Before Cadence even opened her eyes, the overpowering smell of the clean and sterile environment alerted her that something wasn't quite right. Her eyelids fluttered, and she realized she wasn't alone. Memories came flooding back to her all at once, and she was confused as to why her shoulder and her leg no longer felt like they had been blown to bits. Without fully opening her eyes she said, "How long have you been here?"
"Couple hours," Aaron replied. "How are you feeling?"
She took a deep breath and then opened her eyes. Glancing around the room, she realized that Elliott was leaning against the windowsill across the room. "Oh, thank God," she muttered. "If you had left me alone with him, I swear to God..."
"I've been here the whole time," he assured her.
Turning back to Aaron, she said, "I feel fine. My head feels... weird... like my scalp's asleep or something. But nothing hurts."
"That's probably the anesthesia," he replied.
Suddenly, the fogginess lifted a bit and a stream of questions came out all at once. "Where the hell is that bitch Laura? How come she could shoot me? Who changed my clothes? Where's Jamie?"
Aaron snickered and looked at Elliott, thinking he was probably better suited to answer her questions. The Leader was sitting in a chair a few feet away from her bed, but he got up so that Elliott could take his place to explain and walked to the foot of the bed.
Scooting the chair close, Elliott began to explain. "Laura's IAC is off, but we think she's trailing Giovani, who was headed west last we heard. We haven't tried to force contact with her, not yet anyway. We're not sure why she was able to shoot you. Christian is investigating it right now. We had a nurse come in and change you, and Jamie's back at headquarters resting. Did I miss anything?"
"That bitch," she spat, looking away from him. "I'm going to kill her. I'll find a way."
"I don't blame you for feeling that way," Elliott said, glancing at Aaron who seemed to be thinking the same thing.
Cadence sighed. "When can I leave?"
"As soon as you want to, I guess," Elliott replied. "It's not like you need to be discharged. They'll have no record of you ever being here."
"I still can't believe your powers," she remarked shaking her head.
"Well, I will go out to the parking lot and see if I can locate the vehicle we asked Paxton and Smith to drop off earlier," Elliott said standing and pulling a set of keys out of his pocket. "And I will leave you two to make nice."
"Elliott!"
"He's worried about you!"
Cadence didn't want to look at him. It was dangerous to look at him. He didn't move from the foot of the bed, and so the uncomfortable feeling lingered for several minutes. Finally, she said, "Thank you for coming over."
"Of course," he replied.
"I'm sorry you weren't there...when it happened," she added.
"It's all right," he said walking over to the chair finally. "I may have tried to kill Laura myself."
"Who knows, maybe you could have," she said, still confused about how Laura was able to shoot her.
"I'll be able to force on her IAC and locate her that way. I just haven't gotten to it yet," he reminded her. She moved her hand slightly and the light glinted off the ring on her hand, catching his attention. "Is that the ring Jack gave you?" he asked.
Cadence glanced down at the stunning opal. Looking at it made her think of Jack, the real Jack, despite having received it from the menacing version of her ex-boyfriend. Though she had been the one to destroy him, she was able to find some solace in the fact that it had been the result of an accident. She still didn't think she would have ever have been able to purposely aim a weapon at Jack and pull the trigger. Finally, she said, "Yes, it is."
"May I see it?" he asked.
She slipped it off of her finger and handed it over. "Doesn't it seem odd that Giovani didn't seem to care at all that Jack was dying?"
"No," Aaron replied, studying the ring. Looking inside of it, he could see an inscription.
"Why not?" Cadence asked, confused. "He said Jack was his brother."
"Giovani is as insane as they come," he replied. "He had no loyalty toward Jack. He was simply a stepping stone to get to you."
"To get to me?" she asked leaning forward, a little shocked. "Why?"
"Because you killed Holland," he explained.
"Oh," Cadence said resting her head back on the pillow. "I guess I never thought about it that way."
"Look," Aaron said showing her the inside of the ring. "Can you read that?"
Cadence took the ring and held it up, trying to get the light to hit it just right. "SG?" she asked. "Who's SG?"
"Sylvia Grau," Aaron replied. "Our truck-stop victim. Must have taken it from her."
Cadence closed her eyes. "Ugh, I think I'm going to be sick." Opening her eyes, she met his gaze and slowly shook her head.
He nodded. "We need to make sure this gets to her parents," he remarked.
"Can I take it to them?" she asked.
"Sure," he nodded. "That's a good idea. It might help bring you some closure as well."
She nodded in agreement, reflecting on Jack again for a moment before shaking her head, trying to clear her thoughts. She returned her attention to the present. Even though she knew Elliott had located the car by now, and she was wondering what she was going to wear out of the hospital, she couldn't help but bring up the topic she had been avoiding for days now. "Listen, Aaron, I think I'm going to go away for a while... go see the world, or whatever."
"What?" he asked, a look of confusion on his handsome face.
"I just... I need to figure out who I am, you know? I feel... lost. And, I think I could do more for the team if I went where the real danger is. I know that doesn't make a lot of sense..."
"No, it does," he interrupted. "It makes perfect sense, actually. I just... I can't say I want to see you go."
She wasn't sure how to respond to that. After careful consideration she said, "It will give us some time apart, too. You know, maybe we can figure out how that is... if it works for us. Or whatever."
After a very long pause, he finally said, "If that's what you want, then you have my full support."
"Thank you," she said quietly and against her better judgment, she reached for his hand where it lay resting on the side of her bed and gave it a quick squeeze before pulling away. "Now, do I have any clothes that don't have blood on them?"
"No, we thought you could just wear your mangled dress out of here," he said with a sarcastic grin. "Yes, Hannah brought you some clothes a little while ago. She went back to headquarters when it was clear you weren't in any pain. Do you want me to see if I can get a nurse to help you change?"
"Nah, I think I can manage," she replied.
With a nod, he stood, pulled the overnight bag Hannah had packed out of the closet, put it near her on the bed, and walked out the door. "Let me know if you need anything," he said.
"Okay," she replied. As she got dressed, she glanced at the clock and realized it was past midnight. "It's a new day," she said aloud. "A new beginning...."
