Page 34 of Lyon

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you. How is he doing?”

“There’s been no change. This isn’t good. They want to send him to a rehab facility, but I said no. If he has to be somewhere, he can stay with one of us. Raven wants him to stay at his place—I think that’s a good idea. He can sit on the beach and get his tan back.”

“Have they checked his brain waves lately?”

“Yes, everything appears to be functioning as it should. No one knows why he isn’t waking up.”

“I mean, look at him. He just looks like he’s taking a nap. He’s going to be starving when he finally wakes up. They’re feedinghim through a tube—I bet he’ll crave a steak and an ice-cold beer as soon as he comes around.”

“You’re right; I wouldn’t mind that myself. I’ll stick around with Cyclone if you want to head home to your family.”

“Thanks, I’ll see you early in the morning. Who else is coming with us?”

“Oliver is coming. He’s staying at my place while his new home is being built,” I explained.

“So, he found the property he wanted?”

“Yes. It’s the one right next door to me. I was planning to buy it so no one else could develop it, but then Oliver said he wanted it. I thought that was perfect. Now he stays with me until his house is finished. He even checks on the construction to make sure everything’s done right,” I laughed, recalling Oliver’s temper when he’d inspected the progress on his home.

“Once, when he went to check on his workers, they were drinking and swimming in my pool. One guy was passed out on my floaty—he was the contractor. They even helped themselves to my outdoor fridge. And you know Oliver—he hates wasting money, he was paying them by the hour.”

River laughed until his side hurt. We all knew how much Oliver despised wasting money; he’d said so many times.

“I wish I could have seen that,” Cyclone chuckled.

“Cyclone, damn, it’s about time you woke up.”

“Wait—how long have I been asleep?”

“Five weeks.”

“What? No way—it’s been five weeks? Where am I?”

“You’re in Carlsbad.”

“Wait, where were we?”

“We were in Iran, rescuing those Navy Seals.”

“That’s right—I was shot. That’s all I remember.”

“A bullet went into the back of your skull. Thank God it didn’t go any further. I told you that you were hard-headed.”

Cyclone felt around for his wound and discovered the patch on his shaved head. “Who took the bullet out?”

“I did,” I replied.

“And what about the other bullet?” he asked.

“You lost a lot of blood, but I shared some of mine with you.”

“Thanks, Lyon. Did you call my family?”

“No—we decided to wait and see if you’d wake up.”

“Good, because the last thing we need is my brothers getting pissed off. Well, I’m ready to leave. Are you heading home?” he asked, glancing at me. “Are you leaving?”

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