This was a blatant lie, seeing as Verne hadn't even regained consciousness by the time the show manager left the hospital to catch his plane, but it had the desired psychological effect on the young wife. Her large amber eyes flooded with tears of gratitude, and a tremulous smile hovered on her child-like face.

"Th-thank you, Larry," she murmured. She'd never before seen her husband's partner acting so gentle, and decided that she'd been unjust in her estimation of him as an insensitive wheeler-dealer. Until now, she'd half-suspected him of exploiting and manipulating Verne, but certainly his reaction to this tragedy proved how deeply he cared about his friend.

"I… I just wish I could be there with him, or do something to help him," Sandi sighed. "It's so awful to think of him lying all alone in some awful h-hos…"

"Now don't go on like that, honey," Larry interrupted as the blonde girl's voice began to grow unsteady. "And you can help – you can get a job so we can give him the very best care there is. You won't mind doing that for awhile, will you?"

"Mind? Of course not, Larry. I want to help. Anyway, it'll be better to be doing something than sitting around here worrying."

"That's a good girl," the conniving manager murmured, moving his hands an imperceptible inch closer to the full-swelling mounds of her almost naked breasts. "Here, have some more of this," he pushed the refilled whiskey glass toward her, and was pleased to see her gulp it down obediently. "You're still shaking like a leaf."

And no wonder! he thought to himself, considering that she's running around virtually naked on a cold night like this! But he restrained himself from speaking, for the last thing he wanted was for Sandi to notice that she'd neglected to cover up her resplendent body.

Yes, she was trembling, Sandi realized belatedly. Glancing down at her bare thigh as she sipped the burning alcohol, she saw that her ivory-white flesh was puckered up into goosebumps. For a long moment she continued to stare at herself, feeling sure that something was not as it should be, but not quite being able to grasp just what the matter was.