Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Looks like they're having a party," KT remarked as Pia pulled in behind a line of cars double-parked in Tory and Reese's driveway.

"I'd say we arrived just in time for visiting hours." Pia turned off the ignition and leaned across the seat to kiss KT briefly. "That's to hold me until I get you alone again."

KT edged closer and ran her right hand up and down Pia's thigh. "When we're done here, maybe we can have dinner out someplace and then go back to bed."

"Maybe we can skip dinner."

Laughing, KT opened the car door and stepped out. She looked across the top of the car at Pia, glad for the distance between them. It seemed that when they were anywhere within touching distance, she felt compelled to put her hand on her. It was a disconcerting and wholly enjoyable sensation. "There's always takeout."

"Now there's an idea. Let's go see Bri." Pia walked around the side of the car and joined KT, taking her hand as they walked up the stone path to the rear deck. "I know this sounds silly, but I'll miss you."

"No," KT said quietly, closing her fingers tightly around Pia's. "It doesn't sound silly at all. It sounds wonderful."

Tory answered the knock, her expression registering no surprise at finding KT and Pia waiting on the deck together. So together they appeared not to notice that they were holding hands. KT holding hands? She tried not to stare. "Hi."

"How is she?" KT asked.

"She's doing great. Temp is normal. She's tired, probably more from stress than blood loss." Tory stepped aside so the two could enter. Across the living room in the kitchen alcove, Reese and Allie were cooking. Nelson sat at the breakfast bar, a cup of coffee cradled in his hands. Kate and Jean relaxed on the sofa with Reggie between them on a blanket.

"Full house," KT remarked as she glanced around.

"Bri is everyone's sweetheart."

"Did you check the wound yet?" KT realized that she and Pia were still holding hands and, after giving Pia's fingers one more squeeze, let go.

"No. I thought I'd wait for you to change the dressing the first time. I knew you'd be by eventually."

Tory caught Pia's grin out of the corner of her eye and smiled. "Come on, let's go see the patient."

"I'll wait out here," Pia said. "I'm sure Bri has seen enough people for one day."

"I'll be back in a few minutes," KT said as she and Tory turned away.

"Tell her I said hi," Pia called after them, while nodding hello to Kate and Jean on her way to the kitchen. She took a seat next to Nelson and rested her hand on his arm. "How are you doing?"

"Not bad," he said, his voice gravelly from lack of sleep but his expression relaxed. "She looks good. A little beat up, but good."

"That's terrific."

"Want a cup of coffee?" Allie asked Pia as she refilled Nelson's.

"That would be great. Thanks." Pia waved at Reese, who nodded back as she dropped a pound of pasta into a huge pot of boiling water.

"Tory said that O'Bannon is some kind of hotshot surgeon over from Boston," Allie commented as she passed a mug to Pia.

"I suppose you could say that," Pia replied carefully.

Allie waited to speak again as Nelson took his coffee and left to join Kate and Jean in the living room. Then she leaned across the breakfast bar, her voice pitched low. "I heard about her hand. Is that going to ruin her career?"

"Hopefully not." Pia regarded Allie thoughtfully, trying to figure out what about the young officer was ringing bells in her subconscious. She supposed the questions could just be idle curiosity, but there was a note of concern in Allie's voice that belied simple inquisitiveness. As if her concern for KT was more personal.

Allie glanced down the hall toward Bri's room. "Tory said it was really good that she was here last night. I'm glad she's going to be okay, because an injury like that it can really mess you up. That would be a shame. She's...cool."

There it is again that undercurrent of concern and sympathy. And then Pia finally made the connection, remembering the woman she'd only seen shadowed in moonlight, but who, in retrospect, had looked very much like Allie. "Did you by any chance walk her home a few weeks ago? When she was a bit...under the weather?"

"As in...sick?" Uncertain, Allie hesitated.

"You probably thought she'd had a few too many, but she was actually ill, not drunk." Pia's voice held an edge. She knew that Allie hadn't intentionally abandoned KT in such a dangerous condition, but she would never forget KT's suffering.

"I didn't know that," Allie said in surprise. "Jeez. I never would have left her alone if I'd realized."

"Well," Pia relented, her tone softening, "she's fine now. And you may have saved her life by helping her get home. So... thanks."

Now Allie regarded Pia intently. "Ah."

Pia laughed. "Ah?"

"You and the surgeon. Cool."

"Me and the surgeon," Pia repeated contemplatively. "Yes. Very cool."

"Hi," Bri said uncertainly as she watched KT approach with Tory just behind her.

"You won't remember me," KT said easily. "I'm the surgeon who helped Tory take care of your neck last night." She held out her hand. "KT O'Bannon. Good to see you awake, Officer Parker."

"Bri." Bri's eyes flicked to KT's injured left hand as she took her right in a firm handshake. "Thanks a lot."

KT followed her gaze. "Wrong end of a knife."

Bri swallowed and met her eyes. "Tough one."

