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“I sent them out for a real dinner,” Teag said.
“Okay, I’ll make sure they know what’s happening. I’m not sure we can let them come back here. I don’t want to take a chance on the shooter tailing them to get to you,” Maria said, worry furrowing her brow.
“My mum is not gonna like that at all,” Teag said, cringing.
“Let’s check in with Cam,” Maria said, knowing full well what her boss was going to say. They’d be in full lockdown mode until they got Teag somewhere more secure.
The words were barely out of her mouth when Cam strode in. Maria noted the tight set of his jaw and the dark look on his face. The harried charge nurse followed him into the room and shut the door behind her.
“I apologize for this,” she said. “I had higher expectations for my staff.”
“It could have been anyone from the food service workers to the transport team. We knew it would be hard to keep him a secret for long,” Cam said, gesturing at Teag.
“Still, you don’t need this added complication,” she said, meeting each of their gazes, Teag’s included.
“It’s not your fault. You’ve taken fabulous care of me,” Teag said, making the older woman blush crimson. Maria had to hold back her grin.
“We need to go,” Cam said. “I don’t want him in here a minute longer than necessary.”
The nurse unclipped the monitor cables and readied the IV stand for transport. She helped Teag sit up, and then she and Cam maneuvered him off the bed and into a wheelchair, plunking his small bag of belongings onto his lap. “We’ll start off heading to radiology, but then take the service elevators and staff tunnels to the hospice wing.”
Cam took point, the nurse dealt with the equipment, Maria pushed the wheelchair, and the rest of the team fell in line around Teag. They rushed through the corridors as quickly as possible without causing a spectacle, although the group turned heads for obvious reasons. More than one jaw dropped as they passed, whether it was in response to the imposing team of men surrounding the wheelchair, or the incredibly hot man in it, Maria wasn’t sure.
The faster they could get out of the public eye, the better. Maria’s spine tingled and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She’d had this same feeling overseas, knowing the enemy was out there, gunning for her, but not knowing exactly where they were or when they’d appear.
When they pushed the button on the service elevator and the door slid closed, everyone breathed a temporary sigh of relief.
There was a quiet somberness in the hospice wing. Here no one gave them a second glance, absorbed as they were with the business of dying or with keeping vigil while someone else died.
Maria helped settle Teag into his new bed, tucking his blankets and fluffing his pillow.
“Who knew you were such a mother hen,” he joked, but she saw the weariness in his eyes and the pain etched into his features. Just this small bit of movement had worn him out. When the nurse reconnected his monitor and handed him the medication dispenser, he pushed the little button right away.
A vase of fresh flowers sat on a dresser and a comfortable pull-out sofa bed took up one wall. Instead of overhead florescent lights, a floor lamp cast a warm glow throughout the room. Maria pulled a chair next to the bed and sat.
“I’ll stay until you fall asleep,” she said softly.
Cam left with the nurse, promising to call Teag’s mother, and Tank, who had guard duty, took up his position outside the door. Silence filled the space, markedly different from the constant buzz and bustle present in the regular hospital wing.
“It’s rather peaceful here,” Teag said, eyes drifting closed.
“Hmm,” Maria agreed.
“Not the worse place to die, I suppose.”
Maria frowned. “You aren’t going to die,” she said, sharper than she intended.
Teag’s eyes blinked open and landed on hers. “Maybe not here.”
“Not anywhere. We will not let anyone get to you. I will not let anyone get to you,” she promised.
“Though she be but little, she is fierce,” he said, words slurring as the painkillers took hold.
Maria leaned over and gripped his warm hand in hers.
“I don’t want anyone getting hurt to protect me. Especially you,” he said.
Before Maria could find the words to answer, Teag’s eyes shut again, and he fell asleep.
