Sweetest Taboo (SIN 3)

"Why?" Dallas asked, then immediately regretted the question. Better to just take the good news and run with it.

Bill had been standing ramrod straight, but now he slouched a little and shoved his hands into his pockets. "To be honest, Dallas, I'm not sure I know. Maybe it's because Deliverance has rescued more than its share of victims. Maybe it's because MI6 values the organization. Maybe it's because I'm just not up for a fight."

He drew a deep breath. "Or maybe it's because I love Jane, and she loves you. More than that, she needs you."

It was the last thing in the world Dallas expected Bill to say. "You're giving Deliverance a pass because of a woman?"

For the first time, Bill's smile seemed more than just polite. "No, I'm giving Deliverance a pass because the State Department told me to. But I'm not fighting that edict because of a woman. And don't look surprised, Dallas. You and I both know that you'd do exactly the same."

"For Jane? Yeah. I'd do whatever it takes."

"I know," Bill said, and Dallas thought that maybe the guy who had once been Jane's husband wasn't a complete dick.

He held out his hand. "Thanks, Bill."

Bill took it, his grip strong. "I'm going to go see Jane for a minute, okay?"

"Sure," Dallas said, with only the slightest hint of lingering jealousy. "She'd like that." And with that strange detente lingering in the air betwe

en them, Bill went into the room, and Dallas took off down the hall to check on Lisa.

Since she was in ICU, it took him about ten minutes to get there, and when he walked through her door, his relief at finally arriving immediately evaporated. His father was standing right there. Frankly, Dallas really wasn't in the mood.

He considered leaving, but his father turned, and his expression so mirrored every bit of fear and helplessness that had ripped through Dallas when he'd been terrified of losing Jane, that he couldn't walk away.

"No change," his father said. "I keep telling her to come back, but there's just no change."

Dallas drew closer, then stood at his father's side, his hand on Eli's shoulder. "She's strong, Dad. Give her time. She's in there. She's trying to heal."

He hoped he was right--god, how he hoped he was right. But while he was trying to stay optimistic for his father, the doctors hadn't been able to give them much hope. She was alive, yes, but she hadn't regained consciousness, and if she didn't come around by morning, they were going to put her into a medically induced coma.

They said all the right words about how her vitals looked good and her labs looked good, and yet they couldn't promise that it would turn out okay, and that deep hole of uncertainty terrified Dallas as much as it broke his heart.

"You should try to get some sleep, Dad."

"I can't go home. I can't leave her."

"I know. I get that. I can ask the nurse if they can bring in a cot." Because they were in ICU, Lisa wasn't in a full-blown room with amenities. Just a small, glassed-in area lined with privacy curtains. "If they can't, maybe I can find something for you."

Eli's brow furrowed, and then he turned to Dallas. "Thank you, son."

A lump formed in Dallas's throat, and he tried to swallow it. "Listen, Dad, about everything. We're not going to agree, I know that. But--well, what I said before. About us both wishing I wasn't your son. You know I didn't--"

"My brother was a complete fuckup," Eli said, his harsh interruption so surprising that Dallas simply stared. "Totally useless. You know it. And I know it. And although you may have his blood, Dallas, that's not who you are."

He turned a bit so that he was facing Dallas directly, and there was something on his face that Dallas wasn't sure he recognized. Something he thought just might be respect.

"What you've survived. The man you've become. I watched the way you ran your personal life--a different woman in your bed each night. I kept expecting you to crash and burn. Drugs. Women. Money. Frivolity. All of it. Too much of it."

Dallas had no idea where his father was going with this, but he stayed quiet. Waiting. Hopeful.

"I told you at your great-grandfather's birthday party that I was proud of you, and I meant it. And even later--when all the shit hit the fan with you and your sister--you never let your personal life spill over onto the business. You never truly went off the rails, and god knows you had reason to."

He shook his head as if in disbelief. "Everything you went through as a young man. Who could have blamed you if you'd turned to drugs? Alcohol?"

"I have my share of issues," Dallas said. "For that matter, so does Jane."

Eli nodded. "I know. And I know I didn't help. That I didn't handle it well afterward. Frankly, it's a testament to your strength of character that you became the man you are."