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“Sleep well,” Mason said, caressing his arm.
He was so close. Jack tried to reach for him, or at least he tried in his mind, but his arm was too heavy to lift.
“Stop fighting it,” Gray said.
Jack obeyed.
Voices woke him once again but not Gray’s and Mason’s this time. Lieutenant Marsh and Huck were there. Then Gray’s voice joined theirs. Jack fought exhaustion, pain, and the drugs they were giving him. He prayed he wouldn’t say something unforgivably crazy as he swam through fog and opened his eyes.
“Jack, good to see you awake,” Lieutenant Marsh said.
“Th—”
Mason handed him water like he had when Jack had been awakened earlier. Jack glanced at the window. It was dark now. It had been light before, but for all he knew several days had passed instead of an afternoon.
Mason took the cup from Jack when he was done. Marsh looked from Mason to Jack to Gray. “I knew about this already. I didn’t give a fuck then, and I still don’t.”
That answered the question about how obvious they’d been. He was almost afraid to look at Gray to see if he was okay with everyone finding out before they planned, but when he did, Gray was smiling. He looked much happier than he had earlier.
Jack simply nodded.
“I don’t care either,” Huck said. “I’m looking forward to learning more from you when you’re back at work.”
Jack nodded again, then he looked back at the Lieutenant. “Will I be back at work?”
The man blew out a long breath. “Probably. I’m going to bat for you, though I may be a fool to do it. You’re a good man and one of the best interrogators we’ve got. People trust you. That was a damn fool thing you did, and you’re lucky you didn’t get yourself and Gray killed.” The man looked at Huck. “Don’t learn too much from him, at least not until he remembers how to follow the rules.”
Jack wanted to say something to defend himself, but at least, in that, he knew better.
“Get some rest. I just wanted to see for myself that you were going to live.”
“Satisfied?’ Jack asked.
Marsh nodded.
“You look at least half dead, but I guess you’ll do,” Huck said with a grin.
Jack almost laughed, but he remembered the pain in his chest and stopped himself in time.
The rest of the department wouldn’t be as blasé about them being gay, but at least he didn’t have to worry about his partner or his lieutenant.Ifhe went back to work.
The thought of not being a cop should have made him sad. He should want to fight for his job, to defend himself, but he wasn’t sure he belonged on the force anymore. He’d acted out of passion instead of using his head, and the worst thing was, he knew that if he had to do it over, he wouldn’t change anything. Jack was no longer confident he had what it took to be a good cop.
He’d gone to Academy and worked his ass off because he wanted to help people. He wanted to rescue scared young kids like the kid he’d been when a home invasion had almost cost him and his brother their lives. The cops who rescued them became Jack’s heroes, but he didn’t think his work was heroic. All he did was pull criminals off the street, then watch the majority of them come right back.
He pushed those thoughts from his mind. “So everyone knows about us?” he asked Mason and Gray.
“Marsh does obviously and Thornton, but they won’t say anything,” Gray said. “A lot of people suspect. I…uh…went alittle crazy when I thought you were dead, and I haven’t done much to hide it since.”
Mason nodded. “I was kind of crazy too, but we can talk about this later. You need to sleep now.”
Jack started to protest, but his eyes closed before he could say anything else. “It’s okay, baby. Just get better,” Gray said.
Jack might have smiled, or he might have only meant to. He was too doped up to know the difference.
9
Three weeks had passed since Jack had awakened in the hospital. His days consisted of lying around the house “resting”, being tortured by his physical therapist, answering questions about the incident, and trying to figure out what the fuck he was going to do when he had healed. Even if Marsh succeeded in keeping him from being fired, he wasn’t sure he’d stay on the force. He’d yet to admit that to Gray and Mason. They’d both been busy, and he’d been in a foul mood, too tired and sore to do anything other than watch TV with them. He slept in the guest room after getting out of the hospital so they wouldn’t be bothered by his restlessness, and because Gray wasn’t exactly docile in his sleep. He was used to dragging Jack up against them if he woke during the night, which wouldn’t work with Jack still feeling like his chest might crack open.
