Page 80 of Talk to Me

We were waiting on the elevator.

“Some,” she said and I set the chart in her lap and gave her a pen before turning and backing her in.

The fact my clothes were stored in a bag at the back of the chair with my gun easy to access didn’t make me relax in the slightest.

“What do I need?”

“X-rays,” I said. “Possibly an MRI, but I don’t think we’ll need that.”

She nodded then filled out the paperwork. I didn’t glance at my watch. When the doors parted, Locke straightened from where he appeared to be waiting for us. Like me, he was in scrubs. He also had a different set of badges, one around his neck, and the other clipped to his waistband.

He looked like an orderly.

“This way,” he said, then strode down the hallway. Even with Locke present, that didn’t ease my concerns. Locke was very good at what he did, but he wasn’t McQuade. His presence meant I had two to cover.

He used his keycard to open a pair of doors at the end. The air that exited the secured space was icy. Patch shivered, but she didn’t say a word. Once we were through, Locke continued to lead us down to the last huge door. Radiation warning symbols marked all the doors.

He opened the last set. The equipment was vaguely recognizable.

“You know how to use this?”

“Mostly,” Locke said.”I think.”

Comforting.

I kept my opinions to myself. It was Patch who pointed to the room with the computer. “Most hospitals require you to use your ID card to log-in. It allows them to track and trace everything.”

“Yeah,” Locke said. “Really annoying. Hopefully Mr. Fernandez doesn’t mind giving us an assist.”

“If we have to override it,” she said. “I can help.”

“You always do.” Then he winked at her and I frowned. The ease of flirtation was something I’d enjoyed with Patch. I didn’t care to see the evidence in Locke’s expression or McQuade’s “Sugar Bear,” comments.

It took Locke a moment to login then he had the screens up. Patch leaned forward in the chair as he scrolled through.

“I think we can line it up to do the kind of imaging we want…most of it is the program, right?”

“Maybe,” she said. “Depends on how new it is. Let me look at it.”

Locke flicked a look at me and I nodded once.

“Careful.” I helped her up then moved back to cover the door. The limp was still present. It took her about three minutes to bypass the main system, then she was tabbing through a series of screens.

“Got it,” she said, explaining to Locke in swift tones.

“Sounds like a plan.” Then he scooped her up and carried her over to the table. Most x-rays were done standing, but I didn’t want her on her feet any longer than necessary. “No metal on you, right?”

“No,” she said. “I don’t think so.”

He gave her a careful pat down, the extreme gentleness not even something I could object to. Once certain, he moved the large arm on the equipment, then entered the numbers on the keypad.

There was a certain poetry to realizing she was providing the same kind of support right now she would have if we were doing this with her on the phone. It was selfish of me to appreciate her presence, even if I loathed the reason for it.

“Full body x-rays,” she said. “Always a good time. You boys should be in that room, out of the way of the radiation exposure.”

“We’ll be quick,” Locke promised her and then he pressed a kiss to her lips, it was swift, there and gone again. “My turn to say for luck.”

Then he retreated and I debated just shooting him. Not that he deserved a bullet in the head for that, but maybe a kneecap. Setting that aside for now, I checked that the door was secured and moved the lock to occupied before I slid into the cubicle with Locke.