Page 115 of Shadow Blind

His brother-in-law’s voice turned to steel. “You’re blaming yourself, thinking you let the rest of us fight your battle, that one man is dead and another dying because of you. And that’s bullshit. This bot weapon affects all of us. If it gets loose, it will threaten everyone, including the people we love. We didn’t go after Kuznetsov because of you. We did it because it had to be done, because it was the first step in the fight to stop the bots from eradicating humanity. Benioko knew about this weapon and the danger it posed before we pulled your ass out of Karaveht, before your teammates were even infected. He would have approved the mission to bring in Kuznetsov even if you hadn’t been involved.”

Well, fuck. Apparently, Cosky did know what he was thinking. A long, uncomfortable silence fell between them. Cosky broke it by clearing his throat.

“Just so you know.” Cosky hesitated, watching him with an odd expression on his face—partially reluctant, partially resigned. He finally released a what-the-hell sigh. “Demi spent nearly every second while you were getting your beauty sleep sitting beside your bed.”

“So I’ve heard.” Aiden stiffened; this was not a conversational jaunt he wanted to take.

Her bedside vigil didn’t mean shit, other than she had a good heart. It sure as hell didn’t mean she’d changed her mind about getting back together with him. Hell, she hadn’t visited him since he woke up. Sure, she’d been sitting beside him when he’d first cracked his eyes open and broke free from those weird-ass dreams, but she hadn’t been back since.

Cosky grimaced, reluctance heavy on his face. “Kait thinks she’s willing to reopen the conversation about your deadass love life.”

A spark of hope lit. It immediately guttered. Demi had made it crystal clear that she wasn’t willing to hook up with a guy whose entire career involved risking his life. Nothing about that had changed between closing his eyes and opening them. Hell, all she had to do was peek into the room next door and look at the grieving woman sitting by Samuel’s bed to realize she’d made the right decision.

Not that he wanted to talk about that. He searched for a change of subject. “Where’s Kait, anyway?”

For a moment it looked like Cosky wasn’t going to answer, but then he shrugged and squared his shoulders as though expecting pushback. “She’s talking to your doctors.”

Aiden stiffened. “What the—”

“Before you go off half-cocked,” Cosky broke in with a long-suffering sigh, “the meeting wasn’t Kait’s idea. Your doctors asked to meet with her.”

That stopped Aiden cold. His doctors had requested a meeting with his sister. “Why?”

Cosky shrugged, looking baffled himself. “Something about the healings she’s done on you.”

“That makes no sense,” Aiden growled. “Why would they need to know that?”

“I’m sure Kait will fill you in when she gets back.”

As if on cue, the accordion-style door slid back and his sister walked into his room.

She’d barely taken two steps before Aiden launched his first question. “What did my doctors want with you?”

She shot Cosky an annoyed look, but the dude just shrugged.

“They’re his doctors. He’s got a right to know.”

The nape of Aiden’s neck prickled. Was there something the doctors weren’t telling him? “What’s wrong? What did they say?”

She frowned, her forehead wrinkling, looking confused herself. “It’s not so much what they said, as much as all the questions they asked.”

“What the hell did they ask?” The tension in his neck crawled up to the base of his head, which started to pound.

“They wanted to know about all the times I’ve healed you over the years and what injuries you sustained that caused the healings.”

Aiden cocked his head, puzzled by the explanation. “Like when I damaged my spine?”

“That and others, going all the way back to our childhood.” She lifted her eyebrows. “I didn’t realize until I started listing them how many times I’ve healed you. Turns out you’re incredibly accident-prone.”

Aiden crossed his ankles and settled back against the pillows. “Why would they want to know any of that?”

A thoughtful look entered her eyes. She absently scraped her thumbnail along the bottom of her lower lip. “I don’t know, but the questions weren’t just about my healings on you. They asked other things too. Like how often you were sick, whether you’d had any major or minor illnesses over the years. Then they moved on to Dad and Mom. All sorts of questions about their health, too.”

“Like a family health history questionnaire?” Cosky asked, his eyebrows rising.

“I filled one of those out when I first arrived,” Aiden said. “Back when I was in isolation.” He frowned across the room at the pleats on the accordion door.

“They must be double checking.” Kait settled into the chair beside Cosky. “I’d tell you to ask the doctors yourself, but I’m a thousand percent sure you’re already planning on that.”

---