Rob stumbled into the chief’s office a little after midnight, bleary-eyed and unshaven. It had been five days since he’d been home.

Five days of sleeping on a disgusting motel floor.

Five days of attending drug riddled parties.

Five days of not getting any closer to solving the case.

Who was bringing the drugs in?

Fuck if he knew at this point.

All he wanted was a bed, a shower, and to sleep for twelve hours.

Chief glanced up from the stack of paperwork. It was their scheduled meet, once a week at midnight, when the station was closed and prying eyes were safely tucked away. “What are you doing here?”

Rob stopped. “It’s—”

Chief put up a hand. “I know it’s our time. But why aren’t you at the hospital?”

Life was funny sometimes. He was literally dragging ass, had barely been able to shake the car tailing him and safely make the drive from Campbell to Darlington. His mind was foggy.

But the moment the word hospital left the Chief’s mouth, he was suddenly, abruptly awake.

“What happened?”

“Melissa—”

His gut managed to both unfurl and clench at the same time. Thank God it wasn’t the kids, but Melissa. Sweet Melissa with her honey hair, her light brown eyes, her soft smile—

“—house was broken in to. She’s hurt.”

And that unfurling disappeared completely, his gut twisting itself back into knots, a cold sweat dripping down his spine.

Fuck.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“I gotta go,” he said and walked straight out of the office to his car. His personal vehicle was parked at the back of the station lot, hidden in an unused corner with little to no lighting.

It was the perfect place to hide.

Something he’d been doing too damned much of lately, he thought as he got in and cranked the engine.

Music was playing in the background and it was a mindfuck.

Because it was their wedding song.

He was instantly transported back to that day, to promising to love and cherish, to respect and honor—

He’d been doing a fuck-all job of that lately, working on a case, not home, leaving his wife to be injured when he wasn’t there to protect her.

Rob tore out of the lot and drove to the hospital.

It only took ten minutes, but they were the longest of his life.

The nurse at the reception desk knew him on sight. If there was one good thing about being a cop, it was that he tended to know the right people in an emergency. “She’s in ten.”

He nodded and pushed through the door after she’d buzzed him in. His boots clipped against the tile floor as he strode quickly down the hall.

Seven, eight, nine . . . ten.

One inhalation to calm himself before pushing through the door.

His wife was laughing.

His wife was in another man’s arms, laughing. She was pale, but appeared otherwise uninjured.

And she was in another man’s arms.

Rob saw red. He stood there like a fucking idiot as a swathe of crimson literally passed over his vision.

Melissa’s eyes drifted up from the man—from the fucking veterinarian—and finally noticed him standing in the doorway.

“R-Rob?”

“Out,” he ordered.

“No.”

It wasn’t the vet that replied, but another man. This time the one kneeling at Melissa’s feet.

He snorted. How fitting.

Then he actually noticed her feet.

And his throat went tight.

They were sliced up like chunks of meat that the doctor was slowly trying to piece back together.

He threaded the needle through the skin, pulling the two sides together.

Melissa winced, bit her lip.

The nurse, a blond in her twenties that Rob didn’t recognize, noticed. “Stop,” she said. “Feeling’s returning.”

“Damn.” The doctor put down the needle. “I’m sorry we’ll have to numb you again. Sometimes it just doesn’t work as well in certain patients.”

Melissa nodded. “It’s okay.” She closed her eyes, stiffening and letting out the slightest whimper when the doctor picked up a syringe and pressed it into the sole of her foot.

“Tell me about the time Allie decided to cut open her beanbag,” the vet said, clearly trying to distract her, and making Rob feel lower than the dirt on the bottom of his boot.

Melissa’s lips twitched. “It was the biggest mess. Looked”—she hissed—“like it had snowed, ah, inside the house.”

Rob took a step forward, tired of standing there like a useless idiot.

“I had a dog once that decided to chew mine up,” the vet said, gripping her hand and deliberately turning his back on Rob. “Took me three vacuum bags to get it all up.” He rubbed her arm. “I still find those little balls in the house sometimes.”

Melissa chuckled as she sank back against the bed, the doctor having finished with the syringe. “Me too.”

“Why didn’t you put her completely under for this?” Rob asked.

The doctor glared. “Because we don’t generally need full anesthesia for stitches. Now, keep your comments to yourself, or get out. I want to finish this.”

“Maybe you should just step outside until we’re done,” the nurse said.

“I’m her husband,” Rob countered.

The nurse shot him a look that said, “So what?”

He opened his mouth to reply, but Melissa’s voice stopped him. “Rob.”

A warning. Just like with the kids.

And just like with the kids, it worked.

He dropped into a chair in the corner, sighed heavily, and bit his fucking tongue until it bled.

Then he watched his wife hold the hand of another man.

Watched as she looked to him for comfort.

It was excruciating.

“Shit,” Melissa hissed, jerking back.

“Damn,” the doctor muttered, reaching for another syringe. “And we were almost done.”

“Don’t bother with the shot,” Melissa said. “That’s worse than the stitches.”

“You’re sure?” the doctor asked.

“Just do it.”

“Miss—” Rob began.

She shook her head at him. “Go,” she said to the doctor, who nodded and went back to stitching.

Sweat broke out on his wife’s forehead, and her normally bright-red lips went ashy gray. The vet didn’t try to talk to her then, just held tight to her hand.

The room went silent except for the sound of Melissa’s labored breathing, and Rob found himself leaning forward in his seat, gripping his knees in an effort to not jump up and throw the doctor halfway across the hospital for hurting his wife.

He hadn’t felt this fucking useless since watching Melissa giving birth to the kids. But at least he’d been the one getting ice chips and holding hands and wiping the tears away.

This was fucking agony.

Then finally it was over.

The doctor stood and pulled off his gloves. “I’ll leave discharge instructions with the nurse.”

“Haley,” the blond nurse said. “Just like I’ve told you a dozen times.”

“Haley,” the doctor repeated, either ignoring her sarcasm or exceptionally dense. “Good. Go over the instructions with her.”

“Planning on it,” Haley muttered as he breezed from the room, white coat flapping behind him and expensive shoes clicking on the tile floor. She began gathering supplies, tossing them, and moving to a computer in the corner.

“He’s an asshole.”

Melissa’s tone sounded almost normal, except for the little waver at the end. And the sheen of tears in her eyes, the paleness of her skin.

“He’s very good at what he does.” Haley attempted neutrality. Then she rolled her eyes and shrugged. “But he is a giant asshole.”

Melissa laughed.

It was a real one.

And as that tinkling sound washed over him, warming him from the inside out, Rob realized this is what he’d been missing out on.