Curled up under a blanket in the lounge chair in Matt's room, Sarah slept. From his hospital bed, Matt watched her, glad to have her nearby. Dressed in slacks and a long-sleeved top, she no longer wore the hospital gown and robe she had the first few times he had seen her. He wanted to know why she had been admitted to the hospital, but now that she was in her street clothes, he knew he should not be as worried now as he was when he first saw her. Except that she seemed dizzy at times, and she would wince now and then. No one had explained anything to him. He did not even know if Sarah had stitches under the bandage on her neck. Still on the respirator, he could not ask, and since, he was fairly certain, they were concerned about upsetting him, no one would talk about her.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dr. Fassbender enter the room. Having noticed Sarah in the corner, she spoke softly as she came into view. "Hello, Matt." Pulling out her stethoscope, she listened to his lungs. "Everything sounds good and your chest film looks good. Are you ready to breathe on your own? The ventilator is doing very little of the work now."
In the two days he had been on the respirator, Matt had learned a sort of code. He closed his eyes briefly and opened them again.
"That seems to be a 'yes.' I need to warn you that it might be somewhat unpleasant removing the tube."
Matt felt Sarah's hand on his. She must have awakened when Dr. Fassbender started talking.
"Do you want me to stay, Matt? I can wait outside."
Matt gripped her hand hard and gave her a long blink.
His nurse, Elaine, came into the room, ready to assist Dr. Fassbender with the tube removal.
Eager to give them the space they needed, Sarah kissed Matt's cheek and stepped out of the way. She sat in the chair, praying, as they went through the process of removing the breathing tube and shutting off the respirator. Sarah could not see Matt's face, but she watched his body tense with the pain of the procedure.
Dr. Fassbender checked Matt's blood oxygen level and listened carefully once again to Matt's lungs, now breathing completely on their own, although he still received oxygen. "Excellent, Matt. We'll monitor your blood oxygen and try to get you off this nasal cannula and the feeding tube by tomorrow as well. Don't try to talk just yet. I want you to rest quietly for a bit, and your throat needs to heal from the ventilator tube. Only plain fluids again for now. Just ice chips or small sips from a straw."
Elaine reappeared with two cups, setting the one with the ice chips on the counter, prepared to help Matt take a few sips from the straw.
"What about the chest tube, Dr. Fassbender?" Sarah ventured quietly.
"If Matt continues to do well breathing on his own, he can probably have the chest tube removed tomorrow or the day after—and move to a regular room."
"Thank you for everything. I'm so grateful to you for all that you've done for Matt." Sarah moved back over to Matt's bedside and took his hand again. He gripped hers in return.
Dr. Fassbender offered the young couple a smile. "I'm glad that Matt is doing so well. I'll see you both tomorrow."
Once they were alone, Matt squeezed Sarah's hand again. "Are you in much pain, Matt?" Sarah leaned over him and looked in his face.
Now that he no longer had the respiratory tube in his throat, he was able to shake his head. "Come here," he rasped.
Sarah drew closer and kissed Matt on the lips. As she pulled away, she heard him whisper, "In fact, I'm feeling just fine now."
She laughed quietly, but held on tightly to the bed rail when a wave of dizziness came over her.
Matt gripped her hand again. When Sarah opened her eyes, he was watching her. He continued to whisper. "When are you going to tell me what's wrong with you?"
"You shouldn't be talking, Matt."
"Please tell me. I've been wondering ever since I woke up from surgery."
"I guess I hit my head pretty hard when I fell to the ground."
"Oh, Sarah." Matt's eyes wore an anguished look.
"It was a moderate concussion. I'm not as hard-headed as I thought. But I'm a lot better. I was pretty sleepy the first day or two. And the dizziness only comes once in a while."
Matt reached up to brush his fingertips along Sarah's throat. His quiet words were hoarse. "He hurt you…"
"It's only four stitches. I'll be okay, Matt." Sarah smiled and caressed his face. She could see that he was growing fatigued. "Why don't you take a nap for a little while?"
"Only if you rest, too," he whispered. "I love you."
Sarah kissed Matt's forehead and smoothed his hair. "I love you, too. I know you aren't supposed to talk, but it was so good to hear your voice again."
Matt thought he saw her lower lip tremble before she turned to go back to the chair and curl up under the blanket once again.
