"But why on Earth would he do something like that?" I said.
Bishop gave me a deadpan look. "My guess? He didn't want to see you hurt."
"But you don't even know what happened," I said.
"It's not hard to figure out. Here, lemme guess. And you can tell me how close I am."
I crossed my arms. "Alright. Go ahead."
"For whatever reason, it was either you or him. Or maybe it was either someone you care about, or him. Either way, he took the bullet so you didn't have to."
"It wasn't a bullet," I said. "It was oyster gravy."
Bishop made a face. "Is that real?"
"Unfortunately."
"How much did he eat?" Bishop said.
I glanced at Lawton. "A lot."
"Well, that's love for ya." Bishop shook his head. "Poor bastard."
"Hey!"
He shrugged. "I'm just saying."
I gave him a look. "So how about you? Haven'tyouever been in love before?"
He glanced at Lawton, and then back at me. His voice was oddly quiet. "Yeah. Once."
"What happened?" I asked, suddenly curious.
Bishop was silent a few beats. And then, he reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out his wallet. He opened it up and slid something out of an interior pocket. It looked like a playing card, all folded up in a neat little square.
"What's that?" I said.
Silently, he handed it over. The creases were worn and the pattern was scuffed. Taking it from his cool hands, I had the feeling it had been handled a lot, and folded often.
Careful not to mangle it worse than it already was, I unfolded the card and studied the image. Obviously, it hadn't come from a regular card deck.
"Is this a tarot card?" I said.
He nodded.
I studied the image. "The Fool? Is this supposed to be you?"
He gave a humorless laugh. "No. Not if I can help it."
And then, I heard a groggy voice from the direction of the hospital bed. "Damn it. For the last time, just go find her already, will ya?"
Chapter 66
A half hour later, Bishop stood to leave. The three of us had spent the last thirty minutes talking, a lot about what happened at dinner, and a little about the very first time Lawton and I had met.
"So you're Hospital Girl," Bishop said. He glanced at Lawton. "You could've mentioned that."
"Why?" Lawton said. "So you could spend another five years giving me a hard time? No thanks."