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shouldn’t give you any trouble. A little eccentric, especially that grandfather. Oh, he’s a pill, by the way. But like I said, they’re all nice folk.”
    Now, she was doubly worried. She not only had to deal with David, but his eccentric family? Talk about a trial by fire. “They must be very close.”
    Nurse Goodwich nodded. “And very protective.”
    “Does anyone have any idea who struck him?”
    “Not to my knowledge, no. Despite several witnesses to the event, I’m afraid they don’t have any idea who was behind the wheel. It all happened so fast.”

    Nine Inches of Snow and the Ebony Princess
    37
    That was putting it mildly. One minute, he was kissing Aziza in the hospital kitchen, and no more than a half an hour later, he was mowed down crossing the street outside.
    “The family is already offering a substantial reward though for any information, so I’m certain that should bring some helpful and knowledgeable bystander forward.”
    “I’m sure it will.”
    Nurse Goodwich finished briefing Aziza, and with a wink and a twinkling smile, finally left Aziza to her own devices. Aziza reviewed the patient assessment notes, cringing at the laundry list of injuries David sustained at the mercy of that mysterious car.
    Recently, this sort of occurrence had been all too
    commonplace. Aziza had treated three victims at the hospital last month alone who had been mowed down on the aptly nick-named
    ‘Boulevard of Death.’
    She headed towards David’s room, suitably fortified and wondering at the type of man, or woman, who had been behind the wheel. What sort of human being could leave another to suffer like that? Had they been callous, or just drunk? To Aziza’s mind, that was just as bad.
    She took a deep breath now before pushing open the door, came up short on the threshold when she saw an old man sitting at David’s bedside.
    “It’s about time. We’ve been waiting for you, missy.” He stood, had to be at least six-five and imposing in his robustness.
    He smiled, as if he realized how intimidating he was and wanted to soften his look.
    Aziza instantly noticed his resemblance to David. Especially the deep dimples, bushy white eyebrows and hair notwithstanding.
    He crossed the room and offered his hand.
    Aziza experienced an instance of being surrounded and swallowed by his spirit when she put her hand in his, and he firmly shook it. “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

    38
    Gracie C. McKeever
    “You know my grandboy, and he knows you, and that’s
    enough for me.”
    Evidently, since he hadn’t blinked at her appearance or ethnicity.
    He closed his eyes now and nodded before releasing her hand.
    “Yep. You’re the one.”
    “The one?”
    He smiled and opened his eyes to stare at her. “You’re much prettier than I expected. My grandboy’s memories didn’t do you justice.”
    David’s memories? Was he saying what Aziza thought he was saying? “You never clarified what you meant by me being the one.”
    “Why, the one who’s going to bring my grandboy out of his coma.”
    “Mr. Healey, I—”
    “No need for formalities here. Call me Grandpa. Or Gramps works, too. That’s what my grandboys call me. You’re practically part of the family, a part we’re sorely missing. Don’t have any females in the clan, except for the boys’ mother. She’s a great asset and all, but we need new blood. And none of my other grandboys seem to want to cooperate, at least not until now. All of ‘em want to be the alpha, but none of them want to mate and settle down.”
    Nurse Goodwich had understated! The man talked a mile a minute, and Aziza was finding him difficult to follow.
    “You don’t have to worry about following me, missy. You just concentrate on leading our David out of the darkness. We’ll work on getting the son-of-a-bitch who did this to him.”
    “I’m not sure I can guaran—” Aziza cut herself off when she realized what he said.
    Was he reading her mind like the wolf last night? But