Chapter 5

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Tesla woke slowly, her back aching and her belly bouncing with the baby's antics going on inside. It took her a moment to realize where she was and to remember the horrible situation they were in. She shifted, stifling a groan, and walked the two feet over to Mason's bedside, where she once again leaned over, kissed him on the forehead, and whispered into his ear, "I'm still here. I will always be here, and, when you're ready to come back to the world of the living, I will be here too."

Checking his color with a wary eye, she noted that he was still holding steady. While no sign of consciousness appeared, he didn't seem to be any worse either.

She made a slow waddling trip to the bathroom, as she rubbed her aching back. When she came back out, a nurse stood off to the side, checking the machines.

"How is he doing?" Tesla asked.

The nurse turned, with a smile, and replied, "He's holding on."

"Which is as good as we can expect right now, I suppose."

"Honestly I'm delighted he's holding because that's a huge sign. The doctors are deliberately keeping him under right now."

At that, Tesla nodded. "I figured."

"We don't want him to be awake and in pain," she explained. "So, let's get him through the recovery period after surgery, keep his vitals stable, and we'll all be in a much stronger position to see where he's at. The fact that he came through the night so well is a positive thing. Huge."

And, with that, she did a few more checks, while Tesla watched. It had always fascinated her to see the medical world going on around her, but she'd never been so keenly aware of every move and how incredibly vulnerable they all were when they were in the hospital. Unconscious as Mason was, anybody could do anything they wanted to hurt him, and that thought was just unbearable.

Tesla hovered constantly, not getting in the way, but slyly taking videos and images to ensure that, if anything did go wrong, she had proof of who may have had something to do with it. She didn't have enough knowledge of what was happening and what the nurses were doing to feel comfortable enough with their actions. Tesla didn't think she would ever get to the point of being comfortable with that.

Right now, Mason was at the mercy of everyone, which is why Tesla wouldn't dare take her gaze off anything.

When the nurse was done, she smiled at her and asked, "Now, what about you?" She eyed Tesla critically. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

"I did," she replied, "but you don't need to worry about me. It's all about Mason."

"Yes, Mason is definitely our priority," she confirmed comfortably, "but none of us want to see you in a hospital bed beside him."

She winced at that. "Neither do I," she admitted. "I need to be here for him the whole time."

"Which is why we need you to take care of yourself," she replied, with a motion at the cot. "I'll get somebody in to change the sheets. Did you get any clothes brought over for you?"

"Not yet, I'll make that arrangement today." The nurse frowned at her, and she shrugged. "I'm not leaving Mason."

"He's doing better, so you could go home and get some clothing and maybe a bite to eat or something to make you feel better."

Tesla just shook her head. "No, not happening."

The nurse stared at her for a moment and then shrugged. "Maybe I understand that too." And, with that, she was gone.

Tesla stared after her, as she returned to her cot and sat down again. It might just kill her to be here because that cot was anything but comfortable, but the thought of leaving Mason at anybody's mercy when he was in his greatest need was not something she could ever do.

When the door opened and Evan walked in, he smiled at her and held out what looked to be coffee. "I wasn't sure how much coffee you're drinking with the baby."

"Definitely one cup a day," she admitted, "and I probably shouldn't have more than that, but it's pretty-darn hard, under the circumstances."

"I can always get tea," he offered.

She smiled up at him. "Thank you for caring so much."

"Mason is our friend and don't ever doubt that we're here for any other reason than his benefit. And yours," he added, as an afterthought.

She chuckled. "I did hear the afterthought in that."

"No, at least it wasn't meant to be." He grinned bashfully. "Obviously we're all concerned about both of you."

"Thank you for that too," she replied, with a nod. She settled back a little on the cot, as he handed her the cup he had brought over for her.

"You don't want to go home? You can't be very comfortable here."

"No, it's not comfortable at all," she shared, "but that doesn't matter. I'll be content here, as long as I'm with Mason." And her tone brooked absolutely no argument.

He smiled at her. "My wife was in the OR with Mason, so she'll stop in to talk to you, when she gets out of another surgery she's involved in."

"She was part of his surgery?" Tesla asked.

He nodded. "She was called in as an extra because they were short on hands."

"I'm glad to hear that," Tesla shared warmly. "It makes me feel much better, knowing that she was there and looking after him."

"She was hoping you wouldn't mind."

"God no," she replied. "It does show you how loved Mason is, with all that I'm hearing from people around here."

"Very loved," Evan confirmed, with a gentle smile, "but along with that love comes the opposite. Somebody out there doesn't love him at all."

"I know. I've been racking my brain, thinking who that could be," she admitted. "I just can't think of anybody in his work or in his personal life who would hate him this much."

"There's also the chance that somebody here was hired for the hit," he suggested.

She nodded. "I know, and, for that reason alone, every time a nurse comes in, I'm watching like a hawk," she shared, "and I know that I'm probably not allowed to, so it's completely illegal, but I'm videotaping absolutely everything they do to Mason."

He nodded with approval. "That's not a bad idea, and the fact is, if you are keeping such a close watch, it will slow down anybody looking to make a second move on him."

"I can only hope. I'm hardly much of a threat, and I'm sure people would look at me almost comically," she conceded, "but I'll make damn sure that, if anything happens to him, I'll have some proof of it. I'm so frustrated that I know so little about the medical processes that he's already undergone and could be undergoing again. Even when the nurses come in, I find myself questioning if they need to be doing what they're doing or if somebody else will get at Mason."

Evan walked over, sat down on the cot beside her, picked up her hand, and shared, "In that case, when my wife, Megan, comes in later, tell her that. Explain to her what you want to know more about, so, if somebody is up to something, you'll be aware of what to watch for."

