Compromised Read Free Page B

to prop myself up and fixed my pillow. “Comfy?”
    “Uh-huh. Got any popcorn?”
    “I think I have some Altoids.”
    “Pass.”
    “Ha.” She smiled happily. “I’m glad that ka-nock on the head didn’t knock the pain-in-the-assness out of you.”
    “You always say I’m hardheaded.”
    “All right. Settle in. This may take a bit.”
    “Ready, Mommy,” I said in a child’s voice before adding in a demanding tone, “This better be good.”
    “So your father and I had been married about three years and—”
    “Ma, is this the adoption story? Because if it is, I’m not sure I want to hear it again.”
    “But the story has such a wonderful ending.”
    I had not learned that I was adopted until I was an adult, and when I was finally told . . . well, it wasn’t under the best circumstances. I loved my parents dearly, but I went out of my way to avoid being reminded of the story. “I love you, Ma, and I understand that you and Dad waited a long time to adopt but . . .”
    “I’m just trying to say that good things come to those who wait.” She hugged me. “Your father and I waited a long time, but we got the most precious little girl and . . .” Her tears wet the side of my face.
    “Okay,” I said in a lighter tone. “This is no time for waterworks. I get the message—I can’t just sprint out of bed and pursue Yana’s shooter. I get it. I’ll have to wait.”
    She reached for a tissue. “Let your colleagues do the work this time, sweetheart. I know it’s not your style, but challenging yourself with a task that you’re not equipped to complete, well . . . it won’t help you heal any sooner. You’ve got to concentrate on getting better and being there for Gus and Max. Everything else is meaningless at this point.” She dabbed at her eyes with the tissue. “Look around and smell the roses, damn it. Do you know how lucky you are? How lucky we all are that you’re okay?”
    Ma was still crying, so I waved the white flag and took her in my arms just to make her stop. But as for me looking the other way and forgetting about the felon who’d killed my partner? That just wasn’t going to happen. “I thought you were going to tell me about why Daddy decided to become a cop.”
    “Oh that,” she said dismissively. “That’s a very long story.”

Chapter Four
    An hour had passed and Ma was still waxing nostalgic about my days as a little girl and the joy I’d brought to her and my father. She had gone through an entire box of those hospital-size tissues.
    Her melodramatic old stories were beginning to drive me bonkers. “ Christ. Where’s the call button? I need some morphine. Stat!”
    “ Yeah? Make mine a double,” she snapped. “You rotten kid—you mean the world to me. What’s wrong with me getting a little emotional?”
    I told myself, Let it pass. You can’t blame the woman for being a little bent out of shape. “Okay, let’s hug it out, but then can we please change the subject?”
    She smiled and leaned in for a tight squeeze.
    We were still in each other’s arms, when I heard the sound of a man clearing his throat. I looked up and saw Gus at the door, holding Max. My eyes lit up. Max’s did likewise. I threw my arms open, and the little guy went nuts. Gus handed him to me. I smothered him with kisses and blew raspberries on his cheeks and neck.
    He giggled for all he was worth and gave me an enthusiastic chorus of “Ma, Ma, Ma, Ma,” the only word in his vocabulary.
    “Oh my God, I missed you. I missed you so much.” A second round of kisses, tickles, and raspberries pushed every ounce of Ma’s melancholy tales out of my head. “Were you a good boy for your daddy?”
    “Ma, Ma, Ma, Ma.”
    I glanced up at Gus. “He said yes.”
    Gus sat down, bringing the total number of people on my bed to four. The bed was definitely crowded, but it felt wonderful to be surrounded by family. Gus leaned in and gave me a big warm kiss. For a very brief moment I began to feel