Breathe (29 page)

“Damn straight.”

“Lily Rose James! Ladies don’t use that kind of language.”

I grinned at Kathryn’s dad and the disgruntled look on Lily’s face.

“Sorry papa.” He nodded, never taking his eyes from Tyler’s still silent form and I saw the ghost of a dimpled smile before he turned and looked up at me. He winked then turned back to Tyler.

I left the room for a few minutes, giving the family time together, joining Josh in the hallway where he was working on his laptop and Nathaniel who was propped up against the opposite wall. Josh looked up when I came out.

“How’s it going in there?”

I rubbed the back of the neck and took a deep breath. “He seems like a good man, he loves his family.” I shrugged.

“Thanks for the observation about Mr. Scott. I was asking about Tyler.”

I shuffled my feet sheepishly. I was focused more on the man who I thought was a poor protector for his daughter that I misread the question.

“The same. Nothing new there.” He nodded then turned his attention back to the screen. “Anything new with Lynn?”

“Dante sent the film to the lab, my preliminary conclusion is that the person dropping that envelope off was indeed Lynn. The figure is a bit wider but same height. The FBI will be able to find out a bit more, their software is much better than mine.” I sat down heavily in the chair next to his and rested my head in my hands, propping them on my knees.

Nathaniel walked up and put his hand on my shoulder.

“We will make sure nothing happens to anyone else, Daniel. Lily, Tyler, Kathryn, and everyone else will have round the clock shadows until we pick her up.” I took the young man’s comfort but kept my head down. Kathryn and I should be in the can’t keep our hands away from each other, epic love stage and instead we were dealing with shit from my past, a psycho that apparently I had set off on this quest with my callous farewell at the hospital. Here I was pissed at her father, when I was proving to be even worse. At least she hadn’t been in physical danger, her son hadn’t been in a coma, she was happy before I walked in and tore it all apart.

(Kathryn)

Dante and Nathaniel took my father back to my townhouse. Josh was camped out in the hallway and Daniel was lying down in the bed checking his emails and messages. I placed my head gently next to Tyler’s, my right hand clasping his left hand. I reached out with my free hand and pushed the hair out of his face.

“If you don’t wake up right now I am going to go find some scissors and cut this mop.” I smiled slightly and closed my eyes. I must have drifted off cause the next time I opened my eyes, the lights were off in the room, I heard Daniel’s soft even breathing behind me so knew he was asleep. What had woken me up?

I raised my head and looked into the brown eyes of my son. It took me a second to realize what was going on.

“Hey momma.” I jumped up and grabbed his hand with both of mine.

“Tyler! Oh baby boy you are awake! Daniel! Tyler’s awake!” I had the presence of mind to hit the nurse call button then cupped Tyler’s face in my hands. “It’s good to see your pretty brown eyes again.”

He grimaced at that. “Seriously mom?”

Nurse Betty walked in just then with the on call doctor, and Daniel came up behind me as they started to check his vitals.

“Good to see you awake boy. Your momma has been worried sick.” Betty clucked around him as the doctor started asking him a serious of questions and ran him through several reflex tests. Once satisfied, they asked Daniel and I to leave so they could take out his catheter and get him better situated.

I walked out but didn’t go further than leaning against the door. Josh grinned when he saw us.

“So little man woke up I gather?”

I beamed at him, clapping my hands against my chest and nodding.

“Good, we need to get you all home so we can control the environment better.” He went back to his computer. I stepped closer to see what he was working on. All I saw were a bunch of camera angles of what looked like different entrances to the hospital.

“What are you looking for?”

“Hoping to get the car Lynn came in and possibly either a Taxi tag number or a license plate number. So far, no luck. We will get there though, don’t worry Ms. James. No one else will get hurt.” I smiled at his vehemence, and clapped a hand on his shoulder.

“I know you will do your best Josh.” The doctor and Betty came back out and let us in.

“Tyler is a little groggy still but he is doing great.” I grinned at the doctor and pulled the surprised Betty into a warm hug.

“Thank you!” Then I ran back to Tyler. I sat on the bed gently so I could be close to him. He did look tired but his eyes were clear and he smiled weakly at me. When Daniel walked up his eyes flicked to him but the normal scowl wasn’t on his face.

“Thank you for being here for her. Betty said you only left her for a minute and then came rushing back.” I watched the surprised look on Daniel’s face turn into one of his full on gorgeous grins.

“My pleasure, Tyler. Always. Good to see you awake, how do you feel?”

