📎A/N. My thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by the tragic events in Paris...

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"If you check the time once more," Stephen said with humour, "I will confiscate your phone."

Sydney's hand froze as it was about to pick up the offending item. She snatched it back and placed it on her lap. "They're late," she justified, "Grace is always on time."

"Grace is not normally distracted," laughed Stephen, referring to Mason.

She sat back in her chair and smiled. "I suppose not."

Sydney had to admit, she hadn't seen Grace on such a high in, well, never. Much to her surprise, Victor had even warmed to him, to the point they had taken a charter boat for a day of deep-sea fishing. Something that he only ever reserved for those he enjoyed spending time with.

In the week since Jackson and her mother had returned to New York, they had seen very little of Grace. It was the peak of the season and her cousin was dashing from one social event to another with Mason in tow. Sydney was thankful that Mason was as amiable and comfortable in social situations; otherwise, he would have gone running for the hills by now.

"How about we order a drink while we're waiting?" Stephen suggested.

Sydney grimaced as she heard her stomach grumble. "And maybe a selection of breads and dips. I'm starving."

She was startled when Mason's voice broke from behind her just as they had placed their order with, "Make that for four."

"Sorry we're late," Grace apologised as she sank into a vacant seat and sighed. "I was so tired after the Bixby's luncheon I fell asleep on the couch."

Sydney laughed. "At least you didn't doze off at the luncheon."

"So have you heard from Jackson?" Grace asked after their drinks had arrived.

Sydney nodded. "A couple of text messages and an email, letting me know they had gotten back safely. But nothing in the last couple of days."

"He's trying to close a big deal, so he's been a bit busy," Stephen broke in.

Sydney stole a glance at her friend as he resumed his conversation with Mason. How would you know? ran through her mind as she continued to eye him with curiosity.

After Stephen and Jackson had returned with their burgers and fries the day her brother had turned up unexpectedly, the afternoon had passed quickly. Jackson had a quick wit and even Stephen had relaxed in his presence.

She had to admit she had felt a little twinge when he had taken his leave. With his unexpected return to her life, she was unsure of whether he had changed permanently or whether the brother she knew was lurking in the background. Before he left, he had made her promise to look him up when she returned to New York. He gave her his business card, advising it had his contact details. At first, she was unsure she had paid attention properly, but she could have sworn that her brother had slipped Stephen a card as well.

Now that she thought about it, some of Stephen's odd behaviour started to make sense. It was normal for him to receive countless messages and calls. Even though he was on a break, his business still needed to function. What was not normal was that he had disappeared on a few occasions to answer a call. This had never been the case before.

Sydney began to stare at her friend and agent. She knew he wasn't seeing anyone at the moment. However, after he had made his feelings clear about her family over the years, she was shocked that he would even contemplate flirting with Jackson, let alone have secret conversations with him.

As she contemplated the situation further, a slight panic rose to the surface.

What if he accidently lets on who I am?

Quelling down where her thoughts were headed, she chastised herself. How could she have so little faith in Stephen to think he would do such a thing? Sydney cast her erratic thoughts away and forced herself to focus back on the conversation.

"We can't convince you to stay longer?" Grace asked Stephen once their dinner had been served.

Stephen nodded a thank you to the waiter before replying, "Love to, but business calls, unfortunately. Life may standstill up here, but it's still breaking the sound barrier in New York."

Mason chuckled at this. "I know what you mean. If I miss one more management meeting, I think they are going to mutiny."

"I thought you were staying for another week?" Sydney broke in.

"My meeting is Friday," he explained, "I'm flying back Thursday night. So I've only cut short my holiday by three days."

"Besides, I think Mac has had enough of my sister's theatrics to last a lifetime," Mason admitted.

"Oh?"

Mason chuckled and his eyes crinkled in mirth. "Rather than stay with grandmamma, Pauline decided to use my apartment as her base while in the US. Twice now, she's woken up in the middle of the night, convinced that there's an intruder. Both times she's locked herself in the bathroom and phoned Mac."

"So why doesn't he ignore her?" Grace asked.

"It's not in him," Mason shrugged, "he'll want to. But, I think that he's worried the one time he fails to answer a plea from someone close to him, is when there is truly something wrong. He'd never forgive himself."

Sydney stared at her meal, contemplating Mason's explanation. It wasn't the first time in the past week that she had heard something about Ethan that was in direct conflict with the man she thought she knew. In fact, she had spent more than a considerable amount of time contemplating the man and his email. For years, she had known lives were destroyed. They were names in news clippings. By-lines and stories that were a far reach from her. They were distant and could be viewed with detached emotions. However, with the discovery of how Ethan's family had been affected, this was new. She now had a face and real names to deal with. The situation had become more real, and a nagging sensation had begun to nip away at her conscience. The more she thought about it, the more she was adamant that she needed to know how many more Walter's were out there. How many others were not able to rebuild their lives.

