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The news was both good and terrible. Good in the sense that the team had finally gotten to this point, and terrible in the sense that somebody else within the investigative office had been involved. Yet Tesla could see why, from Janelle’s point of view, something was still very off here. And to think that whoever triggered Janelle was someone here on staff at the hospital—including nurses, doctors, or anyone on the premises—made Tesla even more suspicious.

She stepped outside, saw the guards, and quickly phoned Jasper. “Can you send me a photo of this Steve guy?”

“Okay.… What are you thinking?”

“I just want to see what he looks like. At least then, if I see a family resemblance, like Janelle did, I can be a little more discerning, when anybody comes in Mason’s room.”

“Will do,” Jasper noted. “Give me five.”

When she finally got the photo, she studied it for the longest time, but it meant nothing to her. The face didn’t mean anything—the features, nothing. She sat back and looked over at Mason, but he was sound asleep.

She wrapped her arms around her belly, so damn grateful that Mason was awake and talking, and this time he appeared lucid. To be fair, he had appeared lucid a couple times before, but, when he woke up again later, he seemed to have no memory of the earlier conversations.

The doctors told her that was normal and to just give his brain a chance to recuperate. She was prepared to give his brain all the time it needed. She just wanted to ensure he lived. She didn’t want to contemplate life without him. They had built something so special together, and she wanted to hold on with both hands. The thought of losing him was more than she could bear. She sat here, her arms wrapped around her belly, just rocking back and forth. He’d asked about the baby, but she doubted he had any idea of the due date for this one. She was still quite a few weeks away, but these weeks in the hospital had been a pretty stressful time, so no one should be at all surprised if the baby arrived early.

Since her firstborn, Sebastian, was a boy, she was kind of hoping for a little girl this time, but she would be totally happy to just have a healthy child. It didn’t matter, since healthy was what was important. As she stared at her husband, she relaxed a bit, seeing his slow and steady breathing. She smiled, tears in her eyes again, as she thought of how close she’d come to losing him.

Knowing that she had to keep her own stress level under control, she rose and went to the door and asked the guards if it was possible to get a cup of tea.

One of the men smiled at her. “I can go down to the cafeteria and get you something.”

She smiled and thanked him, and, as soon as he was gone, she looked over at the other guard. “Is everything okay?”

He nodded. “Everything is fine, but it’s best if you stay inside with Mason.”

She headed back inside and waited for the tea to arrive. It shouldn’t take very long, but, if the cafeteria was busy, it could easily be half an hour. Since she’d spent all this time waiting, what was a little bit more?

She curled up on her little cot, shifting to get more comfortable. When the door opened, and the guard appeared, she realized it was her tea. She sat up and thanked him profusely.

He smiled. “Don’t worry about it.” He looked over at the sleeping Mason and muttered, “Damn, it’s good to know he’s improving.”

“Isn’t it?” she agreed, with a smile. “He sounded pretty normal and lucid this time.”

“Good, though we had never thought anything else,” he said, chuckling. “He’s always been that way, hasn’t he?”

She nodded. “He has. He’s one of those guys who you just can’t keep down.”

“And that’s good because we need guys like Mason,” the guard noted. “We all need to know that guys like Mason are out there behind us, guys who can take the knocks and who keep coming back.”

“That’s him. Stubborn and so much more,” Tesla agreed.

“I know, for you, it’s got to be the hardest thing to deal with,” the guard shared, “but, considering how well he’s doing, you’ve got to be feeling better about things.”

She nodded. “Yes, it’s all pretty amazing.” He disappeared back outside the door, and she relaxed. Even though she knew all these men, knowing that some bad guy was still out there, after her and after Mason, well, that was just hard and would keep her on edge.

She trusted these men guarding her and Mason, but the knowledge that somebody still wanted to hurt them was too much to bear. She hoped that the team would quickly get to the bottom of whatever was going on.

It should be over by now. That was the thing that got her. It should be done. They finally got to what they thought was the bottom of it and ended up with so many assholes involved that it was mind-boggling. Yet they were dead or in custody. If Janelle hadn’t spoken up about a hospital staff member, Tesla would feel a lot better about things right now. Then again,… what if Janelle didn’t mention anything? They would have no idea they were still vulnerable, even in a hospital.

Yet hunches or feelings could be wrong. What if Tesla was upset all over again with no real need to?

