31 Another day Dawns

The room, when Steve finally opened his eyes, was totally empty except for himself although there were slight noises coming from beyond his door, telling him he wasn't alone. The fact that there was nothing to do, other than just lie there, was so reassuring that the stresses he had experienced as he woke up left him and, for the first time in as long as he could remember, Steve turned slightly and let himself drift back off to sleep.

Mark, from his position on the sofa, could see into the bedroom and watched in silence as his son awoke. He didn't want to disturb him unless he had to, and so, instead, he sat, quietly, but not so quietly that Steve thought he was alone, and waited. After a minute or two he saw, with relief, his patient making himself comfortable once more and then he saw him slip back to sleep without a murmur.

He had contacted the OR and asked for any news to be sent via the nurses' station on the third floor. That way Steve wouldn't be disturbed by the ringing of a phone or the voices that would inevitably be emotional if Jo came up herself to tell him. He had arranged that whoever was on duty at the desk would just wave him out into the hallway and he would hear whatever it was he had to hear out there.

So far he had been waiting for a little over two hours, and expected to learn something within the next few minutes or so, depending on how long his grandson spent in recovery. He loved both his grandchildren very much, and had enjoyed the time he spent with Daniel when Jayden was born, enormously. The boy was of an age where they could have a discussion about most things, serious subjects, such as the medical information he had passed on, or silly things like how many jelly beans actually make a handful.

Daniel had turned himself around far more fully than any of them had ever dreamt. No longer was he the scared, yet compliant, young thug who had robbed a grocery store, now he was a student with A's in some subjects, no less than a B in the others, and a home life which was secure and loving. How could that have all been put on hold by a man with a gun in a movie theatre?

Mark realised he had no idea who had shot at the boy, or why. Could it be he had been the victim of a random shooting? He fervently hoped not, but then realised, in all ways which mattered, how it happened was irrelevant, just the fact it had, and he had been injured, was the only thing that counted right now.

He knew his daughter-in-law would be finding the wait almost impossible too, her family was the most important thing in her life, and all of them were suffering, or had suffered, and his heart went out to her. For a moment Mark remembered the first time he had been introduced to Jo. He'd known though, before the meeting, that his son had found his one true love. There had been a few trial runs, near misses, in the past, not the least of them Ellen who had hurt him so badly, but as soon as they began dating Steve had changed. When she had been taken by animal rights activists he had seen his son suffer again, his vulnerability showing through, but only to him he thought, and maybe Rae.

Again his mind went back as he thought about the English woman now, thankfully, recovering from her awful injuries. It was just as well he worked here and had his own parking slot, but the amount of time he was here visiting he would probably get a personal bay anyway.

Jesse was coming into his thoughts, and a smile played across his lips as he realised how much the young man had grown; he had a family now, two little girls he adored, and a wife who definitely kept him on his toes. At that moment he heard his name being whispered and, with his heart suddenly thumping in his chest knowing it had taken longer than anticipated, he made his way out into the darkened hallway.

ooo

Cheryl lay in bed and watched the faint patterns on the ceiling caused by tree branches blowing in front of the security lights. It wasn't late, only nine o'clock, but she had been so weary, so in need of total relaxation, that a long soak in the bath and an early night had been too tempting to pass up.

Martin was still in the living room, a programme on the history channel had caught his attention and he was happy to stay up alone. Luxuriating in having the entire bed to herself Cheryl lay, corner to corner, gradually feeling her tight muscles begin to loosen as she tried to switch her brain off.

She had known that her workload would increase when Steve left, she was now the senior detective, but with Rae out as well she was handling far more cases and responsibilities than ever. Not that she wasn't enjoying it, she was, but it just took it out of her sometimes and today was obviously one of those days.

She was worried about Steve, he hadn't been at Wilshire when she called, and then Juan had told her he wouldn't be available until the next day at the earliest. That had been before Daniel had been shot, so she knew her friend, who had been looking careworn the last time she had seen him, would now have more on his plate. Even he was going to be overwhelmed before long if things didn't level themselves out a little.

Cheryl also knew that Captain Newman had done her a favour by letting her go see Daniel's would-be killer, and she had worked doubly hard to thank him on her return. Tomorrow, hopefully, she would be able to attend again, although it would maybe take a little longer than one day to get a plea bargain worked out with the DA. McCaulay had seemed so insistent, eager, even, to spill the beans on his partner-in-crime, compatriot, whatever you wanted to call him or her. She guessed the old adage of there being no honour among thieves was true after all.

