missed it,” Sleep said, his brows furrowing as he thought back over the interview.
“I have ways of getting information,” Eyes assured him.
“I guess you are a bit of a man whore,” Sleep acknowledged.
Then Eyes grinned before asking his next question. “Hey! Did you hear?”
Sleep rolled his eyes, knowing what was coming. He tried to scoot forward before Eyes could continue. He made it a dozen yards when Eyes yelled across the room.
“Hey, Sleep!” The people milling about the room stopped and turned to look between them. Sleep kept on moving. “Sleep!” he called even louder.
He turned back around and had to laugh at the stupid grin on his brother’s face.
“What is it?” Sleep asked.
“I was just thinking about that time you shot me, what was it? Oh, yeah, three times,” Eyes said as he rubbed his hip and winced, though the laughter in his eyes couldn’t be covered.
Sleep refused to respond to his friend. He just stood there waiting for Eyes to finish his little show.
“Come on, Sleep, I know you haven’t forgotten, even if you’ve been hit in the head one too many times. But just in case” — he raised a hand — “you shot me here, and here, and here.” He pointed at his shoulder, his back, and his hip. “I want to thank you for all the attention I’ve gotten from the nurses because of your shooting skills. There have been some hot ones. I especially loved the sponge baths.”
The men in the room began laughing, used to this comedy routine. Though, they never knew exactly what would come out of Eyes’s mouth from one moment to the next, they did know it would entertain.
“How about you get the yoga guru you’ve used for years to come give me some extra special therapy. I hear she’s a brunette. I’ve always had a thing for long, dark hair,” Eyes continued.
Sleep gave him a taunting grin right back. “I’ve been given specific instructions by my guru that I’d have to shoot someone a minimum of seven times before I was allowed to give out her name.”
The other personnel in the room didn’t even try to hide the fact they were watching the two of them. Several chuckles surrounded them in the large hall.
“Ha! With the way you shoot, I could’ve been hit another twenty times and still be in the same shape I’m in now,” Eyes said.
Sleep rolled his eyes and Eyes winked. Sleep held up his hand with a special finger sticking up. Then they both joined in the laughter of the room. They loved the men and women on this base, but they were more than ready to go home.
What came next, neither of them quite knew. But it was sure to be an adventure.
Chapter Twenty-One
Those who said the Anderson family didn’t do things big had never actually met the Andersons. They were known for being a billionaire family that owned a lot of businesses, provided hundreds of thousands of jobs, and were generous philanthropists.
But what was known most about them was that they truly loved each other. There wasn’t in-house fighting, there weren’t battles over money. They didn’t cheat, they didn’t lie, and they didn’t betray one another or anyone else.
And when the Anderson family needed to be united, there was no question that’s exactly what they’d do.
It was the morning Katherine was coming back to them. The doctor’s were bringing her out of her coma, and though the family knew they couldn’t all be in her room, they needed to be at the hospital, close by and together.
So together they came. They arrived at Mercy Medical in droves. Wave after wave of men, women, and children came through the double doors where they were escorted to a huge conference room. The one they’d used on the first night wasn’t big enough for this gathering. This time they needed a stadium.
They came in pairs, in fours, and in sixes. Sons and daughters, cousins, nieces, nephews, and grandchildren. They continued pouring in, the parking lot full, the hospital staff in awe at the sheer quantity streaming inside. And when they thought it was over, more showed up.
They brought hope and love, along with balloons and flowers and handmade cards. Their written messages were of love and healing. The smallest of the grandchildren had balloons tied to their wrists, the bright colors and messages making those they passed smile even through their pain. This family was beautiful, and they were enough to lift all the spirits of