Yet what if Janelle was right? That thought popped up in Tesla’s head, and she shuddered at the possibility. She sat here, sipping her tea. Then her fatigue washed over her. She sighed, put down her cup, curled up, pulled the blanket over her shoulders, and fell asleep.

*

Mason woke slowly and looked over to see his wife curled up on the small cot beside him. Just thinking of how hard and uncomfortable that cot must be in the very pregnant state she was in, he felt so bad, imagining what she’d been through and how exhausted she must be to even get any sleep on such a contraption. He shifted several more times, getting comfortable himself.

Up until now, every time he woke up, the pain had been located in his head. However, now he recognized the reality that all this time spent unconscious in a hospital bed was harming his body as well. He needed to get moving to the extent that he could. Still, he wouldn’t be at all unhappy to get out of here as soon as possible. Yet he also knew that nobody would let him do too much, too quickly. He had no doubts about that.

Everybody had their hospital rules, and understanding them was one thing, but agreeing to comply?… That was entirely different. He smiled as he heard Tesla’s gentle breathing beside him. She always had the cutest way of sleeping, curled up in a ball.

He used to spoon right around her and the two of them could sleep like that for hours. Based on what he had learned earlier, he’d slept for hours and hours these last few weeks, and even now the news they had shared with him was mind-boggling.

He couldn’t imagine how this had all come about or how anybody was left to come after him. It’s not that he would ever disregard Janelle’s thoughts—or anyone else’s for that matter. Yet he sure didn’t want to deal with any more people or their betrayals. That always seemed to be the worst thing in his world.

He heard voices out in the hallway, most likely his guards, the nurses, whoever. Hospitals seemed like a never-ending stream of people, poking and prodding, checking on this and that. He had memories, bits and pieces, of talking to various people over the last few days or maybe a week. Yet all those conversations were gone, and only pieces remained. He guessed that was why Tesla seemed to be so happy when he was talking.

He couldn’t imagine just how traumatic it had all been for her. When she had been hurt, he’d been out of his mind with worry, and he knew it wouldn’t be any less for her. He was so sorry she had to go through this. Yet he hadn’t had anything to do with it, but still, it pissed him off that somebody would do this to them, to her.

She was the sweetest, nicest woman he’d ever met in his life. The fact that he loved her to distraction just meant he wanted to protect her, but, while unconscious in this bed, that was the last thing he could do.

He opened his eyes again, staring around the room. He still couldn’t stay awake very long, and that was guaranteed to drive him nuts as he recuperated. The slowness of his body pulling back into alignment with what he wanted it to do might prove to be his greatest challenge going forward. What he wanted to do was get up and dance with his beautiful wife, but his mind and body weren’t yet working together. He smiled at that thought.

“I recognize that smile,” she shared. “What are you arguing about now?”

He chuckled. “Not arguing at all,” he claimed. “I was just telling my body that we won’t handle being in this position for very long, and it needed to heal a whole lot faster than it had so far.”

She smiled from her cot, as she looked over at him. “Now that sounds very much like my husband.” She beamed at him.

He nodded. “Yes, it is very much me,” he agreed. “I think the worst thing about being injured is the snail’s pace of healing. Just how long is something like this going to keep me in bed?”

“Not just in bed,” she clarified, “but you will be off work for a very long time.”

He studied her face for a moment and sighed. “Maybe that’s okay too.”

She gave him the gentlest of smiles. “It is okay. I would be totally happy to have you spend some time at home with me, Sebastian, and this little one,” she shared, her hand resting on her stomach.

Mason’s smile widened. “We were planning a long paternity leave anyway,” he pointed out.

“We were,” she stated, “and who knows? Maybe it will be even longer because of what happened to you.”

“It won’t be permanent,” he declared, staring at her in horror. “No way I could do that.”

“I didn’t say that. I’m not expecting you to quit your job or anything.”

“Good.” He closed his eyes, knowing that even the topic would be enough to send him off into a frenzy. “Did everything get shut down up north okay?”

“If you’re asking about Mountain, he contacted me just after you were shot to see if he could do anything. I think Jasper even called him in to help with the brass at some point in the midst of this mess.”

“Is Mountain doing okay?”

“Yes, he’s settling in with his new situation and his new partner, while still dealing with the fallout from that whole op up there.”

“Another nightmare,” Mason grumbled, with a deep breath, “a nightmare that should never have happened.”