“Like I was run over by a truck a few times. My head is killing me and I feel like I haven’t slept for a week. However, I am awake so that is progress.”

I leaned forward and kissed his forehead, brushing his hair aside. “And mom, you can’t cut my hair. That would be evil to take this mop away from the female populace.”

I laughed, tears streaming down my cheeks. My baby boy was back, and just as mouthy as always. “I promise not to touch a strand of your hair. Girl scout promise.”

He closed his eyes and smiled. “I don’t trust you woman. You were never a girl scout.” He drifted off to sleep but I wasn’t worried this time. I sat there staring at his sleeping face for a while until I felt Daniel walk up and put his arms around me.

“Come to bed momma. Sleep when he does so you can take care of him when he is awake. Isn’t that what they tell you to do?”

“With newborns you lunatic, not 22 year olds.”

Daniel grinned then bent and picked me up into his strong arms. He laid me down then crawled in behind me, pulling him against him.

“I think the advice still works.”

I smile and snuggled into his warmth. For the first time I drifted off to sleep quickly and slept deeply, not once waking up when the nurses came in to check on Tyler or when Dante came in and sat in the chair near the foot of Tyler’s bed near dawn.

It was shocking to wake up to his sleeping head on Tyler’s legs. I grinned and elbowed Daniel awake. He grumbled and tightened his arms around my waist. I elbowed him again and giggled when he started tickling me.

“Daniel stop it!” I hissed between my giggles, trying to wriggle away from him on the small bed without making a lot of noise. “Look over at Tyler’s bed.” I knew when he caught sight of Dante because he started laughing against my neck.

“When did he come in?”

“I have no clue. But he must be exhausted, that doesn’t look comfortable.”

“On the contrary, it’s warm, it’s soft, much more comfortable than some of the other places I have had to crash in.”

(Daniel)

Kathryn gasped and promptly turned several shades of pink and red. I chuckled and kissed the side of her neck before pushing up and out of bed. I grimaced at the sore muscles. I needed a hot shower, an actual bed, and Kathryn’s warm body beneath me, not necessarily in that order.

“So Dante. To what do we owe this amusing surprise today?” He too stood up, stretching from side to side to relieve the ache in his neck and back. I wondered then if he had a family waiting for him while he worked on our case. “Dante, do you have someone waiting for you at home?”

The big man shook his head slowly. “Families can get in the way in this job. I protect everyone else’s and that is fine with me. As for what I am doing here, Josh’s relentless quest to catch a glimpse of Lynn getting into or out of a vehicle has paid off. She was the passenger in a silver Ford Focus rental. So two things, we know the vehicle now, and that she is definitely working with someone.”

“How the hell is that supposed to make us feel any better?”

“It isn’t, however, it’s more information than we had before. The rental company has a Richard Brown as the person who rented it. Sound familiar?” I shook my head. “Didn’t think so, probably a fake name. They will be emailing me the pic of his license shortly. I will show it to you when we get it.”

With that he turned back to Kathryn who was sitting up in the bed now, looking rumpled and adorable. I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face as I stood looking at her. I crossed my arms across my chest and just stood there looking at her. She caught my look, then ducked her head and blushed, making me grin even broader.

“I am glad to hear Tyler is awake now. I am heading to get your momma from the airport. Your father will be by later with Nathaniel and Lily. Jane will be with them as well. Trying to make sure there is someone with everyone at all times.” With that he turned to me and I shook his hand.

“Thanks man, we really appreciate all the work you all are putting into this.”

“You got it.” He clapped my shoulder on his way out.

Once the door shut I walked back over to the bed, sitting down by her hips and leaning across her. I reached up wrapped a tendril of her hair around my finger and pushed it behind her ear, sliding my hand down to cup her jaw. I just sat there looking at her early morning face, no make-up, and still fuzzy with sleep. She had never looked more beautiful to me.

“You my grá are the most gorgeous woman I have ever laid my eyes on.” She pulled away from my hand with a laugh.

“Okay old man, we need to get you some glasses.” She moved to push the blankets off her legs but my growl stopped her movements.

“Can you just please take a sincere compliment and know that I am not just blowing smoke up your arse?”

Her eyes widened as my voice got harsh. I watched as she swallowed hard and bit her bottom lip. Finally she nodded.

“Okay, Daniel. I’ll try.”

“Let’s try this again. You my grá are the most gorgeous woman I have ever laid my eyes on.” She smiled and licked her lips.

