Page 74 of Heal
Bryon nodded. "Are you okay? Mentally, I mean? It changes you when you do that to someone."
Beau took a long breath. "I can live with myself. I'm struggling with the oath I took as a doctor and what I did, but other than that, I'm okay. I'll talk to Katie about it when I go in. I've got her meeting with the kids now too. She's helping them come to terms with what was done to them, though I think for Lisa, Faith's been her biggest help."
Bryon smiled. "Faith has that magic about her."
"She does."
"So, where do we stand, Beau? Tell me what you want." Bryon sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he stared at him.
"I miss the team. Miss my friends. I worry every night that someone is going to get hurt and you won't call me. I'll understand if you won't take me back on the team, and I'll still work with you when cases come through the hospital, but what I'd really like is to be back on the team." He tried to read Bryon's expression, but there wasn't any hint to what he was thinking.
"And if this happens again?" Bryon asked.
"I can't promise you I wouldn't do it again. If the circumstances were the same, I might. That said, I promise to do my best to resist, no matter what the situation is, but I will also train. I'll get with the others and learn all the skills. I'll improve my shooting, I'll learn to lockpick, I'll get my own gear. I'll practice all those fighting skills you've taught the others. I'll make sure that if it ever does happen again, which I really hope it doesn't, that I'm trained and ready to go in." It was the best Beau could do.
"You forgot one thing." Bryon stared at him.
"What?"
"You'll call me first. Had you had the training, had I known that you knew what you were doing, I would have said yes that night. Sending you in untrained was the issue. I agree we would have lost him if he'd left town, but you were not the one who should have gone. If you swear that you'll train and get with Xander or whoever you're comfortable with and learn everything you can from them, then come to me and learn more, I'll let you back on the team. But you go off playing cowboy on your own again, Beau, it might be your balls I come after next time." Bryon didn't blink as he spoke, making sure the words were understood.
Relief swept through him. The team was more family than his real one. Without them, there was a huge hole in his life. "Thank you, Bry." Beau smiled. "I'm sorry I let you down."
"I understand why you did what you did. I just can't let you guys break the rules all the time or we'd lose control eventually. This works because we follow the rules we've set. It works because we trust one another. You're part of this team, Beau. You will be as long as you want to be here, if you don't break the rules again."
"Deal." Beau smiled.
"Now, to the other issue, Parson. What's going to happen there?" Bryon asked.
Beau understood his concern. He didn't know Parson or what he'd do with the information he now had. "Parson won't talk. He's too involved in things from his side. CPS is a mess, and with all the abuse going on, he wants it stopped. He didn't seem happy about how we go about it, but he understood why we do it. I'll talk to him soon and make sure everything is okay, but I know in my gut, the secret stays with him."
"And if he asks for more information?"
Beau sighed. "Honestly, ideally, he is going to come back into my life and I'm going to end up marrying that man in a few years. That's where I am on our relationship. I just know in my gut, ya know? But, truth is, I don't know if he's coming back. If he does, and things work, in time, I'd like to let him know more. I'd love to have what Xander and Kasey do with partners who are here with them, but I know I can't do that without the whole team's okay. And it's not something I'll do until I'm one-hundred percent sure that he and I are forever. I won't put the team at risk. I won't put my friends at risk."
"Fair enough. I trust you to know when the time is to tell him, but like you said, discuss it with the team first." Bryon stood. "I've missed you, Beau."
Beau stood and pulled Bryon into a hug. "I've missed you too. Thanks for understanding, and for forgiving."
"Yeah, well, don't get too sentimental. I tried to hire Faith in your place, but Matt and Xander threatened to quit the team if I did." Bryon grinned.
Sure that that conversation had really happened, even if Bryon had been joking about hiring Faith, Beau laughed. "Her time will come. In another ten years, she'll be ready to replace me. Hell, she might even replace you."
"That wouldn't surprise me." Bryon slapped Beau's back. "Come on, let's grab a beer and you can tell me what it's like being a father."
Beau smiled, realizing that talking about his kids was now his favorite pastime. He followed Bryon into the kitchen, excited to tell him everything.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Parson listened to the gossip at work, his stomach in knots at what he was hearing. Two more children had been removed from a foster home the night before, both sent to the hospital for evaluation after their foster parents had been arrested for abusing them.
He was sure that Beau had treated the children, or at least it was likely he did. He'd mentioned there weren't many doctors at the hospital with the training to handle sexual abuse cases.
The thought also had him wondering if the foster parents had been hit by Beau's team before being arrested. He didn't have any facts yet.
This was the seventh time in two weeks that children had been removed from a home for possible sexual abuse. The CPS office was in a panic, trying to figure out how they'd missed the abuse, and his bosses were worried about what would happen when the media got hold of all the information.
Honestly, Parson was surprised the media hadn't heard about it already. It wasn't like you could hide arrest records. The media were usually right on top of things like this.
