Page 6 of Property of Bob

“What happened to him?” I demanded.

“He got hurt.”

“Hurt how?”

“He’s alive.”

I stared at him. That was not an answer anyone gave when someone had sprained an ankle. “How bad?”

“He’s recovering.”

“That’s also not an answer.”

“It’s the one I’m giving you.”

I took a step toward him. “I just drove all the way here to see him. If he’s in the hospital, I need to know why.”

Prime didn’t move.

“Ramona—”

“Don’t Ramona me. I don’t even know you.”

“That’s exactly why I’m not giving you details about one of my brothers standing in a parking lot.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it.

Damn it. That was fair too. “Can you at least tell me if he’s going to be okay?”

Prime glanced away for a second.

That scared me more than anything else had.

“He’s got a long road,” he said finally. “But yeah. He’s gonna be okay.”

My lungs finally remembered how to work.

I let out the breath I’d been holding. “Can I see him?”

“No.”

The relief disappeared as fast as it had come. “Excuse me?”

“It’s late.”

“So?”

“So he’s in the hospital.”

“I know how hospitals work.”

“Then you know you’re not just walking into his room.”

“I’m not asking to break into intensive care.”

Prime’s jaw tightened slightly.

My stomach dropped again. “Is he still in intensive care?”