Larger somehow and smaller at the same time. Larger because he was clearly a physically substantial man, even diminished. Smaller because the machines and the gown and the overhead lights stripped away whatever it was that had made him in the dark of the gas station lot feel like something you needed to approach carefully. His gray hair was loose now and his beard was the same neat trim she'd registered in the dark. His arms on top of the blanket were heavily tattooed from wrist to shoulder and the tattoos were detailed enough that she caught herself looking at them before she remembered it was rude to stare.
He was watching her when she looked up. "You're smaller than I thought. " He said. His voice was ragged still, but it had weight in it that the ground version hadn't. "You were mostly unconscious. " Sienna said. "Your perception was off. " Something moved in his face that might have been a smile.
"Sit down. " He said. She sat in the chair by the bed. Cole stayed near the door giving them space without leaving, which she appreciated more than she expected to. "I've been trying to figure out how to say this since yesterday. " Hawk said. He looked at the ceiling for a moment, then back at her.
"I'm not good at it. Asking for help, saying thank you, any of it. I've been running my own life since I was 17 years old and somewhere in there I convinced myself that needing anything from anybody was a kind of weakness. " "That sounds exhausting. " as Sienna said. He looked at her with an expression that was sharp for a man who'd had a heart attack 2 days ago. "It even he said, you're very direct. " "I work doubles 6 days a week. " Sienna said.
"I don't have time to be indirect. " He was quiet for a moment. "Then thank you for not walking past. " "You don't need to. " "I know I don't need to, I want to. " His voice shifted not harder exactly, but more deliberate like he was picking up something he'd set down carefully. "I was on the ground for Cole, how long before she got there? " "We don't know exactly. " Cole said from the door. "The camera catches her going in at 11:41. " "Looks like you were down before that. " "So I was down at least 10-15 minutes before you got there. " Hawk said. "The other people in the lot didn't stop. " Sienna said.
It wasn't an accusation. It was just the fact. "No. " Hawk said. "They didn't. " He looked at his hands on the blanket. "I'm aware of what people see when they look at this vest.
I've been aware of it for 30 years. " "Sometimes it's useful. Sometimes he stopped. Sometimes you end up alone on a concrete lot at midnight wondering if the thing you built to protect yourself has also built a wall you can't get people to cross. Sienna said nothing, but she heard it really hurt it. The specific loneliness in it.
The kind that lives inside people who seem too large or too formidable or too other for ordinary compassion to find them. "You crossed it. " he said. "I saw a person. " Sienna said. "That's all. " He looked at her for a long moment. "Cole told me about the money. " "Cole told me a lot of things. " Sienna said and glanced at Cole who had the grace to look slightly abashed.
"Your last $8. " Hawk said. "It's fine. " "It's not fine. " "It's fine. " she said again firmly. "I made a choice with my money. That's my business. " "You have a daughter. " He said. She went very still.
The stillness that wasn't peace, but its opposite. The stillness of a woman who has learned to be very careful um when her daughter enters a conversation unexpectedly. "How do you know that? " She said. Cole Hawk said, "The camera across the street. " Cole said from the door. And he sounded like he knew this was the part he'd have to answer for.
"Your address came up in the building directory. Your name's on the lease. There are photos. " "Stop. " Sienna said. The word came out quiet and absolute. Not angry, not frightened, just finished.
"You looked up my address. " She said. "And "Yes. " Cole said. "You looked up my name. You looked at photos of me. Photos that included my daughter. " "Yes.
And then you texted my personal phone number telling me it wasn't a threat. " The room was very quiet. Cole had the decency to not try to defend it. Hawk had the decency to not look away from her face. "You're right to be angry. " Hawk said. "I'm not angry. " Sienna said.
"I'm deciding. " She looked at him. "I'm deciding whether to stand up and leave and consider this whole thing done. Because I helped you and I'm glad you're alive, but I am a single mother and I do not know you. And the fact that you can find my name and address and photographs of my child in the amount of time it took me to get from that gas station to my apartment is not information that makes me feel safe. " "No. " Hawk said. "It wouldn't. " "So tell me. " She said.