I continued to pace a whole in the floor of Maria's hospital room. After Sean and I came here with the ambulance, they did a thorough workup on Maria. She had a small head wound from when Jonathon pushed her into the wall. They did a CT scan, along with an MRI, just to be safe.

They said she had a mild concussion and wanted to keep her overnight just for observation. According to the doctors, she should have woken up already. Now, I was getting more anxious by the second.

Michael, Sean, and Caffrey were in the waiting room. When we first got here, I was forced to wait with the others. Michael originally stayed behind to find out if our father was alive or dead after I shot him. I remembered the event clearly. I had aimed for his shoulder, hoping to injure rather than kill. Once he was on the ground, I grabbed Maria and struggled to get her out of that hotel.

We almost made it to the entrance when I heard Jonathon's booming voice behind me. Most of the hotel had been evacuated, so it was only us in the lobby. That's when I saw the police officer approaching from the back. He ordered Jonathon to freeze and drop his weapon. When my father turned on the officer and pointed his gun at him, the officer had no choice but to shoot. The bullet hit Jonathon in the chest and he had collapsed onto the floor.

The police officer escorted me to the entrance where Caffrey was waiting. I had never been more happy to see him in my life. The EMTs came rushing in and started checking Maria while Caffrey took me to Sean. Then the rest was history. I checked in with Ellie and her boyfriend to make sure they were okay. She assured me she was fine and was at Sean's apartment with Anne. Sean explained to me that the bomb squad was able to find the explosive that Jonathon had planted and it was disarmed. No one was hurt.

It still disturbed me that Jonathon was in the hospital somewhere. With his illness, the gunshots were too much for him and he was in a coma. His prognosis wasn't good, and I honestly didn't care. He didn't deserve my forgiveness or to get better. He got what he deserved. Poor Ryan Sweeny was still in the ICU with no clear signs of regaining consciousness. He may have deserved punishment for drugging Ellie's drink and harassing me, but he didn't deserve what my father did to him. That was the work of a violent, murderous, psychopath. No, my father didn't deserve anything that would give him the opportunity to hurt another person.

"Lydia?"

I stopped my pacing and turned to my mom's hospital bed. "You're awake? Oh my, God!" I raced to the bed and embraced her.

She winced, but returned my hug. "Gently, I'm a little sore and my head feels like I got hit by a train."

I pulled away and my emotions got the best of me. Tears came pouring from my eyes and I could barely get a word out. "I'm sorry, Mom. I'm so sorry!"

She frowned and covered my hand with her. "Lydia, stop that. Nothing is your fault. Is he-- Where is he? Are you alright?" She looked around the hospital room and her frown turned into panic. "I'm in a hospital. Am I alright?"

I explained everything to her. What happened in the hotel room when I shot him, the police shooting him in the lobby, his current health status. It was a lot for her to take. Her eyes went to the machines that she was hooked up to.

"Well, my vitals and everything look okay. I'll need to look at my chart and talk to the doctor when they come in." She struggled to sit up in the bed and I assisted her. "Thank you." She looked to me and I could see the concern she was feeling. "I would ask how you are, but I think I know the answer."

I glanced down and fidgeted with her blanked. "I'm okay. I mean-- I'm not okay, but I'm alive and unharmed. I was more worried about you and the others."

Her eyes widened. "The bomb! Did they find it? Is everyone okay?"

I nodded and immediately reassured her. "Sean and everyone in the building are okay. He, Michael, and Caffrey are in the waiting room now."

She let out a long breath and laid back on the bed. "This is all so crazy and fast. I can't believe that we were just in the room with him. After so long-- I thought I would never see him again in my life."

That struck me cold. "Wait, you wanted to see him?"

She looked at me with wide eyes. "No! On the contrary. I was hoping I would never have the chance or misfortune of seeing that man again. That was the main reason I moved out of Washington. I couldn't live in the same state as him." She smiled at me. "But I didn't move that far, did I? I moved to Portland because I had been trying to find you and I didn't know where you were. I didn't know if you were still in Washington or if you left. Clearly, you moved to the other side of the country."

I laughed at that. "Yeah. I just couldn't stay in Seattle anymore." I sat on the edge of her bed before I continued. "Even after I moved here, I couldn't shake everything that happened. It got worse and worse until..."

"Until you met Sean?"

I heard what she said, and it was true. But I couldn't hide behind Sean and bend the truth. "No, it got worse until I felt like I couldn't take it and I ended up on that bridge. I just wanted it to end. The memories of what he and Tahlia did. Just everything." I smiled. "Then a strange man pulled over and asked me why I was fishing with no pole."

