Page 43 of Paradise

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In the end, the recording wasn’t needed. They went with Plan A, with a twist, and it wasn’t even Jonah’s call. When he and Cody entered the office, Jack and his lawyer were waiting for them along with Miles and Gunnery Sergeant Bowman. Jack’s lawyer looked like she’d been chewing on persimmons.

“What’s goin’ on?” Jonah asked, keeping his hands on his son’s shoulders. Jack tore his eyes away from the boy and looked up at Jonah.

“My client is withdrawing his claim to Cody Helms,” the lawyer said, hissing the last “s” through the very front of her teeth like she wanted to bite the word off.

“It ain’t the right thing, for me to force something on him that he doesn’t want,” Jack said, and he looked resigned. “That doesn’t mean I don’t want to get to know him. I do, more than anything.” He sounded absolutely sincere. “But not if that means takin’ him away from you. You and your man, you two love him. You’ve got a home for him. A kid needs that.”

“We’re interested in the possibility of visitation rights,” his lawyer said. She knew Jack had just thrown away their advantage, and she didn’t look happy to be on the defensive side of the bargaining table, but she was doing her best. “In the interests of giving Cody the most well-rounded experience possible, Mr. Vendam would like to be able to see him for two standard weeks a year, said visitation taking place either here on Paradise or on Pandora, not to leave either location with Cody without prior knowledge and assent from you, Mr. Helms.”

Jonah was shocked silent. Jack stared at him, more open than he’d ever seen him before, and Jonah knew he had the man’s hope in his hands. He could break it and break Jack while he did, or he could save him. It was dizzying, having that kind of power, and honestly, it made him feel a little sick. He swallowed and looked down at Cody.

“What do you say, bucko?” he asked gently. “How do you feel about seeing Jack every now and then?”

Cody looked thoughtful. “But I’d still get to live with you.”

“Yes.”

“And with Garrett.”

“Yes.”Absolutely yes.

Cody shrugged, taking it in stride the way only a kid could. “Okay.”

Just like that, the whole mood of the place changed. Jack was smiling, Miles looked pleased, and Cody wasn’t unhappy, which was probably the best Jonah could hope for under the circumstances. There were holes to be plugged and details to be arranged, but the crisis had been avoided.Thank fuck, as Garrett would say.

Speaking of that … Jonah still had to deal with Garrett. But at least the wait would be easier to tolerate now.

Chapter twenty-two

Garrett

In the early days of its development, Regen was something of a mixed blessing. It could heal horrific wounds and bring people back from the brink of death, but if someone was wholly submerged in it, instead of given the small injections that staved off aging, the process did more than heal their physical wounds. It went in and completely rewrote genomes, perfected imperfections, and made the body in its liquid embrace the equivalent of a blank slate. Soldiers would go into it dying and come out of it like flesh dolls of themselves, with no memories and no physical abilities beyond the most basic of functions. It turned back the clock, literally, and turned the grown back into children.

After being sued almost into oblivion, TerraPharm, the company responsible for the technology, had gone back to the drawing board and come up with ways to protect the brain and preserve memories and motor functions. A skilled-enough doctor could design a Regen treatment that dulledthe psychological pain of a traumatic event while keeping the memory of the event itself. In the Mansion’s infirmary, a place designed to treat any trauma a soldier might have to contend with, the doctors were artists with Regen.

So Garrett was allowed to retain his memory of the traumatic event that precipitated his landing on his back in a pool of gel while not really feeling the emotions that had gone with it. The process had been extra tricky, given that he was in for a biochemical treatment in the first place, but the doctors managed. That was what gave Garrett the ability to wake up slowly and calmly, quietly assessing his surroundings, instead of bolting off the bed he was on and running around in a panic, which had definitely been a possibility a little while ago.

The bed was familiar. Comfortable. The infirmary did its best, but there were too many technological worries in a medical bed to make it truly comfortable to lie on. This one was nice, and it smelled like warmth and Jonah. Jonah … wasn’t there something Garrett was supposed to tell him?

He let his mind mull it over as he gradually took stock of his senses. Warm, soft bed although his cheek was pressed against something that felt a little harder. There was a heavy weight across his middle, and something was rhythmically fluffing his hair. The weight moved, and Garrett finally identified it.Arm.

He smiled and snuggled closer to the owner of the arm because it had to be Jonah, and that was good. He loved being held by Jonah. It was kind of a surprise, but … wait … why should his fiancé holding him ever be surprising?

Because you freaked out and broke his ex’s arm in two places after spying on him and going off your meds,the asshole part of his consciousness said.Nice going, genius.

Shut up, bitch,Garrett retorted, but he had made a good point. Or two.

“I can tell you’re awake now,” Jonah murmured. He sounded drowsy.

“Shh, I’m not ready to wake up,” Garrett replied. He had the beginnings of butterflies in his stomach, so he figured he should take advantage of his medically induced calm while he could.

“Can’t be sleepy. You’ve been out for almost three days.”

“I can be sleepy if I want to,” Garrett told him. “That way I can avoid facing the music for a little longer.”

“Where’d that sayin’ even come from?” Jonah asked. “Doesn’t make any sense.”

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