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I’ve never seen Grizz so fortified in all my life.
The amount of energy radiating off the guy is sucking the air out of the room. I don’t even want to be here right now, and the love of my life is lying helpless on the floor.
As if he’s settled his demons and come to a conclusion, he huffs and turns to help lift Jessa, muttering under his breath, “Damn woman. When I get my hands on her, I’m gonna…” The rest of his sentence is one long run-on I can’t quite make out as he leans down to help Waldo lift Jessa’s stretcher.
I gather Jessa’s laptops and phone. Then I follow everyone out of the room.
Jessa has a lot to answer for, but until she wakes up again, I’ll live, sleep, eat, and work by her side.
CHAPTER38
JESSA
“Okay, Jessa. This is it. It’s been three weeks, but I finally get to say it: You’re cleared. You’re the healthiest deceased person I have ever had the opportunity to care for.” Waldo smiles as he closes my patient chart.
“Thank you, um—Waldo.” My mind is fuzzy, and this feels like déjà vu.
“It’s okay. Remember, my name is Samuel. Waldo is just my call sign.” As he steps aside, Jack and Logan come into view. They’re sitting at the foot of my bed, listening intently. “Last time, you just called me Doc when you got confused.”
Turning to the men, he continues, “So, she’s okay to leave. Her short-term memory is fine. She’s just been on some painkillers, and her brain is catching up to her body.”
Pausing to look between Jack and me, he hesitates, and Logan spurs him to continue. “For fuck’s sake, Waldo. Spit it out.”
“Well, it’s just that—okay, I’m just going to say it: no strenuous activity for a while.” He flinches as his words register with Jack, and I pinch my lips together to hold back a smile. Then Samuel backs up a step, taking another approach. “I mean, like running—orsomething.”
Jack sits still, shifting his eyes between Samuel and me, and I get the feeling he wants to question his expert opinion.
But Logan backs him up. “We get it. Jack, noor somethinguntil you get the green light. Understand? We have other things to talk about. Thank you, Waldo. You can leave us now.”
Logan tilts his head toward the door, and Samuel takes his cue, offering me a quick smile before leaving.
“Wait!” I call to Samuel, and everyone looks at me. “Thank you for helping me. I mean, with my recovery, and for showing up that morning. I wasn’t sure if you were in the cabinet.”
Samuel looks between Jack and Logan before replying, “You’re welcome, Jessa. I have to be honest, I was going to give it five minutes, then jump out and end everything if I thought you were playing them. But once I heard Hunter in the room with you, I knew I had to stay the course.”
We share forced smiles as he brings the sting of Hunter’s betrayal back to the surface.
I change the topic. “I’m sorry I dropped an elephant statue on your head when I first saw you.”
“Apology accepted. I was lucky; it just missed my melon.” He smiles, tapping the top of his head.
Logan nods once more toward the door, and Samuel makes his way into the hall outside.
Taking the space Samuel left, Jack slides his chair beside my bed and reaches across to take my hand. His fingers are warm against my cool skin, and I hold on to him as tight as I can.
Since waking up a day ago, it has been nothing but a steady stream of tests and recovery. No one has said a thing to me about what happened. All I’ve been told is I’ve been out for almost three weeks, and I’m now on a different compound. No one has asked any questions, and I’m hoping this release means I finally get some visitors.
“Does this mean I can see Dana now?”
Jack’s hand tightens around my fingers, drawing my glance from his hand to his face. His jaw is clenched, and his eyes are sad.
Logan clears his throat. “We wanted to wait until you were recovered to tell you this. Jessa, Dana has disappeared.”
“I don’t understand.” Tilting my head, I whisper to Jack.
He takes a deep breath. “After you told Grizz to remove her from the room, he put her outside in a safe area and came back to see what he could do to help. They both thought you died—you did. You gave her the payout she needed, and she took one of our vehicles and ran. We haven’t been able to track her down. She dumped the truck, and her trail went cold within two hours. We scoured through all of your data looking for a lead, but…”
“But my server was programmed to destroy everyone’s new identities as soon as they were assigned.” I finish his sentence, and he stops to watch me process everything.
