Impact Zone

by Cara Carnes

  “Dad, stop. He’s right. They need rest,” Rhianna said. “Could I sit with her?”

  “Of course,” Fallon said. Hand on the young woman’s shoulder, he squeezed. “She’s going to be okay. Her body is just flushing out the neurotoxin.”

  “And the people who did this are…” Rhea’s mom paled. “They aren’t a problem any longer?”

  Fallon’s jaw twitched. Mandrake was a problem, but Carlisle was gone, which left the answer a slippery slope of confidential information Rhea’s family wasn’t privy to. “They’re never messing with her again.”

  “Good.” Rhianna looked at Rhea’s parents. “I’m going to sit with her. You should both go eat. If she’s waking soon, she’ll want to see us all.”

  “She’s right, dear,” Rhea’s mom said.

  The man blustered a moment. His gaze swept the area. “Very well. If she doesn’t wake soon, I’ll be contacting an attorney and having this so-called medical power of attorney overthrown. Whoever it is couldn’t possibly have a better idea of my daughter’s wishes than her parents.”

  “I disagree,” Bree said as she arrived. “Sorry, Logan. I came as soon as I could. Someone mentioned there was an issue with Rhea’s parents. Dr. Strathmore, Mrs. Strathmore. It’s been a while.”

  “Bree.” Rhianna powered into the blonde woman and sobbed. “I didn’t know any of this was happening until Medina knocked on the door the other night and I happened to answer. You should have called me yourself. You know how they are.”

  “She’s okay, sweetie,” Bree whispered. Arms around a frightened Rhianna, Bree’s gaze latched on to Fallon. Dark circles beneath her eyes worried him. “Come on. We’ll go and sit with Rhea. Jacob here will escort your folks to the mess hall to eat.”

  Fallon followed the two into the room. Extra chairs had been brought in to accommodate the influx of people who took turns sitting with Rhea. Music played softly from a speaker near her bed. Fallon alternated playlists between her phone and his. He hoped it soothed her, gave her a subconscious awareness that she was safe.

  Home.

  Unlike regular hospital rooms, the lighting wasn’t overly bright or obnoxious fluorescents. The overhead was kept off. Pale yellow light from pole lamps in two of the corners worked with the natural light from the window across from Rhea’s bed. With Logan’s permission, he’d kept the window open a few inches, just enough to let the soft breeze knock away the antiseptic smell hanging in the air.

  “I don’t understand what happened. Dad always said she didn’t do anything dangerous or important enough for anyone to care.” Rhianna sat where Fallon typically did. The girl took Rhea’s hand.

  “I’m thinking they don’t fully understand what she does,” Bree said, her voice soft. “She’ll be okay.”

  “She has to be,” Rhianna said, tears trekking down her face. She looked down at where their hands touched. “Mom told me. Last night after Medina left. We were crying together while Dad got us flights out. She told me about…”

  “Rhea loves you so much, sweetie.” Bree’s eyes shone with unshed tears. “I hope you know that.”

  “I do. I get it now. Why I’m so much like her.”

  Fallon wished Rhea’s parents had waited to tell Rhianna until Rhea was awake. Or there. He didn’t pretend to know a damn thing about familial dynamics, though.

  “Were you there?” Rhianna peered up at Fallon. “With her?”

  “For as much of it as possible. Someone else rescued her. We were in a rainforest,” Fallon reached down and ran his hand down Rhea’s hair. “She’s an amazing woman. You look a lot like her.”

  Rhianna’s eyes widened. “Are you and her together? Like together together?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s an understatement,” Bree commented. “The man hasn’t left this room since she was brought in. He practically jumped out of the plane before it even landed to get to her.”

  “Bree,” Fallon warned.

  “What? They should know she’s not alone here. You and every other commando badass here would destroy anyone who tried to hurt her.” Bree squeezed Rhianna’s free hand and ran her other one across Rhea’s forehead. “So would I.”

  Fallon hadn’t gotten the chance to thank Bree for what all she’d done. If not for her hyper-vigilant overpacking and triple trackers, they may not have found Rhea in time. The thought made his entire body clench.

