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she peeled the blankets back on the bed. “Why don’t you chill for a little bit? We’ll go over our options later. Want me to help you with the sling?”
    Without argument he turned to let her release the Velcro strips, then shifted himself back to the mattress, dragging a spare pillow over his aching eyes. The lack of light immediately eased some of the tension in his head. “Can you hang out with me for a while?”
    She stroked her hand down his arm and squeezed his fingers. “I will.”
    Huffing out a breath, he tried to let everything go.

    Cat knew the second Harper drifted off to sleep. His fingers slackened their death grip on her hand just slightly and the pillow he’d rested over his eyes slipped to the mattress. She pulled away without his noticing.
    God, he looked bad. Now that she knew he was asleep she allowed the tight rein on her emotions to slacken as she took him in. His handsome face looked like he had gone ten rounds with a heavyweight champ. There was bruising around both of his deep-set eyes and down his long nose. Several cuts and suture lines circled his right eye. The scarring would be significant.
    The tight skull cut he usually clipped his hair in had grown out and was a little shaggy. The dark black hair was the longest she’d seen it in years. Long meaning business-short, just not bad-ass sniper short like he usually preferred it.
    Gaze dancing down his chest, she sighed and wiped her leaking eyes. At least he was in one piece. Everything else could be dealt with.
    The doctor probably wanted to know what their thoughts were. Crossing the dim room, taking a last deep breath she eased the door open as quietly as she could.
    The eye surgeon sat at the nurse’s station, tapping notes into a computer. He looked up when she rested her arms on the counter above him. “What are the chances he will ever get the sight back in that eye? Is a transplant an option? No bullshit.”
    The doctor looked a little affronted that she spoke to him that way but she had no more patience. The man stood up and circled the counter to wave her to a small seating area. Cat stalked to the chairs and sat, then waited for him to answer her questions.
    “I think there is a very slim chance of recovering vision in that eye. Yes, you can pursue second opinions and we will absolutely do everything in our power to make it happen, but in my twelve years of practicing I have not seen an eye as damaged as your husband’s recover. We can put him on a corneal transplant list but the tissue around the cornea is damaged as bad as the cornea itself. If he struggles with infection in that eye, there is a very real possibility that the eye itself will have to be removed.”
    Cat sat back in the chair. She’d definitely gotten her answers. But he hadn’t told her anything she hadn’t expected. The fears had been in her heart; she just didn’t want Harper to know that.
    “So, what do we do now?”
    The doctor leaned back in the chair and crossed his legs. “Right now your husband isn’t even at a place in his recovery that I can recommend him for the transplant list. We need to get a little ways out and deal with the infections that I’m sure will come. He had serious trauma to that eye. There’s a chance he could still have glass in it we just couldn’t see. It’s not going to be a quick fix. He’ll be on heavy antibiotics and pain medication for a while.”
    She nodded her head and sighed. “How long does he need to stay?”
    “Well, I’ll consult with his primary care team. Whenever they think he can be released he can be, and we’ll follow up later. Or I can transfer his care over to another doctor where you live.”
    Cat blinked and rubbed her hand over her forehead. There was so much to think about.
    “When he is released,” the doctor continued, “I suggest you drive wherever you go. The pressure change in an airplane could damage him further.”
    She nodded her head and shook his hand, then he left. The fact