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the doors. “Dr. Allen will be here any minute. And don’t call me ma’am. It makes me feel matronly.”
    Logan fe lt like he was chatting it up at the gas station. Where were the white coats, the orderlies, the damn sense of urgency? There didn’t appear to be any people beyond the hospital windows.
    “Hey,” he heard. Nurse Biel was nudging Vincent’s foot with her knee. “You still awake in there?”
    No answer. A look inside the car revealed Vincent’s arm to have fallen from his face. Though his body jostled at the attempt to wake him, he didn’t open his eyes. Logan felt a pang of concern.
    “Don’t you worry your pretty little head,” she consoled him. “Vincent’s been thr ough worse than this.” Her tone adopted a dangerous edge. “He has a knack for sticking his nose where it don’t belong and getting the tar beat out of him for it.”
    Before Logan could fully process the implication behind her words, the emergency room doors slid open. An obese doctor emerged with a gurney at his side.
    “What do we have here ?” he breathlessly asked. He raised an enormous arm to wipe the sweat from his face. By his flushed appearance, he’d been shuffling to receiving since Nurse Biel called for him.
    “An old friend,” she informed him. But the way she said friend made Logan wonder if she meant the opposite. Something wasn’t right.
    “Let me take a look.”
    Logan moved aside so the doctor could see Vincent for himself. He was forced to ignore his worsening instinct to protect him from these people.
    “Ah, yes , so I see.” Dr. Allen chuckled. There was a gleam of delight in his expression before it disappeared behind a mask of professionalism. “Let’s get him onto the gurney, then. Quickly now.”
    Logan helped maneuver the gurney into place. As he did so, one of the rusted bars snapped. He yanked his hand back with a hiss of pain. There was a cut across his fingers.
    “Oh, dear. ” Nurse Biel rounded the gurney. She snatched his hand and pulled it toward her to examine it. “I do hope your tetanus shots are up to date. Come inside, and we’ll top you off to make sure. Wouldn’t want to take a chance. Not with some of this equipment dating back to the fifties.”
    He cradled his throbbing hand and nodded. “I’ll do that. Just help him first.”
    With the gurney broken, he expect ed Dr. Allen to hurry inside to grab another, or perhaps for them to use the wheelchair. What he didn’t expect was for the doctor to drag Vincent from the car and hoist him into his arms like he was a child. Vincent wasn’t small by any means, but he looked downright vulnerable against the doctor’s broad chest.
    Blood blossomed over an edge of the lab coat in a matter of seconds. Vincent’s head lolled to the side, hair falling over his forehead.
    As Dr. Allen began marching for the hospital doors, Logan hurried to catch up.
    “Wait up , boy,” Nurse Biel called after him. “You’ll need to move your car around back.”
    He stopped and shot her a glare he reserved for emergencies. By all accounts, she should have flinched, or at least backed down. But she merely smiled, revealing a row of perfectly white teeth. They looked out of place on someone with oily skin and hair in disarray.
    “I know your hand is bleeding, but there’s plenty of blood in the backseat already. A little more on the steering wheel won’t hurt.”
    Th at logic was twisted, but money was tight these days. He couldn’t afford a parking ticket. Without another word, he returned to the car and climbed into the driver’s seat.
    He watched Nurse Biel disappear into the hospital. She was humming an off-key tune that faded with her presence. The horrible feeling that he’d just delivered the man who saved his life into danger had him reaching for another cigarette.
    It was going to be a long night.

Chapter Four
     
    Blood. There was blood everywhere.
    Vincent sharply turned once, then twice.
    No, damn it, no.
    The trees surrounding