“No sweat,” Ranger said. “I'll get her cleaned up before I get her stitched up.”
Ranger loaded me into his truck and drove me to Morelli's house. He opened the front door, switched a light on, and Bob came running. Bob stopped when he saw Ranger and eyed him suspiciously.
“I can see this dog's a killer,” Ranger said.
“Ferocious,” I told him.
“I'm assuming you have clothes here,” Ranger said. “Do you need any help?”
“I can manage.”
His eyes darkened. “I'm good in the shower.”
My temperature went up a couple notches. “I know. If I need help, I'll yell for you.” Our eyes held. We both knew I'd jump out the bathroom window if I heard Ranger on the stairs.
I took a boiling hot shower, scrubbing away the dirt and blood and horror, being careful not to soak my slashed arm any more than was necessary. I toweled off and gasped when I looked in the mirror and saw my hair. A huge chunk of hair was missing. The left side was four inches shorter than the right side! How the hell did that happen? It had to have been Fisher Cat. Okay, that does it. I was glad I broke his nose. To tell you the truth, I wasn't sorry he was dead, either.
I got dressed in clean jeans, T-?shirt, and sneakers. I tucked my wet hair behind my ears, covered it with a ball cap I found in Morelli's closet, and went downstairs.
Ranger was slouched on the couch, watching a ball game. Bob was beside him, his big shaggy orange Bob head resting on Ranger's leg.
“Looks like male bonding going on here,” I said.
Ranger stood and clicked the television off. “Dogs love me.” He slid an arm around my shoulders and herded me to the front door. “I called the hospital. Valerie had a baby girl. They're both doing great.”
Happiness and relief rushed from the center of my chest clear to my fingertips, and there was a terrifying moment when I was afraid I was going to cry in front of Ranger. I ordered myself to get a grip and I steadied my voice. “What about Cal and Tank?” I asked.
“They've both been discharged. Tank's got his leg in a cast. Cal has a concussion. Not serious enough to keep him in the hospital.”
Ranger drove me to the hospital and walked me into the emergency room. He waited while my arm was cleaned and stitched. Then he called Morelli.
“She's done,” Ranger said. “Do you want to take over?”
Morelli arrived a couple minutes later and Ranger disappeared into the night. Some day when I had more time and emotional energy I was going to have to think about the odd dynamic that existed between Morelli and Ranger and me. Morelli and Ranger were able to work as a team when necessary, all hostility seemingly put aside. And at the same time, in an entirely different area of the brain, rivalry existed.
Morelli and I found our way to maternity and located Valerie. My parents were gone, but Kloughn was still there, sitting on the edge of a chair at bedside.
“Sorry I missed the big event,” I said to Valerie. “I had a mishap with my arm here.”
“She was great,” Kloughn said. “She was amazing. I don't know how she did it. I've never seen anything like it. I don't know how she got that baby out of there. It was magic.” Kloughn's face was still flushed and his surgical gown was sweat stained. He looked dazed and a little disbelieving. “I'm a father,” he said. “I'm a father.” His eyes filled and his smile wobbled. He swiped at his eyes and his nose. “I think I'm still flub-?a-?dubbed,” he said.
Valerie smiled at Kloughn. “My hero,” she said.
“I was good, wasn't I? I helped you, right?”
“You were very good,” Valerie told him.
The baby was in the room with Valerie. She was wrapped in a blanket and she had a little knit cap on her head. She seemed impossibly small and at the same time too large to have exited through a vagina. When I was in school I'd taken all the usual courses in human reproduction and I knew the process . . . the uterine dilation, the flexibility of the pelvic bones, the muscle contractions. So I knew some of the biology, but it still looked to me like this was a case of threading a walrus through the eye of a needle. There were days when I wasn't sure how Morelli fit. I didn't want to contemplate trying to pass a baby.
“We've named her Lisa,” Valerie said.
“Was it hard to pick out a name?” I asked.
“No,” Valerie said. “We both agreed on Lisa. It's the family name that's giving us problems.”
Valerie looked tired, so I gave her a hug and a kiss. And then I gave Kloughn a hug and a kiss. And then we left. I'm not a huggy-?kissy person, but this was a huggy-?kissy occasion.
Morelli and I left the hospital and went straight to Pino's. We ordered takeout and ten minutes later we walked into Morelli's house carrying a six-?pack of Corona and a bag full of meatball subs. Bob was real happy to see us. Bob can smell a sub a quarter mile away.