  He’d almost lost her.

  Love.

  Fallon loved Rhea.

  The startling realization had proved harder and harder to deny. He’d always assumed he’d be the lone wolf. Love wasn’t in the cards for him. Neither was family.

  But he found himself wanting both now. With Rhea.

  Watching Jesse, Gage, and the other operatives he admired carve a new life out for themselves with the women they loved had left him defenseless against the possibility of having the same.

  With Rhea.

  Nothing mattered more than her. He’d do anything to keep her safe.

  “Her hand moved!” Rhianna exclaimed. “Rhea?”

  Fallon took her other hand and felt her forehead. Tears glistened in Bree’s eyes.

  “Come back to us, Doc,” Fallon whispered against her cheek. “I love you, Rhea. Wake up for me.”

  “I love you, Rhea. Wake up for me.”

  Fallon. Drowsiness drew her under, but she wanted Fallon more. She forced her eyelids open and blinked.

  Rhianna.

  Bree.

  “Hey there,” Bree said. “Welcome back.”

  Fingers stroked her forehead, ran through her hair. She smiled, turned her head. Her heartbeat quickened when her gaze locked with Fallon. Bruises and cuts marred his handsome face, but he was safe. She took a relieved breath, inhaled the air. Not as antiseptic and hospital as she’d expected.

  Fallon was alive!

  “You’re home, in Medical,” Bree said, as if reading her thoughts. “Rhianna and your parents are here. Everyone’s been coming and going. They’ll be disappointed they weren’t here when you woke. Fallon hasn’t left.”

  The subtext within the last statement added to the worried expression on her best friend’s face clued her in. Rhea had been out longer than she realized. “How long?”

  “Twenty-nine and a half hours, give or take,” Fallon said, his voice raw with emotion.

  She pulled her hand from his, running it along his whisker-covered jaw.

  “I’m so glad you’re okay. I didn’t know what was happening until Medina knocked on the door and told us you were okay but we should come down.” Rhianna blinked away tears.

  Rhea ran her other hand across her daughter’s face. Beautiful. So compassionate. She hated that the ugliness with Stan had touched her family in any way. “You never should’ve been worried about this mess. I’m sorry, sweetie. Where are Mom and Dad?”

  “The mess hall. He was his typical self, demanding experts be brought in. Then he said you needed to be in a real hospital.” Rhianna rolled her eyes. “Logan hasn’t left. And he’s got all the others to look after. Everyone has been in here. They’re drifting between here, the other rooms, and Nomad. Vi had her baby.”

  Rhianna offered the last bit of information as though she’d known Vi her entire life. Shock muted Rhea a moment. “When?”

  “Right in the middle of the op,” Bree said. “She’d just gotten off the phone from threatening Bob and splat. Her water broke, right there in Operations. Jud grabbed her. Jacob tossed a towel down and took over. Classic Vi and Mary.”

  Rhea chuckled. She could imagine their friends moving forward without pause. That’s what the two fiercely brilliant women did. Thinking about another child, another future generation at The Arsenal compound didn’t hurt as much as it had when Jessie was born.

  I love you, Rhea.

  Had Fallon really said that before she’d woken up, or had she dreamed it?

  “Why don’t we go track your parents down, Rhianna, and give Rhea some time with Fallon?” Bree sugg
ested. “I’m sure they’ll be anxious to see her.”

  “Yeah, but let’s eat first, give her some time,” Rhianna replied with a smirk. “You’ve got good taste. He’s a keeper.”

  Rhea smiled as her best friend guided her charge out of the room. Bree glanced over her shoulder.

  “Thank you.” Rhea mouthed the words and noted the tears in Bree’s eyes. Was she okay? So much had happened lately. She waited until they were gone before directing her attention to Fallon, who moved to her other side where they’d been and sat. “I’m worried about Bree.”

  “You aren’t the only one,” Fallon replied. “Let’s get you better first.”

