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He made a face. “I’ll go crazy sitting at home. I need to be out there.”
She knew how he felt, but she just patted his arm. “Right now, you just need to relax.”
He glanced around the room. “My mom’s here. Have you met her?”
“Not yet.”
“It’s just as well. She can be a bit…bossy. She’s probably driving everyone here crazy.”
She smiled. “I might have some research work for you to do. I’ll drop it by if that will be okay. Maybe I’ll bring Olivia with me. She’s been worried about you.”
“Terrific. Love to see her.” His eyes were closing. “Sorry. I’m having trouble staying awake. They gave me something…”
“I’m leaving anyway. They only said I could stay five minutes. Take care, Metcalf. I’ll be in touch.”
“Yeah, do that…”
He was asleep.
Kendra gazed at him for another moment. He was pale and bruised, but he had been fully conscious during most of the time she’d been here and that was great. She gave his hand a squeeze and left the hospital room.
Lynch stood up from the hall bench. “Okay?”
“Better than I expected,” she said. “He wants to go back to work. I told himI’d give him something to do while he was recuperating.”
“Sounds like Metcalf. It will be good for him. I could never stand to be cooped up when I was wounded.”
“I remember.” She also remembered that when she’d visited Lynch in the hospital, she’d been shocked to glimpse all the scars on his body. “Maybe we can convince Metcalf to be more sensible.”
He shook his head. “Don’t count on it. He’ll probably try to impress you with his stamina. May I take you home now?”
“In just a few minutes, I want to talk to his mother.” She indicated the red-haired woman sitting in a chair by the coffee machine. “This must have been very hard for her.”
“It was. I had a talk with her when you were in Metcalf’s room. But she’s tough, and she doesn’t think you deserve him.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
He shrugged. “Evidently Metcalf has spoken to her ad nauseam about you. She’s his mother, and she could see he has a thing for you.”
“Thing?”
“Crush, infatuation, whatever. I just thought I’d warn you not to expect a warm welcome.”
“Thank you.” She braced herself, painted a smile on her face, and strode across the room to Metcalf’s mother. “Hello, I’m Kendra Michaels, I’m so glad to meet you at last. I wanted you to know how much we all appreciate your son.”
“Thank you.” The woman looked away.
“He’s smart and very brave. It’s a privilege to have him as a coworker and a good friend.”
She stayed there chatting for a few minutes longer and then made her way back across the hall to Lynch.
“Escape?” he murmured as he punched the button of the elevator. “You didn’t stay long, but I could see you were making a valiant effort. Cold?”
“Very cool. But I’m not sorry I tried to reach out to her. She’s the mother of a friend. I wouldn’t want Metcalf to think I wasn’t courteous to her.”
“And it’s not your fault that you don’t have the good sense to appreciate her son.”
“I do appreciate him. I just can’t…” She got on the elevator. “Drop it, Lynch.”