She had also gotten a call from one of Rae's friends, Russian, she thought, from the accent, who told her he'd seen the man who pushed the Englishwoman off of the fire escape. He was going to speak to her the following day, with Rae present, in the hospital. Each new lead turned up on Nicholas, which she had decided to call him as it was his legal name, just tightened their case against him. He was guilty, even he had admitted as much, now she wanted to make sure he was punished for his crimes as, she knew, did Steve and Rae. They all felt it was the least they could do for his victims.

Resolutely she pushed all thoughts of cases, criminals, even friends, out of her mind and snuggled a little further under the covers. Her eyes slowly closed as she finally let her mind relax along with her body and drifted off into a deep sleep.

ooo

Nicholas sat on the side of his bunk, the photo in one hand and the letter in the other. There had been letters before, photos too, but from people he didn't know and, he had to admit, didn't want to know. In his rational moments Nicholas knew what he'd done had been wrong, appallingly wrong, but those writing to him had enthused about his crimes, rejoiced in what he did, and that scared him. There was a prison visitor who had beautiful blonde hair. When he saw her the letters didn't disgust him any longer, instead they spurred him on to get closer to her, to interact with her, and Nicholas knew if he got the chance then he would have her.

The correspondence and photograph he held now though weren't anything like those other letters, and he had dismissed Dominic and Matthew, the latter in a little kinder manner than usual, so he could reminisce. He hadn't thought about Melissa in the longest time, not until he mentioned her to the cop and the fed. She had always protected him, even though they had been so close in age, looked after him in school, helped him with his homework, but in the end it hadn't been enough.

Thinking about Melissa drew his mind towards a person he very rarely, if ever, thought about, his mother. Not his birth mom, he had never known her, although he would have loved to. No, this lady was his final foster mom, she had been so beautiful, her hair, blonde, thick and long, or at least it had been until the chemo caused it to drop out.

He knew he was wrong to do what he did, but he had been unable to stay. Matthew had cried inside of him, needing the only real mother he had ever known, but he was the stronger, and finally, after over a week of wrestling with himself, he had left. He'd seen the obituary in the papers, and the details of the funeral had been there for him to write down and then attend, but he hadn't done that either. He had started running and, until the moment he had been caught, had never stopped. Not long enough to contemplate contacting his family again at any rate, and now, amazingly, his family had contacted him.

The letter from Melissa was, he hoped, the first of many, but a long time had passed since they had last been together, and it could well be she wouldn't be able to face him and what he had become in the time they had spent apart. The communication was a little stilted, the words didn't flow awfully well, but that was, he guessed, to be expected. What did you say to someone who had admitted killing fourteen named victims with more to follow? He knew now what she had written, had studied it enough times that it echoed in his head, but still he opened the paper up and read it one more time.

Dear Nicholas,

I can't believe that after all this time I finally have the chance to make contact with you. I can't believe that it is in this way either, but for now I will try and put that out of my mind and concentrate on the fact that I have found my brother again.

Mom missed you so much after you left; she felt so guilty and knew that it was her fault that you were gone. She never forgot you though, your picture was on her nightstand, 'one of her special boys' she said.

Nicky, I can't understand how you can be the person they say you are. You were always so quiet, so happy with your own company, how did it turn into such a nightmare? I can see you now, standing behind mom's stool as she looked in the mirror of her dressing table, in her bedroom, brushing her hair for her, practising braiding it and sometimes even curling it. She used to love to let you do that.

I am married now, have been for the longest time, almost twenty years. I have two boys, they look like their dad. He's a ski instructor, he must be good, he taught me! I talked to him, asked him what I should do, and he says that if you would like I could come see you.

Nicky, I don't know if I want to or not, but if you would like a visitor one day let me know and I will try really hard to make it happen. I haven't been back since I was married, but one of my sons wants to go to college there, so I guess I will be visiting quite a bit when that happens.

I gave a picture to the lady detective; I sure hope she passed it on. I still have Issa, she is sitting on my bed as I write this, I got her out of her special box in the closet to look at her, she definitely was well loved!

I have to go, but please, if you would like me to write again, send me a note yourself and I will keep in touch.

