"I can't believe that you did this! Isn't about time that you joined the real world, Kincaid? You can't take chances like that. You're responsible for too many people."
The flash of pain in his eyes made Renee Palmer swear under her breath. Damn it, poor choice of words, Renee! Tell an almost two year old to grow up. Can't you think before you speak?! That thought made her even more annoyed. She was in the right here! She shouldn't have to feel guilty about pointing out that Liam couldn't go into 'knight on white charger mode' every time someone got into a little trouble.
Okay, the Volunteers had been closing in on Jacqueline and her team, and, yes, that team had an average age of twenty - that didn't stop them being the best thieves in the Resistance - but they were also one of the sneakiest. They'd been well on their way to extricating themselves from their predicament when Liam had shown up to lend a hand. It was only through purest chance that the Volunteers hadn't seen his face. She'd gone along with Liam's latest insanity because somebody had to watch his back but enough was enough!
"Liam, you are the Resistance leader not some hero in a fairy tale. You cannot take unnecessary chances. We both know that you'd never willingly talk but we both know that you wouldn't necessarily have a choice. The Taelons and Sandoval have a lot of unpleasant toys that they can use when they want to. You revealing yourself as high-ranking Resistance would certainly appeal to them as a valid excuse.
"How much damage would be done to the Resistance, the ANA and any innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire if they managed to get you to talk? I'm not saying to stay buried in a bunker somewhere out of reach, I'm just telling you to think!
"I know you don't like the thought of leaving 'your people' vulnerable to attack. Your dedication to their safety and your willingness to put yourself in harms way for them is one of the reasons that they follow you so readily.
"Harsh as it is - and they'd agree with me if they were here - the Resistance can afford to lose an entire team like Jacqueline's it cannot afford to lose you."
Liam met her angry gaze for a brief moment before dropping his eyes to the ground. Renee fought hard to maintain her anger but her lips twitched betraying her amusement. Liam Kincaid, Companion Protector and Resistance Leader, looked like a recalcitrant schoolboy being chastised by a teacher.
"Oh, come on! I'll buy you lunch and lecture you some more."
Liam raised his gaze and gave a small smile. "Okay, Renee. Sounds good.
"Um, how long will the lecture take? I've got a security briefing with Sandoval at five."
Renee rolled her eyes as they exited the lair - talk about your Batman flashbacks, and Liam didn't know who Batman was - and began heading for the centre of the city. They headed for that nice little Italian restaurant down the block from the Flat Planet and had a nice lunch, during the course of which Renee achieved, by the patient application of pounding a metaphorical brick against his skull, her intended goal of reading Liam the riot act for his impetuous chivalry and his promise to show more common sense in the future.
They left the restaurant and were walking companionably towards the Flat Planet to have a quick chat with Julianne Belman about one of the projects she was currently supervising for the Taelons - that was the information that Jacqueline's team had been sent in to retrieve. They were half way across the crosswalk when a car came careering down the street, obviously out of control.
Time seemed to slow down for Liam as he watched Renee stand there like a deer caught in headlights. She seemed frozen to the spot as the car headed straight for her. Mentally, he said, "Sorry, Renee," and immediately ignored the lecture that he'd been receiving for the past hour and a half as he pushed Renee to safety. As a result, there was no time for him to get clear and the next thing he felt was the force of the car impacting his body, intense pain and then blessed oblivion.
"Liam!
"No! No! Somebody help me!"
Renee scrambled across the road to the crumpled form of Liam's body, fumbling with her global as she did so, calling for help. Trembling fingers felt for a pulse... it was there, faint, but it was there. Thank God. Knowing better than to try and move him, Renee settled for running gentle fingers over Liam's forehead, praying that the ambulance arrived soon. Working on instinct, she protected Liam the best she could by calling Julianne and letting her know what was going on. His blood would only show genetic abnormalities when put through a gene sequencer but it was better to be safe than sorry and have a doctor treating him that 'knew' him.
It was several hours later before Julianne Belman allowed an uncharacteristically silent Renee Palmer to sit with Liam. He'd been lucky. Very lucky.
The car had impacted on his left side and broken three ribs, amazingly enough, he'd suffered no other broken bones. His amazingly physiology was to thank for the fact that there were no internal injuries. Other than the scrapes and bruises that marred his handsome face and the broken ribs, the worse thing that he'd suffered was concussion. He was being kept in overnight for observation and he'd be sore for the next few weeks but he'd be home within a couple of days. She'd told Renee that, trying to get the air of frightened silence to lift from the other woman but it seemed to have no effect.
It was a couple of hours later before she was able to check back on Liam and she was surprised to see that Renee was still there. Walking into the private room, Julianne called out in a soft voice, "Renee, I thought you'd have gone home by now. He's not going to wake before morning."
Renee turned to look at her, a lost look in her eyes, and Julianne looked on in concern. Renee seemed oblivious to the tears streaming down her face and Julianne found her mothering instincts kicking in.
"Renee, what's the matter? I told you, he's going to be fine."
"It's my fault..."
"Now, don't be silly. He'd do the same for anyone; you know that. The real person at fault here is the drunk that got behind the wheel of the car."
"No! You don't understand! It was just like before. I saw the car and I couldn't move. If I hadn't been so lost in the past then Liam wouldn't have had to push me out of the way!"
Julianne frowned slightly. "What do you mean, 'like before', Renee?"
Angry at herself for crying, Renee wiped away her tears as she said, "This wasn't the first time I was in the path of a speeding car. The last time, I was playing on the sidewalk in front of our garden and there was an accident. The driver had a heart attack behind the wheel and lost control. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time..."
"I had no idea," breathed Julianne. Renee's apparent over-reaction to Liam's condition was beginning to make more sense.
"What happened to you?"
Renee gave a grimace as she remembered that time. "The summer of my sixth year was the worst summer of my life. I was unconscious for two days and had suffered two broken legs. I couldn't do anything, I couldn't play, I couldn't go on holiday, and I just had to sit there. It was awful."
Julianne winced in sympathy. She placed her arm around Renee's shoulders and gave her a brief friendly hug, saying, "I'm sorry you had to go through that. Liam will be up and around before you know it. I promise."
Once Julianne had gone, Renee moved to place a gentle kiss on Liam's brow, murmuring, "Thank you. If you ever scare me like that again, I'll kill you myself."
She smiled with delight when Liam's eyelids fluttered open for a brief moment as he murmured, "I'm sorry I worried you."
Renee smoothed her hand through his hair, saying, "It's okay. Just concentrate on getting better."
She made a move to leave but Liam caught weakly at her wrist and said, "Stay."
She said softly, "It's late, we both need to get some rest."
"Stay. Please?"
Renee sighed. She eyed the wan face of her best friend and said, "All right. Tell me if I'm jostling you." Carefully, gently, she slid on to the hospital bed on Liam's right side, trying not to jostle his injured leg or ribs. Taking care not to jar his body in any way, she curled onto her side and placed her head against his good shoulder, saying, "This what you had in mind?"
"Perfect. Thanks, Renee."
"Sleep, Kincaid. You've got a new lecture to get. One about throwing yourself in front of moving cars to save me."
She chuckled when Liam muttered, "I should have stayed unconscious."
"Good night, Liam."
"'Night, Renee."
They were asleep before they knew it and that was how Julianne found them. Smiling fondly, she carefully pulled the blankets up to cover them both and left them to their much needed rest.