Page 154 of Beyond Protection
"Yeah. Michael tackled her. You took the bullet meant for me."
Fragments of my memories came back. The basement. Vanessa's gun tracking toward Mac. The moment I'd stopped calculating and moved.
"Good." I looked into his eyes through the fog. "Worth it."
"Don't say that." His tone was sharp, almost angry.
"It's true."
He squeezed my hand. "You could've died."
"Didn't." The word came out slurred. I wanted to say more—tried to tell him that three years of guilt had burned away in that single instant, that choosing to stand between him and danger hadn't felt like redemption so much as inevitability—but the drugs pulled at me. "Shoulder hurts like hell, though."
"Good. That means you're alive."
A nurse appeared, checked monitors, and said something about pain management. I lost the thread. Mac's thumb traced circles on the back of my hand.
"Prognosis?" I asked
"They said the bullet missed everything important. Clean through the muscle."
"Lucky."
"Yeah." Mac's voice cracked slightly. "Lucky."
I began to drift out of consciousness again. The last thing I registered was his fingers carding through my hair. Gentle. Like I was something that might break.
I surfaced to voices and the smell of something that wasn't hospital food.
"—needs actual nutrition, not whatever sad excuse you're calling lunch—" Ma McCabe's voice, unmistakable in its authority.
The door opened. She swept in carrying contraband Tupperware, took one look at me, and her expression softened.
"There he is. You look less like death. Progress." She set the containers down, then surprised me by kissing my forehead. "I brought stew."
Mac jerked awake in the chair beside the bed and laughed—the first real laugh I'd heard from him in days.
Behind Ma came Marcus and Michael, still in work clothes. Marcus moved directly to the chart without asking forpermission, nodding to himself as he read. Michael brought coffee.
"Your PT instructions are conservative," Marcus said, setting the chart back. He handed me a list. "Add these once he's past the initial healing. He'll get mobility back faster."
"He's grumpy," Michael announced to Mac. "Definitely healing."
"I'm right here," I said.
"We know." Michael's grin was sharp. "That's why we're talking about you instead of to you. More fun this way."
Ma unpacked food while telling us about her battle with hospital administration. Made me eat while Marcus explained the PT additions, and Michael made jokes about professional patients.
The room was crowded and chaotic. The McCabes were back.
After they left, Mac was smiling.
"Fair warning," he said. "It gets worse."
"What does?"
"The claiming. You're in now. Permanently." He poured water and held the cup while I drank. "Miles is coming later with books, and Claire's bringing flowers. Ma's already planning Christmas dinner around your discharge."