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Sarah wandered around the modest two-bedroom townhouse that was now her temporary home. Agency operatives guarded the building around the clock from the townhouse next door, and cameras kept track of movement inside. In the week she had been there, Sarah had found a few places she could go where no one could watch her: the bathrooms, a small section of the short hallway, and the closets. Thankfully the cameras in the bedrooms were aimed away from the beds and more towards the windows and doors—she could sleep in relative privacy.
On the day she had first stayed there, Phillip had tried to reassure her that the agents probably would not be watching her every move—just keeping an eye on things and watching for anything unusual. "Really, Sis. It would be pretty boring to stare at someone all day."
"Well, even if you're right, they will watch me at least some of the time. It gives me the creeps. Don't forget I know how to disable the cameras if I have a mind to. I learned from the best."
Phillip looked at Sarah, not sure if he should be exasperated or not. He grew serious. "You're here for a reason, Sarah. I know it stinks. And if you think Lee was mad when we screwed up the cameras at the cabin, wait until you see what he would do if you defeated this system."
"But he's not the chief anymore. Francine would be the one who would get ticked." Sarah laughed a little. "I guess I've already caused enough trouble for her in the last couple of months."
"Yes, the way you ran off. I still say you did some awesome driving that day. But you know that we had to scramble to find you in the middle of the Kazakhstan op, right?"
"Yes. Thanks again for your concern." Sarah was sarcastic. "I'll have you know that we caught one of the cartel that time."
"Sarah, let's not go there. For more than one reason." Phillip frowned. "Lee was really freaked about what happened to you and Matt. He was blaming himself—he kept going on about 'what if' they hadn't gotten there in time. Mom really had to talk to him about it."
"Daddy's always the one who says not to dwell on the 'what ifs.'" Sarah grew sober, realizing how hard the last week had been on her father. "That would explain why he was so involved with setting up this place for us. Did you see the treadmill?"
"He rented it himself. The Agency doesn't pay for things like that." Phillip picked up the keys to the getaway car. "Make sure you keep these handy near the door to the garage. You may be the one doing the driving. I know you can handle it."
Sarah's thoughts came back to the present. Until two days ago she had been able to escape the isolation of the safe house by going to the hospital—Rene Enriquez would drive her every other day, with Johnson and Gonzales following in another vehicle. Francine and her father had balked at letting her go anywhere at first, but after Sarah had pleaded with Lee, he had convinced Francine to work out the arrangement. Although Rene had never flirted with Sarah, Johnson and Gonzales had both had an obvious interest in her at one time. Now they seemed to think it was their mission to make sure she made it safely to the hospital and back. Rene had told her that they had gone to her father and personally volunteered to keep an eye on her and Matt.
It had become common knowledge that they were a couple, but for now, Rene had told her that people were not feeding the rumor mill. Sarah imagined it was out of pity. Still, she had noticed Brad Smith was very attentive on the few occasions she had seen him at the hospital, guarding Matt. As a defense mechanism, she found herself gravitating to Grace Tanaka, his partner, whenever the two agents were near.
Her parents had usually joined her for part of the day at the hospital, but she could not go home and she could not go to work. The Agency had rigged up a way for Sarah to access her phone messages, but she could not use her phone on a regular basis—she could only use the satellite phone the Agency had loaned her to call other secure phones. That meant no real contact with her friends.
Today, Matt would be discharged from the hospital, and she would not have a good reason to leave the townhouse at all. Additionally, it was too high a risk for Lee and Amanda to visit her at the safe house. So Mom compensated by filling the fridge and freezer with meals. At least they kept Matt in the hospital a week longer than normal. The extra week for Matt to complete some of his therapy bought Sarah an extra week of being able to see her parents and her brothers.
Her mind went to her work and Sarah began to tense up again. When she had called the director to tell her that there had been an accident and she was to stay home at least a week on bed rest, Deb had sounded doubtful. How can I blame her? It wasn't the whole truth. But it was pretty close. Sarah had offered to continue her research once the doctor had given her permission to resume work. She would have been glad for the distraction, but it was still difficult to concentrate for any length of time, and she needed to be with Matt at the hospital. Perhaps on Monday I can start up again. That's two days away.
