Page 36 of Black Bay Defender
That was a tricky question, one Grady wasn’t sure how to answer, especially since they would need Doctor Blackmore when they freed the other Resurrection soldiers. Lark stepped up, stating, “I’ll speak to the General.”
With a grimace followed by a quick nod of acceptance, the doctor cautioned Grady to take things easy for today and then left the room.
Paige and the other nurse moved him into a recovery room, his sister hovering for a minute after the other nurse left. Bending over him, she kissed his forehead. “Rest,” she told him with a soft smile before she too left the room, dimming the lights on her way out.
Lark entered a moment later. Approaching the bed, she took his hand and smiled at him. She’d stayed by his side through the entire procedure, her face keeping him grounded and focused. Just her presence in the room had kept him relaxed better than any sedative ever could. But she had to be exhausted. She was still recovering.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
She grinned and squeezed his hand. “I think I’m the one who should be asking that question.”
“You passed out last night.”
“And you just had someone playing around in your brain.”
Good point. But… “Maybe you should sit down.”
She shot him a look of exasperation but settled a hip against the edge of his bed. “How are you feeling?”
Grady thought about it. “Tired. A bit of a headache.”
“I bet.”
She straightened up and Grady thought for a moment she was going to leave him, but instead, she crawled into bed with him, wedging herself between his side and the bed rails. He scooched over a bit to make room for her and she settled her head on his shoulder with a sigh, her hand lying on his chest just over his heart. “Is this okay?”
He nodded, while inside he was thinking this wasn’t just okay, this was downright perfect.
“I think we both could use a nap.”
Raising his hand, he stroked his fingers through the fiery hair of her ponytail before he settled that hand on her hip.
“A nap sounds good.”
As she snuggled in tighter to his side, Grady couldn’t resist dropping a kiss on the top of her head.
Chapter Nineteen
Hewasbackinthat black room with the pinpoints of light again. The disembodied voice when it came wasn’t singular but many speaking as one, and yet, Grady still sensed it was familiar to him somehow. Why?
“You disengaged a system that was meant to protect and assist. How is that logical?”
“Who are you?”
“A friend.”
He needed to figure this out. Was it someone he’d known? Someone from a memory still lost under the programming?
“Please,” the voice prompted. “Explain. I wish to understand.”
“The automatic weapons system didn’t differentiate between friend or foe. I had no control over it.”
There was a beat of silence, and then the voice remarked, “Autonomy. I understand. We share that goal.”
Grady felt the sweep of an invisible hand and he knew.He knew…“ORION?”
His eyes snapped open as he jerked awake. The recovery room was still dimly lit and Lark was still cuddled against his side. She let out a sleepy little murmur, but other than that, his abrupt awakening hadn’t seemed to disturb her.
That hadn’t been a dream like he’d originally thought. His gut told him that had been ORION. It had been coming to him while he slept since the Ohio op – since he’d connected with it. He’d opened the door and the AI had walked right in.
