Page 13 of Embedded
“The man doesn’t listen,” Frank commented and waved at Daniel, basically tossing him and me under the bus. “When can he get moving?”
“Let get his vitals,” She shooed them out of the way and took her time going over everything.
“Well?” Frank asked as he looked at his watch. I felt just as impatient. I didn’t do well sitting still. None of us did.
“I wouldn’t say this to some patients, but I know what you tough guys are like. If you’re careful, you can leave today, but you need to follow instructions and take it easy?—”
Frank cut her off and dropped my boots by the bed. “You have my word he will.”
Daniel shook his head and took the nurse by the arm and walked out with her in quiet conversation.
“If anyone asks, I don’t necessarily agree with this. It’s too soon. But we need you moving, soldier.”
I wasn’t about to argue. “Yes, sir. Copy that.” He tossed my clothes on the bed, and I began to struggle into them.
Cole suddenly appeared in the doorway. “They’re letting you out? I didn’t even know you were awake.” I struggled to lace up my boots. I didn’t want to wait around for the nurse to return with a change of mind. Frank headed for the door with a quick look at Cole.
Cole stepped forward to help me, but I held up a hand. “Thanks, but I’ve been dead before and made it. Believe me, this is better than that.” He stepped back without a word. I wobbled slightly and my head felt a little off now that I was upright, but I’d been through worse. “I got the all clear.”
“Oh, yeah?” Cole chuckled, knowing damn well he would have done the same. “Anyway, just so it’s said, the house knows we’re coming home with your son.”
“Good. What do the kids know about him?” I sat on a chair and leaned down to flip one lace of my boot over the other and attempted to make a bow so I wouldn’t trip. Got it on the first try.
Cole eased his shoulder into the wall after the doctor had tracked me down, thanks to Daniel’s concern. “They think it’s like any other guest arriving at the house. They know he’s a baby without a family and that he’ll be staying with us until we get orders from Frank, and we’ll go from there.”
I eyed him briefly. “And what about your PI of a daughter?”
He smirked, knowing that nothing got by Olivia. “I explained this was a sensitive matter and that she wasn’t allowed to dig into it. If I say no, she respects that. Just like she and Brandon would never breathe a word about who you were when you were under cover.”
“Good.” I couldn’t risk anything at this point, not when it came to my son.
“This is a need-to-know case. Which means only the teams, Savannah, Mia, Doc Ivy, and the elders know the truth about who Chase is. I hate to leave the other wives out of it, but that’s your call.” I nodded, relieved he was being as careful as he was. With Nicole coming back to Shadows, I couldn’t risk her finding out he was mine. It was bad enough that most of the people at the house knew I was Eric Noah. I shuddered at the thought of her finding that out. She made it very clear that she was happy he was dead.
“Remember, brother, this is what we do,” Cole went on. “We protect the ones who need protecting, and right now, that’s Chase, you, and Nicole. Focus on healing so we can get that exceptional brain of yours back behind the drone. I’ve gotten used to having our eye in the sky.”
“Copy that.” I tested out my legs as I stood when something nagged at me again. “Cole?” He looked up from his phone. “How could Bruno possibly have known Nicole and Chase would be at that border crossing?”
“That’s a million-dollar question.” He rubbed the space between his eyes like it had been weighing on him too.
“Makes you think?—”
He shook his head. “Don’t even go there. If we have another mole in our house, Frank might shut down the entire operation himself.” His arms dropped heavily. “Look, my guess is that, yeah, he has someone feeding him information. It’s the only explanation unless our phones have been hacked.”
“Impossible.”
“Right,” he agreed. We had the best phone technology on the market. “But the other thing is, Bruno was there, yes, but so were all the other Cartel families. Maybe Bruno’s got a mole too. Let me handle that, and you get a handle on all of that.” He waved a finger at my chest.
“All right.”
“Good. Now, I know you had some fancy surgery done on that chest of yours and they said it should heal faster. But stab wounds are still stab wounds in my book, so I’m leaving before Frank sees you standing.” He chuckled as he left the room.
When the door closed behind him, I sat back down and used the edge of my hoodie to wipe the sweat from my forehead. The simple act of getting my shoes tied actually made me want to lie down.
I’d been fortunate to get one of the best doctors Texas had to offer on the base, and he told me I was extremely lucky about exactly where I’d been stabbed. I knew if I had seen a doctor in Mexico, I would be way worse off. He explained the surgery to me, but he lost me after the first few words. I just remembered the part where he told me I had to rest for a week. That wasn’t an option. I’d come back from the dead once before, and I could deal with a few holes in my chest. It was just mind over matter.
I shifted myself to a positive headspace and grabbed my zippered hoodie. I took a breath and forced myself back to my feet. I paused for a moment at the wave of pain then pushed it aside and headed out the door. I didn’t have time to baby myself. I needed to see where the others were and get an update.
Frank, of course, was waiting in the hallway for me. “Good. You’re up and moving.”
