"We need to make sure of that," Finn interjected. "We need you to be at your best. She's going to need you at your best."

James shook his head. "I need to see her now." His voice broke as tears spilled from his eyes. "I can't ... I can't do this. I can't lose her."

"I know," Finn said. "We can't lose you either. So, you're going to let these nice men check you out, and then we're all going to sit here and wait. You can't save her from this. We have to let them do their jobs."

"What if it was Emma?" James pressed.

"If it was Emma, I would like to think I would know my limitations," Finn said. "I'm not a doctor, and neither are you. What Mandy needs right now is a doctor. What she's going to need when they're done is you."

James pushed the heel of his hand against his forehead, still fighting the logic behind Finn's words. "But ... ."

"But nothing," Grady said firmly. "You're going to be checked out, and Finn is going to go with you. I'm going to stay right here. The minute they update me on Mandy's condition, I'll find you."

James' eyes were red, the mixture of smoke and tears making them burn. "You're going to wait right here?"

"I'm going to wait right here," Grady promised. "I won't leave this spot."

James finally acquiesced, letting Finn and the two men lead him down the hallway and toward an examination room. Once he was sure that James was being taken care of, Grady let the worry he'd been fighting off get a foothold.

If Mandy died, his brother would join her. It might not be physically, but it would certainly be emotionally. He would never recover from this.

Even with that realization, Grady couldn't quite wrap his mind around the situation. The mere idea that he might never see Mandy again, hear her snarky mouth, listen to her infectious laughter ... it was too much to fathom.

He sank into one of the lobby chairs, dropping his head into his hands. This couldn't be happening. Why was this happening? Everyone had just gotten to a place where they were truly happy. How could one night shatter an entire family?

Grady stirred when he felt a hand on his shoulder, finding Sophie's concerned face looking down at him when he glanced up.

"Is she ... ?"

Grady shook his head, pulling Sophie down onto his lap and sinking into her warmth. She wasn't big on public displays of affection, but he was beyond caring. He needed her right now. He needed her strength. "We don't know yet. They're still working on her."

"Where is James?"

"Finn managed to talk him into being checked out," Grady said. "They're doing it now."

"Do you think he's okay?"

Grady shrugged. "Physically or emotionally?"

"Physically," Sophie said. "I know he's not okay emotionally. I was the first one to get to him after the explosion."

Grady shuddered. "Were you there?"

"No. I was inside. You couldn't miss the sound. You know me. I thought it was a gang bombing or something. I ran out to see what was going on."

Grady pressed his face into her chest as she wrapped an arm around his shaking shoulders. "You ran outside because you thought it was a gang bombing? Are you trying to kill me?"

"I wasn't really thinking," Sophie said. "I certainly wasn't expecting to find James and Mandy out there. At first ... at first I thought she was dead. He was holding her in his arms and she wasn't moving, and he looked so lost. When I realized she was still alive, I had to talk him into letting the paramedics take her. If he was more in control of himself, I'm not sure he would have let them."

"He seems a little scattered," Grady admitted.

Sophie pressed her lips to Grady's forehead. "She needs to be okay."

Grady tightened his arms around her waist. "She will be."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because this family won't survive if she's not," Grady said. "James needs her, which means we need her. She'll pull through."

Sophie could only hope he was right.

JAMES couldn't take much more of the poking and prodding. He'd allowed the two nurses to draw blood, clean up a few shallow cuts, and run a battery of small tests. He was done now.

"I'm fine."

Finn rolled his neck, the audible crack filling the room. "Let them finish."

"They're finished," James said, jumping down from the gurney. "My ears have cleared and I'm not seeing double. I don't have a concussion. I didn't hit my head. I have no internal injuries. I'm fine."

Finn glanced in the direction of the nurses. "Is he?"

"As far as we can tell, he's fine."

"Great," James said, striding toward the door. "I need to find my blonde."

Finn sighed as he followed. He was worried what James would find at the end of his journey.

Sophie and Grady were sitting in the lobby when James and Finn returned. Sophie was on her feet, heading in James' direction, before Grady could stop her. "Are you okay?"

James ignored the question. "Have you heard anything?"

Grady shook his head. "They're still working on her."

"They have to know something now," James argued. "They have to."

He turned, the receptionist at the desk in his line of sight, when Sophie stilled him with a hand on his arm. "A doctor is coming."

James turned, meeting the weary countenance of the approaching man with a level gaze. "How is she?"

"You're here for Ms. Avery?"

"Yes. How is she?" James' heart rolled painfully. He didn't want to hear an update almost as much as he needed to hear one.

"She's stable," the doctor said, motioning to the chairs. "Let's sit down."

The initial relief that washed over him when he'd heard the word "stable" quickly fled. James sat down next to Grady, not looking up as Finn sat down in the open chair on his other side.