Take care, Nicky,

Melissa

Carefully he folded the paper back into the shape it had been in the envelope and slid it into its wrapper. Then, with one more look at the photo of himself with his sister all those years before, he put that away as well, made himself comfortable on the bed and enjoyed the luxury of reminiscing.

ooo

Jesse, although no one knew it, had stood just out of sight for a few minutes before entering the room. All of their lives seemed to be jumping from one traumatic occurrence to another right now, and he was concerned about how everyone would cope.

He was delighted to see Michael sitting with Jo and Maddie, who had obviously been crying, his steady presence would help all of them no end as they worked their way through the difficult situation they found themselves in. Steve especially, his family was and always had been vitally important to him, to have one of them gunned down, well, he wasn't sure how his friend would deal with it.

Taking a deep breath in and schooling his features he carefully tapped on the door as he entered and saw fear fill the faces of the people who had been waiting for him.

Jo had been awake a little over ten minutes when Jesse came into the doctors' lounge, a grim, tired look on his face.

She had been too scared to move, too frightened to vocalize her greatest fears and so, grasping Michael's hand tightly within her own, she waited.

Pulling a chair out from one of the tables Jesse sat down and then took Jo's hand into his own.

"He's in recovery. He struggled in surgery, which is why it took a little longer than I expected." Jesse paused as he saw Jo take a breath in ready to speak.

"How … how do you mean he struggled, Jesse?" The tears welled up in her eyes and she let them fall, not even trying to wipe them away but managing a watery smile as Michael handed her a beautifully pressed white cotton handkerchief.

"He lost a lot of blood, you knew that. The nurse at the movie theatre helped though, he would have been far worse off without her. I repaired as much of the muscle damage as I could, but he was getting weak and I can always go in again if I need to."

"Ok."

Jesse could tell that she was answering almost for answering's sake and so he carried on talking.

"He'll be in ICU; I have him on a ventilator because he wasn't able to breathe on his own. I'm hoping that sometime tomorrow we can remove it, but I would rather keep him on it a little longer and allow his strength to increase than take him off it too early and do more damage." Jesse checked his watch for the time. He had changed before coming to the doctors' lounge, knowing the sight of him in his blood covered scrubs would have done more harm than the extra ten minutes or so it had take him to shower and put on clean clothes.

"A nurse will come find you when he's in his room. The same anaesthesiologist who treated Rae is gonna be in charge of his case. He's a good guy."

"No, Jesse, I want it to be you." Jo stood now, moving closer to Jesse, almost as if to implore him if necessary.

"Honey, I'm the doctor assigned to his care, but in the ICU it is the anaesthesiologist who's in charge. His name is Japhur Singh, he was in charge of Rae's care until she moved into her present room, that doesn't mean that I can't work with Daniel and Alex can't work with Rae."

"Well, ok, if you're sure." As she spoke a pager beeped and Jesse looked down, before smiling.

"Daniel's in his room, so I guess that means we can go along and see him."

ooo

Mark drained the remains of his coffee and let out a worried sigh which seemed to echo around his grandson's room. The scene he had taken part in and witnessed was something he would rather not have happen again. His son had woken up refreshed from his second period of sleep the previous evening and, as he had known he would, wanted to know where his wife was.

The sudden insecurity that Steve had shown was a reminder, as if he needed one, of how vulnerable his normally stoic son was right now, and he and Jesse had tried, not altogether successfully, to calm him down.

"Steve, Buddy, you need to lie back, let me take your vitals, if you get worked up then we may well have to put your name down for breakfast." Jesse was keeping his voice light, and Mark appreciated his tact.

"If I'm not expected to stay then why am I here, when my wife is off God knows where?" The voice, although still flat, was scared and angry as well.

"You are here because you asked to stay." Mark tried to keep his voice regulated as well, not wanting his son to know yet why the both of them were there just to take his vital signs.

"Oh. Well, yeah, but tomorrow I'm going home … after breakfast." Steve wore an expression that dared either of them to contradict him, it was so familiar and yet at the same time slightly different from usual.

"Steve, we need to talk and you need to calm down and just listen, ok, Son?" The fear flared instantly and Mark had wished that they could save him the heartache he was about to feel.

"What? What is it? Jo's not here, is it her? My, God, is it Jayden? Dad!" The words had come out in a steady stream, getting more emotional as he spoke until the final plea had almost broken his heart, even before Steve knew the half of it.

Sitting down in the chair next to the bed Mark made sure that Steve kept eye contact with him and then, slowly, not even wanting to start, Mark spoke again.

