Page 115 of Forever Dead

Selena studied the board again.

“What am I missing?”

“Maybe nothing yet,” Connor said.

She shifted her weight and turned toward him. The rubber tip of her cane caught against the leg of the chair behind her.

Her right knee twisted as she tried to recover.

Pain shot through the joint, and she lost her balance.

Connor reached for her, but Selena was already falling. She released the cane and threw out her right hand. Her hip struck the floor, hard enough to knock the breath from her.

“Jesus, Selena.”

Connor crouched beside her.

“Don't move yet.”

She drew a breath through her teeth.

“My knee.”

“Can you straighten it?”

Selena tested the leg carefully. The movement hurt, but she managed it.

“Yeah.”

“Can you put weight on it?”

“I think so.”

“Take your time.”

Connor helped her sit upright first. When she was ready, he offered his arm and waited while she got her feet beneath her.

Selena tried putting weight through the injured leg. The knee trembled, but it held.

She leaned against Connor as he helped her into the chair.

For once, she was grateful that he didn't say anything.

“That hurt,” she admitted.

“I gathered.”

Selena rested her head against the back of the chair.

The photographs remained pinned to the board. Nothing had changed because she'd insisted on standing in front of them.

Connor retrieved her cane.

“I'll drive you back.”

She started to object, then stopped.

“All right. My car's still at the Tully place, anyway.”