Finding North (47 page)

Alex felt a wave of
compassion for her mother.

“
That’s a lot to hear,”
Alex said.

“
I made him tell me,”
Rebecca said. “Do you think the same thing?”

“
I don’t know,” Alex said.
“I was supposed to meet with someone this week who promised to tell
me.”

“
Bestat?” Rebecca looked
at the door. “She’s playing with the twins downstairs. Did you know
Zack is having custody issues with that awful Tina?”

“
I remember something,”
Alex said. “Seems like she finally did a paternity test on the
kids? Is that right?”

“
Right,” Rebecca said.
“Sami found this really tough lawyer to help. The lawyer said that
because there is no other father coming forward, and the current
father wants to parent, there’s no reason to disrupt the children’s
lives. That’s what she said. She’s filed with the court,
and . . .”

Rebecca nodded.

“
Just another thing you’ve
done,” Rebecca smiled.

“
Me?” Alex scowled. “I
told him to talk to Sami.”

“
I know,” Rebecca said.
“But if he hadn’t, there wouldn’t be this resolution.”

“
It’s
resolved?”

“
Oh, I didn’t say that?”
Rebecca looked puzzled. “I guess I didn’t. The lawyer filed. Zack
had to go to a hearing — Bestat, too. The kids testified that they
are really happy with Zack as their dad. They didn’t think of him
as their part-time dad. Britney said, ‘Every dad works. I bet if
you added up every dad’s time, it wouldn’t be any more than my
Dad’s. Plus, my dad flies airplanes to keep us safe.’ The judge
stopped the hearing after that. Turns out, Zack’s never lied to the
kids. They know that he’s probably not their biological father. Did
you do that, too?”

“
I thought it was a good
idea,” Alex said. “They’re smart kids. They know what their mother
was.”

“
Well, the judge threw out
Tina’s motion,” Rebecca nodded. “‘
If
a father comes forward, we’ll
address this again,’ he said, but really Tina has no idea who their
fathers might be. Oh, you should have heard the judge’s remarks
about Tina’s whole ‘A military father is no kind of father at
all.’”

“
Didn’t like
that?”

“
Not one bit,” Rebecca
said. “So, everything stays the same.”

Rebecca smiled. Alex shook
her head to try to clear it and then grabbed her head with her left
hand.

“
That looked painful,”
Rebecca said.

“
Yeah,” Alex said.
“Listen . . . I don’t mean to offend you or
anything . . .”

“
But?”

“
Why are you being so nice
to me?” Alex asked. “Usually you just tell me what to do and go
about your life.”

Rebecca
laughed.

“
Am I dreaming?” Alex
asked.

She glanced up at Jesse.
He was laughing, too. She scowled and lay back down. Her mother
touched her arm.

“
When you couldn’t go,
your father and I went with Sami to talk to the Senator,” Rebecca
said. “I was behind that glass, and . . . I realized
the enormity of all you had done. It was like a cloud lifted, and
I . . . saw how much you do, for everyone. I don’t
know . . . maybe my heart grew.”

“
Five times that day?”
Alex asked.

“
I am a mean
one . . .” Rebecca smiled.

“
Did you say that Sami
talked to the Senator?” Alex asked.

“
And Helen talked to her
father,” Rebecca nodded. “Helen’s mom came with us that
time.”

“
They did?” Alex asked.
“How . . .?”

“
After what happened in
Cuba, they were adamant that they were going to get what they could
from those awful men,” Rebecca said. “And they did. They did a good
job. They got the information you wanted, and they didn’t put up
with anything. We were there for both interviews, and the girls
were fabulous.”

“
Wow.”

“
Yeah, wow,” Rebecca
said.

“
Can I use the bathroom?”
Alex asked.

“
Oh, sure,” Rebecca held
her arm out. Alex shuffled to the bathroom. She shooed her mother
out and promptly threw up. She collapsed to the floor and threw up
again.

When she woke, she was
lying in bed again. Maggie was lying on the bed next to her. She
sat up and looked at the French door. It was dark out.

She heard a noise near her
and looked. John was sitting with his back against the headboard on
his side of the bed.

She grinned, and he
smiled.

“
You are a sight for very
sore eyes,” Alex said.

“
It’s lovely to hear your
voice,” John said.

“
Miss me?”

“
I told you to skip those
Cuban rum joints.”

Alex smiled.

“
Thanks for coming home to
me,” John said. “Again.”

“
Did I pass out in the
bathroom?” Alex asked.

“
You did,” John said. “You
got up to use the bathroom because . . .”

“
I didn’t want to throw up
in front of my mom,” Alex said.

“
I see.”

“
She was being so nice,
and . . .” Alex looked at him. “What’s wrong with
me?”

“
Very little,
surprisingly,” John said.

Alex scowled.

“
What is it?” John
asked.

“
Can you kiss me?” Alex
said.

“
I feel like you’re very
fragile, and I . . .” John started. He glanced at
her, and she was smiling her crooked smile. “Now, that’s very
unfair.”

He scooted over to kiss
her.

“
Why was I unconscious for
a week?” Alex asked.

“
Your body needed rest to
heal,” John said. “We agreed that you wouldn’t get it if you were
awake. You lost consciousness in Cuba, and MJ decided to keep you
that way. We met at Craig Hospital and concurred.”

“
Craig Hospital?” Alex
asked.

“
Brain specialists,” John
said. “They knew exactly what was going on and suggested rest as
the best treatment.”

