He grunted and got numbly to his feet. Sunlight poured in through the curtains. He reeled to the door and opened it. His eyes wouldn’t track and his teeth felt like a row of cigar butts.
‘Oh, Hip!’
Over her shoulder he saw the other door and he remembered. He drew her inside and shut his door. ‘Listen, I’m awful sorry about what happened. I feel like a damn fool.’
‘Hip—don’t,’ she said softly.’ It doesn’t matter, you know that. Are you all right?’
‘A little churned up,’ he admitted and was annoyed by the reappearance of his embarrassed laugh. ‘Wait till I put some cold water on my face and wake up some.’ From the bathroom he called, ‘Where you been?’
‘Walking. I had to think. Then… I waited outside. I was afraid you might—you know. I wanted to follow you, be with you. I thought I might help… You really are all right?
‘Oh sure. And I’m not going anywhere without talking to you first. But about the other thing—I hope she ’ s all right.’
‘What?’
‘I guess she got a worse shock than I did. I wish you’d told me you had somebody in there with you. I wouldn’t’ve barged—‘
‘Hip, what are you talking about? What happened?’