Page 78 of The Ranger Gets His Girl

He shivered at the cold seeping into his bones.

"Here's your grandfather." Helen's words brought him back to the present. More rustling and then his grandpa was back.

"So what happened, son?"

Mason felt tears threaten as the nurse left the room. He closed his eyes tightly and choked them back. "The person I was tailing caught on, and it all went to shit."

He clinically told him the highlights of the past two days, similar to the statement he gave the agent in the ambulance. Somehow Malia had figured out he was tailing her yesterday. Or rather two days ago now.

He should have paid more attention. He shouldn't have gotten so close to her. Not been in the same sandwich shop. Not sat at her table at the gala, not that he'd realized she'd sit at that table. That had been a pure accident.

And he'd had no idea Lucy was meeting her for lunch. He should have asked Lucy about her plans for the day. He should have known.

"Shoulda, woulda, coulda's will kill you, son. You have to let it go. What's done is done. Everyone's alright, and that's all that matters."

Mason sighed. "Yeah, easier said than done, though. I'll call y'all when she wakes up."

"No matter what time, day or night. Love you, son."

"Love you too, Pops." Mason felt his throat begin to close as emotions threatened him once more. He hung up and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes.

He took deep breaths, but it was several long minutes before he regained control of himself enough to lean back.

Now he was left with nothing but the beeping of the machines and his guilt. His head pounded, and the IV itched in the back of his hand.

The room became too bright, and he opened the bathroom door and turned on the light, then turned off the main room's light. He settled back into the chair and waited, self-recrimination his only companion.

If he'd taken more care with his schedule, this could've been avoided. Why had he tried to juggle surveillance and hanging out with Lucy at the same time? It had been a recipe for disaster.

Lucy was lucky she'd only been nicked. He knew just how dangerous these situations could be. He shouldn't have let her in the same room as Malia much less eaten several meals with her.

Mason leaned back in a chair and kicked his boots off. He propped his socked feet on the edge of her bed. He closed his eyes and sighed as memories tugged him under.

A soft moan echoed over the beeping of the machines.

Mason's eyes jerked open, and his heart pounded. His feet slid to the floor with a thump as he remembered where he was. He looked at Lucy.

She tugged her blanket up, a frown of pain on her face. He stood and grabbed her left hand gently, holding her still.

"You're awake. Don't move. You'll jar your arm and break open the wound. Let me cover you. Is this better? Are you cold? I can get another blanket." His voice was growly and low from sleep.

She frowned, her big, green eyes looking up at him so trustingly. "Thanks. I'm just so cold. What happened? Why am I here?"

He rubbed his temple with his other hand and went to the closet to dig for another blanket. "What's the last thing you remember?" He draped the blanket around her, tucking it in so it'd hold in her body heat better.

His head pounded, but he couldn't stop staring at her. He had to make sure she was really awake and recovering.

She leaned her head back against the pillows as she closed her eyes. "Fireworks, I think. You missed them."

He cleared his throat, but she didn't open her eyes. "I know, sunshine. I'm so sorry. I wanted to be there with you, but I was knocked out and locked in a closet."

She hummed, and her eyes blinked open sleepily. "Are you ok?"

He smiled, his eyes misting up. She had such a big heart, to think about others when she was the one in the hospital bed. He nodded, unable to speak around the knot in his throat.

"Break what open?"

He frowned, his mind fuzzy from lack of sleep. "What?"

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