Chapter Sixteen
Sam didn’t delay in his tasks for the evening. As much as he’d done his best to reassure Drew that he was safe, he knew the situation was unpredictable. Leaving him alone for any significant length of time was unwise.
It was outside of visiting hours when he arrived back at the hospital, so he dropped Matt’s things off and left, swinging by the grocery store for food and the local Chinese to pick up dinner.
Drew was sitting on the couch when he arrived back, staring into space.
“I brought dinner,” he said, and Drew shook off his daydream and stood, helping unpack the bags.
They ate on their laps on the couch, going for comfort over anything else. It had been a long day. And the days ahead were only going to get longer.
“Maybe it would be better if I went alone to see my friend Diego,” Drew said. While Sam wasn’t exactly surprised at the suggestion, it was unconnected to what they’d just been talking about. Drew was clearly distracted, and no wonder. There was a metaphorical ax hanging over his head and he was just waiting for it to fall.
“How would that be better?”
Drew tapped a chopstick against the carton in his hand. “The only person I’d be putting at risk is me. I’m comfortable with that. Not so comfortable dragging you along for the ride.”
“And if Russell tries to intercept you on the way there? Or if he follows you and finds Diego?”
“That would be bad,” Drew intoned, setting his food down and resting his chin on his hand.
“That’s why you need me with you. I’m trained in this sort of thing, Drew. I’ll know if we’re being followed, I know how to shake a tail if we have one. I can handle myself and keep you safe if they try a direct assault. Can you say the same?”
“No. Superhero ninja skills I don’t possess,” Drew said, mouth turned down in a frown. “I do make a mean cup of coffee though. Do you want one?”
“Why not?” Sam said, watching Drew’s expression brighten.
“There’s still some of those nice beans left.” Drew got to his feet and crossed to the cupboard.
Sam watched him make the coffee, pleased to see steady hands. Despite Drew’s fears, he was holding it together. All Sam had to do was keep him that way, until they got what they needed and brought it to someone who could do some good with it.
The next day was a flurry of activity. Sam went out to buy some supplies for their journey, leaving Drew in the apartment to prepare food to take with them. In the early afternoon, Sam went to visit Matt.
He knocked on the open door before he looked in. Matt was sitting on a chair next to the bed, staring at the walls.
“Hey, Matt.”
His friend looked up, giving him a weak smile. “Hey, Sam. Thanks for bringing my stuff in last night. Nice to have my own clothes and things. They took my razor though.” He scrubbed a hand across his chin. “Supervised shaving only.”
“It’s only temporary. Until things start to settle down.”
“Yeah.” Matt gestured to the second chair in the room. “Join me for some stimulating conversation.”
Sam sat, ignoring his friend’s sarcasm. “How’s it going so far?”
“It’s… I think they’re going easy on me, letting me settle in. They did start a medication this morning, but it takes weeks to kick in so all I’ll get is a healthy dose of side-effects to start off. I’m meeting with that psychologist later.”
“I liked him,” Sam replied.
“Yeah? I don’t know. He seemed a little ‘tell me about your childhood’. I had a picture-perfect childhood. All it took was ten seconds and a small blast radius to destroy me.”
“Except it wasn’t you that was destroyed.” The words were out before Sam could stop them. Matt’s eyes met his.
“Then why does it feel like it was?”
Sam shrugged. “I guess that’s why you’re here. Because, yeah, maybe the explosion killed Jon, physically, but he wasn’t the only casualty.”
“That’s why I like you, Sam. Even though I know there’s a part of you thinking what most people think, ‘It’s all in your head. Pull yourself together. So many people have it worse than you.’, I know you’re able to look deeper. You don’t see suicide and think ‘selfish’. You don’t see PTSD and think ‘weak’.”
The whole conversation was deeper and darker than Sam would have liked. But maybe it was something Matt needed to say. Something he needed to work out.
“You’re not weak. Or selfish. Or any other name people who don’t have a clue will try to label you with. You saw your closest friend, the man you loved, die in front of your eyes. Literally torn apart. The fact you’ve held it together this long tells me you’re one of the strongest people I know.”
Matt smiled wryly at that. “I feel far from strong right now.”
“So let other people be strong for you. We owe you that.”
Matt nodded and neatly changed the subject.
“What are you planning to do about Drew’s little problem?”
“It’s not so little,” he replied. “We’re going to get on the right side of it.”
“Which is?”
“Get what we need to take that bastard down before he can hurt Drew or anyone else.”
“And Drew agrees?”
“He’s scared of getting other people hurt and wants to go it alone. But it’s not a fair fight. Russell has money and influence, enough for Drew to disappear and never see the light of day again.”
“Way to be dramatic,” Matt said with a laugh, sobering when he caught the expression on Sam’s face. “You’re serious?”
“I looked into one of the incidents Drew told me about. The owner of a small company that was leasing software a lot of bigger companies wanted to buy outright. This guy didn’t want to sell and was being put under a lot of pressure to. In the middle of all this, he takes a vacation, goes scuba diving, and dies after making an error with his equipment. He’s been diving since he was twelve, Matt. Re-certified regularly, taught one-on-one, took groups out. It was ruled an accident, misadventure contributed to by stress.”
“Wow. So Drew is telling the truth.”
“Seems like it. I won’t know everything for certain until I see the evidence he collected, if it exists.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“We know a few people living off the grid. It wouldn’t be so hard to spirit Drew away.”
“Are you planning on clueing Logan in about this at any point?”
“Why? He’s too far away to be of help and it would only worry and distract him. He has enemies closer to base that need his attention, and he needs to be in the right frame of mind. Why do you think I agreed to take in Drew in the first place?”
“Because you’re a saint. Have you ever said no to a request for help?”
“Plenty of times.”
“Name one.”
Sam threw out a few examples, which Matt quickly tore to shreds. “Okay, no sane person would have said yes to that first one. The second one they didn’t ask you, they asked me, and I turned them down. The third one was our CO telling them ‘hell no’. You’d have smiled and said ‘of course’.”
“I wouldn’t—”
They were interrupted by the intercom announcing the end of visiting hours.
“When do you and Drew leave?” Matt asked.
“First thing tomorrow morning. I’ll have my cell on me the whole time if you need anything.”
“I’ll be fine. I’m here, in the most harm-free place in the city.”
Sam didn’t believe that. He was sure plenty of harm could be done in a place like this.
“Besides, my sister and my mom are here,” Matt continued.
“Okay. I need you to promise me two things.”
“Fine, name them.”
“You won’t leave before the doctors discharge you. And you’ll give this whole thing a chance. They’re experts for a reason, Matt.”
“As loathe as I am to agree to your terms, it’s hard to argue with your logic. Alright. No leaving against medical advice and no covering my ears and singing ‘la-la-la’ until they let me out.”
“That’s all I ask,” Sam said, getting to his feet. He crossed the room as Matt stood, and pulled him into an embrace.
“Take care of yourself, and Drew,” Matt said. “Watch your backs and don’t underestimate this Russell guy.”
“I don’t intend to.” Sam clapped Matt on the shoulder one last time before making his way to the exit.