She stepped back, and he came in and sat in the chair across from the small table where she had been reading, a book face-down with the spine bent slightly in a way that said she had not been reading it very attentively. She sat opposite him and folded her hands in her lap and waited.
"How long have you been up?" he said.
"Since Gerald came in," she said. "He went to the back room..."
"He didn't say anything, and I already know that's its own kind of information."
"He's not hurt," Mike said.
"I could see that," she said. "That's not what I was waiting for."
He told her what she needed to know. He did not provide all the information, as some details were not necessary for her, and it was important for Gerald to be the one to share the remaining information.