After glancing up at the nearest camera once again, Sarah sat down on the couch in the living room and sighed. She and Matt would be like lab rats under observation. I took it for granted. All the time alone Matt and I enjoyed. The freedom to drive out to Elvan. Even our kisses will be on camera. Unless we sneak into the bathrooms or the closet like teenagers. At least we won't be tempted to… Oh, God. It shouldn't be like this. I wanted to move in with Matt someday, but I wanted to be his wife when we did that. We'd share the same bed… It would be wonderful, and it would be normal.
The tears started to come. It would never do to be crying when Matt arrived. Sarah wiped her eyes with a tissue and checked the satellite phone Phillip had given her. There was a slight risk of the mole locating her via the phone, but everyone had agreed that the mole was probably not willing to risk accessing the much more sophisticated equipment triangulating a satellite phone would require. Rene said he would tell her when they left the hospital. Just then the text came through.
At least if I have to be cooped up, it's with Matt. And he will need my help for another week or two. Another week or two… Her mother's birthday was coming up in a few weeks. Sarah had planned to host the family gathering this year. She was going to cook the dinner herself. Before their attack in the park, Matt had planned to help her, since it was going to be on a Saturday. Well, maybe this will all be over by then…
Just then Sarah heard a car pull up outside. Muted sunlight filtered through Venetian blinds in each of the rooms, but she hated that they could not see out the windows. She remembered her father's stern warning. "If you can see out, they may be able to see in, Sarah." His eyes were kindly, to soften the words. "It's too big of a risk."
Oh, I miss you already, Daddy.
Getting up from the couch, she put out her hand as a wave of dizziness overcame her. Dr. Heird said these dizzy spells would get better with rest. If only I could sleep well. She straightened her skirt. The weather had warmed again, and the light fabric felt comfortable. I'm so grateful Mom sent my clothes with the food and other things. I can look nice for Matt this way.
Sarah knew the drill. She went into her bedroom and waited for Rene to bring Matt into the house. Rene had warned her, "If something were to go down, they often choose the time when people are going in and out of the house."
The front door opened. Matt's voice, no longer hoarse, echoed throughout the small townhouse. "I've got it from here, Rene. Just set that down by the door. Thanks."
Sarah had not made it as far as the bedroom door when Matt found her. Before she could say anything, his arms had wrapped around her and held her close, although he still favored his left side. Remembering his still-healing wounds, she relaxed against him carefully, taking in the scent of his aftershave and feeling his warmth. They had not held one another like this since before the attack. She started to pull away after a minute. "I never said hello."
Matt stopped her with a kiss and replied, "Neither did I. This is hello enough."
"I don't want to hurt you."
"I'm okay. I missed you."
"I missed you, too." She gestured with her chin to the nearest surveillance device. "We're on camera."
"I don't care." He kissed her again, this time more deeply. Matt knew that Sarah was serious about the cameras, so he finally pulled away. "I'm sorry this is such an awkward situation. But we'll make the best of it, right?"
"Yes. And there are no cameras in the bathrooms or the closets. And in that spot about three feet behind you."
"So we'll just have to go to the bathroom if we want to make out."
"I actually thought the closet was more inviting."
Matt's eyebrows shot up. "Good thing there's no audio." He narrowed his eyes. "At least Phillip insisted there wasn't."
They laughed together. While he held his side and was careful to only chuckle softly, Sarah was grateful that Matt was trying to put her at ease. She had observed before that Matt was sometimes shy with people in certain situations, but she had learned in the hospital that he did not embarrass as easily as she did when it came to privacy and modesty.
It was painful for Matt to move his left arm—the scars from the surgery and the chest tube were still healing. Sarah had been tasked with helping Matt change his bandages once each day. The six-inch gash was nearly healed, but the area was still tender. Matt was weak, and his still-healing lung still could not always keep up.
"We should get you to your bed." Sarah searched Matt's eyes. She could see he would probably not argue with her. "Do you want to put on some pajamas? I hope you don't mind, but I unpacked the bag you gave Daddy."
"Thanks. Maybe later. I had better get off my feet. I guess I'm not used to all of this activity, yet."
Sarah put her arm around Matt and helped him to the bed. They continued their conversation as she arranged the pillows so he could recline comfortably. She sat down next to him.
He placed his hand atop hers. "You know, you could have taken the bigger bed and had a more private bathroom. You've been here longer than me."
