She pulled her gaze past the IV drip to Sam and lightly shook her head in a futile effort to clear her befuddled mind. “You wouldn’t believe the treatment I got,” she said, trying to disregard the strange effect of the medication.

“You met Cal Johnson?”

She nodded. He wasn’t another Sam Bretton, but he would do, especially if Sam felt he was the right man for the job.

“So they put you through the mill?”

His smile dazzled Marjorie, and she reminded herself anew that at the moment her senses couldn’t be trusted. “Your call must have done the trick, because there was a whole crew just waiting to get their hands on me the minute I walked in the door.”

“You can thank Cal for that.”

“Oh sure! If you think I believe that, then there’s some swampland in Nevada that might interest me, right?”

“Are you saying you don’t trust me?” Sam’s eyes widened with feigned outrage. He liked Marjorie. Even now, when she was dopey from the effects of medication, he found her sense of humor stimulating. Her ready smile had wrapped itself around him the moment he’d walked into the room. She was fresh and alive; her mind was active, her wit lively, and her courage in difficult circumstances was admirable.

“I’ll have you know that in the last hour I’ve been poked, pinched, prodded, and a bunch of other disgusting things I don’t even want to discuss.”

His lips trembled with suppressed mirth, and he squeezed her fingers reassuringly. “Is there anything I can get you?”

Marjorie tried to smile, but her mouth refused to cooperate. “That sounds suspiciously like a last request.”

The dark eyes that studied her crinkled at the corners as he revealed his amusement. “It wasn’t.”

“You mean I don’t need to ask for a priest?”

“Not this time around. Anything else?”

The inside of her mouth felt thick and dry. “Something to drink. Please.”

He reached behind him and took a chip of ice from a water jug. Again, the urge to reassure her, to stay with her, was strong. Her hair spilled out across the pillow, and the red highlights suggested that her temper would be as quick as her smile. “This will have to do for now. Suck on it and make it last.”

Obediently, she opened her mouth, and he slipped the ice chip inside, then paused to wipe a drop of moisture from her chin. It wasn’t until then that Marjorie noticed he was dressed entirely in green. A cap covered his head, and a surgical mask hung free around his neck.