Deep Dark Mire (An FBI Romance Thriller ~ book four) (60 page)

Whitefox was sick to his stomach. She could have been closer to the blast and been killed. Goosebumps slid across his flesh
, at the thought of how close they came to losing her.

“I heard the noise the car makes when you disengage the locks, and then it blew. I saw Christina go down, and the force threw me to the ground. I think I hit my head.”

“You have a concussion,” said the doctor, doing the stitches.

“I don’t have a damn
concussion; just finish stitching me up and stop bothering the hell out of me.”

The doctor looked up. “One of the main symptoms of concussion is irritability.”

Both men laughed at that, knowing the truth.

“I’m irritable because someone tried to blow me up, not because I hit my head. Now zip it and stitch me up
or my ME is going to be doing your damn autopsy.”

Callen kissed her lightly on her scowling mouth. “I can attest that she’s generally this cranky when someone is trying to kill her.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “You better hope I get my badge, gun and wedding rings back, or I’ll be having more of a conniption than a concussion.”

“I’ll get you your gun and badge,” said Doctor Leonard laughing. There was no doubt it would be an epic conniption at that too.

“
Lyzee, I have your rings. They’re in my pocket, angel.”

She relaxed
at hearing that. “Okay, Cal. As long as they're safe and secure. I didn’t want to lose them.”

The young doctor finished stitching up her forehead. “You're going to have a small scar, but no one will notice.”

“I’m not worried. Indians dig scars, don’t they?” Elizabeth winked at him, accepting his kiss despite the two men watching them.

“I certainly dig them on you
, beautiful.”

A familiar voice drew their attention, as
they both heard Ethan Blackhawk talking on the phone, as he strode down the hall.

“I’ll update you when I find out, Gabe. I swear,” he
promised, coming to a complete stop when he saw his wife. “I have to go,” he said, hanging up and practically racing across the room to his wife.

“God! Baby,
are you okay?” Ethan swung her up in his arms and proceeded to kiss her like he hadn’t seen her in years.

The doctor just stared
in complete confusion from one man to the other. “But I thought,” he said, staring at the first man. “Weren’t you just kissing her just like that?”

“We’re a very close family,” answered Whitefox
, laughing. “Incredibly close.”

Blackhawk p
laced his wife back into his brother’s arms. “I have to check on Christina. Stay right here. Doctor Leonard, feel like joining me and updating me on what’s going on?”

“Certainly, Director,” Chris Leonard said, following his boss out into the hall.

Elizabeth cuddled against Whitefox and nuzzled his throat with her lips. The man was completely tense and needed reassurance.

“I think I’ll leave you
alone.” The doctor still looked confused over the situation.

“
Thanks for the stitches, Doctor. Don’t over think it,” Elizabeth said, seeing the curious look on his face. “Natives are like chips, you can’t just have one.”

Whitefox started laughing
, because it proved she was perfectly fine if she was tormenting the medical personnel.

The doctor didn’t know what to say at her comment and took the time to escape as fast as possible.

“Are you okay, Cal?” It wasn’t hard to see the man was an emotional wreck and it was breaking her heart.

“Elizabeth, I love you.
I can’t apologize enough about last night. I’m so damn sorry that I didn’t sleep beside you. I wasn’t thinking about anyone but myself. Please forgive me for being selfish.”

Elizabeth touched his cheek. “What did I do
to make you so upset?” she asked, genuinely unsure what the issue was between them.

He shook his head. “It wasn’t you
, angel. I was upset about getting you pregnant and the baby not having my name. It was selfish and insane, and then today I almost lost you, and it doesn’t seem important anymore.”

“
That was all about a name?”

“I’m not a Blackhawk and you are.”

Elizabeth touched his cheeks with the palms of her hands. “If we were to have kids, what matters is they’d have a family. Any child of ours would have a mother and father that loved and cherished them. Not to mention an additional back up parent. That’s a pretty lucky kid to have two dads to take him fishing, two fathers to help build his own canoe, and teach him the Blackhawk grin. I know you’re wounded over the name thing, but you were abandoned by your father. You wouldn’t ever do that. So why do you think the name even matters?”

Whitefox just listened to what she was saying.

“I don’t think the name is your issue. I think the underlying issue that you need to work on is how you’re afraid you’ll be like Wyler. You want a name to make it permanent, but look how Ethan grew up. Your father still abandoned him too, and the name didn’t mean anything. You both had Timothy, and his name wasn’t the same as yours, but he stuck and raised you. Was he less a father to you because of a different last name?”

He swallowed and stared into her eyes.
Callen never thought of it that way.

“You aren’t him
, Callen. You get to define fatherhood by your own standards. Follow in your brother’s footsteps and be the father that you want to be, not the one you fear you’ll be. The name isn't going to make you a good father. Stop hiding behind it, pretending that’s the reason you can’t be happy. Just forget the hang up and start living life.”

Callen kissed her and rested his forehead against hers, gently.

“If your brother can love a child with the last name of Whitefox, why wouldn’t you be able to love a child carrying the Blackhawk name? Do you love CJ less because he’s not a Whitefox?”

“No! I love him so much
it hurts.”

Elizabeth ran the pad of her thumb over his lip. “When you’re holding him and cuddling him, does the name matter, Cal?”

“Not in the least.”

Ethan stood in the doorway watching them
as his wife worked her magic. She was absolutely right about what was eating away at Callen. It was the same fear he had himself that those bad genes would make him just like his father. They didn’t define the man, and that was what his brother needed to see.