“
Was I in the hospital?”
Alex asked.

“
Just for tests,” John
said. “Mostly, you’ve been right here, though.”

“
In our bed?” Alex
asked.

“
I wanted to keep you
close,” John nodded.

Alex wasn’t sure why, but
his desire to keep her close seemed very sweet to her. She touched
her heart, and her eyes welled. She kissed him.

“
Love you,” she
whispered.

He leaned into her, and
she closed her eyes. He leaned back.

“
Are you awake?” he
asked.

She nodded.

“
Why do my brain and spine
hurt?” Alex asked.

“
Think of it as whiplash,”
John said. “Your system was rattled in the explosion.”

Alex looked at
him.

“
How are you?” Alex
asked.

“
Good,” John said. “It’s
been lovely to know exactly where you are and what you’re
doing.”

“
Control everything,” Alex
said. “Your master plan for my life.”

John laughed.

“
Sorry,” Alex said. “I
don’t mean to belittle how hard it is to have all this going on all
the time.”

“
That’s nice of you, but
really, it’s our life,” John said. “I imagine that, ten or twenty
years from now, God willing, we’ll do something different. But for
now, it’s our life.”

“
How is Howard?” Alex
asked. “I asked Mom about Vince and Royce and Andy and Chris, but I
forgot Colonel Gordon.”

“
And your children?” John
chided.

Alex gave him a pained
look.

“
Going in order of what I
know you care about,” John said. “Joey and Máire are with Max and
Wyatt tonight because I’d hoped you would wake up again. They have
been here with you while you slept. They are growing, happy, and
really lovely.”

John gave her a proud
smile, and she grinned.

“
Howard is healing. He’s
home for now.”

“
And his injury?” Alex
asked.

“
He has a colostomy bag
for the next month or so while his intestines heal,” John said.
“His surgeons expect to reattach everything, and he’ll be right as
rain. In the meantime, he’s on leave.”

Alex nodded.

“
I’ll let the others tell
you about what happened on base,” John said. “But, suffice it to
say, your offices have been restored, for now. Joseph thinks you
need to move.”

“
I do, too,” Alex
said.

“
The team is working out
of your office at the Federal building,” John said.

Alex smiled.

“
What?” John
asked.

“
It’s nice of you to get
all these details for me,” Alex said.

“
I didn’t want you to
move,” John said. “I knew that if you didn’t know about the team
and everyone’s health, you’d get up and start calling or emailing
or . . .”

The phone on his bedside
table rang. John let it roll over to voicemail.

“
Andy and Chris are
bruised,” John said. “Andy cracked a vertebra, and Chris broke his
wrist. They both broke small bones — ribs, fingers, toes. They are
the miracle patients, because they’re healing very
quickly.”

“
It’s part of their
thing,” Alex said. “That whole team is selected for their ability
to heal. It’s some blood thing.”

“
Good to know,” John
said.

“
Vince?” Alex
asked.

“
He says he’s had worse
injuries,” John said. “I guess we know that.”

Alex smiled, remembering
the long months at Walter Reed with Vince as her
roommate.

“
Vince and
Royce . . . Well, truthfully, they
are
lucky to be alive
after being that close to such a big explosion,” John said. “They
were
lucky that they were on a medical
base and received treatment within minutes. They are lucky that
table wasn’t bolted to the floor. But, it’s going to be a long road
for both of them.”

Alex’s eyes welled with
tears.

“
They are both clear that
they will do what they need to get healthy,” John said.
“They
are
coming
back to the Fey Team. That’s what they say.”

“
But?” Alex
asked.

“
You know how it is,” John
said. “Anything can happen.”

Alex nodded.

“
You should take your
meds,” John said.

He held out two white
pills.

“
The last time I took
those, I fell asleep for twelve hours,” Alex said.

“
It’s what they do,” John
said.

“
Mom said they were
ibuprofen,” Alex said.

“
That’s what I told her
they were,” John smiled.

“
Sneaky,” Alex
said.

“
You need to sleep,” John
said. “These breaks are for you to move a little bit, eat
something . . .”

He held out an Ensure for
her.

“ 
. . .
drink water, use the toilet, and go back to sleep.”

She opened the container
and drank as much as she could.

“
I can’t stay here
forever, John,” Alex’s voice rose with impatience. “I have to
figure this out, or . . .”

“
The world will burn,”
John said. “Yes, I know. Thing is, that if you don’t get well, the
world will burn anyway.”

Alex looked at him and
blinked.

“
I’m more injured than I
feel,” Alex said.

“
Your brain,” John said.
“We’re not sure if it’s this explosion, years of strain, the
assault, last year’s stabbing, the accident last week, multiple
concussions, or . . . You know those headaches you
get? They may be caused by this injury.”

John shrugged.

“
You need rest,” John
said. “The neurologists are confident you will heal with no
noticeable injury with rest, quiet, and lots of love. Rest
first.”

Alex saw the pain and
worry on his face. Knowing that she put those creases on his face
was like a knife in her gut. She smiled her crooked smile and
raised her eyebrows.

“
Lots of love?” she
asked.

John grinning and shook
his head. She nodded and took the pills.

“
Bathroom?” Alex
asked.

He came around to help her
out of bed. He went with her into the bathroom. He helped her with
the toilet and then helped her back to bed.

She lay down and was out.
When she opened her eyes again, it was daylight, and Samantha was
sitting in the green chair, working on her laptop. Maggie was lying
on the bed next to her. Alex sat up.