Bad Moon Rising. Джонатан Мэйберри

come through this as well as you have, especially in light of the other issues. Of course I have to caution you to take it easy for the next few weeks. You have sustained other injuries and your body is dealing with those. You’re not going to have much of a reserve of strength for a while. You need lots of rest and lots of TLC.”

      “She’ll get both,” Crow promised.

      “See to it, or you’ll answer to me, little fellow.” Ignoring Crow’s crestfallen expression, she added, “I would advise you, however, that you do whatever you can do to avoid physical or emotional stress as much as possible. And, yes, I do know what’s going on and you certainly have my deepest sympathies, but at the risk of sounding harsh, your concerns are now with the living, with new life. By all means do what you have to do for your brother and sister-in-law, but then you need to focus only on getting healthy, staying healthy, and allowing your baby to develop with no further trauma. I can’t stress enough how important this is.” She paused. “Saul tells me that you and Mr. Crow here are recently engaged?”

      “Just two weeks ago.”

      “Then make that part of your focus. Baby, marriage, health, home. All the stuff you see in Ladies’ Home Journal.”

      “I will,” Val said, but Crow thought he heard doubt in her voice.

      Taking a risk, Crow said, “Doc…were you being serious earlier about the good news bad news thing? If so…what’s the bad news?”

      In perfect deadpan, Somerfield said, “You’re short…your kid might be a runt as well. A sad truth, but there it is.”

      “Ouch,” Crow winced.

      Val burst out laughing.

      Somerfield gave Val a quick hug, winked at Crow, and smiled at Weinstock as she left.

      When the door closed, Weinstock beamed at Val. “Did I tell you she was the best?”

      “I love her,” Val said.

      “Everyone does,” Weinstock agreed. “She’s top of the line, too. She’s from Long Island originally, but did a long stint overseas with Doctors Without Borders and then came here to teach. She’s everything the rest of us quacks aspire to.”

      Val wasn’t listening. “My baby is okay,” she said softly, laying her palms flat on her stomach. “That’s one thing those bastards didn’t take from me. Thank God.”

      Crow kissed her on the forehead.

      A few minutes later he said, “‘Little fellow’? I’m almost five-eight, damn it.”

      Val and Weinstock cracked up.

      “It’s not that funny,” Crow protested, but he might as well have been talking to himself.