"Don't be silly. I'm smaller than you are. I'm fine in the other room." She glanced over her shoulder towards the kitchen. "Are you hungry? Mom made sure we could eat like kings. Lots of beef for you." Sarah grinned. "She's like my grandmother with her theories on what to eat when you're healing up or sick."
"Is there meatloaf?"
Sarah laughed. "Yes. I thought we'd eat that for dinner tonight."
"Well, you should be in charge of the menu. I always like your cooking and your mom's."
Matt grew sober. He took her hand and watched as he ran his thumb over the back of it. "Sarah, there's been something on my mind this past week or two. That day in the park, you thought I should have followed my instincts. I'm so sorry I didn't take you back to your parents' house. I'm sorry I talked you into going on the run."
"Oh, Matt. We made the decision together. And if it hadn't been the park, it would have been somewhere else. And it might have ended far worse. I'm so thankful you're alive." Sarah vowed to herself that she would not cry. She looked down.
Tipping Sarah's chin up with his finger, Matt looked in her eyes. "Since you put it that way, we need to look at the rest of the silver lining. Things could be worse, Sarah. At least we're together. I don't mean to make light of what happened to us, but I'm so glad I can be with you." Especially since I almost lost you…
"I just wish…" Sarah did not have the nerve to say what had been on her mind earlier.
Matt seemed to read her thoughts. "I'm just as old-fashioned as you are, though. I would never have asked you to live with me outside of marriage. Hopefully this will only be for a few days."
Sarah sighed unhappily, but caught herself. I can't be like this. I need to be cheerful for Matt. "No, but there won't be much to gossip about with all the cameras watching us." Matt chuckled, but Sarah could see he was tired. "Let's eat a quick lunch and then you can have a nap."
After lunch, Matt had no trouble falling asleep. Sarah took the opportunity to lie down in her room. She had not intended to sleep, but fatigue soon overtook her as well.
Sarah stood at the foot of Matt's hospital bed. He was still on the respirator, and she watched as the doctors worked feverishly over him. Now the doctors were replaced by the men in the park. They held knives in their hands, ready to strike at Matt, who still lay helpless on the bed. One of them pointed their knife at her, but turned to attack Matt. She screamed in terror.
"No! Don't hurt him!"
Sarah's eyes flew open, and she stared at the wall across from the bed. Her breath game in short gasps. It took her a few moments to recognize her surroundings. She tried to reach up and push the hair from her face, but her hand tangled in the throw that covered her as she lay curled up on her side.
"Sarah?" Matt hesitated at her door before walking in the room and coming to her bedside. He sat down and began running his hand along the arm that now lay exposed. "You cried out in your sleep—well, it was worse than a cry."
"How long have I been asleep?"
"About two hours. I got up to use the restroom an hour ago and saw you in here. I thought you might be cold, so I covered you up."
Sarah finally pushed herself to a sitting position, putting a hand to her forehead when a wave of dizziness came. "Thank you. Here you are, taking care of me, when I should be taking care of you."
Matt watched her. "You and I both know that you aren't fully recovered from your head injury. And I'm betting you took such a long nap because you aren't sleeping well at night."
"Yes. But before you say anything more, I've already talked with Dr. Kirby twice. You know I hate sleeping pills." She looked at Matt and frowned. "Did I really sleep two hours? How long have you been awake?"
"Not long. But I heard you, so I got up to check on you." Sarah noticed that he had changed from his jeans into pajama bottoms. He now wore a loose t-shirt, instead of the fitted shirt that he'd had on earlier. Matt winced as he shifted his position.
"You look uncomfortable. Let's get you back to your room."
Matt did not protest as Sarah helped him back to his bed. He was trying to wean himself off the pain medication, but it was not an easy process. Dr. Fassbender had tried to urge him to stay on the pills for another week, but Matt was not easily persuaded. Finally he had agreed to take the bottle with him.
"You probably need your pain medication. I'm so sorry I slept so long. I should have brought it to you an hour or more ago."
Matt started to say something as Sarah went to get the bag she had brought into his room earlier, but he stopped himself. It had been a long day. Showering and shaving was still an effort, and then leaving the hospital and riding to the townhouse with Rene had been tiring. Maybe I should take the pills this time.
"I'll be right back with some water."
