Grace Parker, Omega psychiatrist and in this case Ashton’s physician, entered the room.“Okay, this place is not intended for the entire SWAT team.Steve, Derek, are you guys done debriefing?”
Steve straightened from where he leaned against the wall.“For the moment.Until we get a better sense of what the hell occurred in there today.”
“I’ll tell you this much, you’re lucky it was Ashton in that suit that malfunctioned,” Grace said as she lifted the edge of Ashton’s shirt so she could see one of the worst electric burns on his waist.
“Lucky me,” Ashton muttered.
Grace chuckled.“No, what I mean is that you have a lot of body mass, so those defective sensors were spread out further.For someone smaller—” she turned “—for instance, you, Lillian, the sensors would’ve been closer together and would’ve resulted in far greater damage.Maybe even death.”
The team glanced at each other, saying nothing.They’d all just chosen random sensors as they’d entered the facility.It could’ve easily been someone with less body mass than Ashton.
“Well then, we’re glad Ashton took one for the team.”Derek slapped him lightly on his unwounded shoulder.“Does he need to stay overnight, Grace?”
The older woman checked out the other burn on Ashton’s shoulder, then returned his shirt to its place.“No.No damage here that won’t heal on its own.Even your burns don’t look like they’ll blister too badly.”She smiled at Ashton.“You’ll just be sore for a couple of days, so take it easy.”
After showering gingerly, with cooler water than he would’ve liked because of his burns, he met the team at the Omega canteen to get their first meal since Summer’s muffins.
Nobody knew exactly what mood to be in.Everyone was glad Ashton wasn’t hurt any worse, but also hadn’t expected anyone to be in any danger to begin with.
It wasn’t a loss.But it wasn’t a win.
“Hey, who wants to go get a drink?”It was late, already after 9:00 p.m.Their day had been long, but no one wanted to go home.
Everyone nodded and looked at Ashton.
He smiled.“Sure.I’m buying.”
That certainly cheered everyone up.Derek begged off since his wife, Molly, and baby son, Sebastian, were waiting for him at home.
Ashton was just walking into the bar the Omega team often frequented when his phone rang.
Summer.
Why would she be calling him at nearly ten o’clock?He stepped back outside so he could hear more clearly.
“Summer?”he said by way of greeting.
“Hi, Ashton.I’m so sorry to call so late.You weren’t asleep were you?”
“No, not at all.What’s up?”
“I feel like an idiot.”
“No, I promise, it’s fine.What’s going on?”
“The power in my condo went out.I checked the breaker like you showed me, but couldn’t find anything wrong.I called the power company—they said they would eventually get here but had other priorities.”
“Do you want me to come check it out?See if there’s anything I can do?”
There was silence on the other end for so long Ashton worried they’d been disconnected.
“Summer?”
“No.No, that’s not necessary.I’ll just wait for the power company.One night won’t kill me.”
She laughed but it sounded brittle.
“It’s not just the power, is it?”