"No, Son, it's Daniel. We'll take you to him, but you have to listen first." The movement in the bed told him that his son was about to take flight. "I spoke to his guard …" Mark paused, there was no easy way around this, he knew he had to just spit it out and face the consequences. "Steve, Wayne must have followed Daniel and Maddie to the movies. He … he shot him … no, wait," the bedclothes were becoming loose as Steve tried to fight his way out of his suddenly restrictive cocoon. "Steve, he shot him in the shoulder, but Jesse operated, and it went well."

"Jess?" Steve was still straining at the leash, but he looked at his friend, the despair mixing with tears that had suddenly appeared in his eyes.

"He was shot in the left shoulder, through the back of the seat, he had a lot of material and other stuff in there, but it's all gone now. I had him put on a ventilator, no, wait, this isn't easy for the two of us either you know." Jesse had paused as once again his friend began to struggle, but to Mark's relief Steve had just nodded his head and reluctantly lain still.

"He's on the ventilator because he lost a lot of blood, it was making him weak and his breathing was being compromised. He's having a transfusion overnight, and I don't see any reason why he won't be taken off the machine as soon as he wakes up properly, probably tomorrow afternoon. Jo has been with him since he left recovery, there's a guard on the door, and he will be ok, you need to believe that, Buddy, he really will be ok."

Steve had just nodded his head and they had seen all the color drain from his face as he slumped back into the bed. One good sleep was never going to solve his problems, but it would have been a start, now even the results of that had been denied him.

Mark looked at the worried face of his daughter-in-law, before resting his gaze on the sleeping form of his grandson and sighed loudly. The guard on the door, Christian this morning, turned before speaking. "Are you alright, Doctor Sloan?"

"What? Oh, yes, I guess you would say as well as can be expected under the circumstances." Daniel had begun the long climb to consciousness roughly an hour earlier; the pain crossing his features once or twice during that period as he struggled to change position showing he had slipped into natural sleep. From watching his grandson when he was staying at the beach house, Mark knew, out of choice, the boy slept on the shoulder he had injured. He had a feeling it would be a while before he would be able to do that again.

This time what would have been a moan without the ventilator tried to escape from Daniel's lips and Mark immediately moved closer, pressing the buzzer and hearing Jo speak softly. She had spent the evening with Steve in this very room after sending both Michael and Maddie home, promising to let them know when he awoke. The worried parents had stayed with Daniel although Steve had become a little animated and upset when he had seen his son. Once he had settled back down he had insisted he was ok and they could be left alone.

It was the need Mark had inside of him to show his son that he agreed with him when he said he would be fine which had resulted in him letting them convince him to get some rest in the doctors' sleep room. He had awoken in the early hours of the morning and returned to Daniel, Jo then agreeing to go back to their private suite with Steve each insisting the other get some rest. She had, reluctantly, he had to admit, given her seat over to her father-in-law knowing he would insist they went also. That had been a little after three in the morning, and they had both slept soundly until just before Jo made her way back to her son after six hours and, with hindsight, Mark was glad not only that the night had proceeded in the way it had, but also that he and Jesse had been the ones to tell Steve about Daniel. It was an unpleasant duty which Jo had needed to avoid and Mark planned to be the one to tell his grandson about Steve too. As they had eaten their breakfast Jo told Mark all about Wayne McCaulay, filling him in on any of the details he hadn't known. Now, as Daniel started his long climb, Jo was keeping the promise she made to her husband, standing up to return to his room and bring him back to the bedside of their eldest child.

Jesse was in the room by the time Jo and Steve arrived, apologising for taking so long. Steve, she said, had finally agreed to wait in the hallway because even he could see the difficulties resulting from them all being in such a confined space while Daniel was being treated. He had started to walk to Daniel's room, but had felt so lethargic that in the end he had agreed with his wife that a journey in a wheelchair was a good idea, just this once. He had stepped out of it when they arrived, and was now sitting on an ordinary seat looking so lost that Jo was torn between staying with her son and waiting with her husband.

"Well, I guess as I'm here I'd better treat this young man!" Jesse smiled, the smile reached to his eyes and both Mark and Jo felt their worries ease just a little.

