"It wasn't your fault," I muttered, looking down, feeling choked up.
"Well, it won't happen again," he promised. "I mean it this time."
I smiled faintly. "You're damn right it won't. We got a scolding from a representative with the shifters certifying people. Guy read us the riot act for letting you go undercover — should've called them to handle it instead." I reached out and touched his nose very lightly.
He blinked, but his smile was less cracked now. "Oh? So you get to wrap me up in cotton wool after all, huh?" He seemed amused by that, not taking it at all seriously or getting offended by the idea.
"You bet your cute little ass."
"Well, I had a lot of time to think about it when I was in that car. I was scared to death, and I'll tell you what I promised myself I would if I ever got out of it. You were right. Not again. I won't do that again. I'm a bookworm, not James Bond."
"You're amazing. It wasn't your fault. There was a leak in the department. They haven't tracked it down yet, but they're getting close. It means you were doomed from the start — nothing you could've done, except not go."
"Which I'll do next time," he promised. "I want to help people, Jon. But I guess I have to know my limits." He looked really sad when he said that.
I wished I could dissuade him from blaming himself or thinking he was weak. "It was the situation, not you. Just too dangerous. By the way, Lexie is staying at my place, Eli's with Mom, and your job is just to get well and not worry about anything. Oh, and I promised Quinn to pay for his kids' groceries for the next six months. But I think I'll make it a year," I added.
"Yes," said Wallace softly, and coughed, a painful sound that left him grimacing and spent. "I...I think I'll sleep some more now," he managed in a whisper. "But I'll help. Pay him, that is. And Lexie. We'll help Lexie, too. He's a good kid..." His voice drifted off, and his eyes fell shut.
That was Wallace for you. He was in the hospital in pain recovering from his injuries, and he still could only think of how he wanted to help other people.
My smile was the one that was cracked now. I released his hand very gently, but he made a troubled sort of movement, so I took it again and settled back in to wait by his side.
My boyfriend was alive and recovering. Everything else could wait.
Wallace Avery
I checked myself out of the hospital as soon as possible. While I still needed a great deal of recovery, I didn't think that was going to happen in a bright, noisy hospital filled with strangers and unfamiliar smells. I was starting to twitch in my sleep. I just knew I would feel better at home.
Jon's mouth pressed into a firm, tight line, but he didn't argue. He drove me home. He'd made it pretty clear I was never going to be allowed to do something so dangerous as undercover work again, so I think if he'd really thought it was dangerous for me to leave the hospital, he'd have tried to argue me out of it.
He offered to take me to his place so he could look after me, and I certainly liked being there with him, but right now I needed my own den: my books, my plants, my bed, and most of all quiet. Nothing unfamiliar and new for a while. I wanted tosleep.
When I got through the door to my place, I stood there a moment, taking shallow, shaky breaths. My eyes filmed with tears. I had thought I'd never see the place again; now it welcomed me with open arms. If I still wanted to live with Jon, at least part of the time, I was apparently not ready to even think of giving up this space that was trulymine.
Jon puttered around grumpily, trying to take care of me, offering to fix food, etc. "I just want a kiss," I told him from my almost-comfortable position sitting up in my bed. "I want to tasteyouinstead of medicine."
His eyes widened slightly, and then he leaned over me and gave me a soft peck on the lips. One of his hands came up to rest gently on the back of my head, and he rustled the hair just above my neck. "Get some rest." He looked like he wanted to say more, but he didn't.
This harrowing ordeal had aged my boyfriend, and I was sorry about that. He shouldn't have to fear for my life. He had enough to worry about.
"Thanks."
"I'll check on you soon," he said, but I was already falling asleep. I had so much I wanted to say. And it would all have to wait.
After that I began to regain my strength. Each day I could stay awake a little longer, I had less pain, and I felt a bit more like my old self in terms of what I could do. Even simple things like being able to focus on a book for more than ten minutes tops took time, though.
My injury had affected my memory. It left me uneasy to have such large blanks in that day. Then again, getting shot as I was fleeing for my life probably wasn't a memory I'd long to cling to anyway.
All of the shifters who had been at the club were released; none were charged with anything. Some of them were angry at the police for ruining what had been, for them, a good job. Four of them had been held captive against their will, and were so grateful to be free and reunited with family that they were more than willing to testify against McCann. Their testimony and the other evidence against him about my attack was enough to put him away for a long time.
One of the police officers from our neighboring precinct was arrested, when they found evidence of him taking bribes from McCann. During questioning, he confessed to having ratted me out. After all, I was just a fox. He didn't want to go down because of an investigation over some stupid shifters.
Lexie came to live with me for a little while. Jon wasn't completely comfortable sharing his home with the young fox. While Lexie swore he was "over twenty-one," I wasn't sure I believed it. I didn't think he really knew, either. Lexie didn't have a lot of shyness about his body (with good reason), and that unnerved Jon. I wasn't bothered by Lexie walking around in his underwear or draping himself around me for a hug, but Jon was a little shyer about such things.
Lexie fit into the "that was a good job" camp. He frequently bemoaned the loss of a job he'd thought was safe. It had hurt him financially as well as shaken him up emotionally to find out just what was really going on in the place. That, and me nearly being killed.
Careful probing revealed he had no family to fall back on, and didn't think he had any other skills in life, either.
