Free Never Let Go by Sherryl Woods Page A

hand enveloped hers and squeezed, setting off tingles that raced through her and made her toes curl. She had to force herself to concentrate on what Justin was saying. “Maybe we make a pretty good team after all.”
    The words echoed inMallory’s head. If Justin had spent a lifetime searching for just the right thing to say, he couldn’t have done any better. She just wondered when he’d let that professional trust expand to include the personal side of their relationship as well.
    “So, what happens now?” he said as the waitress put his food down.
    “We try to keep him talking and try to reassure him that not all adults behave the way his mother did. He has to understand that his mother has a kind of illness, that her behavior doesn’t necessarily mean she doesn’t love him.”
    Instantly Justin’s lips curved down in an angry slash. “Do you really believe that hogwash?” he said incredulously, and she felt the fragile rapport between them begin to slip away. He released her hand and began eating his soup.
    “Yes, I do, and it’s more than hogwash,” she said staunchly, ignoring his reaction. “Maybe she was an abused child herself. Maybe she’s just responding the way she was taught to respond.”
    “You’re saying you can’t break the cycle, then?” Justin said in a voice gone suddenly flat. Mallory regarded him curiously.
    “I didn’t say that at all. I think she can be helped, given time. She has to understand what drove her to harm Davey. Once she does that, it’s possible to break the pattern.”
    “I guarantee you, it’ll never happen.” He shoved the soup bowl away and grabbed his hamburger, biting into it angrily.
    “What makes you so certain? You’re not an expert in this field, are you? Or have they added psychology to the neurosurgical program?”
    “I know what I’m talking about,” he said unequivocally, and his hazel eyesglittered dangerously. Mallory beat a hasty tactical retreat. It was not the time to fight this particular battle. She didn’t want to upset him, when he had to go back into surgery in a few more minutes.
    “Okay. Don’t get angry.”
    “Who’s getting angry?” His voice rose, and his eyes flashed.
    Suddenly Mallory grinned at him and propped her chin in her hand. “Do you do impressions?”
    “What?” The question came out hesitantly. He stared at her, wide-eyed, clearly baffled by the seemingly irrelevant question.
    “You say you’re not angry. I believe you. That must mean you’re into doing an impression of an angry man.”
    Justin moaned at her attempt at humor, and his fierce expression faded instantly. “You win.”
    “Were we having another contest?” she inquired innocently.
    “You won’t even let me give in gracefully, will you?”
    “Nope,” she said sweetly. “I think maybe I like watching you squirm.”
    “You would. It’s probably a defect in your character. Now what else did you want to talk to me about? You said you had a couple of things.”
    “You have a patient named Harrison.”
    Justin looked instantly wary. “What about him?”
    “Carol says he’s nervous about his surgery.”
    His shoulders visibly tensed again. “And why would Carol be telling you this?”
    “I ran into her thismorning. She wanted me to mention it to you.”
    “Damn it, I know the man is nervous. He’s my patient. I don’t need some nurse running to you to tell me what’s going on with him. If she had something to say, she should have come directly to me.”
    “She said she had.”
    “Well, she should have tried again.”
    “Why? So you could yell at her?”
    “I don’t yell.” His fist thumped angrily on the table, shaking the silverware and sending his coffee cup skittering toward the edge. Mallory saved it from certain disaster.
    She grinned impishly. “Oh, this is just another of your impressions, then?”
    Justin regarded her sheepishly. “I was yelling?”
    She nodded.
    “Sorry.”
    “So, have you talked to him?” she