Maria laughed at that. "He asked you that?"

The memory of that night was fresh in my mind as I told her the story...

"Nice night out," he said as he kept his eyes forward.

"What?" I snapped.

He looked at me quizzically. "Where's your pole?"

"My pole?" I asked. Was this guy mental?

He shrugged, "Seems odd to be out here, fishing with no pole."

"I'm not out here fishing!" I bit back as I tried to keep my whipping hair out of my face.

"Ah. Sightseeing, then?"

"Okay, strange random guy, I'm not sightseeing. I'm a little busy, actually. So, if you don't mind-"

"Because," he said interrupting me, "if you aren't fishing and you aren't sightseeing, then it doesn't leave much to the imagination of what you're doing out here."

He gave me a knowing look, and I didn't say anything. I turned away from him.

"Why don't I help you down? We can go get some coffee. Maybe talk about why you aren't out here fishing or sightseeing."

I couldn't think right now. Couldn't formulate a thought.

I glanced over at him. Yep, still here. "I don't like coffee," I said, unable to think of anything else.

"Well, forget the coffee. We can do pretty much anything else-- Not on a bridge."

The short sound of a police siren had me cursing under my breath as I quickly jumped down. My heart was thundering in my chest and I was on the verge of a panic attack.

Maybe I should make a run for it? It seemed like a good idea, but my feet wouldn't move.

The sound of a car door opening and closing made it clear the officer was coming over. He shined his flashlight at both of us. "What's going on here?"

I opened my mouth to say something. Anything to get out of this. But, nothing came out.

"Sorry officer," strange random guy said, "my girlfriend got mad because I cancelled our trip to the Hamptons this weekend. She freaked out and we pulled over. Right, sweetie?"

He shot me a look and I nodded. Hoping my expression didn't give me away.

The cop shined his light from me to the guy trying to save my ass and said, "No stopping on the bridge. Why don't you two get in your car and get out of here. Now."

"You got it, boss."

The cop returned to his vehicle, but made no move to leave. Strange random guy looked at me and said quietly, "Look, he's not going to leave until we do. Why don't you get in the car and I'll take you where you want to go."

Knowing my choices were a cell or his car, I chose option two. I walked to his car, quickly getting in the passenger seat. Seconds later, his door opened and he slid inside.

We rode in silence for awhile. I kept my gaze looking through the passenger window. My mind was all over the place. My heart still racing.

"So," he said, "how about that coffee?"

"So you guys went for coffee after that?" Maria asked, clearly entranced with the story.

"Yeah. Then we formed an unbreakable friendship that turned into love."

"I'm so proud of how far you've come," she whispered.

"Thanks." I was, too. The door opened to the room and in came an older male doctor.

"Maria, it's been too long," the doctor said with a warm smile.

"Dr. Smith, how are you?" Maria looked to me. "Dr. Smith was my attending when I was a resident in Portland. He's now the Chief of Surgery here at New York General."

"It's nice to meet you," I said with a wave.

"You as well." He looked to Maria. "I heard what happened. I'm glad you're okay. I reviewed your scans and charts and you should be able to be discharged tomorrow. Now, what is it going to take for you to be my Chief of Cardio here?"

My eyes widened. "Wait, work here? You're offering her a job?"

Dr. Smith arched a brow. "I offered it to her when I heard she was flying out here. I've been waiting for an answer."

Maria met my stare. "I was going to ask you. Then all of this happened. I didn't want to say yes if it was too much for you."

Disbelief was etched on my face. "But you're life is in Portland."

"No, Lydia. I spent my life looking for you. My life is here." When I simply nodded my answer, she looked back to Dr. Smith. "Looks like I'll be joining your team. One two conditions."

He gave her a single nod. "I start in a month. I need some time for the move and I want to get settled."

"Let's make it two months. We'll cover your travel expenses and it will be paid time off."

"Thank you, Dr. Smith. That's very generous." She looked from me back to the doctor. "I want one weekend off a month. I will offer to bring my fellow from Portland over and continue training him. He's another me and I trust him to cover if I'm unavailable."

"Done," Dr. Smith clapped his hands together. "Good to have you Dr. SinClair. Get well soon."

I looked back to Maria with amazement. "Wow. I can't believe you are going to work here. And he is doing all that for you."

Before she could say anything, Michael burt into the room. "Sean's just been taken into FBI custody."

Well, fuuuuuuuuuuuck.