“Are you sure?”

“Of course, dear,” she replied in a reassuring manner. “Now, go see my baby.”

Smiling appreciatively, I turned and followed the doctor down several corridors toward the recovery suites. She paused outside one of the doors and slowly pushed it open, allowing me to enter, then left me alone.

The sound of monitors surrounded me, the decibel level seeming to get increasingly louder and higher as I put one foot in front of the other. With each step, Tyler’s tall, built body, drained of all color, came more into focus. Bruises covered his face, stitches stretching across his chin and brow. His arms were covered in bandages, as was his midsection. Everything made him look frail, as if he were teetering on the brink of living and dying. Seeing Tyler in this state, confirming with my own eyes that he had narrowly escaped death, brought forward all the emotions I had been suppressing all evening.

I fell to the chair beside him and grabbed his hand in mine. Burying my face against him, I shivered as a chill flew through me. “I’m so sorry, Tyler,” I sobbed into his chest. “I was so stubborn the other day. You just want to share your life with me and, being who I am, I completely blew it out of proportion. I get it now. I promise I’ll stop being a pain in the ass. I want a new beginning with you. I want to start over again where we can watch our son play in the leaves and make snow angels. I want my new start with you…in Boston.”

I glanced up to see his eyes still closed, his breathing light and even. I soaked in his face, memorizing everything about it. My tears continued to fall as I thought how different tonight could have gone, how it was a possibility I could have been sitting in a morgue instead of next to Tyler’s unconscious body. Life was fragile, and I vowed to never take it for granted again.

Lowering my lips to his, I kissed him, his mouth unmoving against mine. “I love you, Tyler Burnham.” I rested my head on his chest and listened to the drumming of his heart, the rhythm soothing me.

“So is that all it takes to get you to agree to move in with me?” a husky voice commented. My eyes widening, I pulled back and gazed into a pair of tired green eyes. “Surviving an explosion and a two-story fall?”

“Tyler!” I exclaimed, wrapping my arms around him. I was breathless, a tingling spreading through me.

He yelped softly and I immediately drew back.

“Sorry.” I bit my lip. “I got carried away.”

“You’re worth the pain,” he replied, clutching my hand in his.

“I thought I lost you,” I choked out as he closed his eyes once more, obviously trying to fight off the drugs.

“Impossible, Serafina,” he crooned. “You think a small little fire can keep me from you? It’ll take a lot more than a few burns and some cracked ribs.”

I laughed at how nonchalant he was over nearly dying, allowing the warmth of his presence and heart to surround me as I rested my head next to his.

“I love you, Tyler.”

“Even with my stank ass hospital breath?” he joked.

“Especially with your stank ass hospital breath.”

He let out a content sigh as a small smile crossed his face. “Stay,” he murmured in a lazy voice.

“For how long?”

“Forever.”

I took a satisfied breath and held onto his hand, remaining by his side throughout the night. Forever sounded like a good plan to me.

~~~~~~~~~~

LOW VOICES ECHOED AROUND me, but I tried to tune them out. A sort of glow filled me and I didn’t want to wake up only to find out it had all just been a dream.

“You can’t really think it was someone on the inside,” a voice said softly.

Tyler.

“I don’t know what to think,” Alexander whispered in response. “Who knew what you were doing?”

“Just Benson, Maxwell, Eli, Martin, and me. Hell, Benson and Maxwell had just tracked down the lead. We hadn’t even contacted either subject to let them know we were coming.”

“And Martin already did a sweep of your house for bugs.” He sighed loudly. I could sense his frustration.

It was silent for a moment before anyone spoke again. “You said Maxwell hacked into some army database and that’s how he found out about the mission in Bosnia, right?” Tyler asked, his tone growing urgent.

“Yes. You don’t think…?”

“What other explanation is there? Maybe whoever did this is just as talented, or more so, than Maxwell is. Mackenzie’s friend, Damian, has been missing for months now, and he just happens to be one of my most skilled hackers out there. Maybe he was taken, like his FBI colleagues think, and is being forced to do this guy’s dirty work. From what I’ve read about him, he’s more than capable of putting a trace on the file, and maybe when Maxwell hacked into it, he could have stirred up something that had been left dormant for years. Think about it… The members of the team who had died or gone missing did so years ago. And now, all of a sudden, the remaining two, who had been practically impossible to even track down, end up dead, their houses wired to explode. I think we may have found out the link as to why Galloway was set up. I have a feeling it has something to do with the mission in Bosnia and how two of his men ended up not coming home from that mission.”

“Well, in light of recent events, there’s an unfortunate reality we need to face,” Alexander said.

“That Galloway is the only remaining member of his Ranger team still alive,” Tyler responded, dejected.

“Precisely… Suspicious or just a coincidence?”

“I know. I just…”

I began to stir, not wanting to listen to any more. I didn’t want to hear anything else that could taint the picture of my father I had in my head.

“There you are,” Tyler crooned, meeting my eyes as they adjusted to the light in the room. “I hope we didn’t wake you.”

“No, you didn’t.” I sat up in the chair, rubbing my sore neck, my entire body aching from whatever position I had fallen asleep in.

“Well,” Alexander said, eyeing both Tyler and me. “I’ll give you two a bit of privacy. I’ll be back sometime this afternoon with Olivia and Melanie.” He placed his hand on Tyler’s shoulder, squeezing gently. “I’m glad you’re okay, Ty.”

Tyler met his brother’s eyes, placing his hand over his. “Me, too. See you in a bit.”

“You bet.” Alexander released his hold on him and retreated from the room, closing the door behind him.

“Good morning,” I said, grabbing his hand in mine. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I jumped off a deck.”

I smiled warmly at his ability to make light of what he had been through.

“How’s Eli doing? Have you heard?” I asked. I had been so concerned with Tyler’s well-being, I had completely forgotten about Eli.

“He’s actually doing a lot better than I am. From what they said, they figure I pushed him out of the way and took the brunt of the explosion. He dislocated his shoulder and has a mild concussion, but he’s up and walking today.”

“What happened?” I asked now that he seemed much more coherent than he did just twelve hours earlier.

He sighed. I could tell he was tired of repeating the story over and over. I had heard the basics from Alexander, but I wanted Tyler’s point of view.

“Friday, Benson came to me with a potential lead,” he began, repeating what I already knew about a link between my father and a classified mission in Bosnia. “When we got to the guy’s house, there was no answer. We peeked in and saw signs that struck us as odd, so we decided to break in, just in case something was amiss. That’s when I got the phone call from Benson about the explosion at the house of the guy they were supposed to question. Just as Eli turned the knob, I heard a click and pushed him out of the way. Everything after that was kind of a blur. I remember hoisting myself over the railing of the deck and landing on the beach below. The last thing I could recall before waking up here was seeing your eyes.”