A/n: Seriously, y'all's comments are the sweetest! Thanks for stalking! I'm writing furiously as I nurse my baby to sleep! Sorry if there are longer pauses...I've got three little ones and one on the way and that first trimester exhaustion and nausea are in full force!

It had been three weeks since the accident. Three weeks since Adam had written that letter. And three more weeks without hearing from her. Adam was grieving. He guessed he deserved it, but that didn't make her silence any easier.

McG had stayed until he woke up from the medical sedation. Adam had broken ribs (no surprise), a broken leg and arm, dislocated shoulder, and cracked collarbone. Thankfully his helmet had done its job and protected his skull. He was basically recovered now but still had weeks of physical therapy before he would be mission ready.

Amir sent consistent texts and emails, encouraging his efforts at getting back to normal. Preach had called a few times, his quiet voice drawing comfort around Adam like a blanket. Patricia had sent a beef jerky basket. And from Jaz...nothing but silence. Her absence screamed at him.

Adam determined to go see her as soon as he could walk without too much help. His ribs, arm and collarbone were fine. It was this bum leg that made up most of the physical therapy work, and he had to build up strength.

Maybe if he could see her, face to face, they could finally talk. He didn't know why she had ignored all his calls, texts, and emails besides that she must hate him. But she hadn't applied for a transfer and no one else on the team had heard from her either. It was unlike Jaz to so completely pull away from all the men on her team.

She was the one that drove him to heal, to build back the muscle, to get back into shape. He had to be ready to captain their team and he refused to do her the disservice of being less than par for the course. He remembered her unwavering discipline in daily training, even when she was doubled over in pain or wiped out from exhaustion. She never quit. He wouldn't either.

It had been a solid month of being on the trails of the Cascades. It had been arduous and exhausting but so good. Jaz unlocked her apartment and stepped inside, grateful that at least this time she didn't have to scrub the whole thing down.

She'd bake some more cookies for her neighbors this week before heading south to visit Elijah's family. She had good neighbors who kept an eye on her place while she was gone, and every time she would come home, she did what she could to extend her gratitude.

Jaz checked her landline. Strange, no messages. She had told McG she would be hiking and out of cell service for a while, but she thought he might have called to check up on her. To be honest, she was a little disappointed there was no message from Adam, but after the weeks of clearing her head, she refused to dwell on that.

Jaz plugged her phone into its charger and headed out to grab some takeout. It would take a while to charge enough to turn on, and she hoped to talk to at least some of her guys before bed tonight.

Preach wiped the sweat from his brow as he finished up his set of physical therapy exercises. The work was intense but he welcomed it. It meant he was alive and had the potential to go through one more deployment with the team he'd grown to love.

His phone jingled, signaling an incoming call and he swiped it up next to his ear after checking the caller ID.

"Hey, sweet Jasmine! How are you?"

"Preach! So good to hear your voice! How are you?"

"Naw, girl, I asked you first! I haven't heard from you on over a month. I was starting to get worried."

"I was hiking. Took a little longer of a trip this time. Had to clear my head and get perspective on some things."

"Mmhmm. Things like a certain lovestruck captain of ours?" Jaz could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Lovestruck? No, Preach. I totally misread Top's intentions. He is definitely not into me that way, and you know what? It's a good thing. Because he is my CO and flirting with that line never did any of us any good. It's dangerous. There's a reason there are rules against it."

"Well..." Preach was flummoxed. He knew what he had sensed between Adam and Jaz was real. And he knew at least Adam's side of the story of their last few hours together. "The truth is not always what it seems, Jaz. Sometimes you have to dig deeper than the obvious to find what is reality."

Jaz smiled at the cryptic statements. Preach was back to his mysterious ways, and that felt good.

"So...I answered your questions. Now you answer mine. How are you doing? What's the prognosis? Is our halfway point barbecue still on?"

Preach chuckled at the barrage of questions. "My neurosurgeon has given me the thumbs up to go back to work. Just waiting on my PT to get me back up to field readiness! And of course our barbecue is on! I'm looking forward to seeing you! And maybe you and Adam can have a heart to heart and clear some things up."

"Well, I'm not making any promises on that front. But I'm looking forward to seeing you. I'm heading down to see Eli's family next week. Any messages you want me to pass along?"

"Just that they are often in my prayers. Thanks, Jaz."

"Take care, Preach. I'll be seeing you soon."

"It's Joe. You know what to do."

Beep!

Jaz hated leaving messages. She was tempted to just hang up and not leave one altogether, but it had been a solid month since she'd talked to McG and thought it would be good to at least put forth a little effort.

"Hey dude, it's me, Jaz. Just wanted to touch base with you. Had a great hiking trip up the Cascades. Seriously, dude, one of these days ya gotta come with me. You'd love all the female hikers in their cropped shirts and leggings. Okay, well, I'm going out of town again in a few days, so if I don't hear from you, I'll catch you on the flip side."

Jaz pressed End Call then dialed Amir. She wasn't quite sure she was ready to talk to Dalton yet, but it would be good to get the rest of the guys out of the way before heading to Elijah's family ranch.

Amir's call was a little awkward. He was surprised to hear from her and it showed. He mentioned something about Top feeling better which was kind of odd, but Jaz guessed she was glad he was getting over whatever had upset him. The stilted conversation came to an abrupt end when Amir got a call from Hannah and Jaz was glad to be done with the conversation.

Lastly, Jaz called Elijah's brother. They finalized the plan - Eddie would fly up in a day or two to road trip down to Texas with her. It would be the first visit since Elijah's death, and Jaz wanted to hold onto the road trip tradition. The three of them had had some seriously fun times in the past and Jaz hoped to rekindle the easy friendship with Eddie.

The phone buzzed while Jaz was laughing with Eddie about some distant memory of one of Elijah's crazy antics. She pulled the phone away from her ear to see who was calling. It was an unknown number. Jaz shrugged and went back to her conversation. If it was important, whoever it was could leave a message.

Adam sighed and hung up the phone. If Jaz wouldn't talk to him on the phone he was just going to have to fly out and see her in person. It was past time to clear the air.