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Gus forced himself to snap to attention. “If I—ah, if I could get him out to a patient room, I couldprobably find out. But right now, as far as I can tell, his vitals are steady—for the moment.”
“We cleared the place,” she said. “Before we came back here. The remaining two soldiers, we took care of them. So we can go out there again.”
As she focused on Daniel and started to murmur to her man, Gus looked up at Phalen. “Hi,” he said stupidly.
“Hi.”
She pushed at her hair. The stuff had been burned off in places, and he worried about a raw patch on her cheek. It was at least a second degree, maybe a third degree’er.
“You know something…” she murmured, “I’ve had a helluva day at the office.”
He started to smile. “That’s what they make Coke for, honey, why do you think I drink it all the time?”
When he reached up for her, she kneeled by him and rested against his chest like they had been together for years.
Then again, they had been partners for three years, two months, eleven days…
Gus checked his watch and said against her mouth, “And seventeen minutes.”
He knew this because he had been counting on her.
All along.
FORTY-THREE
YOU’RE AWAKE AGAIN.”
As the condition report was presented to him, Daniel wasn’t so sure about that. But he knew who was talking to him. Then again, he could probably be dead and still recognize his Lydia’s voice.
Opening his lids, he had a thought that he was tired of playing patient—but then all he saw was her smile. She was so blindingly beautiful, in a way that had nothing to do with how she looked. She was glowing from the inside—and by some miracle, he was still alive to be warmed by her.
“You are”—he cleared his throat with a little cough—“a sight for sore eyes.”
She started blinking away tears as she kissed him. Then she eased back, and he was able to orientate himself. He was in a hospital bed—but not in any of the ones he was familiar with down in the underground lab.
“Where… are we?”
“Cathy’s bedroom.”
He rolled his eyes. “She’s changed her name again.”
“This time it’s sticking—”
“IsGusokay?” he asked in a rush.
“Yes.” She stroked his face. “And Blade made it through as well. Gus had to operate on him in the middle of a battlefield in the foyer. But he’s doing well, and so is Xhex. She’s with him now. She hasn’t left his side, actually. She showed up at just the right time with just the right kind of friends.”
Daniel frowned, and tried to piece things together properly. When that effort didn’t go far, it dawned on him that—
“You’ve told me all this before, haven’t you.” As she nodded patiently, he remembered other things… explosions, escapes… “My memory’s sketchy.”
“It’s okay. Gus says everything will come back, we just have to give it time.”
Daniel took a deep breath. And then another. And braced himself for a coughing jag. When it didn’t come, he frowned.
“What time is it?” he asked.
“Eight o’clock-ish.”