After helping Matt with the medication and arranging his pillows, Sarah left the water on Matt's bedside table and went to fix her hair in her bathroom. She relished the time away from the security cameras. As she slowly brushed out her hair and rebraided it, she thought back to the dream. Dr. Kirby had thought she might be feeling responsible for Matt being injured because he was trying to protect her. "That, and the head injury might be making the dream more vivid," he had said. But other than telling her to get plenty of rest, he had had no solution. She sighed in frustration.
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Reading the text once again, Sarah could not help but wonder at the timing. It was as if Agent Smith had waited for Matt to get in the shower so he could see Sarah alone. She waited near her doorway while he let himself in the townhouse. It unnerved her that he had access to the key. Maybe I should find a way to ask Mom to make sure Grace is the one bringing us groceries.
"Hey, Sarah. Where do you want these?"
Why can't he just leave them on the counter? She walked out to the living room and spoke to Smith over the bar that separated the kitchen from the dining area. "Thanks for bringing those, Brad. You can just leave them on the counter."
Smith stared at Sarah for a moment before trying to find something else to focus on. It left Sarah feeling even more uncomfortable. Her hair was still wet, and she was barefoot in her jeans and t-shirt.
"So, are you doing okay? Are you feeling better?"
He's just trying to be nice. You've had guys stare at you before. It just seems weird that he began doing this after he found out I was seeing Matt. She tried to sound cheerful. "I'm much better. Thanks."
"Well, it looks like your mom is making sure you have fresh fruit and vegetables. There's a loaf of bread in there, too."
Forcing a smile, Sarah replied, "Yes. Matt and I like to eat pretty healthy." He doesn't realize how frustrating it is to have so many details of your life become other people's knowledge.
Sarah searched for something to say so she could turn the conversation away from herself. "I guess it must get pretty boring next door. What do you and Grace do during your shift?"
The agent was dismissive. "Oh, we keep to ourselves. We both keep an eye on the monitors." At Sarah's expression, he tried to cover for himself. "I mean, we make sure there's no unusual activity. Grace likes to read. I read some myself." His eyes lit up. "I noticed you like to read. Maybe we could read the same books and talk about them."
"Sarah and I will have to keep that in mind, Brad." Matt walked into the living room and stood with his arms crossed. His posture and expression did not match his polite tone of voice.
Seemingly annoyed to be caught unaware by Matt, Brad colored a bit and backed towards the door. He directed his remarks to Sarah. "Well, let me know, then. I hope to see you again tomorrow or the day after."
Sarah did not reply, but offered him a little wave as he left. Once the door was shut, she breathed a sigh of relief and went to put the groceries away. She debated whether to thank Matt for his timing or let it go. She could tell he was irritated, and she did not want to make it worse.
"I'll just finish here and help you with your bandage after I wash my hands."
"So he waited until I was out of sight to bring those?"
"Yes."
"Can't you see he's flirting with you?"
Stung by the tone of his words, Sarah turned around to face Matt. He was shirtless, his hair still tousled from the towel—obviously he had just emerged from the shower. Normally she would have found herself physically attracted by his appearance, but instead she focused on his face. "I'm not an idiot, Matt. I was trying to be polite. I was going to thank you for coming out when you did, but I can see you were angrier with me than with Brad. I suppose you took such a quick shower because you want to keep an eye on me."
Sarah wished she could take back the words. At first flinching at her angry tone, Matt's expression had grown contrite as she had continued lashing out at him.
"That's not what I meant. I trust you. But I do want to help look out for you."
Sarah went to wash her hands. And it was not just because she needed to dress Matt's wounds. She knew she needed to cool off. Before Sarah could reach for a paper towel, Matt had come into the kitchen. He torn off a paper towel and handed it to her.
"I'm sorry." His tone was sincere. "I should never have said anything. It was unfair. Jealousy is an ugly thing."
Turning to face Matt, Sarah took the offered towel. "I know you didn't mean it. Your scars are probably uncomfortable right now and you have a right to be irritable. Brad Smith is a major flirt—I was thinking of asking my mom to find a way to have Grace bring things over when they're on duty."
"He may be harmless, but his behavior gives me a strange feeling in my gut. And I'm glad I can finally be here with you. We still don't know who the mole is. I've been worried about you."
