"I think the police are in on whatever this is, or at least some of them. I don't know who I can trust. We can't tell them that Abe was attacked."
"We can tell them that Abe fell and hit his head," Kaito suggested. He shot a look at Hank. "Or he was injured on a mission or something. That would keep them from asking a lot of questions, wouldn't it?"
"It would," Hank admitted, "except we could get into a lot of trouble with the military if we lied and said he was on a mission. The police tend to check on that stuff."
"What if it was a secret mission?" Kaito asked.
Hank shook his head.
"A training exercise?"
Hank pointed a finger at Kaito. "That one might work. Since all of our unit is here, we can tell them that we were all out training, a non-sanctioned training session, and Abe got hurt. It would also explain why he didn't get to the hospital right away or why we didn't call an ambulance. We had to drive him there."
"Can I still go with him if you do that?" I didn't want to leave Abe's side.
Hank snorted. "Oh, you're not leaving my sight until you tell me exactly how he got injured and what the fuck is going on here."
I was good with that.
Chapter Nine
The waiting was the worst. We'd gotten Abe to the hospital, and they seem to buy our story of Abe being hurt during a non-sanctioned training session. Having Hank, Cooper, McDermott, and Judge there helped back that idea up.
I almost cried when they took Abe away to work on him. I knew it had to be done, but I felt disconnected from everything. My head was cloudy, and I found it hard to concentrate on anything except what was happening to Abe.
I watched the big double doors like a hawk, tensing every time they swung open then slumping when it wasn't Abe. I didn't really expect him to walk through the doors, but I could hope.
After what seemed like hours, the doors swung open and a man in a white coat came out. I could barely feign any interest at this point. I think everything was starting to catch up with me.
"Family of Corporal Abiola Sesay?"
I jumped to my feet the same time Hank did.
Hank held his hand out to the doctor. "I'm Lieutenant Hank Moore. I'm Abe's commanding officer."
He wasn't anymore. He'd retired. But that was the story we were going with.
"Is there a Danny Jenkins here?" the man asked as he glanced at the rest of us.
"Me," I said quickly, raising my hand. "That's me."
I was surprised when the doctor smiled at me.
"I'm Dr. Taylor. I've been treating the corporal."
"How is he?" I asked. "Has he woken up yet?"
"Corporal Sesay woke up briefly to tell me he wanted his partner, Danny, by his bedside. He also told me that you would be taking care of all decisions pertaining to his care."
Wow.
"Uh, yes." I didn't know what else to say, especially when everyone except the doctor were looking at me as if I'd grown another head.
"I don't know how far Corporal Sesay fell, but he did good job of messing up his head. He suffered a skull fracture along with a severe concussion. The laceration on his forehead also needed stitches. I wanted to sedate him, but with him suffering a concussion as well, I don't think it's a good idea.”
My breath caught as hope flooded me. "Is he awake then?"
"Not at the moment. There's no brain swelling, but I want to keep a close eye on him for the next twenty-four hours so I had him transferred to the ICU. I believe he will be able to be moved to a regular room once he wakes up and responds favorably."