"Oh, that's a good idea," she agreed, looking at him. "I could do some research on it too."

He shook his head furiously. "You'll just get tons of messed-up and even contradictory information," he pointed out, standing his ground. "Let Megan tell you, and then, if you do see something that raises your suspicion, you'll make an informed decision as to whom you need to contact. We all know how incredibly talented you are," he added, "so let's put that to good use right now, while we're here. You are his number one primary watchdog, and we are the security outside."

"Are you still standing watch outside?" she asked, staring at the door behind him.

"I have been, and now we have somebody else to take the next shift."

"Who is it?" she asked warily.

At that, he let out a sharp whistle—which Mason slept right through—and Corey poked his head around the door.

She smiled up at him. "Hey, I'm so glad to know who's out there."

"About sixteen of us signed up," Corey shared, "so don't you worry. It will all be people you know, all people you can trust."

With tears in her eyes, she nodded, as Corey stepped back out again. She looked over at Evan. "Thank you," she whispered.

He smiled, patted her hand. "You don't need to thank us. You know we love Mason, and we love you, so we'll do everything in our power to get to the bottom of this. I know that it's an upsetting thing to talk about, but I do need to ask you a few things."

She took a deep, calming breath and tried to stabilize the chaotic emotions whirling through her and nodded. "Of course. Go ahead."

"Did you see anything?"

She shook her head. "He had just arrived, and I was getting to him as fast as I could, but I was anything but fast," she admitted, with a smile, patting her tummy. "I was so excited to see him, and I heard something. Then I saw the red all over him, as he stood still for a moment. I just froze. I was in shock, not quite understanding what had happened, and then I heard that noise again, almost… sounded like pew, pew," she explained, imitating the sound. "The noises came very close together, which I hadn't expected, I hadn't expected any shots, so I don't know what I'm talking about." She pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned. "This is enough to make you crazy."

"That's fine. You're doing just fine," Evan reassured her. "So, you saw the blood appear, and Mason slowly collapsed. Is that correct?"

She nodded. "He slowly sank to the ground, and then he just dropped. Before I got there, I think the pilot and a couple other people had already been all over him. Masters was there too." She thought back to the scene and shuddered.

"Right, and do you know if Masters was on that flight, or do you know if he had any purpose for being close by?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. I presumed he was already at the hangar or something."

"Right." Evan considered that.

"That is possible, right?"

"Of course it is. That's quite possible. I'll talk to him about it."

"You should also probably talk to my cousin."

"Jasper, yes. He's already making waves," he shared, with a twitch of his lips.

"He's good at that," she noted, with a smirk. "He's been to hell and back, but I know he would go the distance all over again for Mason."

"Any particular reason?"

She hesitated and then shrugged. "At one point in time Jasper was pretty down and upset over a case early on in his career, where he ended up arresting a very good friend," she shared. "Mason was the one who helped him step out of that guilt to see that it wasn't his fault. His friend was at fault for making the choices he had. Plus Jasper still had a sworn duty to do right by the job, and that sometimes doing right by the job felt like doing wrong by the people you cared about."

"So, Mason and Jasper were good?"

"More than that. I know that back then Jasper struggled, and again in a more recent investigation, but, after talking to Mason each time, Jasper seemed to find a certain amount of peace with it; and they've been very close ever since. Jasper's my cousin and has been in my life a very long time, and we've been close. So having Mason be a part of that was an easy transition for all of us," she murmured.

"Of course. It's a good thing Mason trusts Jasper because we're all in the position of having to trust him now."

She looked up at him, nodded, and very carefully added, "If you have any other ideas, please don't. You can trust Jasper. I can't emphasize enough how important he has been to multiple other cases, cases that he was given because he would do the right thing, regardless of the outcome, yet cases that hurt him badly," she explained, with a nod. "That's one of the reasons why he delayed starting here. He just needed time to…" She broke up as she thought about it, then tilted her head. "I guess the easiest answer is he needed time to heal. His spirit was hurting."

Evan sat back and nodded. "I think, in many ways, we've all been there."

"Exactly, and Mason was damn glad to have him out here with us, so we can spend time together and could do things with him. Jasper's a good guy."

"Is he single?" Evan asked curiously.

She winced. "He was engaged to somebody in the military back East, but, as it turned out,… that was one of the people he ended up recently having to arrest."

Evan sucked back his breath. "Shit."

"Yes, a betrayal at all levels," she noted, "particularly since one of the reasons the relationship even started was apparently for her to keep him at a distance and, therefore, prevent him from finding out the truth."

"Which makes it even harder, of course.… I get that. You never want to be duped into a relationship, but to be intentionally duped into a relationship as part of a larger plan to prevent you from discovering a crime, that's a whole different level of betrayal."

"Exactly," she agreed, with a smile. "Jasper is a good guy. Don't forget that."

*

Mason shifted inwhatever cotton-batting world he was in. He kept turning, twisting, and looking for the danger that was ever present, that the voice at the back of his head kept warning him about. Move, move, move, now, and yet nothing moved.

The more he tried to shift, the more he tried to get away from whatever danger was oncoming, the more he realized that absolutely nothing was moving. He couldn't move his arms. He couldn't move his legs, and somehow he was a prisoner or subdued in some way. He couldn't figure it out, and the harder he tried, the more exhausted he became, and, just as he fought off one wave of panic, another wave would come in.

He felt the pinch of something into his arm, and, for the first time, it occurred to him that maybe he was being drugged. With that thought alone, he slipped back under again. Along with the drugs went the will to fight, as he slid back into the unconscious state he'd found himself in earlier.

All the fight went out of him, and he crashed back under.