"I'm so sorry I reacted so angrily. I should have just let that comment go."
"And if I'm going to be in a relationship with a lovely-looking woman, I should expect that other men may stare at her. It's certainly happened a number of times."
"I appreciate the compliment, even if you are biased. For whatever it's worth, I felt like Brad's timing was really intrusive. But I couldn't exactly ask him to leave and come back. I can handle the staring. I try to avoid the flirting. But I don't like to be rude."
"And that's why I love you. You're a sweet person." Matt reached out and touched Sarah's arm.
Sarah blushed at the compliment, but she was also acutely aware of Matt's nearness and his shirtless torso. "I love you, too. Thank you for saying that I'm sweet. I don't deserve it—especially not right now." Eager to speed up the process of getting him fully dressed, she offered him a quick kiss on the cheek and ducked around him to get to the bathroom where the wound supplies were kept. "Let's go take care of you."
Matt smiled to himself. He knew he was making Sarah uncomfortable, but he had to admit that Brad's attention to Sarah really had made him jealous. Knowing she was physically attracted to him offered Matt a small amount of reassurance when he was feeling insecure. He had grown more certain each day since their attack that he wanted to marry Sarah. Physical attraction is not the basis for a long-lasting relationship. Loving someone no matter the circumstances is—you know you have that with Sarah. But be honest with yourself, Granger. You like the way she looks at you with your shirt off.
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Sarah waited until Matt got into the shower before going into her room and shutting the door. She looked at her phone and re-read Deb's answer to her text. "Call me in five. We need to talk."
Sarah was nervous. It was now Tuesday, and she knew Deb would wonder why she had not come back to work. This was a dream job for anyone in Sarah's field. Assistant curator at a Smithsonian museum. It had been a combination of great timing and hard work that had gotten her the internship that led to a permanent position at the International Spy Museum. While the Cold War exhibit had been a fascinating project, Sarah was forced to admit that the steam punk Christmas project was not as interesting to her. Face it, Sarah. You only got to help with the higher profile project because you had access to some items that no one else could get to. It's time to focus on the other aspects of the job. And they are fun, too. Working with the public. Educational programs. But you don't have a good excuse to not coming in to work today. At least not one you can talk about.
When Sarah had first talked about the safe house with Francine and her parents, she had asked them how she would explain her absence at work. Francine had offered to call Deb—or have Gill Barclay himself call. Sarah wished she had taken them up on their offer. Now it was too late to change her story.
The phone rang a few times before Deb answered. "Sarah. Thank you for calling. I wasn't sure if you would."
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As Matt stepped out of his bedroom, he could see Sarah's door was closed, and he heard her talking with someone on the telephone. He could not hear her words, but he detected hurt in her voice. He went back to his room and waited for her to come out.
On the other side of the door, Sarah was still sitting on the bed, playing with the comforter as she spoke. "Thank you for the offer, Ma'am." Sarah could not think of any other reply.
"I hope to see you by this afternoon—or at least Monday morning, Sarah."
"Good-bye."
Sarah pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it. Soon her vision blurred with the tears that came. She curled up on her bed and cried silently.
A short time later there was a knock on her door. Although she had stopped crying, Sarah was afraid to answer, knowing her words would come out in a sob. She clutched the tissue in her hand and hoped Matt would think she was asleep.
Matt opened the door cautiously. From his vantage point, he could see she was upset, so he went to sit beside her. He handed her another tissue from the box next to her bed. "Sarah, I heard you on the phone. What happened?" When she did not immediately respond to him, he remained quietly beside her, running his hand gently up and down her arm and over her hair.
"I didn't dress the wound from your chest tube."
"Forget the wound."
"Somebody will see us."
"Why were you crying, Sarah?"
At Sarah's hesitation, Matt bent over to kiss her hair and gently ran his hand up and down her arm again. He waited for her to answer.
For the moment, Sarah did not care about the security cameras. The warmth from Matt's body sitting so closely beside hers and the scent of his after shave was comforting. She knew that she needed to tell him; certainly there was no doubt about how much he loved her. He had a right to know what troubled her. It's pride, Sarah Stetson. You just failed for the first time in your life. You're lying here and the man you love is trying to comfort you. He knows your heart is breaking. You need to be honest.
"Deb fired me."
Sarah could feel Matt's body stiffen as he sat beside her. "On what grounds?"