"His vital signs are excellent, well, excellent for someone who has been through what he has in the last twenty-four hours. He's waking up properly now, and is gonna need his momma. Once he is fully conscious then I'll run some tests and determine where we go from here." Jesse stopped talking and moved back a step so that Jo could sit right next to Daniel and let him know that he wasn't alone. Gradually, as she stroked her fingers over the back of his right hand his eyelids fluttered, as they had already done at least three or four times, but this time it was different, this time they opened fully, and this time they stayed that way.

ooo

Cheryl had met Leonid in the main reception area of the ER where he worked and then together they had made their way to Rae's room. As they arrived they realised that Jesse and Rae were talking and that their friend was crying. Not wanting to intrude both sat a little further down the hallway and waited. Cheryl had been told about Steve when she arrived at the station and knew the next few weeks would continue to be tough for the Sloans.

"Honey, I didn't mean to upset you; I knew you would want to know about Steve and Daniel. They both are gonna be fine, it'll just take a little time, but then you know all about that don't you?" He smiled, hoping to get a similar response from his wife, but instead only got a small nod. Jesse had left Daniel's room as Japhur took over the treatment and commentary on what was happening. Any tests he wanted could be done later, and so he had allowed himself to spend the time he'd planned to be with Daniel with his wife instead.

"Iss not …" Rae paused, trying to think of the word, wanting to speak all the more now that she had so many things to say, but gave up in the end and, pointing to the letters on her pad, spelt out the word f a i r.

"No it's not, but life isn't fair." Jesse leant over and gently wiped away her tears before kissing her tenderly on the lips. Reluctantly he stepped back before speaking again. "Honey, I have to go, I'm supposed to be on duty in the ER, and I didn't get much sleep last night what with one thing and another. I'll come back and see you at the end of my shift, about two, if that's ok."

"No, Jesse, seep." She smiled, three words, all of them almost pronounced correctly, and then she looked into her husband's eyes, the blue of them sparkling and for some reason making her want to cry again.

"Well, that sure would be nice, but I could come sleep in the chair here, how about that?"

For a moment she did consider it, but knew for Jesse to get a proper rest that wouldn't do. "No, Rae, seep, Jesse, seep, we …" again she paused, six words now, she was counting each sentence, wanting to show her speech therapist how well she was doing, "we haf din … ner to … tog …" she gave up and smiled, "juss us."

"That sounds lovely. Ok, I gotta go, but I think you have visitors." As she heard his news Rae smiled broadly, she knew who was coming, and although it was official, and she was a little scared about what she would hear, it would be nice to spend time with her friends.

ooo

Steve had sat in the hallway and tried to evaluate how he felt. Part of him wanting to escape back to his room and shut out what had happened his son. Now, looking at the contorted face of his eldest boy through the glass Steve knew the part of him that was strongest was only trying to protect himself from any more stressful situations, but his son … his family … he had to fight … had to do all that was expected of him and then … maybe he could escape back to his own suite.

Jesse had left after taking all the readings he needed and introducing Doctor Singh. For the last ten minutes the tall young man had explained to Jo and his dad just what had happened, and how he saw things going from now on. Finally, just a minute or so ago the ventilator had been removed and Daniel was now trying to control the coughing which must be causing him great pain. As Steve watched the scene before him Japhur came out of the room and walked towards the row of chairs he was sitting on, standing so that he could both see the man he wanted to talk to as well as his patient the other side of the glass.

"Captain Sloan? I am Doctor Singh, I have explained to your wife and your father that Daniel's vital signs were strong enough to remove the artificial ventilation. He is going to feel very sore, not just his shoulder but his throat as well for a while, but I think he will feel more at peace if he doesn't have to be on that machine."

Steve nodded his head, he could understand totally. Waking up on a ventilator was an awful sensation; one he would have fervently wished his son never to experience. That hadn't happened, but at least it had only been for a short time.

"Your father said he was going to speak to Daniel a little about why you aren't looking quite yourself and then he would leave and you could go in."

"Thank you. Thank you very much." He knew there should be things he needed to ask, things that would have to be explained to all of them, but right now his brain couldn't process anything remotely like a question and so he just shook the doctor by the hand and returned his gaze to watch the people in the room before him.

ooo

Rae had, with a little bit of help from one of her nurses, made herself comfortable sitting up in the bed. Her legs, still stabilized either internally or externally with nuts and bolts, were covered by the sheets, and she knew they were something that would need to be addressed before too long. For now though she pushed the worries about them away and straightened out the tablet of paper in front of her which had her letters set out on the pages and waited for Cheryl to speak.

