“Do you have to stay overnight?” Maddie asked.

“No. I’ve been waiting for the doctor to come in and discharge me. As soon as he does, I’m out of here. Aren’t you supposed to be on patrol in Hollywood?”

“The captain let me go when we heard what happened. I’m so glad you’re all right.”

“Thanks, Mads. Tell you what, though, my car is still out there at the scene, and I don’t think I’ll be getting it back for a while. If I can get out of here, you think you can give me a lift home?”

“Of course, but Renée is in the waiting room, and she said she was going to need to talk to you after me. Case stuff, she said.”

“Okay, then I’ll get her to drive me and we can talk in the car.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, no worries. And if you have to get back, we can talk later.”

“I’ll check in on you.”

“I didn’t even know you work Sundays.”

“Yeah, I work Thursday to Sunday now.”

“Cool. Maybe we can have lunch tomorrow or Tuesday. I have a feeling my knee will be too sore for me to want to go sit at a desk.”

“Uh, yeah.”

She seemed hesitant to commit.

“I just haven’t seen you very much lately,” Bosch said.

“I know,” she said. “And it’s my fault. I get so busy. But, yeah, let’s do it. I’ll check on you in the morning, and if you’re too sore, we’ll go for Tuesday.”

“I’d like that, Maddie.”

“Bye, Dad. I love you. So glad you’re okay.”

She hugged him again.

“Love you, too,” Bosch said.

“I’ll find Renée and tell her you’re clear,” she said.

And then she was gone.

Bosch now waited for both the doctor and Ballard. He tentatively reached a finger to his ear to see if it could bend without sending sparks of pain shooting through his brain.

“Don’t touch that.”

Bosch turned to see that the ER doc had entered. He went to a sink and washed his hands and then came over to Bosch. He looked at the sutures in Bosch’s ear.

“This is going to look pretty nasty for a while, but something tells me you won’t care,” he said.

“The only thing I care about right now is getting out of here,” Bosch replied.

“Well, you’re free to go. I have a prescription waiting for you at the hospital pharmacy. Take it only to manage pain. If there is no pain, don’t take it. Stay sharp.”

“Got it. And thanks, Doc. I appreciate it.”

“Doin’ my job, just like you were doin’ yours. But you should come back in a couple days and let me look at that, make sure there’s no infection.”

“I will. Thank you. What about the stitches?”