"What is it?" I asked.
Still gripping the wheel, he looked down and shook his head as if clearing the cobwebs.
"Are you alright?" I said.
When I reached out for him, his hands slipped off the steering wheel. I looked down. The hands were so swollen his fingers looked sausages about to pop. I glanced again at his face. Gone were the lean lines and sharp angles. In its place was a swollen mass of facial features I barely recognized.
"Oh my God," I said. "What's wrong?"
He leaned his head against the back of his seat. Slowly, he turned to face me. His words were so garbled, I had a hard time understanding him. But I'm pretty sure what he said was, "Baby, can you drive a stick?"
And the answer, which I was terrified to give, was no. I couldn't.
Chapter 62
"Damn it," I said, squeezing Lawton's hand, "you aresuchan idiot."
"Please," the nurse said for like the tenth time, "no yelling at the patient."
"I wasn't yelling," I said. "Much."
With a look that told me she thought otherwise, she checked off something on his chart and returned the clipboard to the foot of the bed.
We were in a private hospital room, surrounded by machines, IV stands, and a whole bunch of other stuff that did who-knows-what.
Lawton was lying in the hospital bed, groggy, but more or less awake. How, I had no idea. They'd given him so many shots, and then there was the IV drip, and I'm pretty sure they pumped his stomach too, although for the sake of his dignity, I tried not to ask.
If I'd just hadmystomach pumped, I sure as heck wouldn’t want anyone asking about it.
The nurse adjusted his IV drip and left the room, but not before giving me a final look of warning. I guess I couldn’t really blame her. Idiot was probably the nicest name I'd called him.
Seriously, who eats a whole crapload of oysters, knowing damn well they're allergic to shellfish? Correction, deadly allergic to shellfish? Crazy people, that's who.
Blinking hard, I looked down at Lawton. "You're looking a lot better," I said.
He gave me a shaky grin. "Yeah?"
"Yeah," I said, "but you're still an idiot."
"Not this time," he said. "So, you know how to drive a stick, huh?"
"No. But I know how to call an ambulance." I bit my lip. "I think I forgot to lock your car."
"Eh, no biggie."
"And, uh, I might've left your keys in the ignition." I winced. "I'm sorry. Your car's probably long-gone by now."
"Don't worry," he said. "It'll turn up. Or not."
I scooted my chair closer and leaned down to press my face close to his. "You shouldn't have done that." My voice caught. "The doctor told me you could've died."
"They always say that. Hasn't happened yet."
"Seriously," I said. "Why on Earth would you do that? It wasreallystupid." I gave him a stern look. "And don't try to tell me you didn't know."
"I would," he said, "but like I told you, I'm not a liar."
"So why'd you do it?" I said.