***

The remainder of July passed just as quickly as it had arrived. Stephen was well and truly back into the swing of things in New York, as was Mason. It didn't come as any surprise when Grace returned home at the same time as her parents.

Somehow, despite the state of her wayward thoughts, Sydney managed to finish the first draft to her satisfaction. Normally, she would have stayed the extra time to revise and edit. This year, however, the burning need to return to the city won out, and Sydney found herself packing up the house early. She had been simmering on a plan for the last few weeks and had made a resolution to see it through.

***

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Stephen asked not for the first time.

Sydney exhaled before replying. She didn't want to do this. She needed to. However, this was something her friend would never understand. "Yes," she eventually said.

"Did you want me to go with you?"

"No. It's not like I haven't done this sort of thing before."

"Except this time it's a little closer to home," he replied dryly.

Sydney sat in her car and looked out at the imposing building. Before she could second guess herself, she promised to phone him when she was through and ended the call. She pocketed the phone and exited the car.

She took a deep breath before plastering a smile on her face and strode towards the doors. Her walk showing more confidence than she felt. As she entered the large foyer, she made her way directly to the reception desk which was manned by a young woman. The name badge on her uniform identified her as Jenny. As the receptionist had just taken a call, Sydney needed to wait a few minutes.

"Sorry about that," Jenny smiled once she had redirected the call. "How can I help you?"

"My name is Sydney Regas," Sydney began, "I'm here to see Bernie Kingston."

Jenny nodded, reached for a clipboard and handed to Sydney. "He's been expecting you. If you would just sign in, I'll let him know you're here."

Sydney took the forms and thanked the young woman. As she made her way towards the couches to take a seat she found her hands were shaking. Clutching the clipboard she closed her eyes and took three calming breaths before opening them again and focused on the task at hand.

Sydney had just finished signing the forms when she heard her name called out. As she looked up, she recognised the person walking towards her from the staff images on the website. He was a little shorter than she had expected. For some reason, she had envisaged him much taller than her. Instead, his stocky frame was about the same height as hers.

As he came to a stop in front of her, he held out his hand with a broad smile. "Ms Regas," he began, "I'm Bernie. We'll be working together while you're here."

His manner was warm and friendly which immediately put Sydney at ease. "Call me Sydney," she began as she shook his offered hand. "Thank you for allowing me to do this."

"It's not a problem," he chuckled as he rubbed his shaven head. "The donation your boss has endowed to the hospital more than makes up for any inconvenience your research for him may cause."

"Besides," he winked with a cheeky grin, "if the book DB Myers is writing gets turned into a movie, I hope my part is played by Vin Diesel."

"I would have thought Jason Statham," Sydney quipped as she glanced again at the person she would be shadowing for the next two weeks.

"Na, he never gets the American accent right," he joked as he led them down the corridor and into a small office.

"Before we let you near the patients I want to make sure you're aware what you'll be getting into," he said as he offered her a seat and took one opposite her. His demeanor had now turned serious. "St Patrick's is a specialty hospital. As such, the patients have access to expertise, resources and therapy programs that aren't available at general rehabilitation centers. Therefore, what you will be experiencing with us, won't be practiced by the majority of other hospitals. St Pat's has years of experience treating individuals with spinal cord injuries - SCI and traumatic brain injuries - TBI."

Sydney nodded. This was something she was already aware of. While the standard health care system had failed both TBI and SCI patients, due to substandard funding, facilities such as this, were making leaps and bounds in rehabilitation techniques. However, as everywhere, only those that could afford the costly fees were able to take advantage.

"Each patient has a dedicated team working with them," he explained, "physio, speech, psychology, and hearing. You name it - we cover it. At the moment, we have two patients with the type of injury you are after for your research. A twenty-two-year-old woman and a forty-five-year-old male. Both were involved in serious accidents that have resulted in spinal injury as well as significant permanent brain injuries. Over the next two weeks, you will be working with both of them."

"Are their families okay with an extra person involved in their sessions?" Sydney questioned. While the hospital had signed a non-disclosure agreement as to whom was involved in the sessions, she had assumed that they would at least had advised them an extra person would be trailing their loved one.

Bernie shook his head. "We are also a teaching hospital, so the families have signed blanket waivers," he said, "and as you are taking no photos and will not be using their names, it falls within the existing contracts."

He checked his watch and then stood. "If you're ready, I am about to start a rehab session with one of the patients you will be working with – a Walter MacMasters."

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📎A/N ... Uh oh!! not sure it's such a good idea of Sydney's  ... however, if she's comparing him to Jason S, sounds like she's got something nice to look at while she's there ;-)

... what's going to happen when Ethan finds out??

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Take care,

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