his friend’s back. “Thank you for staying with her. Have you eaten?”
“Not yet. I didn’t want to leave her alone.”
“Go and get something. I’ll meet you back here in an hour or so.”
“Right.”
Mike sauntered away, leaving Devlan alone in the hallway. All was quiet on the floor. The nurses on duty murmured in soft tones, their gazes studying him with interest. He did not notice them, nor did he return their flirtatious smiles as he normally would.
Pausing just outside the door, Devlan came up short and took a moment to absorb the somberness of the scene. Diana was as close to Hannah’s side as she could get without being in the bed with her. Though her back was to him, he could see the defeat and terror in her posture. She held the child’s pale hand gently and was stroking her soft skin while her face rested on the pillow next to Hannah’s ear. He could hear Diana’s soft sniffling between murmured words of encouragement and felt his heart give a tug.
The reality of the seriousness of Hannah’s condition was disappointing. There would be no smiles this evening. Hannah looked so small in the large hospital bed with all the equipment attached to her. Her blond hair was hidden behind a pristine white bandage and there were wires surrounding her from head to toe. The beeping of her cardiac monitor struggled with the ventilator for supremacy in the otherwise quiet room.
Devlan approached silently, reaching out to place a hand on Diana’s shoulder. Though she startled slightly before turning her bloodshot gaze to him, she did not grow tense as she had before. Pleased, he could not prevent the faint smile he sent her way.
“Things are good so far?”
Her brow rose as if to ask him how he could even ask that, but then she nodded slowly. “The doctor said that there’s still activity in her brain, and the swelling is not as bad as they first thought. We just have to wait and see.”
“Excellent.”
Easing away, Devlan went around the bed and took a seat across from Diana. The suspicious wall she had erected earlier returned as she watched his every move warily. Devlan refused to let that daunt him and smiled as he stretched out his legs in front of him. Telling himself that he had broken the cycle of mistrust in men far tougher than her over the years, he was confident that Diana could be handled with time. The silence that fell between them was broken only by the sounds of the activity in the hall and the machinery in the room. They were absorbed in their own thoughts for some time before Devlan finally shifted in the hard plastic seat and captured her attention once more.
“I spoke to my secretary and she’s opening my house in Malibu for you. Once Hannah is able to leave the hospital, I’ll fly her to L.A. She’ll have the best pediatric rehabilitation services available there.”
Diana glanced down at Hannah before meeting his gaze. Her voice was low and subdued. “Very well.” He was about to comment on the resignation in her voice when her soft voice once again broke the silence. “Are you staying in town?”
“What?”
“In town. Are you staying here?”
“Yes. I’m at the Four Seasons just a couple miles away. I’ll stick around until Hannah is out of the woods. That way, if you need me...”
Diana remained silent as she studied him. He smiled faintly in an attempt to reassure her, but her weary gaze continued to search his face as if questioning his motives once again. Not accustomed to being regarded with such wariness and not enjoying it at all, Devlan looked away and reached into his suit pocket for one of his business cards.
“Last time I gave you one of these you gave it right back. Considering our new agreement it seems appropriate for you to hold onto one now. My home phone is at the bottom, as is my mobile.”
Reaching over her sleeping daughter’s legs, Diana took the card he held out. Their fingers brushed briefly before she snatched her hand away and sat