A gentle hand touched his arm. "Kam."
Kam's eyes flew open and locked on Taylor. She was here. Seeing the cut on her face sent flashes of the last day through his brain. The research vessel. Dasha Volkov. Escaping in the Zodiac.
Kam reached out to her, but a sharp tug on his hand halted the motion. He looked down, confusion flickering across his face as he saw the IV line taped to his skin, running to a half-empty bag beside the bed. His gaze stopped on the other person in the room.
"Jonas?" He croaked out past his tongue that felt like sandpaper. He needed to make sense of the situation, but his brain wasn't putting all of the pieces together.
The man stood with hands tucked in scrub pants and a navy blue polo. "Technically yes, but I'm the younger Jonas."
Kam scrunched his brow. "Teddy?"
"Only Clint calls me that." There was a hint of sadness in his voice. "Most just call me Ted."
Kam wanted to ask him a thousand questions, but the reality of the situation came crashing down on him. Kam swung his legs over the side of the bed.
"Kam, stop." Taylor took hold of his arm.
He shook her off. "We need to get out of here. I said no hospitals."
Ted grabbed his left hand as Kam attempted to pull the IV out of his right. "Calm down. When I realized who you were, I made sure I was the only one who could see you. And yourwifehere said your name was Cameron Ertz at admission."
Kam looked over his shoulder at Taylor, who had a blush on her cheeks. His eyes drifted to her left hand, where his engagement ring sat on her finger. "I figured if we were married, they would let me stay with you. Not like I'd leave your side anyway. Neither of us has our IDs, but given our rescue at sea, people didn't ask questions."
"We need to get out of here before theydostart to ask questions." If the local police were informed of their rescue at sea, then he needed to get Taylor to safety.
Kam pushed himself to his feet, swaying, every muscle stiff and protesting. His shoulder throbbed in time with his heartbeat. Taylor ran to the other side of the bed to catch him.
"Kam, you need to rest. You lost a lot of blood." Taylor choked on the last word.
"Don't you understand? One search and they'll arrest you." His words were harsh, and Taylor flinched. He blew out a breath. "I won't let them get away with hanging this on you, but we need to get out of here."
"You can stay at my place," Ted offered.
"We can't ask you to do that." Taylor faced Ted.
"If Clint were still alive, he'd do whatever he could to help a fellow Alpha Company member. Even if he was already declared dead."
The room steadied itself and Kam took a step towards Ted with a hand outstretched. Taylor kept her arm around him and moved in sync with him. "Music Man was a good soldier. The kind you'd want by your side in any battle."
Ted shook his hand, a sheen to his eyes. "Grab your things. I'll get your discharge papers."
With that, Ted left Kam and Taylor in the small room. "Can we trust him?" Taylor asked.
"His brother was one of the best men I knew." Kam turned towards her. "Ted could have turned us over while I was still out, but he didn't. He knows who I am, yet he chose to hide me anyway."
Taylor nodded. Her eyes searched the room, but landed on nothing in particular. Kam recognized the look as her thinking face. There was more going on in there. He'd let her mull over it until they got out of here. There were too many ears to overhear any plan they'd come up with here. Ted's place would hopefully give them the privacy they needed.
Kam needed to find some clothes, preferably dry ones, if he was going to get out of this clinic. The scratch of the hospital gown had him falling back into those long days where he fought for his ability to even walk.
Taylor tightened her grip on his waist. Her fingers against his bare skin sent an awareness through him, awakening a hunger that he wanted to give in to. He cupped her face with his IV-free hand. Her eyes darkened as if the same feeling were consuming her.
"You're wearing my ring."
A smirk graced her lips. "You did propose on that ship."
He pulled the IV pole closer and turned to face her, causing her fingers to trail across his back as he moved. Kam wanted this moment to last, but he felt his strength starting to wane. He conjured all the control he could as he leaned towards her. The movement wasn't slow and controlled, though, as he tumbled into her. Taylor braced him and lowered him back onto the bed.
"How about we rest a bit more before we try those smooth moves?" She kissed him quickly, yet it held all the promise of their love forged in the absence and trials they've faced.
