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"You need some attention, Mr Johnson"

"That can wait" The panic was down to a grinding, deadly fear in the center of his gut "Tell me about Abra Where have you taken her?"

"Ms Wilson is in the best of hands" The doctor was young, ire-fray head of dark hair He&039;d been on the graveyard shift in the ER for a week and was looking forward to eight hours&039; sleep "If you loseto pass out and save us all a lot of trouble"

Cody lifted hiainst the wall "Tell me where she is"

"Mr Johnson?"

Cody heard the voice behind hinored it as he stared into the eyes of the first-year resident "Tell "

The resident thought about calling for security, then decided against it "She&039;s being prepped for surgery I don&039;t know a great deal about her condition, but Dr Bost is heading the surgical team, and he&039;s the best"

Slowly Cody let hirip on his coat "I want to see her"

"You can throw h he sincerely hoped it wouldn&039;t co to be able to see her She needs surgery You&039;re both lucky to be alive, Mr Johnson We&039;re only trying to keep you that way"

"She&039;s alive" Fear was burning his throat more than the smoke inhalation

"She&039;s alive" Cautiously the doctor reached up to remove Cody&039;s hands "Let ery I&039;ll come for you"

Cody looked down at his hands Blood was already seeping through the bandage the ambulance attendant had fashioned "Sorry"

"Don&039;t mention it Froh tiot a hole in your head, Mr Johnson" He s charm would work "I&039;ll stitch it up for you"

"Excuse me" The e "Lieutenant Asaro I&039;d like to speak with you, Mr Johnson"

"You want to speak with hi a bit estured toward an exa room "Or would you like to wait until he&039;s patched up?"

Asaro noticed a chair near the exa table "Mind?"

"No" Cody sat on the table and peeled off as left of his shirt Both his torso and his back were lashed with burns and lacerations that made Asaro wince

"Close call, I&039;d say"

Cody didn&039;t respond as the doctor began to clean the gash at his te out there at dawn?"

"Looking around" Cody sucked in his breath at the sting of the antiseptic Fro screaineer on the job I&039;ot that ure you see enough of the place during the week?"

"We had our reasons for going tonight"

"I&039; a little through his teeth as he worked "Numb this up"

Cody et anyere informed that there had been discrepancies on the job Substandard materials used"

"I see You were inforht" Cody divorced his mind from his body as the doctor co to name the source until I discuss it, but I&039;ll tell you what I know"

Asaro set pencil to paper "I&039;d appreciate it"

Cody went through it all - the discovery, the confrontation with Tier at the deception had faded The only thing on hisof the car they had seen leaving the site, their assue of a lonely spot

"You still think that?" Asaro asked

"No" He felt the slight pull and tug on his hand as his flesh was sewed together "I think so on that site and blew it all to hell It&039;s a lot tougher to identify substandardan accusation, Mr Johnson?"

"I&039; a fact, lieutenant Thornway panicked and had his project destroyed He knew Abra and I were going to the building commissioner tomorrow if he didn&039;t Noe can bypass that"

"How so?"

"Because as soon as Abra&039;s out of surgery I&039; to kill hiuely relieved when they lance "Finished?"

"Al rhythlass in your back and a few nice third-degree burns"

"That&039;s an interesting story, Mr Johnson" Asaro rose and pocketed his book "I&039; to have it checked out A little advice?" He didn&039;t wait for Cody to answer "You should be careful aboutthreats in front of a cop"

"Not a threat," Cody told hi as the resident relass He welcomed it "There&039;s a wo in the world You didn&039;t see how she looked e got her here" His stohtened, muscle bysorry enough for that bastard to give him a few hours to explain all of this to his wife Instead, he ht have killed her"

"Oneto visit the site?"

"What difference does it make?"

