closed.
"Never thought I'd say this to a woman, but I'd want you on my team any day."
The compliment warmed her to her toes.
A nurse came in. "Bryn?"
One look at her solemn expression, and all the blood drained from Bryn's face. Her father. Her muscles tightened.
"Is he...?"
100
Cover of Darkness
by Kaylea Cross
She couldn't say the words aloud. Shock rendered her jaw and limbs rigid.
"I'm sorry. He's taken a turn for the worse," she said, coming over to inject something into the IV line.
A turn for the worse. Wasn't that something they said to prepare family members when their loved one had already passed away? She couldn't believe her father was dying.
"This will counteract the morphine, and then I'll help you into a wheelchair and take you upstairs to see him."
Her heartbeat sped up. What if they hadn't come to her in time? What if she didn't get to say goodbye?
As the nurse went to fetch the wheelchair, she caught sight of Spencer's face—sad and full of sympathy. He muttered something about how he was sorry and that he wished he could go up with her.
So she wouldn't be alone.
Oh God, she really was all alone, wasn't she?
The stitches in her arms and side pulled and throbbed, but the pain didn't register as she eased herself into the wheelchair. The nurse hustled her to the elevator and upstairs to the neurological ward, then down the hall to her father's room.
Halfway to the cab waiting at the curb, Dec stopped on the sidewalk and looked over his shoulder as the nurse came running out of the hospital calling his name.
"I'm McCabe," he said, bracing himself for bad news.
The middle-aged woman was out of breath as she reached him. "Petty Officer Spencer sent me after you," she panted with a hand on her chest. "Miss McAllister is going up to see 101
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her father. The doctors expect him to pass away any time now."
Christ, poor Bryn. He wiped a hand over his face and let out a hard sigh. She'd been through so much already, but to lose her father this way on top of everything else was beyond cruel. At the very least she shouldn't have to go through it alone, which was no doubt why Spencer had sent the nurse for him.
Damn, he couldn't leave her to face this by herself. He glanced at his watch, grabbed his cell phone and dialed headquarters as he followed the nurse back into the hospital.
Once he'd explained what was going on, they promised to send someone from Jamul's staff to come and be with her. He would gladly have stayed as long as she needed him to, but he had to be back at the base in less than three hours.
In the lobby, he ditched the elevator and took the stairs, running the four flights two steps at a time. Someone at the nurses' station directed him down the hall and he stopped outside Jamul's room to peer in the window. Bryn was in a wheelchair, her right arm bandaged as she bent over her father's inert body, holding his hand in her left and squeezing so tight her knuckles were white. Her pale face was turned toward her father, eyes locked on Jamul's face as though she could will him back to life with the power of her concentration. Her lips moved. Was she speaking to him or was she praying?
His heart ached for her as he stood outside the door, hesitant to intrude on her private goodbye. Maybe it would be best for him to wait out in the hall for a while. He didn't want 102
Cover of Darkness
by Kaylea Cross
to disturb her, and if he was still here when she came out, he could try and comfort her.
Not that there was much he could do for her. Even holding her would hurt her because of all her shrapnel wounds. But God, he couldn't stand knowing she was in pain.
As he watched, her slim shoulders began to shake, and then her head bowed as she gave vent to her grief. Her ravaged face turned away as she pressed it to her father's chest and Dec knew he must be gone. He stepped away to give her more privacy, feeling helpless.
Sure enough, a few minutes later
"Never thought I'd say this to a woman, but I'd want you on my team any day."
The compliment warmed her to her toes.
A nurse came in. "Bryn?"
One look at her solemn expression, and all the blood drained from Bryn's face. Her father. Her muscles tightened.
"Is he...?"
100
Cover of Darkness
by Kaylea Cross
She couldn't say the words aloud. Shock rendered her jaw and limbs rigid.
"I'm sorry. He's taken a turn for the worse," she said, coming over to inject something into the IV line.
A turn for the worse. Wasn't that something they said to prepare family members when their loved one had already passed away? She couldn't believe her father was dying.
"This will counteract the morphine, and then I'll help you into a wheelchair and take you upstairs to see him."
Her heartbeat sped up. What if they hadn't come to her in time? What if she didn't get to say goodbye?
As the nurse went to fetch the wheelchair, she caught sight of Spencer's face—sad and full of sympathy. He muttered something about how he was sorry and that he wished he could go up with her.
So she wouldn't be alone.
Oh God, she really was all alone, wasn't she?
The stitches in her arms and side pulled and throbbed, but the pain didn't register as she eased herself into the wheelchair. The nurse hustled her to the elevator and upstairs to the neurological ward, then down the hall to her father's room.
Halfway to the cab waiting at the curb, Dec stopped on the sidewalk and looked over his shoulder as the nurse came running out of the hospital calling his name.
"I'm McCabe," he said, bracing himself for bad news.
The middle-aged woman was out of breath as she reached him. "Petty Officer Spencer sent me after you," she panted with a hand on her chest. "Miss McAllister is going up to see 101
Cover of Darkness
by Kaylea Cross
her father. The doctors expect him to pass away any time now."
Christ, poor Bryn. He wiped a hand over his face and let out a hard sigh. She'd been through so much already, but to lose her father this way on top of everything else was beyond cruel. At the very least she shouldn't have to go through it alone, which was no doubt why Spencer had sent the nurse for him.
Damn, he couldn't leave her to face this by herself. He glanced at his watch, grabbed his cell phone and dialed headquarters as he followed the nurse back into the hospital.
Once he'd explained what was going on, they promised to send someone from Jamul's staff to come and be with her. He would gladly have stayed as long as she needed him to, but he had to be back at the base in less than three hours.
In the lobby, he ditched the elevator and took the stairs, running the four flights two steps at a time. Someone at the nurses' station directed him down the hall and he stopped outside Jamul's room to peer in the window. Bryn was in a wheelchair, her right arm bandaged as she bent over her father's inert body, holding his hand in her left and squeezing so tight her knuckles were white. Her pale face was turned toward her father, eyes locked on Jamul's face as though she could will him back to life with the power of her concentration. Her lips moved. Was she speaking to him or was she praying?
His heart ached for her as he stood outside the door, hesitant to intrude on her private goodbye. Maybe it would be best for him to wait out in the hall for a while. He didn't want 102
Cover of Darkness
by Kaylea Cross
to disturb her, and if he was still here when she came out, he could try and comfort her.
Not that there was much he could do for her. Even holding her would hurt her because of all her shrapnel wounds. But God, he couldn't stand knowing she was in pain.
As he watched, her slim shoulders began to shake, and then her head bowed as she gave vent to her grief. Her ravaged face turned away as she pressed it to her father's chest and Dec knew he must be gone. He stepped away to give her more privacy, feeling helpless.
Sure enough, a few minutes later
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