"I haven't shown up to work this week. She tolerated the first two weeks I was out, but I don't sound sick to her. My position is 'coveted,' so she is finding someone else who will show up to do the work." Sarah paused. "Well, she said if I came in this afternoon, I could keep the job."
"Oh, Sarah. I'm so sorry. Couldn't Francine come up with some plausible reason for you to miss work? Surely there is a way around this. You've worked so hard. And the Cold War exhibit was amazing."
"She's offered to have me stay on as an intern if I showed up Monday morning. I'd lose my benefits and go back to part-time work. Like what I had before I finished my thesis."
"Maybe you could make that work. You don't have to pay rent, you have no car payments…" Unbidden thoughts flooded Matt's mind. I wish we weren't here. We could plan our future—get married. Sarah could keep her job. And these tears aren't just because she was fired. Being isolated from family and friends has got to be getting to her, too.
"But I need the benefits." Sarah dabbed at her cheeks with the tissue. "You know what's ironic? After working on the Cold War exhibit, the job didn't seem as exciting anymore. I was spoiled by getting that high profile project. And I hate to sound prideful, but it would be really hard to face everyone there after being demoted." Sarah was quiet a moment. "I am prideful… Oh, this hurts so much." She started to cry again; this time her body shook with the sobs.
Matt continued to sit with her, alternating between stroking her hair and rubbing his hand along her arm as he whispered words of comfort to her.
Finally Sarah quieted. She lay exhausted, afraid her head would throb if she tried to get up.
"Just stay here and rest, Sarah. It's too early for lunch, and you didn't sleep well last night."
"I'm sorry I woke you up with that nightmare again."
"I'm still kind of restless. I was already awake."
"You should have taken your pain medication," Sarah persisted.
"I'm doing okay right now."
"But you sat on the couch with me last night to watch that movie. And now you've been using your arm too much."
"Let's just take care of Sarah right now," Matt soothed.
"We never did put a dressing on your wound."
"I took care of it."
"You did it yourself?"
"Yeah. It's not as hard to keep my arm up anymore and it's almost healed. But I like it better when my hot little nurse takes care of me."
Sarah had noticed Matt watching her as she had carefully washed the wound with saline and redressed it every day. They had developed a routine, where he would rest his hand on the towel rack to keep his arm out of the way while Sarah worked. His eyes always held the same look that she had seen when she had found him gazing at her at the museum gala. Sarah had tried to put a label on his expression. It was more than love—not longing so much as confidence. It was as if while he watched her he was imagining something that he was not ready to share with her. Something special about them.
As for Sarah, despite the seriousness of the task, she found it distracting when she worked on Matt. A girl would have to be blind not to notice the muscles in his arms and shoulders. Even with his scars, he's gorgeous with his shirt off. Sarah knew she needed to change her train of thought, especially considering Matt was sitting so close beside her on her bed.
"Hot, huh? Did you know that Elaine is married? Or was that Kensey? Kensey has three or four kids, I think."
"You know very well who I'm talking about," Matt chuckled, and Sarah could not help but smile.
"We need to start practicing our dancing again. I'm going to set up the iPod later. We can start with some slow stuff. Like Debussy."
Sarah let out a small laugh. "That really isn't dancing."
"No. But I like it."
Sarah reached up and caressed Matt's arm where it rested against her back. "We should probably get up. This is going to look pretty awkward. No one knows you're just sitting there."
"Who cares? We're not really doing anything."
Sarah sat up and looked at Matt. "You're just as frustrated with these cameras as I am."
Matt shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, I guess I am. I didn't mean to grouch. I'd just like to be with my girlfriend and not wonder who the heck is watching us."
Sarah put out a hand and ran it across his chest. "Thank you for comforting me, Matt." She sighed.
Matt watched her face. He could tell she was trying not to cry again. "Maybe we'll be out of here by Monday morning and you can work as an intern at the museum."
"Maybe. But I'd make more money working at a clothing store or something."
"Sarah, please don't settle for that. Let's take things one step at a time. For now, maybe we can just make the best of this little arrangement. I do like being near you all the time." Matt's eyes met Sarah's. He got up off the bed and held out his hand.
Sarah let Matt lead her into the bathroom, where he took her in his arms. But this time there was no camera to watch them.