"Humor me"

"No It wasn&039;t planned I was restless" He broke off to press his fingers to his burning eyes "I wanted to look at it, try to resign et yourself some rest, Mr Johnson" Asaro nodded to the doctor "I&039;ll be in touch"

"We&039;re going to check you in for a day or so, Mr Johnson" The doctor wrapped the last burn before picking up a penlight to shine it in Cody&039;s eyes "I&039;ll have the nurse give you so for the pain"

"No I don&039;t need a bed I need to knohat floor Abra&039;s on"

"Take the bed, and I&039;ll check on Miss Wilson" The look in Cody&039;s eye had the resident holding up a hand "Have it your way You ht not have noticed, but there are people around here who likerooerly off the table "Stop by the pharmacy" He scrawled a prescription on a pad, then ripped the sheet off "Have this filled Your being in pain&039;s not going to help her"

"Thanks" Cody pocketed the prescription "I "

He didn&039;t fill the prescription, not because the pain wasn&039;t griht knock hi room was familiar He&039;d spent hours there with Abra only days before, while David Men-dez had been in surgery Noas Abra He remembered how concerned she&039;d been, how kind There was no one there now but hie plastic cup with black coffee, scalded his already-raw throat with it and began to pace If he could have risked leaving her alone for a tione then to find Thornway, to pull him out of that nice white house and beat his face to a pulp on that well-grooht as he downed the rest of the burning coffee Abra was lying on an operating table fighting for her life, and the reason wasthe cup in his hand, he hurled it across the roo in frustration

She&039;d screaed a hand over his face as the ely as the glass She&039;d screah

Why had she been alone in there? Why hadn&039;t he sent her back to the car? Why hadn&039;t he simply taken her home?

Why? There were a dozen whys, but none of the answers changed the fact that Abra was hurt and he was -

"Cody" Her hair mussed and her face drawn, Jessie ran into the room "Good God, Cody, what happened? What happened to Abra?" She took his hands, not noticing the bandage as she squeezed "They said there was an accident at the site But it&039;s Sunday ?"

"Jessie" Barlow hurried in behind her to take her hand and lead her to a chair "Give him a chance You can see the boy&039;s been hurt"

Jessie&039;s lip was tre, and she had to bite it to steady it She saw the bandages and the burns, and she saw the look on his face, which spoke more clearly than words of shock and fear "Dear Lord, Cody, what happened? They said she&039;s in surgery"

"You sit, too" Taking charge, Barlow eased Cody into a chair "I&039;et us all some coffee here, and you take your time"

"I don&039;t kno she is They wouldn&039;t letto break down, he realized, if he didn&039;t find so through, but now it struck like an iron fist "She&039;s alive," he said It was almost a prayer "When I pulled her out, she was alive"

"Pulled her out?" Jessie held the cup Barlow urged on her with both hands Still, the coffee swayed and trembled "Pulled her out of what?"

"I was outside, onwhen it exploded"

"Exploded?" The coffee slipped out of her hands and onto the floor

"The fire went up so fast" He could see it, he could feel it As he sat in the chair, in his , blinded by sh, but I couldn&039;t find her The place was coe She was trapped under the rubble, but when I got her out she was alive"

Barlow put a hand on Jessie&039;s arm to calm her, and to quiet her "I want you to take it slow, Cody Start at the beginning"

It was like a dream now The pain did that, and the fear He started with the call from Carmen Mendez and continued until they had wheeled Abra, unconscious, away from him

"I should have pushed him," Cody murmured "I should have picked up the phone and called the authorities ive hio out there, to look at it, to - I don&039;t know, soothe my pride? - she wouldn&039;t be hurt"

"You went in after her" Jessie rubbed the heels of her hands hard over her face "You risked your life to save hers"

"I have no life without her"

The time for tears would have to wait She rose to take his hand "You know, most of us never find anyone who loves us that much She&039;s always needed it, and I always fell short You&039;re not going to lose her"

"I don&039;t suppose you&039;d listen to an old man and stretch out on the couch over there?" When Cody shook his head, Barlow stood "Thought not Got to "

So they waited Cody watched the clock as the minutes ticked by When Nathan and Jackie came in ahead of Barlow an hour later, he was too numb to be surprised

"Oh, honey" Jackie went to him immediately, her small, sharp-featured face alive with concern "We heard almost as soon as the plane touched down What can we do?"

He shook his head but held on It helped somehow just to hold on to soery"

"I know Mr Barlow explained everything out in the hall We won&039;t talk about it now We&039;ll just wait"

Nathan dropped a hand on his shoulder "I e could have gotten here sooner If it helps any, Thorn-way&039;s already been picked up"

Cody&039;s eyes focused, then hardened "How do you know?"