  “I’m so glad you’re okay. The others?” The explosion. Tears trekked from Rhea’s eyes. “I tried to get inside, after it happened. The heat was so intense I couldn’t get there. Then the helicopter came and I saw the emblem on the belly and…”

  “Hey.” Fallon clasped her head, leaned across and feathered his lips across hers. “I love you, Rhea. I’m so glad you ran when you could. Fuck, I saw that bastard shoot Carlisle and I damn near died right there, thinking you were next and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.”

  “Fallon,” Rhea whispered. She tried to draw him closer, but he shook his head.

  “We’ve gotta let your face heal some. They did a number on you.” He caressed her face. “Everyone will want to hear what went down with Tyrell after he dragged you away, but it’ll wait until you’re recovered.”

  “I thought you died,” Rhea said, tears streaming down her face. “It hurt so bad, thinking I’d never see you again. All I thought about when I was hiding was that I didn’t tell you I love you.”

  “Rhea.”

  “I do, you know. I love you.”

  “I love you so much it hurts,” he admitted with a smile. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I’m not about to let you go. You’re stuck with me, Doc.”

  “Good, I’d hate to chase after you. I need a few lessons from Kamren and Addy first,” Rhea teased. “I don’t think I’m good at the escape and evade thing.”

  “You did great,” Fallon said. “You aren’t ever going to go through that again.”

  “Damn straight she isn’t,” Logan said. The doctor entered with a smile. His gaze swept from her to Fallon, then back. “I’m thinking I walked in on a moment.”

  “You did,” Fallon growled.

  “It’ll wait.” They had forever, assuming the injection she’d been given didn’t have permanent side effects. “Will I live?”

  “With some more rest, you’ll be as good as new,” the doctor said. “The neurotoxin they injected was nasty, took complete control of your system, except for limited eye movement and breathing.”

  “And Fallon? How is he?”

  Logan chuckled. “Stubborn, needs a good night’s rest. He hasn’t left your room except for showering and changing clothes when he first arrived—and that took just about everyone here.”

  “The explosion. Did it…” Rhea squeezed Fallon’s hand. “His hearing.”

  “He needs the surgery,” Logan said. “He assured me he’d do it once you were on the mend.”

  “You could’ve asked me,” Fallon said, his gaze intense.

  “I know. This was quicker. Logan wouldn’t hold something back from me.”

  “I won’t either. You and me, Doc. In it together, no matter what.” Fallon looked at the doctor. “How long is she stuck here?”

  “We’ll see how she’s feeling in a few hours. I want another couple rounds of bloodwork.”

  “Did you save samples from when the neurotoxin was in my system? I’d like to take a look, make notes to add to our records,” Rhea said.

  Had the drug she’d been hit with been created from her research? She didn’t recall making anything that kept a person incapacitated but fully aware. She’d been conscious for a while before she’d passed out. The fear…

  Monitors beeped beside her. Her breaths turned into shallow pants.

  “Easy, Rhea,” Fallon whispered in her ear. “You’re okay. You’re safe. He’s dead. He won’t ever hurt you again.”

  Blood. Tyrell shot Stan in the head. The memory repeated in her mind.

  She’d… “I killed someone.”

  Why did the fact she killed Tyrell make her heart thud in her chest? Her gaze darted about the room. Unable to look at the man she loved or the doctor who’d helped her, she relived the fight, the battle for the gun. She’d had no choice. Right?

  “Look at me.” Fallon kissed her lips, peering into her eyes. “You did what you had to do. I wish to hell I’d been there to kill the fucker myself, but I’m proud you fought to get safe. I love you. Nothing will ever change that.”

  “I killed him. And I macheted another, in the forest. They kept hunting me like I was an animal.” Tears welled in her eyes. Why couldn’t she forget? Set it aside for another time?

  She’d always had firm control over her emotional responses. Laboratory work with the dangerous things she made required a calm, analytical approach to life and death decisions. Everything she’d done her entire life demanded she set aside emotional reactions. They had no place in the scientific world she loved.

  “I’ll get something to calm her,” Logan said.

  No. Rhea shook her head, but the doctor had already left the room.

  “Talk to me, Doc. You know how Jesse writes his nightmares down. How Ellie reads the journals.”

