Chapter 32

Charlie and Rex slipped into the hospital, long after visiting hours were over. The receptionist at the reception desk just smirked and let them pass without stopping. She logged it into her book, just in case, but knew that no one would say anything.

The night nurse saw them coming and pulled Charlie aside. Sarah's parents had left a few hours ago and she had a message to give him.

"The doctor says Sarah can go home tomorrow," she said.

"That's fantastic. About what time is she going to be discharged?" He wanted to know.

"There's no hard and fast time. The doctors have to check her over in the morning, the paperwork has to be filled out, a discharge packet put together, and of course the instructions to avoid her coming back to us before her next check-in given," the nurse explained.

"Right, ok, good to know," he nodded, and the nurse wondered if he was absorbing everything she had just told him. What she could not know was that Joe intended to get a warrant in the morning for the cabin in the woods. Charlie and Mika had picked through the boxes in the basement of the Moffat home. A few of them contained what they had suspected – photos that they hoped would never see the light of day again. Other boxes contained holiday decorations, but the last bunch were paper files. Some of it was tax paperwork and some were important papers like wills, birth certificates, and property deeds. There they had found an address which was definitely in the woods.

"This should be good news," the nurse said.

"It very much is. She can't wait to be home and I can't wait for her to be home. Neither can Rex. It's just…" he trailed off.

"Her mom?" The nurse offered. Charlie nodded.

"You don't want to overstep, but Sarah is your girlfriend," she said.

"That's exactly it!" He told her.

"Yeah, I can't help you there. I'm not a relationship nurse, just a trauma nurse," she smiled at him, feeling a bit bad.

"I know. This just has – "you can screw this up" all over it. That's the last thing I want," Charlie admitted, surprised he was sharing so much with the nurse. Some of it was probably because he was exhausted.

"Just remind her mother that she isn't the only person who loves Sarah. Sometimes moms forget that," the nurse smiled again and Charlie nodded before thanking her and heading into Sarah's room.

"There's my two favorite boys," Sarah was tired, but she had wanted to wait up.

"Don't tell your dad that," he teased her. Sarah shook her head and scooted over in the bed.

"Long day?" She asked.

"The longest, especially since you weren't there," he admitted as he shrugged off his jacket. Rex hopped up onto the foot of the bed and made himself comfortable.

"That'll be changing soon," Sarah smiled at him as he carefully got into the bed.

"Can't wait. Rex and I are needed though tomorrow and I feel like that is the wrong decision," Charlie said.

"Why are you guys needed?" She asked as he settled next to her.

"We think we found where Debra Moffat is," he told her.

"Charlie, that is way more important than making sure I get home. Bố and mom will be fine with it," Sarah told him. Charlie rolled onto his side, looked at her, and asked,

"What if I'm not fine with it?"

"We knew there would be moments we'd miss with this job. What is more important is that when you two come home tomorrow, I'll be there to greet you. If Debra Moffat really is out there, her story needs to be told. The man who killed her may be gone, but Debra still deserves justice, in whatever form we can give it to her," Sarah reminded him.

"We may be able to get her justice. Richard was afraid that Lynn would say something to her therapist. He's worried about something or maybe someone," Charlie said.

"Then you get them Charlie Hudson and come home to me later. There will be plenty of time to be together when this case is over," Sarah said. He leaned over and kissed her temple.

"I love you," he said.

"And I you. Tomorrow isn't going to change that," she promised. Carefully, Charlie put an arm around her and snuggled as close as he could. They fell asleep, knowing that tomorrow was coming quicker than they both were ready for it.

To Be Continued…