, put the sandwich and the addiction onto the nearby rolling table, then dug back into the bag. “And finally, we have fresh clothes for the morning, and a brand-new laptop. I figured you could run through those USBs while you’re stuck here in bed.”
“Me? You’re not staying to help?”
She snorted again. “You know that paperwork you volunteered me for? It arrived.”
“Ah. Damn.”
“I’ll be saying a whole lot more than that by the time I’ve finished going through it all. You want me to pick you up once they release you?”
“Probably best. If one or both of us find something, we can head out directly from here to investigate.”
She nodded, caught my hand, and squeezed it lightly. “Glad you’re okay.”
“Safe to say, I am too.”
She chuckled. “Any idea who or what thumped you?”
I shook my head. “All I saw was a blur of motion. I had no sense of life or energy until it was all too late.”
“Well, Lowell is still going to want a statement.”
“Undoubtedly, but that can wait.”
“I’m not sure he thinks it can, but that’s your battle, not mine.” She released me. “I better get going and start in on those stupid files.”
“You’ll ring me if you find anything?”
“As long as they didn’t damage the SIM when they smashed your phone, yes.”
She waggled a goodbye with her fingers and left. I opened the bag of Snakes and inhaled two, then dragged the smashed remnants of my phone out. Thankfully, the SIM didn’t appear damaged, but I wouldn’t know for sure until I’d put it into the new phone.
It took me longer than it should have to peel away the packaging and set up the new phone, so by the time I’d set the thing up and downloaded all the important stuff from the cloud, dinner had arrived. It was a fairly decent shepherd’s pie, accompanied by jelly and ice cream, and I felt a whole lot better by the time I’d finished. Once the drinks cart had come around with a substance that vaguely resembled coffee, I rang Joseph.
“Hey, Mom,” he said after a few rings. “How’s it going up there?”
“Same old,” I said. “How’d you go on your tests today?”
“Okay, I think.”
Okaygenerally meant he’d aced it. He was a great one for understating things. “Anything planned for the weekend?”
“Nah. Might go over to Noah’s and game, but that’s about it.” He paused. “Dad said you’d come across a demon—that true?”
I smiled at the sudden interest in his voice. “It is indeed.”
“Know what kind?”
“It was called a comp demon, and it had black claws and feet, but that’s really all I know.”
“I’ve got a demonology class tomorrow—you want me to ask the prof?”
