Free A Mended Man (The Men of Halfway House Book 4) by Jaime Reese

this lifetime or the next to deserve what happened to either of you. So stop it. Karma works on debits and credits, and I'd say the both of you have had plenty of debits pulled out of your accounts. The credits are due. So give it a little time and stop fighting it. Just roll with it the best you can and reach out if you need a steady hand until it balances."
    "Are you sure you're teaching law? Sounds like you're teaching higher world philosophy or some other metaphysical shit."
    "Smartass. Focus on work and Jessie, but don't lose yourself in the process. Okay?"
    Aidan nodded. Through all the bullshit and the crap pushing upstream lately, he was lucky enough to not have pushed away those around him who obviously cared enough to stand by his pissy personality through all this. He was thankful and had no way of repaying them for their support other than doing what everyone was telling him to do.
    Focus, but don't lose focus.
    Easier said than done.
     

 
    Two weeks later
     
    Aidan closed his eyes as he placed a gentle kiss to Jessie's forehead. Today was his forehead, but he'd mix it up with each cheek as well. Sanity commanded he maintain a routine. Each morning he'd wake, read Jessie the news from the morning paper, and then take a quick shower in the hospital bathroom to start his day.
    Two weeks, he had watched the man he loved lie motionless on the hospital bed. The swelling had significantly gone down on his face and the bruises had transitioned from rich maroons and purples to browns and yellows. He had a thin scar cutting through one of his eyebrows and another he would be able to easily hide under his hair at his temple, but overall, the doctors had been right. The swelling in his brain had receded and his body was healing. The two broken ribs were mending on their own and the incision from the splenectomy was, thankfully, free of infection. Jessie now had a small titanium plate with screws for his broken wrist and a few plates and screws in his leg. All the surgical points were healing well so they were able to restrict any movement with full casts on his arm and leg. He would end up with a scar on both his leg and wrist from the plate implants, but supposedly, all the hardware would help him mend faster and better than a traditional cast alone. At least that was what they kept telling him.
    Over and over.
    They awaited the umpteenth round of medical results. If all went well, they'd finally ease Jessie out of the medical coma. Anxious didn't begin to summarize the jumble of nerves twisting his stomach on a daily basis, more so lately while he waited for the last set of results so they could finally test his breathing and get him off the ventilator. He was tired of hearing the rhythmic swooshing sound of that fucking machine and the consistent hum of oxygen flowing through it.
    But not hearing those sounds would be far worse. Even he recognized the logic in that.
    He hung the used towel back in the hospital bathroom then sat at the small round table that he'd repositioned next to Jessie's hospital bed. Hunter had kept him steady and grounded, but Aidan had to send him away after a few days. There was no way he could risk Hunter's safety any longer. He was more determined now than ever to wrap up Cam's case and get them back home. He flipped open his laptop and checked his email. He busied himself with work, either another file in Cam's case, a cold case requiring more research than the task force cared to contribute, or he'd Skype with the team to brainstorm on leads with current cases. His captain was right, he needed to work, anything to keep his focus off the what-ifs that plagued his mind—especially knowing they hadn't been able to find and arrest Michael Johnson. He had yelled at the detectives and had again been reprimanded by his captain. Harry had been understanding, far more than he would have ever imagined, but Aidan had to work to control his anger.
    The anger that nearly boiled over to the point of no