Page 63 of Fire and Ice

Maia leaned back on her pillows as she recalled what had happened yesterday. She had jumped off the jet ski right before impact, but the force knocked the wind out of her. She didn't think she lost consciousness completely while she clung to a loose board. The waves were rough and she was submerged a couple of times, but she somehow ended up in the town of Waves in the Hateras Islands. By the time she reached the shore, she was dead tired and just wanted to sleep. She didn't know if she dozed off or not, but she forced herself to walk to a road and someone gave her a lift.

"I was lucky," Maia admitted. "I really don't know how I made it, the ocean was getting rough."

Jack sucked in a breath. "I don't know if I want to strangle you or kiss you. What you did was suicidal."

"Split-second decision. Had to stop them," Maia replied ignoring the clenching of Jack's jaw. He would just have to deal with how she operated. She couldn't deny that wanting to get back to him gave her strength, but right now with a pounding headache and her body feeling like she had wrestled with Godzilla, she didn't want to speculate what that meant.

"We'll talk about that, later," Jack promised in a dire tone. "Don't roll your eyes. I mean it, Maia. We'll discuss this stunt of yours when you're in better shape."

All of sudden, Maia remembered something else. "Did you find any of the assailants from the boat? I saw one of them briefly. He was clinging to some wreckage. He was as winded as I was, but I don't think he's badly injured."

Jack stiffened and sat up. "The Coast Guard recovered two bodies. We know there was a third one but they presumed he was dead."

"Well, they're wrong. If I made it, no reason he wouldn't," Maia said. She yanked out the IV line and moved to hop off the bed. Jack was on her in an instant.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Jack hissed as he physically restrained her from getting up.

"There's an assassin out there. We need to check area hospitals and any suspicious incidents," Maia said in annoyance.

"I'll handle it," Jack replied tersely. "Will you settle down?"

"We're wasting time ..."

"Maia, don't make me cuff you to the bed!"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Try me."

"You don't have cuffs anyway," Maia replied mulishly, then raised an eyebrow. "Do you?"

"No, I don't," Jack admitted. "Look, I'm calling Taylor and Rick Tanner or whatever his name is and giving them the heads up. Right now, the doctor needs to give you the once over and then I'm taking you home."

Maia's heart warmed with the way Jack saidhome,but she knew it was a feeling she shouldn't be having, one of belonging. She quickly shoved it into her inner black hole, from which unwanted emotions had no hope of escaping.

***

Maia lazed, stretched out on the sectional where Jack had tucked her in with a pillow on her back and cozy wool blanket on her lap. The attending doctor had given her the all-clear and sent her home but not without a stern rebuke.

"Hopefully there won't be a next time, but if there is you come straight to the hospital, you hear? You're lucky water temperatures were not too bad yet and the storm had not hit." The doctor turned to Jack, "Make sure she has plenty of rest and fluids. I'll write a prescription for pain meds."

The official story was that there was a boating accident. Rick Tanner filed the report and left out the deadly pursuit.

When they got home, Brett and his parents thanked her profusely for saving them. They were supposed to stay until the Nor'Easter blew through, but with the new development with the missing attacker, Taylor and Jack decided it would be best for them to leave immediately.

So now it was back to her and Jack alone in the house. Grace had left earlier before the storm got worse, but not before making a pot of chicken and dumplings.

Maia must have dozed off briefly because Jack was suddenly sitting beside her, holding out a bowl of comfort food. Damn medication had addled her senses.

"Want me to feed you?" Jack asked with an amused gleam in his eyes.

"Don't be silly," Maia retorted as she reached for the bowl. She was starving, she had only eaten a bit of jello at the hospital, so this was a big treat. Of course she burned her tongue in her haste to eat so she slowed down and patiently blew on each heaped spoonful before shoveling it into her mouth. Jack chuckled as he reached for his own bowl and they ate in silence for a while.

Halfway through her food, Maia mumbled, "I'm feeling 100% better already."

"Easy killer, you're not doing anything except sitting your ass on that couch. No videconferencing with Viktor either," Jack warned.

"I'll give myself tonight to take it easy. Otherwise, this inactivity could drive me nuts."

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