“I’m not pregnant, and we don’t need to stress this, but you need to deal with the big pink elephant in the room. We’re not going to abandon you, and if we were to have a child,
no one would take it away either. Any child born into this unconventional family is going to be cherished and loved more than anything. That’s despite the mother or father. I wouldn’t do to my children what was done to you, Callen. I need you to trust me and believe I won’t abuse your children because they don’t have the same name as me. Once you trust me enough, I think you’ll be able to work through this.”

Tears filled his eyes
, and he buried his face in her neck and held onto her. Elizabeth was absolutely right. Inside his heart he feared that if she had his child, the child wouldn’t be loved the same. It was crazy, but he’d been on that side of life. Not mattering as a child damaged him through his existence.

“I’m not your mother, Callen, and you’re not your father. We’re Elizabeth, Callen and Ethan and we define what happens from here on out.”

He nodded.

“I'm only a Blackhawk on paper, but you have what I’ll never have; the blood.
Technically you’re more Blackhawk than I ever will be. It’s only a name.”

“She’s irritating like that
, Callen. When you think you have it all figured out, she sees the truth and smacks you with it as hard as possible.” Blackhawk entered the room and sat on the gurney beside his family.

Elizabeth grinned.
“That’s my damn job and speaking of jobs,” she paused, lowering her voice. “Spring me out of here! There will be tons of sex, as a reward for my Indian in shining armor.”

Whitefox tried to stand up with her, but his brother wouldn’t let him.

“Nice try, but they want a twenty four hour observation.”

Elizabeth looked horrified. “You better be screwing with me, Mr. Blackhawk, or I will go AWOL on my own.
I can string bed sheets together just as well as the next escapee.”

Before he could answer, his phone rang.

Elizabeth watched him walk away and whispered in Whitefox’s ear. The man’s entire body tensed as he pictured what she was saying in his ear.

“Seriously?”

“Get me out of here, and I’ll do that and,” she whispered more and felt himself go rock hard. “Please Cal? I really hate hospitals.”

As much as
Callen wanted everything Elizabeth was offering up, he couldn’t spring her. His brother would put a stop to it immediately.

Ethan strode back into the room. “I have a bomb team in the air. I have to get back to the scene.”

“Please Ethan,” she pleaded. “Spring me. I’m fine. I don’t even have a headache.”

He shook his head. “You know
that if I spring you, I have to take your gun and badge until one of our doctors clear you. If you just stay for twenty four, you keep your badge and gun until discharged.”

She weighed her options. “Okay.”
The problem wasn’t staying in the hospital, the problem was leaving him alone and unprotected. Someone was looking to kill some FBI agents.

Suddenly
, Elizabeth reminded him of a wounded child. Blackhawk moved to her side, kissing her. “I’m going to leave you a bodyguard.” He stroked her cheek, looking into the blue eyes he fell in love with when he first saw them in his dreams.

“
No, take him with you. I’ll be safe in hotel bacteria,” she stated with certainty, knowing he was down two already and would be wide open.

“I have more agents inflight now
, and if he stays I won’t worry about you. Callen can check up on Christina and update me.”

Whitefox knew he was doing it for her. One more agent down meant he was going to have a very long night.

Elizabeth went to Ethan and slowly kissed him. She slid her hands into the ponytail at the back of his neck and deepened the kiss.

Chris Leonard stood in the doorway with her gun and badge
, and was completely fascinated. They most definitely had some romantic triangle. The kiss she was sharing with Ethan Blackhawk was the same she’d just been sharing with the man’s brother.

This time it was Callen
who cleared his throat, giving them a heads up that they weren’t alone anymore

Elizabeth looked over at their ME and smiled. “You got my gun and badge back.”

“Yes, I did,” he handed them to her and grinned. “Do I get a kiss too?” When one of the men growled, he started laughing. “I was kidding! You both need to relax.” Now he winked at Elizabeth. “Can Desdemona and I get a ride back with whoever is returning to the bed and breakfast?”

“
I’ll be the one heading back, Callen is staying,” answered Blackhawk.

Whitefox stood and pulled the rings from his pocket. “Ethan,” he said, handing his brother his wife’s wedding ring.

“Chris, I’ll meet you both out there in a few minutes.” He waited for the man to leave, and then slid the ring that symbolized their union back onto her hand.

“I love you, baby.”

“I love you too, Cowboy. Now be safe, don’t get hurt!” Elizabeth was worried about him.

“No worries
, Lyzee. I have a driver named Sheriff Denton.” Now he grinned, because he knew his wife would love that. “He’s waiting for me downstairs as my personal chauffeur.”

It wasn’t lost on Elizabeth that the man
who fought them so hard was now at her husband’s beck and call. “Go Mr. Blackhawk. Call me later. My phone’s in the room, so call your brother.” She kissed him goodbye again, watching him leave. Now she had to start worrying about him, since he was alone and unprotected.

“He’ll be safe. Don’t
stress, angel. I promise.”

Elizabeth
returned to him and was immediately cradled against his body.

“Why don’t you close your eyes for a while, and get some rest
? I’ll hold you and be here when you wake up.” Callen dropped a kiss on the top of her head, and she held out her hand for him, waiting.

“
Do I get your ring back or have you reconsidered me wearing it?” she asked quietly, looking up into his chocolate brown eyes and waiting for his answer. “If you have, I understand.”

“
There’s nothing to rethink, Lyzee. I know where this ring belongs.” Callen slid it back on her finger and held her tight, enjoying the feeling of her in his arms as she fell asleep. When the nurse came in with the wheelchair to transport her to a private room, he shook his head and stood from the bed. “I’ll carry her. Can you get her gun and badge?” he inquired, looking at the table.