Kyle swallowed, wishing he had a couple more ice chips to suck on, but did as the doctor ordered. Closing his eyes, he tried to remember what he’d been doing, but his mind was a haze of nothing until a fractured memory filtered through.
“I made Jamie coffee before we left for the base,” he said slowly. “We had an early debrief about where the attack might happen.”
It took him too long to remember why him being with Jamie that early in the day wasn’t information he was supposed to talk about on base. Kyle opened his eyes, trying to fight back the panic, but the biobed was a traitor and sensed his heart rate rising.
“Calm down, it’s okay,” Gracie soothed.
She patted his hand in a gentle manner, but all her efforts did was make Kyle aware of the engagement ring he wasn’t supposed to wear outside his and Jamie’s home. He froze, heart beating faster, feeling like it was getting hard to breathe.
“Kyle, look at me.”
The whip-crack firmness of Gracie’s voice had all the power of a commanding officer behind it and Kyle instinctively obeyed. His eyes snapped open and he stared up at her, feeling warm fingers on his face. The tightness in his chest abruptly eased beneath Gracie’s power, but she couldn’t stop his fear.
“I want you to listen to me, Kyle,” she said in a quiet, firm voice, her eyes never looking away from his. “I will tell you what happened to you when I know your body can handle it. Right now, you need to rest.”
“Why can’t I remember?” Kyle demanded shakily. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“I have never lied to you and I’m not going to start now. But you needrest, Kyle.”
“Feels like I’ve been sleeping for weeks.”
Gracie smiled tiredly down at him. “I know. Just sleep a little more.”
Whether it was her power or one of her sneaky nurses, Kyle felt his eyes flutter shut, awareness slipping away from him. It felt like a betrayal even though it wasn’t, and whatever rest she was hoping he’d get, it wasn’t easy.
When he woke again the lights were brighter, until he realized it was due to the sunlight streaming through the window. Gracie wasn’t in the room with him this time and neither were any of her hawk-eyed nurses. Kyle couldn’t tell if he felt better through the exhaustion weighing him down. Healing took a lot out of a person; Kyle knew that better than most.
What he didn’t know was what the fuck had happened and where the hell his team was.
Kyle pressed his hand to the side of his biobed, feeling for the patient control panel there. He raised the top half of the biobed to a sitting position, plucking at the hospital gown he wore. The electrodes were still adhered to his chest and the tug of an IV on the back of his hand drew his attention. He thought about removing it, but didn’t want to face Gracie’s wrath.
While nothing really hurt, he wasexhausted, and the blankness in his mind, along with the ring on his finger, told Kylesomethinghad happened. Something he probably wasn’t going to like.
Kyle was poking at the biobed’s controls, trying to find the command that would populate his scans again, when the door to his medical room slid open and someone stepped inside. Kyle raised his head, feeling his entire body lurch as he took in the sight of Jamie standing there in full Marine dress uniform, his face as white as the cotton gloves he wore.
“Who died?” Kyle asked, feeling like his heart might crawl out of his chest, thinking it was someone on the team.
He wasn’t prepared for the way Jamie justbrokeat his words.
Jamie’s expression twisted, the sudden tears in his eyes magnifying their blue coloring. The rib-breaking sob that exploded out of Jamie had Kyle blindly smacking his hand against the biobed controls to lower the siding so he could get to Jamie.
“Jamie?” he said urgently. “Fuck, whathappened?”
He was kicking the sheets off to free his legs, ready to run to Jamie’s side despite how shaky he felt, when strong arms wrapped around him, holding him so tight he almost couldn’t breathe. Kyle grabbed hold of Jamie as best he could, pressing his face against that broad chest, mindful of his ribbons and medals, listening to Jamie cry.
“What happened?” he asked again, fingers curled into the heavy fabric of Jamie’s Marine Corps dress coat, mindful of the IV in the back of his hand.
In all the time he’d known Jamie, never had he seen his lover look so wrecked. As much as Kyle wanted answers, being there for Jamie came first. The biobed creaked a little beneath both their weights, but Kyle didn’t care. All he could do was let Jamie cling to him and cry until there weren’t any tears left.
He didn’t know how long they clung to each other, but no one came and interrupted them. Eventually, Jamie pulled away just enough to wipe at his blotchy face.
“There’s probably tissue in the bathroom,” Kyle said quietly.
“I’m not letting you go,” Jamie told him in a ragged voice, his grip tightening on Kyle’s body.
Kyle tilted his head back, staring up at Jamie. “I’m not going anywhere.”
It was enough to bring tears back to Jamie’s eyes, though he managed to stave off a second crying jag. Kyle lifted a hand, using his thumb to wipe away some of the tears. Jamie grabbed his hand, squeezing it gently. The glint of the diamond on his engagement ring dragged Kyle’s tired thoughts back to something no one had explained to him yet.
