Two Guys Detective Agency Read Online Free Page A

her coffee to Oakley, who gave her a bolstering wink. Then she shifted her purse to her
    shoulder, curled the box of Kleenex in her elbow like a football, and followed the woman, her heart
    hammering in her chest. She was led down hallways, through massive swinging doors, and finally into a
    room lined with equipment that dwarfed the bed in which the patient lay.
    She thought she had steeled herself for the worst, but the sight of her big, hardy husband lying listless
    and pale in a hospital gown was like a punch to her lungs. She gasped into her fingers, but held herself in
    check.
    “Five minutes,” the nurse murmured.
    “Can I talk to him?”
    “Of course. But he hasn’t responded to anyone since he arrived.”
    The nurse left and pulled the door partially closed.
    Linda approached Sullivan’s bed slowly, choking back a sob as fear and apprehension invaded every
    cell of her body. She’d never seen her husband in a weakened state…he’d once pulled a double shift while
    suffering from the flu, and hit the winning run in a softball game with a broken rib. The beep of his heart
    monitor jarred her raw nerves. When anxiety threatened to engulf her, she took a deep breath and shook
    herself. Right now the most important thing was getting him back on the road to wellness.
    Upon closer inspection, his freckled skin had a yellowish cast. His buzzed reddish hair was sweat-
    matted, his mouth slack. She used a Kleenex to dab the perspiration from his forehead. His eyes were
    closed and when she placed her hand on his cold fingers, he didn’t respond to her touch. Her heart
    crunched when she realized someone had removed his ring. Neither of them had ever taken off their
    wedding bands.
    She leaned over his bed to speak close to his ear. “Sullivan, it’s me, sweetie. You’re in the hospital,
    getting better, and I’m here with you.”
    No response.
    “Sullivan, it’s Linda. The doctors are trying to figure out what happened — ”
    His fingers moved beneath hers, and her heart gave a little jump of joy.
    “I felt that…I know you can hear me.” She squeezed his fingers again and waited for another response.
    Instead, he made a mewling noise, as if he were trying to wake up. She pulled back to see his eyes
    fluttering open. He glanced around wildly.
    Linda’s shoulders sagged in relief. “Welcome back.” She stroked his arm to soothe him, but instead, he
    grew more agitated.
    “Relax, sweetie. I’m going to get the doctor.”
    But his fingers tightened around hers and his eyes pleaded. “Love…eee…” The sounds came out thick
    and distorted, as if he’d had a stroke.
    She smiled. “I love you, too, sweetie.”
    But he shook his head, obviously distressed. Then his body went rigid and his eyes flew wide, glazed
    with pain. The heart monitor beeped in rapid succession, and another machine emitted an alarm.
    Panicked, Linda raced to the door and yelled, “Help, somebody!”
    The nurses were already jogging toward the room, with Dr. Kozac leading the charge. Linda was swept
    into the hallway, then handed off and shepherded back through the industrial swinging doors with the
    promise that someone would come for her as soon as he was stable again.
    She raced back to the waiting room and when Oakley came to meet her, she sank against his chest. He
    calmed her with shushing noises and strokes to her back, as if she were a child, then led her to a chair. She
    told them what had happened in a halting voice. Another family had taken seats on the opposite side of the
    waiting room. A little girl stared at Linda and inched closer to her mother. It made her think of her own
    children, and how they would react to their father being so scarily ill.
    “It’s going to be okay,” Oakley repeated over and over in that blanket-like voice of his. “Sully is strong
    and he has so much to live for.”
    Klo and Stone added comforting sentiments of their own.
    She nodded and wiped, nodded and dabbed, until the tissue she