Upon a Midnight Clear (Legend, Colorado 2)

"And what happened recently?" Kim teased as she leaned back on the couch.

His eyes locked with hers as he slowly began to unbutton her blouse. He whispered, "I met you."

* * *

Chapter Six

Harold Risson sat up in bed and impatiently hit the buzzer for the nurse. He had always been self-sufficient, and he found himself resenting the fact that he was dependent upon others for so many things. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he grabbed his robe and wrapped it around his slender frame. Cautiously he stood up and made his way to the door, slightly embarrassed that his staff would see him walking around clad only in a bathrobe and slippers.

The whole experience of being a patient in the same unit that he presided over had been a humbling one. But still, he did not feel sorry for himself. Instead, he felt gratified that his illness had allowed him to be with his daughter once more. Her being there had helped heal his heart more than any of the many medications he was forced to take each day.

Harold shuffled awkwardly into the hall and looked both ways for a nurse. The hall was practically empty. He made his way toward the pantry, determined to get his own water.

Outside the doorway he stopped. There were people inside the pantry. People saying his name.

"… Risson. Imagine my surprise. Who would've even thought he had a heart!" There was the sound of a woman's laughter.

"Well, you've heard the news, I'm sure," a man's voice piped in. "Guess who Hoffman's latest conquest is? Kim Risson."

"Noway!"

"I saw her riding on his motorcycle the other day. And this morning I drove by Risson's house on my way to work… Hoffman's car was parked outside."

Harold stood still for a moment, not quite believing what he had heard. Surely they were mistaken.,

"Can you imagine? Risson would have another heart attack if he found out his daughter was dating the same guy he'd been trying to fire."

"What does Risson call him again?"

"An immature kid masquerading as a doctor."

There was laughter, then a man's voice again. "I wish they'd just fire Risson. I'd rather work for Hoffman any day."

"Hoffman?" the woman asked. "You think he'll succeed Risson?"

"I think he wants to." The man laughed. "Whether he will or not is another story."

Harold Risson turned away from the pantry and slowly made his way back to his room. Kim and Tony? He refused to believe it. Surely his daughter had more common sense than to be taken in by a man like Tony Hoffman.

He had made it back to the doorway to his room when he heard the woman from the pantry call his name.

Harold stopped, his hand on the doorknob.

"Dr. Risson?" the woman repeated as she ran up to him. She was a pretty nurse in her fifties. Harold had seen her many times before. Never would he have imagined himself as the object of her gossip. "What are you doing?" she asked. "You shouldn't be up walking around."

He touched his throat. "I need a glass of water. Please."

Kim drove the Cadillac into the parking lot, pulling in in front of a large, unruly-looking snowbank. She jumped out of the car and smiled. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and two large fresh green wreaths had been placed outside the hospital doors in honor of the approaching holiday.

Kim had to admit she was enjoying this Christmas season. She was with her family—her dad. And of course, there was Tony.

When she had opened her eyes and seen Tony lying there beside her, his arms still wrapped around her, she had been filled with a warm, calm sense of intimacy. She didn't want the morning to end.

In fact, when Tony left, she had found herself unable to think of anything else. So she had done the only thing she could think of. She had started work on his Christmas present. She had had little trouble deciding what to give him. She would paint him a picture.

Kim stepped inside the hospital, glancing around for Tony, even though she knew that he was in surgery. She took the elevator to her father's floor, clutching the fresh-baked bagels she had brought for him. She knocked on his door and stepped inside. Her father was sitting straight up in bed. When she entered the room, he raised an accusatory eyebrow.

"Hi, Dad," she said, giving him a kiss on the forehead. "How are you feeling this morning?"