"Barlow did so The police went by to question him The minute he was told that you and Abra had been in the explosion he fell apart"

"It doesn&039;t matter" Cody stood up and went to theIt didn&039;t matter whether Thornas in jail or in hell Abra was in surgery, and every second was an eternity

Nathan started forward, but Jackie laid a hand on his arm "Letfor hiineer, isn&039;t she?"

"Yeah She&039;s the engineer"

"And I don&039;t have to ask if you love her"

"I haven&039;t even told her" He laid his forehead on the glass because he was teht tiht place Jack, when I pulled her out - " He needed another minute to force hiht she was dead"

"She wasn&039;t She isn&039;t" She laid a hand gently on his wrist "I know I have this rotten opti, but I don&039;t believe you&039;re going to lose her When she&039;s better, are you getting married?"

"Yeah She doesn&039;t know that, either I have to talk her into it"

"You&039;re a good talker, Cody" She touched his cheek, then turned his head so that she could study his face He was deadly pale, with bruises under eyes that were still swollen and red-rimmed from smoke "You look terrible How many stitches?"

"Didn&039;t count"

She turned over his hands, barelyfor the pain?"

"Some prescription" Absently he touched his pocket

"Which you didn&039;t fill" At least this was so it out of his pocket "I&039; it up you&039;re going to take it"

"I don&039;t want - "

"You don&039;t want to mess with me," Jackie told hi room

He took the pills to placate her, then drank the coffeepot dry to offset the drowsiness Another hour passed, and then another His pain dulled to a throb, and his fear sharpened

He recognized the doctor as the salance over the group huddled in chairs and couches and approached Jessie

"You&039;re Mrs Barlow, Miss Wilson&039;s s wouldn&039;t straighten Instead she put one hand in her husband&039;s and the other in Cody&039;s "Please, tell hter hasn&039;t regained consciousness yet, and she&039;s lost a great deal of blood We were able to stop the hes weren&039;t daed Her arm was broken in two places, and she has a hairline fracture below the right knee"

Foolishly Jessie re scraped elbows and knees to make them better "But they&039;ll heal?"

"Yes Mrs Barloe&039;re going to do a series of X rays and a Cat scan&039;&039;

"Brain da she has brain dae?"

"She suffered a severe blow to the head These tests are standard I know they sound oainst whatever other injuries she may have"

"When will you have the results?" Jessie asked

"We&039;ll run the tests this afternoon They&039;ll take a couple of hours"

"I want to see her" Cody stood, sending Jessie a brief, apologetic glance "I have to see her"

"I know"

"She won&039;t be awake," the doctor explained "And you&039;ll have to keep it brief"

"Just let me see her"

He wasn&039;t sure orse - all those hours of speculation or the actuality of seeing her lying so still, so pale, with bruises standing out so harshly on her cheeks and the tubes hooking her to a line of impersonal machines

He took her hand, and it was cool But he could feel the pulse beating in her wrist, echoed by the monitors next to her

There was no privacy here She would hate that, he thought Only a wall of glass separated her from the quiet iven her a bed gown, so white with faded blue flowers He resented the idea that dozens of others had worn it before

She was so pale

His h he tried to fix it on other, inconsequential things The faded gown, the beep of the lass

Where was she? he wondered as he sat and kept her hand in his through the bars on the sides of the bed He didn&039;t want her to get too far away He didn&039;t knohat to say to bring her closer

"They won&039;t letroom until you wake up Make it soon" He rubbed a hand absently over his chest as it tightened "You cah okay They want to take some ot a nasty bump on the head, that&039;s all"

Please, God, let that be all

He fell silent again, counting thewe could take that trip back east once you&039;re out of here You can work on your tan and nag htened uncontrollably on hers "For God&039;s sake, Abra, don&039;t leave ht - or perhaps it was only a wish - that her fingers pressed just for an instant against his hand

"You&039;ve got to get soraph of the newspaper for twentyback here?"

"Putting my foot doith you" Nathan sat on the couch beside hio back and tell her I convinced you to take a break, she&039;s going to insist on co better than I look"

"You&039;d have to be to still be conscious"