"Ma'am, you need to come with me," a nurse said, trying to lead her away.
"No, I need to?—"
"He's going to surgery," the nurse said gently but firmly. "You can't help him right now. But we need to fix your hand."
Sarah watched them wheel Griff through double doors marked "Authorized Personnel Only." He looked so still. Too still.
"Come on," the nurse said. "The sooner we treat you, the sooner you can see him."
Sarah let herself be led away, but she kept looking back at those doors.
Please,she prayed silently.We've come too far to lose him now.
Tank's mission was complete.
But Sarah's wasn't. Not until Griff woke up.
Not until she could tell him what she should have said in that bunker, in Charleston, in a dozen moments when she'd been too scared.
The intensity and fear and violence of these past days had shaken something loose inside of her. And Griff and his team had shown her a different way to life. Not the safe, boringpath she’d chosen. She might not know what lay ahead, but she knew she didn’t want to go back.
The only thing she knew for certain was she wanted Griff in her life, no matter what.
Too intense,David had called her.
Maybe. But Griff had never minded.
Now she just needed him to wake up so she could tell him that.
40
The antiseptic smell hit first,then the dull throb in his head—manageable now, not the splitting agony from before.
Progress.
Griff cracked his eyes open. Afternoon light streamed through hospital windows, and a muted television showed Senator Buckley in orange, stumbling through a perp walk. The headline scrolled: SENATOR AND TOP AIDE CHARGED WITH TREASON, 47 COUNTS CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT MURDER.
A weight on his hand drew his attention. Sarah slept in the chair beside him, her good hand covering his, her face pillowed on her other arm. Even exhausted, bruised from their ordeal, she was beautiful. Her other hand peeked from a black cast—the thumb she'd dislocated to save them all.
The door burst open. Ronan entered first, followed by Maya and Deke, all attempting stealth.
“Hey, kids.” Axel tore in at full speed. His shoulder caught the IV stand, sending it careening into the wall. Sarahjolted awake, immediately checking his monitors, her hand tightening on his.
"Smooth," Deke muttered.
"How's the head?" Ronan asked, ignoring Axel's stammering.
"Better before Axel tried to finish Buckley's job."
"I brought flowers!" Axel protested, holding up something that might have been a bouquet before it met his truck's floorboard.
"Those are dead," Maya observed.
"They're... vintage."
Sarah's laugh was soft but real. Her thumb traced circles on his hand—definitely on purpose.
More team members poured in. Izzy with Finn and Zara. Someone cranked up the TV volume as Buckley's perp walk played again. The senator who'd nearly killed them looked smaller now, dignity stripped away.
