“Meghan you don’t have to fill the paperwork out right now.” Peter took the pen from her shaking hand and folded her into his arms. The family room of the Bangor hospital ICU didn’t look any different today than it had three months ago. Though the comfortable sofa and wing back chairs were designed to make the space look more like a living room than a hospital waiting area, the distant echo of heart monitors and smell of industrial disinfectant didn’t allow for the illusion to replace the reality.

“Peter, he’s going to be all right, isn’t he?” Meghan buried her face in his shoulder, the silk of her hair tickling his cheek. “How many heart attacks can a sixty-something body withstand?

Peter had no idea.

He wondered himself how much fight John Tilling had in him. In the six years he’d known the man, he’d never seen him so weak. It was like the life force was being sucked out of him and no medicine or doctor seemed to be able to restore the brilliant zest for life that used to light his eyes. It was one of the many things Meghan had gotten from her father. Peter still remembered the first time he’d seen her in the quadrangle at the University of Maine, walking toward him with the classmate that eventually hooked them up. Her eyes were as green as the pool table at the frat and he couldn’t make his mouth work for the spell they cast on him.

“Hey, Meggie.” Julie called to her quietly. “They said we could go in for five minutes. You know the drill.”

They all knew the drill.

Alice and her daughters would tag team in and out of the ICU while their men waited and remained ever vigilant.

“Doc McCarty didn’t look too happy with Alice at the house.” Ayden turned from the window.

“That woman can be awfully stubborn when she makes her mind out about something,” Peter said. “And obviously having John here in Bangor was important to her.”

“Doc McCarty doesn’t have privileges here,” Damon said. “He likes to be able to keep an eye on John at the hospital in Delmont.”

“You can’t blame Alice for bringing him here when the docs here seemed to be the only ones to help over the summer.” Peter got up and began to pace. “This whole thing just sucks.”

“All I can say, is it’s a good thing Julie has her sisters. I’ve never seen such a strong unit as they are when they’re together.” Damon took Ayden’s place at the window.

“Do you ever wish you had that?” Peter asked cautiously.

“What?” Ayden turned and eyed him curiously.

“You know their sense of family,” Peter said.

Damon looked at him thoughtfully. “I had it once. Didn’t work for me. Cheating mother and alcoholic father didn’t make for a happy home. I’m good calling Julie’s family my own.”

“What about you, Ayden?” Peter kept pushing. “You miss it?”

“Yeah, my family was great. For a cop’s family, my brother and I were pretty well adjusted.” He lifted a shoulder. “But it’s not like I can bring them back. Let’s face it. Death sucks.” He poured himself a cup of black sludge from the coffee pot. “But I’m not sure where I’d be if I hadn’t hooked up with Deirdre. John and Alice welcomed me before Dee and I got engaged. It’s all good.”

Ayden slapped Peter on the shoulder. “Just be happy you’re not out there on your own, bro.”

That’s exactly what he’d been trying to rectify.