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The one person who is noticeably absent is Mike He did not accept hton and I had talked hiht be able to provide hi, he wanted to be here for Sa to his handler He felt like he owed the govern to be leaving for Vegas I had told hi It was likely he could co none the wiser These days, all he had to do was check in via phone with his handler, and they never drop in on him unannounced

Ultimately, I think Mike was bothered by the amount of information I handed him, and he was pissed he didn’t know about it from his own handler He wanted to confront him and demand the truth More importantly, he wanted to knohat I told hi… that he has a hard ti me

Of course, the handler did confir there should be no way in hell Mike should have that inforument whereby Mike was pissed the information was kept from them and the handler insisted he was on a need-to-know basis and didn’t need to know anything unless he was in danger

Based on that, it seeram, but that wasn’t the case His handler talked hier level increase to hiram would provide him with a new identity and a new place to live

Ultimately, it was the love of his own life that took priority over wanting to be there for Sa the transplant

God, it fucking pissed me off I don’t understand how there’s any choice There’s no way any threat would ever keep me away from my kid

It’s also one of the reasons why I have a deep respect for Leighton despite still being so angry with her for keeping Sam from me Her own safety simply didn’t matter when she chose to seek me out She puts Sam first, which is the way it should be

Sa and cheesy, causing es so he knows I’ood”

He attehton She mumbles a low thank you but sets it on the bedside table without even a taste I’h I would never admit it

I simply say, “You should drink that while it’s hot”

She only nods before turning her attention to Saoes to his forehead, aa fever One of the biggest risks of the che every day since his adood

He may have avoided infection, but it doesn’t , and a proliferation of sores within Sa him miserable He has bouts of diarrhea where he’ll just sit on the toilet—if he’s lucky enough to make it into the bathroo cry, too

Not Leighton, though She’s always got that soft smile of eh I can’t iine what it costs her to put on such a brave front when I know she is shredded up on the inside

I move around the bed, to the chair I norhtlyhis hand under his cheek

“Rough day?” I ask

Giving s “Not so bad”

Just like hison a brave face

“Little liar,” I chastise with a grin as I reach out to touch his face Not to check for a fever but to provide a soft touch I’ve never had to care for someone who’s sick While this is new topower in affection I witness it continually between Leighton and Sam, and while I’ll never have his ood at what she does—I want to have a presence

Sahton and me I admire him for it, but I also want to tell hih, because I’hton’s been advising hih I want to be the type of uidance to my son, I want to be the type of parent ould never contradict his son’s hton at least, since she’s done an incredible job raising him I make a note to ask her later about the best way to provide him comfort and reassurance