“I know,” she whispered. “Of course Mountain’s brother, Teegan, has quite a bit of recovering to do too. It’s been a tough one for everybody.”

“Especially Teegan. Then I no sooner get home and boom . I’m down.” He shook his head. “Seems like we’ve had some pretty shitty months.”

“We have,” she agreed, “so we’re due for some good ones, and the fact that you are back here with me now?… I’ll take them.”

He chuckled. “I am a bit hungry,” he said, giving her a fading smile.

“Are you sure about that?” she asked intently. “Or is it just you telling your body to wake up and to get with the program because you have plans?”

He glared at her in mock anger. “Now would I do that?”

“Absolutely,” she declared in a dry tone. “No doubt about it. I believe you would do nearly anything you could think of to push yourself back into shape.” She spoke with a broad smile on her face.

He sagged back on the pillows. “It almost sounds like me.”

“Right? It’s almost as if I know you,” she teased, with a smile. “And it’s all good because you won’t be doing anything crazy right now because you can’t.”

“And you’re enjoying that just a little too much,” he quipped in a mocking tone.

“No, no,” she countered, “but what I am enjoying… is the fact that you’re awake, that you can talk, and that you have your brain cells truly functioning. For a while there, I wasn’t so sure.”

He sighed. “That is probably the scariest part of all this,” he noted. “When I think of what a brain injury can do to somebody, it freaks me out just a little.”

“Exactly, but, just because you’re doing better, we won’t get carried away,” she stated, “which is also why I want to ensure that you don’t try going anywhere, not even to the en-suite bathroom, not until they say you can.” He winced at that, but she shook her head. “No, sir, you’re not taking one step out of that bed until the doctor gives you the go-ahead.”

He glared at her. “I don’t do sickness well.”

“I do know that,” she replied, “and the doctors did say that it was a good sign that your body was healing as fast as it was, but they still want to see your brain healing as well.”

“Hey, I was just taking a time out,” he explained. “While I was doing that, my body and brain were healing. So, once I get back on my feet again,” he added coyly, “you can expect me to be completely back.”

She just stared at him, then slowly shook her head. “Nice try.”

He groaned but added, “You’ll see.”

“Yeah, I sure will,” she muttered under her breath, “but, for now, you can just stay put and take some time to adjust to being awake.”

He smiled at her. “I love you too.” Tears came to her eyes, and he whispered, “Damn, I’m so sorry about all this, honey.”

“I know,” she muttered, wiping back the tears. “It’s just not fair that this happened at all, but especially not when I’m pregnant. I’ve been an emotional wreck.”

“Emotional maybe, but still the most beautiful woman I know,” he replied.

She burst out laughing at that. “You’ve always been able to charm the socks off anyone,” she stated, with a smile. “I love you for saying that. However, the truth of the matter is, I’m very round and huge. I’m super stressed out and most definitely not at my best.”

“Are you kidding? You’re carrying my child, and you look absolutely beautiful to me.”

She got up, walked over, sat down on the bed beside him, and whispered, “Thank you.” Then she leaned over and kissed him.

He shifted to the side, moving carefully, so his head didn’t move too harshly, then tucked her up beside him on the bed.

She curled up with her arms across his chest, her head resting against his heart, and she whispered, “Seems like forever since I could do this.”

“I know,” he muttered, tugging her close, carefully trying not to move too quickly. “Feels like a long time since we were in a position to do this, but honestly my head is feeling pretty good. So I vote we do it some more.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” she said, with a smile, “but I’m still not letting you get up.”

He groaned. “You will keep me in bed the whole time, won’t you?”

“If we were at home, and I wasn’t eight months’ pregnant, I might agree to that”—she rolled her eyes—“but right about now, I just want to see you healthy.”

He cuddled her close and whispered, “Let’s go back to sleep, and that’s what I will do.”

“I would love to,” she shared, “but not like this. You won’t get any sleep this way.” She shifted upward slowly. “Now get some rest.”

“Will you tell me when they check in?”

“I will,” she agreed.

“It won’t take them very long to read through the employee roster, right?”

“It won’t take them long for that, but it will take a little bit of time for anything else,” she pointed out. “So don’t expect answers. I’ve been waiting for weeks to get this far, remember?” He winced at that. “Sometimes it just doesn’t happen that easily.”

“No, it’s not easy or fast, but still, we do the best we can.”

“Now you get some sleep.” Then she kissed him again and moved over to her cot.