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wasn’t sure if he should tell him everything, or just give the general idea. He decided to be honest. “Pretty bad. When I found you, I wasn’t sure if you were even alive, and if you were alive, how much longer you would be. Kathy wasn’t kidding when she said you gave us a scare.”
    “So you’re here to get my statement?” Lucas winced as he shifted in the narrow bed.
    “Well, that, and to make sure you’re okay.”
    “Isn’t that the doctor’s job?”
    “Well… yeah,” Declan stammered. “I just thought….”
    “You want to be the big fucking hero and make sure the helpless little faggot pulls through?” Lucas demanded with venom in his voice.
    Declan had no idea how they had gotten here. What had he done to make this guy so angry? “What? No,” Declan said adamantly. “It’s not like that.”
    “So why are you still here, then?”
    “Like I said. I was the one that found you. I just wanted to make sure you were all right.”
    “Well, now you’re sure. The nurse said I’m going to be fine, so you can just go.”
    Declan bristled a little. He’d dealt with his share of punk kids in his short career as a cop in Austin, but Lucas’s words cut deeper than anyone else’s ever had. He’d never been as affected by another person before, good or bad.
    “Officers are canvassing the area trying to track down any witnesses, but I still need to get your statement.”
    “What the fuck ever, man. I told you. I don’t remember anything.”
    Declan reached into his pocket and pulled out his card. He placed it on the bedside table next to Lucas. “Well if anything comes back to you, please give me a call. I’ll be back in the morning.”
    “What’s the fucking point?”
    “So we can arrest whoever did this to you.”
    “Whatever” was Lucas’s terse reply.
    Declan sighed, aware that it wouldn’t do any good to push for answers tonight. He felt a little wounded by Lucas’s reaction to him. He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting: for the guy to wake up and be so grateful that he would just fall into Declan’s arms and they could live happily ever after together? Not fucking likely. Declan wasn’t so sure that’s what he wanted anyway. As beautiful as Lucas was, Declan didn’t want to open that part of himself up again.
    He knew all about the consequences of coming out on the force. He was lucky that part of his record hadn’t made it to the Hope Cove precinct. Most things in life had a way of following you one way or another, and Declan counted his blessings every day that so far this didn’t seem to be one of them.
    He shuddered at the memory of the day people had found out about him. It wasn’t something he ever wanted to go through again, and as much as he wanted to pull Lucas to him and hold him close, he wouldn’t, even if Lucas had let him.
    He stood and left the room quietly. At the door, Declan turned to say good-bye, but didn’t expect a reply from Lucas, who had already rolled over, his back to the deputy.
    “I think he’s going to sleep for the night,” Declan told Kathy when he reached the nurses’s station.
    “Yeah, he’s probably going to be a bit worn out for a while.”
    “Yeah,” Declan agreed. He didn’t know what else to say. The staggering change in Lucas’s demeanor after Kathy had left the room had him reeling.
    “Did you manage to get any more information out of him?” she asked.
    “No. He says he doesn’t remember anything.”
    “But you don’t believe him?”
    “I’m not sure. It is likely that there is some memory loss there, but my gut tells me he’s not giving me the whole story.”
    “Yes, head injuries are unpredictable, especially when paired with traumatic situations. They can mess with memory, personality, language, almost anything really.”
    “Yeah, and I can’t exactly force the information out of him. I just wish he’d trust me a little. I really do want to help him.”
    “I know you do, hon. I am a pretty good judge of