  Rhea nodded. Everyone at the compound knew the two had an established routine, one they weren’t shy sharing because they wanted all operatives at The Arsenal to know it was okay to need help. To ask for a leg up when memories took over.

  Mary was the same.

  “Give it to me,” Fallon ordered. “We’ll get you in to Sinclair. We’ll all have to see her. We can go together if you want. We’ll get you through this.”

  “Rhea?” Her mom’s hesitant voice from the room’s entry made her pulse quicken more.

  Rhianna couldn’t see her like this. She sat up and grabbed Fallon’s shirt. They couldn’t see her like this. Terrified. Horrified.

  She’d killed someone.

  She’d contemplated the results of the drugs she’d created, the lives taken with their use. But Tyrell was different. He’d died at her hand.

  She’d felt the toxin Mandrake gave her in her blood, had survived its wrath as it stole her body’s movements.

  “Stay with me. I love you,” Fallon whispered in her ear.

  “Rhea! Snap out of it,” her father shouted. He scrambled to the other side of the bed, took her hand and squeezed. “Is this the toxin?”

  “Panic attack brought on by what she went through,” Logan said as he returned to her bedside and shoved her father out of the way.

  “No.” She shook her head when she saw the needle. “Don’t knock me out.”

  “It’s just enough to calm you,” Logan said, his voice soft. “You won’t be knocked out. You’re okay.”

  “Is Sinclair here?” Fallon asked.

  “Who is Sinclair?” Her father’s concern aged his voice. Rhea peered up at the man who’d always approached every problem with zero emotion. The ultimate control over his emotions.

  She’d spent her entire life chasing that control, willing it to be her own. Would he understand what she’d done? What she’d had to do?

  Rhianna.

  Tears fell from Rhea’s face when she looked at the beautiful, brilliant young woman. She couldn’t ever know what’d happened.

  I can’t tell her the truth, not after the things I did.

  Calm spread through her, a soft, cloud-like sensation which left her floating. Her mind stilled, rode the euphoric haze that locked all thoughts out.

  “Sinclair will be here in a couple hours. She went to San Antonio to check in with Donovan. Both of them should arrive soon,” Logan said.

  Why was Donovan in San Antonio and everyone else was home? What’d happened?

  The
questions disappeared moments after they arrived. Rhea drifted.

  “What happened to my daughter?” Rhea’s mother demanded. “Why is she having panic attacks?”

  “We’ll discuss it later, sweetheart,” her father said. “We’re here for you, Rhea. You’re going to be okay. We love you.”

  “I love you,” Rhianna whispered as she edged her way past Logan and drew Rhea into a hug.

  Love. Rhea closed her eyes and clung to those around her. She could get through anything with them at her side.

  “We should go and let her rest,” her father said. “Fallon, you’ll let us know if things change?”

  “Of course.”

  “We’ll be back later. Medina set us up in one of those nice cottages,” Rhea’s mom said. “I love you so much, sweetie. You rest up and don’t worry about a thing. We’ll see you through this.”

  Rhea smiled. “I love you all.”

  Fallon and Logan escorted her family out. They all disappeared from view. Would Fallon return? What if Mandrake attacked the compound? Was everyone really safe here?

  “Hey.” Fallon sat on the edge of her bed and took her hand again. “That sexy mind of yours is still running what-ifs isn’t it?”

  “It won’t shut off,” Rhea admitted.

  Fallon reached over and tapped something near her bed. Music drifted in the room. “I played this while you were out, didn’t turn it off until you came to.”

  Rhea closed her eyes as Fallon stretched out next to her. Warmth spread through her like a brushfire when he drew her into his arms. Head against his chest, she took her first deep breath since the panic attack started.

  “Peaceful Easy Feeling” by The Eagles played quietly into the silence. Fallon’s steady heartbeat beneath her ear was the perfect accompaniment. “If we had a song, this would have to be a top contender.”

  “Damn good song,” he replied, his fingers lazily running through her hair. “I can think of a few more.”

  “Oh?”

  “Later, Doc. Right now, let’s just breathe deep and enjoy The Eagles. Everything and everyone else can wait. It’s just you and me and The Eagles.”