"Ok, Leonid, you said yesterday you saw the man who pushed Rae off of the fire escape. Do you mean you saw him do it?" Cheryl didn't fail to notice Rae clench her fists as the fire escape was mentioned, and knew if that was the case then the next half hour or so would be very difficult for her.

"Net," Leonid thought for a moment, his English was much better than it had ever been, he had only used the Russian word because he was nervous.

"No, Leonid see that on TV in new home. Leonid see man after … after he call police but not know he …" he paused again, there were a lot of words for what he wanted to say, he knew the Russian, and so he tried that "ubijtsa."

Cheryl looked up from her notes and saw the young man in front of her obviously searching his mind, probably for the English word for the Russian he had just spoken.

"If … a man … he kills … he is a … he is ubijtsa, a what?" His hands, palms upwards showed his confusion and he smiled slightly. "Leonid sorry, he not know this word."

"Killer?" Cheryl saw him shake his head, "Ok, he kills, he is a … murderer? Yes, a murderer?"

"Da, da, he is murderer. Thank you."

Gradually, slowly, over the next thirty minutes or so, as Rae listened in silence, Leonid explained how he had called 911 and then with his dog, Bounce, had waited for the police to come. The embankments of the freeway were often inhabited by people searching for things either dropped by accident from cars, or by those who were simply scavenging. He hadn't known the words to ask the man to leave, but he had watched him closely and seen some hair drop from his hand before he looked down at the body, almost smiling, and then left.

"Leonid, very sorry, he not know how to keep man talk to police. I … I scared, and when Rae Yeager come, she take, she take Leonid away … I forget."

Rae pointed to the paper in front of her and Cheryl began to put the letters into words. Finally the message in front of her, which was long when you had to write it this way, said 'we can tie him to the scene, I wonder why he returned the hair.'

"I don't know, but hopefully I can find out. Leonid, will you identify him in a line up? Or give evidence in court if it is necessary?" Cheryl had a guilty plea right now, but she wasn't complacent, knowing that the chance of Nicholas changing that to not guilty was still possible.

The uncertainty was there again, showing the inbred fear of a regime that had indiscriminately jailed those who said the wrong thing at the wrong time.

"Rae … go … she be there." The words, softly spoken did the trick and Leonid smiled.

"Then, da, Leonid go with friend. We both be ok."

For the next twenty minutes or so Cheryl went over the statement Rae had taken from the Russian on the day that Harriet Brown's body had been discovered. He was still certain of his facts and, although his command of English was a little basic, she knew that he would make a good witness.

As she made a slight alteration to something that she had written Cheryl felt the hand of her companion touch her arm and looked up. Following his gaze she saw that Rae had relaxed back into her pillows and was now sleeping soundly. Smiling at each other the two of them stood quietly and left the room, both promising themselves that they would return to visit socially very soon.

ooo

Daniel had listened to his grandfather, although his eyes had been drawn to his father sitting out in the hallway and, even as ill as he himself felt, he realised he had never seen the strong man he admired so much look so vulnerable.

Finally, when there seemed to be no more explanation to come, he had spoken, just the one word, "Dad."

"I'll go get him, Honey, yellin' in a hospital isn't a good thin'." Although still upset, worried and definitely not relaxed Jo was feeling a little better than she had just an hour before and so was able to speak lightly to her son. She had things she needed to do, and so, hoping Steve would be alright for just a few minutes she told her son what she planned to do next. "Once your daddy is settled in here I'll go an' call home, find out how Jayden is this mornin', an' ask Juan to call David an' tell him what is happenin'. Is that ok, Honey?"

He nodded and then, his eyes never leaving her as she walked out to where his dad was sitting, he saw his mom take his father's hand into her own and squeeze it gently. They walked back in together and he felt the tears start. "I'm … Dad, I'm sorry … I didn't mean to."

"Now, that's enough of that, I understand, so does your mom, and he's caught." His voice was gruff with emotion, and the words came out a little more forcibly than he'd planned, so Steve tried a smile although it was the last thing he felt like doing. Daniel just nodded and moved his hand to touch his dad's. As he did so a thought suddenly struck Steve, one which cheered him considerably. "Hey, you know what?"

"What?" The voice was so full of tears that Steve felt himself teetering on the edge of them but he swallowed hard before speaking again.

"You and I, Jayden as well, we can all recuperate at home with your mom. The four of us together, I think I'll like that."

The smile from his son was instant and sincere, and after that they sat in silence both enjoying the other's company knowing they would get to share it for a long, long time to come.