Swallowing the unexpected lump in her throat, Joey blinked. “I’m sorry.” She thought of the people she had met, and of the children and Luke’s obvious devotion to them, even when he would never have admitted it. It seemed strange that it should matter to her, that she could even accept the incredible story she had heard. But it did matter, and she did accept it. There was a thing deep in her soul that responded with such undeniable certainty that she had no choice. None at all.
“I’m afraid I haven’t done a very good job of explaining things, Joey,” Collier said into the quiet. “I’d hoped—this would be possible for you to understand. I am immensely grateful…”
“That I can accept it?” Joey shook her head with a wry smile. “Allan, I’m the one who should be grateful, to have a friend like you. ” She reached out again to grasp his hand, he returned the pressure gently. “Things have changed so quickly, sometimes I think nothing could surprise me anymore.”
Gripping her hand more firmly, Collier searched her eyes. “If something does—if something surprises you, or frightens you—if you ever need any help at all, Joey, I want you to know I’m here.”
Joey blinked away sudden tears. “I know. Thank you, Allan.”
The chair creaked under him as the doctor shifted, loosing her hand as he rolled a kink out of his neck. “And now, I think it’s time you do a little more moving around before going to bed. Don’t be too overconfident—your body still needs plenty of time to heal. You’re in good shape now, and since the freezing rain has ended I’ll be able to call my transportation in to pick me up. I’m behind schedule as it is.”
He rose, and Joey pushed herself up with a groan to grasp his arm. She walked with him about the room several times, and at last he said, “Have you given any thought to where you’d like to do the rest of your recovering?” His voice was cautious, and Joey looked up from the ground ahead of her feet to his face.
“You shouldn’t push yourself too hard, since you do need time to heal completely—but in a week or so you can be moved out of the village. I would recommend waiting a few more weeks before making any lengthy journeys, however.” The last words were almost a question, one that Joey did not quite understand.
Moving slowly to the side of the bed, Joey sank into the downy softness of the mattress while Collier examined her stitches. “I haven’t thought about it at all,” she admitted with a frown “I—” The emotions that rode hard on the tail of the doctor’s question made her falter. Luke—that was the first thought. Luke. She could not seem to clarify the sudden turmoil of her thoughts. She hadn’t thought of “after”—not in all the time she’d been here in Val Cache.
She tried to think of going back to the lodge, going home—but even the word “home” made no sense. Not anymore. It sat like a leaden weight in her stomach and rose to constrict her throat so that no sound could pass.
“Hold still, Joey,” Collier said gently. She realized then she had been shaking her head in denial of something she could not begin to grasp, let alone accept. She could accept the existence of werewolves, but this mystery within her own heart was beyond comprehension.
“Good evening, Doctor.” In spite of Collier’s warning she jerked at the sound of Luke’s voice, when she looked up her eyes found his instantly, as if some invisible thread of emotion connected them beyond reason. The amber-green of his gaze was bright on hers. “Joelle.”
She relaxed under the warm caress of her name. For an instant she was oblivious to Collier as he moved aside, his legs pressed against the bed. Then she looked away from Luke’s compelling eyes and saw the tension that held the doctor rigid, facing Luke with focused wariness as the younger man approached the bed.
After the revelations of their talk, Joey could no more ignore her friend’s demeanor than she could the mesmerizing heat of Luke’s presence. She knew instinctively that there was much she still had no understanding of; the way Collier’s eyes had grown grave as they followed Luke across the room was a testament to how very little she did understand. But she did not know what to say or do or how to ease the situation, and Luke’s touch, the lightest brushing of her shoulder with his fingers, drove everything else from her mind. It was her body that was responding.