"Yeah. But it's mending. These things do."

"Yeah," Bri smiled weakly. "Look, thanks for not making me go to the hospital."

KT smiled. "You can thank Tory for all of that. Like I said, I was just helping out." She gestured to the square of white gauze taped over the laceration in Bri's neck. "I'd like to check your incision."

"Okay." Bri glanced at Caroline, who still sat beside her on the bed. "You don't have to stay for this, babe."

Caroline carefully climbed off the bed and stood where she would have an unimpeded view of Bri's neck while KT worked. She put her hand on Bri's hair and stroked softly. "I'm staying."

"This shouldn't hurt much," KT remarked as she carefully detached the tape. "Looks excellent."

"Good," Bri sighed. "So now what?"

"Usually at this point, we leave the incision uncovered. The bandage really isn't doing any good and can sometimes be irritating. It's up to you."

Bri inched around until she could locate Caroline. "Carre?"

"It's okay," Caroline said in a thin but steady voice as she studied the incision. "Just a red line with..." She leaned down, her eyes narrowing. "Blue stitches?"

KT laughed. "Prolene. They only come in blue."

"Cool," Caroline and Bri said simultaneously.

Still laughing, KT gently palpated Bri's neck, checked the carotid pulse and the function of the facial nerve branches running through the area, and declared Bri "doing fine."

"So," Bri said again. "Can I go back to work before the stitches come out?"

"Ah, no." KT glanced at Tory, who was shaking her head and muttering something about having heard this story before. "You're looking at about ten days before you're ready for work."

"Ten days!" Bri croaked. "But I…"

"If she says ten days," Reese interrupted from the doorway, "it's ten days." She entered carrying a tray with a plate of pasta and a glass of iced tea and set it down on the bedside table. Then she asked, looking at Tory, "What about desk duty? If she doesn't drive or leave the building?"

"KT?" Tory punted, having no desire to negotiate with both her lover and her stubborn young protégé.

"One week. Nothing before then." KT's tone indicated it was not an issue open to discussion.

"Good enough," Reese pronounced. She turned her attention to Bri. "Try to eat something and make sure you at least drink. And take advantage of the fact that Caroline is here for a few days. Work will keep."

Bri reached for Caroline's hand and nodded as much as she was able. "Yes, ma'am. I got it."

"Very good." Reese smiled at Caroline. "Tory and I want both of you to stay here while Bri's recuperating."

"Thanks," Caroline said softly as she reached for the plate and silverware. "For everything."

"What about my black belt test?" Bri asked suddenly, ignoring the food that Caroline offered. "It's next week. I need to train."

"We'll talk about that later," Reese replied.

"But"

"Honey," Caroline chided gently. "You have to get well first"

Bri looked as if she were about to protest, but as she focused on the faces of those around her, she seemed to accept that she was outnumbered. Grouchily, she muttered, "Okay. Right. Fine."

Caroline prevented her from saying anything else by sliding a forkful of pasta into her mouth.

KT and Tory walked out onto the deck where they could discuss Bri's case in private.

"What do you think?" Tory asked. "The incision seems fine, don't you agree?"

"I do." KT leaned her elbows on the railing and studied the harbor beyond the low dunes that separated the house from the beach. "The only real danger at this point is delayed bleeding. As long as she's relatively quiet for another day or two, that shouldn't be a problem. I said a week because it's been my experience that the young, aggressive types like her are hard to hold down."

Tory laughed. "That's an understatement. But let me tell you, it has nothing to do with age. Reese is the same way whenever she's injured."

KT glanced at Tory. "You sound as if that's a common occurrence."

"Unfortunately," Tory said with a wince, "it is."

"That's hard."

"Very."

"And I guess there's nothing you could say to make her give it up."

Tory shrugged. "She would, if I asked her to. But I can't. It would take too much from her."

"You're happy with her, aren't you?"

"More than I can say."

"Yeah. That's what I thought."

"And how are things going for you?" Tory inquired gently.

"At the rate I'm going," KT said quietly, "I'll know in another month or two if I'm going to be able to operate again."

"And then?"

KT blew out a breath. "I guess it depends on what the answer is. If I can operate then I'll go back to work."

"In Boston." Tory said it as if it were a given, not a question.

"Well, yes." KT sounded far less certain. She kept her eyes on the water. "But there's Pia."

"Yes. I noticed."

"I know what you think about me and her, but"

"I was wrong." Tory lightly grasped KT's forearm. "I was wrong to make judgments concerning something I knew nothing about. About people I don't know as well as I thought I did."

KT turned, her eyes searching Tory's again. "You know me. The good and the bad."

"Yes, I do." Tory smiled faintly. "But not as well as I once did. And for a while, I couldn't see the good. Or maybe, maybe it's that falling in love with Pia has brought all those good things out."

"How did?"

"I know?" Tory laughed. "It's pretty obvious to anyone who's looking. Pia is a wonderful woman. She'll be good for you."

"She already is."

