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There was no mention, in this broadcast or any other, of the plane that went down in the Colombian National Forest, nor of the death in that crash.
Griffin told her very little, other than that Onyx had been taken to George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC, as soon as he was stabilized enough to be transported. He remained in a coma still, which was why he and Aine had returned to his McLean, Virginia, condo and would stay there until his teammate’s condition improved.
Both Tackle and Halo, who had also been taken to the same hospital, with head injuries and several broken bones, had been released from medical care after three days.
The two had met with Griffin almost every day since she and Griffin had arrived in McLean, as had Monk, whom he’d said was also in town, waiting for Onyx to come out of his coma.
Ava and Tabon had gone back to Yachats a few days after the team returned from Colombia; Zary and Gunner were living on his island in the middle of Chesapeake Bay; and Quinn and Mercer had moved into their new house in Paso Robles, which had been miraculously completed in weeks rather than months.
Penelope said that when she returned to New York after Thanksgiving, Tara had moved out of their shared Manhattan apartment and left no forwarding address or contact information.
Aine worried about Tara every day, to the point that Griffin had stepped in and told her he’d do everything he could to locate her friend. A few days later, he told her that Halo had agreed to find her, and as soon as he heard something, Aine would be the first to know.
She’d asked about paying him, but Griffin immediately shot her down and refused to discuss how his teammate was being compensated for finding her friend.
As hard as it had been to tell him, she’d confessed that she believed Tara had taken his aunt’s bracelet, and that she was devastated she’d lost something so precious to him. His response had been that there wasn’t anything as precious to him as she was, and he’d get her another bracelet.
“Are you okay?” she asked when Griffin leaned forward and put his head in his hands.
He sat back against the sofa and put his arm around her shoulders.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather be in Yachats for Christmas?” he asked.
“Is that where you’ll be?”
“You know I can’t leave until Onyx wakes up. I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
“Then, no, I wouldn’t rather be in Yachats.” It wasn’t the first time he’d asked, and she doubted it would be the last. “I want to be wherever you are whenever I can be,” she told him now and every other time.
“What time is your appointment tomorrow?”
“I can go in anytime since it’s just a blood draw.”
Griffin rested his hand on her belly as though by doing so, everything would turn out okay.
While the doctor in California had told her to wait six weeks before getting certain tests done, the doctor she had seen here at the hospital for her post-surgery checkup, told her she didn’t see the need to postpone the testing.
Two days ago, she’d gone in for her first round of fertility tests. The numbers reported from that round would be considered baseline, and the numbers from tomorrow’s blood draw would indicate how well her reproductive system was functioning.
“If the numbers are discouraging this month, we’ll continue to test for at least four months to see if there is any change,” the doctor told her and Griffin when they met in her office after her check-up.
—:—
Striker opened the door when he saw the mail carrier walk up three days after Aine had completed her first full round of fertility testing.
“I have a certified letter for Griffin Ellis,” the man said.
“That’s me.” He already had his ID out and handed it over before signing the green card.
What was inside the envelope he held in his hand, would determine his fate along with Aine’s and the children they may or may not have one day.
He took the unopened envelope inside and set it on the kitchen counter.
“It came?” Aine asked when she walked up beside him.
Striker sighed and rolled his shoulders. “It did.”
“Are you sure you want to wait?”