"I'm Dr. Fitzgerald," the man said, introducing himself with a half-hearted smile. "Ms. Avery was brought in with a variety of injuries. She has some bruised ribs, but an X-ray reveals they're not broken. We got lucky there.

"She has a sprained wrist, and we put it in a soft cast," he continued. "It should be fine in about ten days. There are some facial lacerations and some other cuts, including a deep one on her back. They've all been sewn up, and the one on her face shouldn't leave a noticeable scar."

"What aren't you telling me?" James asked. "Something else is wrong with Mandy, isn't it?"

Dr. Fitzgerald tilted his head to the side, considering. "Mandy is a very strong woman. I have no idea how she survived being so close to the blast. It was divine intervention, if you believe in that kind of thing."

There was something else. James knew it. "Then why do you look like you're about to yank the rug out from under me?"

"During the blast, she was struck in the head by a piece of shrapnel," Dr. Fitzgerald said. "She definitely has a concussion. We've done a MRI and it came up negative which is a good thing."

"What's the bad thing?" Sophie asked.

"We would have hoped that she'd regained consciousness by now," Dr. Fitzgerald said. "She hasn't."

"She'll wake up, right?" James asked.

"We're very hopeful," Fitzgerald replied. "The longer she remains unconscious, though, the bigger the problem that we're faced with."

"Meaning?"

"If Ms. Avery doesn't wake up in the next few hours, we're going to have some choices in front of us," he said.

"What choices?"

"Let's not worry about that until we have to," the doctor said. "We still have some time. Let's hope she wakes up on her own."

James swallowed hard. "Can I see her?"

"Actually, I think that's a good idea," he said. "When you go in there, you need to talk to her. If she hears your voice, she's more likely to want to wake up."

James got to his feet, ignoring Finn and Grady's worried stares as they bore into his back. "Let's go."

Dr. Fitzgerald led James into a private room, the lights turned low. When James glanced at the ceiling, the doctor answered his silent question. "When she wakes up, she might have an initial sensitivity to light. It's just a precaution."

James nodded, pulling a chair up to the edge of the bed so he could be close to her. The bruises on her face were starting to fill in with color, and her cheek was covered with white gauze. She was still. Too still. She never just sat there. She was usually a bundle of energy and love. He needed that back.

James waited for the doctor to leave them alone. Once he was gone, he took Mandy's lifeless hand the one free from the cast and cupped it between his, brushing his lips to her palm. "Hey, baby."

She didn't stir.

"You don't look so good," James said. "In fact, you've never looked worse. I think you need to wake up and yell at me for being insensitive during your time of need. I'm ready to take it."

Still nothing.

"The truth is, I need you to wake up," James said, not fighting the tears as they spilled over. "I need you to wake up right now. I need to see those incredible blue eyes, and that pouty little smile, and I need to hear that sa.s.sy little mouth of yours."

James moved her hand so it was pressed against his jaw.

"I need you to come back to me," he said. "I need you to wake up and call me an idiot. I need you to do ... anything. Just touch me, baby. Move your hand. Do something ... anything. Do it for me. Please. Do it for me."

James choked back his sob as he moved her hand down to his chest, placing it over his heart.

"I won't survive without you," he said. "So I need you to do me the biggest favor ever. Just wake up. Don't ... don't you dare leave me. I'll never forgive you. I'll never watch another shark movie again. I'll never ... please."

James felt her hand shift against his heart. He sucked in a breath, waiting. When she didn't immediately move again, he prodded her.

"If you don't talk to me right now, I'm going to burn that entire shark movie collection," he warned. "I swear it."

Her eyes didn't open, but her mouth did. The words, however raspy and strained, were enough to fill James with more love than he ever thought he was capable of feeling. "If you touch those movies I'll never have s.e.x with you again."

James choked out a laugh, getting to his feet. He carefully brushed the hair away from her face and pressed his lips to her bruised forehead. "Thank you." He kissed her again. "Thank you."

"My head hurts," she muttered.

"I'll get the doctor."

"Wait."

James stilled.

"I love you," she whispered, the sound ragged in her smoke-ravaged throat.

"Oh, G.o.d, baby," he sobbed. "I love you."

Four.

After Dr. Fitzgerald checked her over, pulsing a light into her eyes and asking her a few mundane questions, he p.r.o.nounced her well on her way to recovery.

"I want to go home," Mandy announced.

James immediately started shaking his head. "Don't even think about it."

Dr. Fitzgerald smiled. "Your friend here is right," he said. "We need to keep you for observation for at least twenty-four hours. That means two full nights."

Mandy balked. "I don't like hospitals."

"No one does," the doctor said. "You need one right now, young lady. You're very lucky to be alive."

Mandy grimaced as she shifted in the bed. "I don't feel very lucky. My whole body hurts."

"It's going to feel worse tomorrow," Fitzgerald said, his tone serious. "You're going to be in pain for several days. You might even wish, on occasion, that you had died. It's going to hurt that much. I'm not going to sugarcoat it."