"I'm going to call an ambulance and get you to the hospital," Honey said.

The gun dropped, and he slipped to the floor. Honey rushed to him. Blood was pouring out from what looked like a gunshot wound.

He lay there, too weak to move.

He grabbed her arm. "No! No hospitals. No police." His voice was getting weaker. "Where's Kat?"

"Yeah."

She poured peroxide into the wound and pressed the towel against his side. He bit down on his hand to keep from screaming.

"I… I'm sorry," Honey said. She was trembling. "Wh… what do you want?"

"I don't know," Honey said helplessly. She knew Kat was out somewhere with Mallory, but she had no idea where. "Let me call a friend of mine."

"Lie still," Honey said. She hurried into the bathroom and gathered up some peroxide and a large bath towel. She returned to Mike. "This is going to hurt," she warned.

"Oh, my God! You're Mike!"

Honey looked at him, puzzled. He was obviously insane. "Your sister?"

"Kat." His voice was becoming faint.

He was pressing his hand against his side, trying to stop the flow of blood. "I want my sister."

The black man with the gun pointed at Honey screamed, "I told you to shut up!"

"Kat's brother is here."

Smiling to herself at the thought of how they had outwitted the doctors at the last moment and won the bet, Kat opened the door to the apartment and stood there in shock. Paige and Honey were kneeling beside Mike. He was lying on the floor, a pillow under his head, a towel pressed against his side, his clothes soaked with blood.

Honey replaced the receiver and turned to Mike. "Paige is coming."

There was a pause. "I'll find someone to cover for me. I'll be there in half an hour."

"How bad is it?"

"He says no hospitals and no police. I don't know what to do."

"He's been shot!"

"Pretty bad."

"I'm on call, Honey. I'm in the middle of --"

"You'd better come home," Honey said.

"Oh, well, tell him --"

"He what?"

"Paige?" he asked.

Two hours later, on her way back to the apartment, Kat was filled with a glorious sense of well-being. She had been nervous about making love, afraid that she would hate it after the terrible experience she had had, but instead, Ken Mallory had turned it into something wonderful. He had unlocked emotions in her that she had never known existed.

It took the hospital ten minutes to reach Paige.

"I'll send the paramedics over and --"

Honey nodded. "Yes." So Kat told him about the two of us.

"He's been shot."

'You… can't… report… this… I don't want any police."

Mike held on to her arm. "Will you help me, sis?"

"He's still losing blood," Kat said. She cradled Mike's head in her arms. "Listen to me, Mike. If you don't get help, you're going to die."

Mike shook his head. "No," he whispered. "You're a doctor. Fix me up."

"I've stopped as much of the bleeding as I can, but the bullet is still inside him. We don't have the instruments here to --"

"Let's get him to the hospital," Kat said.

"He's been shot," Paige said. "He's hemorrhaging."

"Mike! My God!" She rushed over to Mike and knelt beside him. "What happened?"

Kat looked over at Paige.

"Hi, sis." His voice was barely a whisper.

"Nothing. I was in a… a business deal… and it went sour… and this guy got mad and shot me."

Kat asked quietly, "What are you involved in, Mike?"

Paige and Honey looked up as Kat entered.

It was the kind of story Kat had been listening to for years. Lies. All lies. She had known that then, and she knew it now, but she had tried to keep the truth from herself.

"He's lost a lot of blood," Paige said. She turned to the assisting surgeon. "Give him another unit."

At the hospital, Kat asked Paige to perform the operation to remove the bullet.

"Yes. I'm going to help you, Mike." Kat leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. Then she rose and went to the telephone. She picked up the receiver and dialed the emergency room at the hospital. "This is Dr. Hunter," she said in an unsteady voice. "I need an ambulance right away…"

It was dawn when the operation was finished. The surgery was successful.

"I'm so sorry. Is he going to be all right?"

Mallory was waiting for Kat outside the operating theater.

"Kat! I heard about your brother and…"

Kat nodded wearily.

"No," Kat said. Her voice was filled with pain. "I should have done this a long time ago. I want you to report it as a gunshot wound."

When it was over, Paige called Kat aside. "How do you want me to report this?" she asked. "I could list it as an accident, or…"

Kat looked at Mallory and said, "Yes. For the first time in his life, Mike is going to be all right."

Grundy said, "Hi, Kat. We need to have your word on something. Dr. Mallory claims that you and he spent the night together, and it was great."

In their dressing room, Kat said to Paige and Honey, "In all the excitement, I haven't had a chance to tell you the news."

"It was better than great," Kat said. "It was fantastic!" She kissed Mallory on the cheek. "I'll see you later, lover."

"You're joking!" Paige said.

"Ken asked me to marry him."

There were looks of disbelief on their faces.

"No. He proposed to me last night. I accepted."

Mallory squeezed Kat's hand. "I just want you to know how wonderful last night was. You were a miracle. Oh. That reminds me. The doctors I bet with are in the lounge waiting, but I suppose with all that has happened, you wouldn't want to go in and…"

"What news?" Paige asked.

"Why not?"

"But you can't marry him!" Honey exclaimed. "You know what he's like. I mean, he tried to get you to go to bed on a bet!"

She took his arm and the two of them walked into the lounge. The doctors watched them as they approached.

The men sat there, gaping, as Kat walked away.

Kat said, "We were wrong about him. Completely wrong. Ken told me about that bet himself. All this time, it's been bothering his conscience. Don't you see what happened? I went out with him to punish him, and he went out with me to win some money, and we ended up falling in love with each other. Oh, I can't tell you how happy I am!"

"He succeeded." Kat grinned.

Paige looked at her. "I'm confused."

"We haven't discussed it yet, but I'm sure it will be soon. I want you two to be my bridesmaids."

"I'll stay here with Mike," Kat said. "When he wakes up, the police want to talk to him." She took their hands in hers. "Thank you for being such good friends."

"You can count on it," Paige said. "We'll be there." But there was a nagging doubt in the back of her mind. She yawned. "It's been a long night. I'm going home and get some sleep."

On the way home, Paige thought about what had happened that night. She knew how much Kat loved her brother. It had taken a lot of courage to turn him over to the police. I should have done this a long time ago.

Honey and Paige looked at each other. "When are you getting married?" Honey asked.

She took a deep breath. "Jason…" The doorbell rang. "Hold it a minute, will you, Jason?"

"Good. Are you free for dinner tonight?"

It was Jason. "Hi! I just called to tell you how much I miss you. What's going on in your life?"

The telephone was ringing as Paige walked into the apartment. She hurried to pick it up.

Paige was tempted to tell him, to share it with somebody, but it was too personal. It belonged to Kat.

"Nothing," Paige said. "Everything is fine."

Paige was aware that it was more than an invitation to dinner. If I see him any more, I'm going to get involved, Paige thought. She knew that it was one of the most important decisions of her life.

Alfred Turner was standing there.

Paige put the telephone down and went to the door and opened it.