did recall this loose, logy feeling after it had been over, like post-feeding satiation times a thousand. What he hadn’t had back then, though, was a female like Sarah to cozy in against, to hold, to love—
Woman, he meant.
Not female.
The reality of their situation, eclipsed by all the medical drama, returned in a rush, as if it were pissed at him for having been distracted. And as Sarah let out a yawn, and pressed a kiss to the inside of his elbow, his eyes popped open again.
The dimness was no longer a reassuring camouflage that smudged the fact that they were in an operating room.
It was a reminder that night would fall, if it hadn’t already. And they would have to go their separate ways.
His recovery might buy them an extra twenty-four hours. But courtesy of the Chosen who had given him her vein, he was fully strong and he would be fully recovered very soon. Whether or not John was cured of his infection, Sarah was going to have to go home.
And so was he.
Closing his eyes again, he drew his woman to him and held her even tighter.
This was the longest goodbye he’d ever had. Then again, it was going to last his lifetime.
As night fell the following day, Sarah wiped the tears from her eyes and knocked on the patient room next to the one she and Murhder had moved into after they’d left the OR. At the moment, her male was taking a shower, and then …
Well, she didn’t want to think about that.
“Come in.”
Pushing things wide, she stepped into the room. Over at the bed, a clutch of medical staff in blue scrubs was around John’s head, with Xhex and Tohr on the other side. Everyone was leaning down over the recumbent patient, and the tableau reminded her some of the pietàs she’d studied during her one art history class in undergrad.
I am not part of them, she thought.
But she was involved, and she thought of her work with the war on cancer. Her drugs, her theories and experiments, brought her into countless scenes like this around the country, around the world.
It was important work. Even without Murhder, she had important work to do.
As a hollow feeling sunk in at the center of her chest, she took a deep breath and—
Xhex looked up. Motioned urgently. “You’ve got to see this!”
Sarah gathered herself and went over to the bedside. As she approached, everyone straightened and she had a full view of John. The male looked like he’d run a marathon and then bench pressed a couple of houses: He had dark circles under his eyes, he seemed to have lost forty pounds of body weight, and his face was waxy. But he was smiling. Oh, how he was smiling.
The wound on his shoulder was half the size it had been, the black infection retreating like enemy forces being overrun by a strong defense. In the area where it had previously extended, the skin was puckered, as if it had been burned, but the color was normal—and that ring of healing seemed to be increasing in size before her very eyes—
John extended his long arms, and at first, she was confused who he was reaching for. But then she realized it was her.
The medical staff backed up and smiled as she went to him, bent down and gave him a hug.
“I’m so glad you’re getting better.”
As she straightened, he started to sign and she focused on his hands as they smoothly moved from position to position.
Xhex started to translate, but Sarah stopped her. “He says he owes me his life and he’s grateful.” She shook her head. “You don’t have to repay me anything. I’m just glad the hunch paid off.”
Xhex cleared her throat. “I’m grateful to you, too.”
“Make that three of us,” Tohrment said roughly.
Sarah felt her face get hot. “Like I said, I’m just glad my extrapolation worked out.”
There was conversation at that point, with John looking at Tohrment and signing, the other male smiling and saying that yes, John would be allowed out in the field as soon as he was medically cleared. Then Doc Jane and Manny talked about John’s test results, all of which were trending positively.
Sarah said some things back to everyone. She wasn’t sure exactly what came out of her mouth because it was hard to internalize all of the gratitude that continued to come her way. And then she was very aware of needing to depart before her composure