Startled by KT's humble tone, Tory spoke without thinking. "Then why are you thinking about going back to Boston?"

"I what would I do here?" KT asked in frustration. "You have to admit, I'm only a passable family doctor."

Tory laughed. "The patients love you."

"Well, it takes more than personality to do your job, and I don't want them to find out the hard way."

"KT," Tory said gently. "Don't lose her because of a job."

"Like I did you?"

Tory shook her head. "Maybe I don't know, and even if I did, it doesn't matter anymore. What matters is now. I don't know what you want in your life. I don't know what Pia wants. But you need to find out before it's gone."

KT closed her eyes for a second, then slowly nodded. "Thanks. I'll try."

"I've never known you to fail at anything you've tried." Tory leaned close and kissed KT's cheek. "My money's on you."

An hour later, Pia backed out of Tory's driveway and headed west on 6A toward town. She reached across the space between them and stroked KT's thigh. "You've been awfully quiet. Something happen with Tory?"

KT turned on the seat, covering Pia's hand with her own and holding it against her leg. "What do you mean?"

"The two of you looked like you were having a very serious conversation out on the deck. Since then, you've been somewhere else."

"Sorry."

Pia glanced at her quickly and then back to the road, shaking her head. "You don't need to apologize. Is there something wrong?"

"No," KT said solemnly. "Everything is...great."

Pia laughed quietly. "You don't sound like it." She rubbed her hand in a gentle circle on KT's thigh. "Is it Tory?"

"Tory?" KT's voice held a hint of confusion and surprise. "Why?"

Still staring straight ahead, Pia asked, "Are you still in love with her?"

"I'm in love with you, " KT said immediately. "Only you. And that's the problem."

Pia frowned and looked at her quickly. "Why?"

"Because it isn't simple. Because for the first time in my life, when I try to see my future, I don't see anything."

"Do you see us?"

"I want to."

"Then that's enough," Pia said gently.

"How can that be?" KT's frustration made her voice harsh. "I've always known where I was going, what I needed to do to get there. Now I...I'm not even sure where I'm going to be in two months. Who I'll be."

While they'd talked, Pia had driven through town. She pulled into the parking lot at Herring Cove and stopped on the long stretch of blacktop that fronted the beach. It was sundown, the air had grown cold as it did near the water at night, and only a lone walker far up the beach shared the solitude. Pia turned on the seat, wrapped her arms around her raised knee, and regarded KT seriously. "Who are you, KT?"

KT ran a hand through her hair distractedly. "I used to be a surgeon."

"And if you can't be?"

"I don't know." KT shrugged her shoulders. "That sounds pathetic, doesn't it?"

"No. It just sounds like you haven't been paying attention to much of anything else for a while."

KT laughed shortly. "For a while? Try fifteen years."

"Maybe." Pia regarded KT evenly. "You're also bright and determined and focused. You could do almost anything you wanted to do," At KT's expression of dismissal, Pia laughed, "I know. Medicine is what you do. Would you consider working with Tory at the clinic?"

"Oh man, I don't know. It takes a certain kind of person to be good at that. Not just the medicine part, but the people part. That's never been my strong suit."

"Everyone has their own style. Some of us like the strong, self-assured type."

The corner of KT's mouth twitched. "I thought we were talking about doctoring."

"I am among other things." Pia stretched out her arm and ran a finger along the edge of KT's jaw. "You could work in the ER in Hyannis."

"I've thought of it. I could probably work in the ER in Boston, too."

"But," Pia reminded her, "you and I still have a long way to go on that hand, and I think you'll be operating again before the beginning of the year."

"If that happens, I think I want to go back to the trauma unit." KT said it quickly, as if to get the words out before she changed her mind.

Pia was silent for a few moments, and when she spoke again, her voice was carefully neutral. "That makes sense. You've been there a long time, and that's what makes you happy."

KT's head snapped around. "You make me happy. Being a trauma surgeon satisfies a need in me to do what I'm good at, to make a difference with my own hands. But you...you make me happy."

Pia smiled. "I'm glad. You make me happy too."

"Well hell, then. What are we going to do? You live here."

"Are we talking about that future that you can't see clearly now?"

KT laughed. "Yes, God damn it. I'm not comfortable unless I know where I'm going."

"I want you in my future. I want to be in yours."

"I want that too." KT's gaze was fierce. "I want you, more than anything."

"Well, then, you'll commute. It's only twenty-five minutes by plane. Plenty of people do it." Pia edged closer, sliding her arm beneath KT's and cupping her palm on the inside of KT's thigh. She rested her cheek against KT's shoulder. "You come home when you can, and I'll be here."

"I already hate the thought of being away from you," KT confessed.

"Good. Then you'll be sure to come home often."

KT kissed Pia slowly, enjoying the soft liquid heat of her mouth . "I love you."

Pia snuggled closer "I love you too. That's the picture I see when I look ahead"

"Yes," KT murmured. "So do I.