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any deeper. In the end
it had simply faded away. But Steve was different now; he'd changed in those
five years, into a man whose power she could feel even when he was unconscious.
If she fell in love with him again, she might never get over it.
                  But if she left, she would feel guilty because
she hadn't helped him. She needed to find another job. She had to get back to New York and begin doing something to keep her life
from disintegrating. But she was tired of the frantic pushing and maneuvering,
the constant dealing. She didn't want to go, but she was afraid to stay.
                  Frank saw the tension in her face, felt it
vibrating through her. "Let's walk down to the lounge," he said,
stepping forward to take her arm. "You need a break. See you later,
Major."
                  Major Lunning nodded. "Try to talk her
into staying. This guy really needs her."
                  Out in the hall, Jay murmured, "I hate it
when people talk around me, as if I'm not there. I'm tired of being
maneuvered." She was thinking of her job when she said that, but Frank
gave her a sharp look.
                  "I don't mean to put you in a difficult
position," he said diplomatically. "It's just that we badly need to
talk to your husband... sorry, ex-husband. I keep forgetting. At any rate,
we're willing to do whatever is possible to aid in his recovery," Jay put
her hands in her pockets, slowing her steps as she considered something.
"Is Steve going to be arrested because of what he was doing, whatever it
was?"
                  Frank didn't have any hesitation on that
score. "No," he said with absolute certainty. The man was going to
get nothing but the best medicine and best protection his country could provide
him; Frank only wished he could tell Jay why, but that wasn't possible.
"We think he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, an innocent
bystander, if you will. But given his background, we think it likely he would
have picked up on the situation. It's even possible he was trying to help when
everything blew up in his face."
                  "Literally."
                  "Yes, unfortunately. Anything he can
remember will help us." They reached the lounge and he opened the door so
she could precede him. They were alone, thank heavens. He went over to the
coffee machine and fed coins into it. "Coffee?"
                  "No, thank you," Jay replied tiredly
as she sat down. Her stomach was blessedly calm, and she didn't want to upset
it now with the noxious brew that usually came from those machines. She hadn't
noticed before how tired she was, but now fatigue was washing over her in great
waves that made her feel giddy. Frank sat down opposite her, cradling the
Styrofoam cup in his hands. "I talked to my superior, explained your
situation," he began. "Would you stay if you didn't have to worry
about finding another job?"
                  She let her eyelids droop as she rubbed her
forehead in an effort to force herself to concentrate on what he'd said. She
couldn't remember ever having been as tired as she was now, as if all energy
had drained from her. Even her mind felt numb. All day long she had focused so
fiercely on Steve that everything else had blurred, and now that she had let
herself relax, exhaustion had crashed in on her, a deep lassitude that was
mental as well as physical.
                  "I don't understand," she murmured.
"I have to work at a job to make money. And even if you've somehow lined
one up for me, I can't work and stay here, too."
                  "Staying here would be your job,"
Frank explained, wishing he didn't have to push her. She looked as if it were
all she could do to sit erect. But maybe she would be more easily convinced
now, with fatigue dulling her mind. "We'll take care of your apartment and
living expenses. It's that important to us." Her eyelids lifted