“Thank you.” She grinned mischievously then leaned forward and kissed me on the tip of my nose before attempting to jump out of bed. I grabbed her around the waist easily and pinned her down.

“Where do you think you are going?” I saw her eyes darken at the deepening of my brogue and I rubbed my nose along her neck, kissing the point right behind her ear that always makes her melt.

“Okay as much as I am thankful to hear my mother giggling and the fact that you have stood by her this whole time, I would really rather not see that.” Kathryn struggled to sit up but I held her pinned for another couple seconds, placing a toe curling, and panty melting kiss on her lips before sitting up and grinning unrepentantly at Tyler.

His brown eyes sparkled as he looked at his mother. “It is good to hear her laugh like that again. It has been a long time.”

“See finally I get approval. I thought I was going to be the arrogant womanizer the rest of my life.” He flushed slightly and Kathryn punched my arm as she climbed off the bed and went to her son. She reached out and brushed his forehead.

“How are you feeling this morning baby boy?” He scrunched his nose at her.

“Stop calling me that mom! I feel better. Slept really well.” The relieved, happy look on her face made the strain of the past few days slip away. Her son was back with us so now we could focus on finding and getting Lynn taken care of. I pulled a seat on the other side of Tyler and watched mother and son interacting. Sunny Sandy came in and checked Tyler over, letting us know that Dr. Carter would be in shortly with Dr. Jacobs who was making his rounds as well. Hopefully they would let us take Tyler home soon. I hated hospitals, always had, though the last few days with Kathryn were pretty amazing even with the worrying about Tyler.

“So how is my favorite patient today? Ready to get home to your own bed?” Dr. Carter asked as he walked in, his white coat over dark blue scrubs.

“Absolutely. Can I really?”

“Let’s get you up and walking, see how you’re feeling then yeah we’ll consider it.” His face lit up like a three year old on Christmas morning. I grinned and stood up.

“Well let’s get you up then. I turned the blanket down, and he swung his legs off the bed towards me, using my arms to steady himself as he stood. He was a little wobbly at first so he held on to me for a few more seconds before turning and putting his arm on my shoulder and I placed mine around his waist. He looked over and grinned.

“You really aren’t too bad old man.”

I reached my free hand and ruffled his unruly hair.

“Thanks you little whelp.”

(Kathryn)

I sat still in my seat as Daniel helped Tyler stand and they made their way steadily to the door and back to the bed. I know tears were streaming down my face but I didn’t care. My strong Irish man, the man of literally my dreams was treating my son like he was made out of glass. His arm was wrapped tightly but gently around his waist giving him the support he needed, the steadiness that his legs were missing. My heart skipped several beats and I was afraid I was suffering a heart attack.

“Breathe my grá.” My eyes shot to his blue ones. He was laughing at me. I took a deep breath and then another.

“Okay now that you walked to the door and back with help. Let’s see how well you do on your own.” Dr. Carter was standing near the bathroom door watching Tyler’s progress. Daniel kept his arm on his waist until Tyler was able to take an unsteady step away from him. One painstaking step at a time, he made it to the door, then he turned and slowly walked back, a little steadier this time.

“You look good. How is your head feeling after the walks?” Tyler sat down on the bed, closed his eyes and took stock of his injuries silently for a minute.

“It feels fuzzy and a little achy, but nothing near what it was last night. I feel like one giant bruise but nothing a heating pad or ice won’t fix.” Dr. Carter nodded then walked over, flashed his penlight into Tyler’s eyes and doing a few more reflex tests.

“I know you all have some other security issues and concerns, both Dante and Mr. Andrews have made formal requests to get you released as soon as possible. I want Dr. Jacobs to see you and if he comes to the same conclusion as me I will draw up your release papers with the stipulation you go home, and rest for at least another week. Let your mom, your grandfather, your sister, and I heard a grandma is coming in, spoil you. Can you promise that?”

“Yes sir. Like I even have a choice in that last part.” I grinned at his dry tone. If nothing else, Tyler speaks the truth. Dr. Carter winked at me then headed for the door.

“Okay, let me hunt Dr. Jacobs down and we will start getting you out of here.” As soon as he left Tyler turned to me.

“Grandpa and grandma are coming? And you are okay with that?”

“Your Grandpa Scott, and Grandma McBride. Not Crystal. And yes I am okay with it.” He raised his eyebrows in surprise but before he commented Dr. Jacobs came in.

“Heard someone is ready to get out of here. 72 hours later and you think you are good to go? Well let’s see. Did you walk for Dr. Carter?”