If that date and time in the corner of the news program were correct, he’d missed several days. Somehow, he left a shanty shack in South America and made it back to somewhere in the United States.

Winters pushed the call button for the nurse. He tried to swallow again and ran his tongue over his teeth. A nasty, gritty film said it’d been too many days since a toothbrush had been anywhere near his mouth. He pulled his other arm from the blanket and brushed his hands over his face, finding a beard.

A nurse walked in, chipper and bubbling to talk. He wasn’t in the mood for either.

“Mr. Winters, it’s so wonderful to see you awake. We’ve been waiting on you. How are you—”

“Where am I?” A rough, unused edge in his throat made him cough.

She handed him a large container of water with a straw. “Thought you might be thirsty. You’re at the hospital—”

“Where? What hospital? Am I in the United States?”

Her eyes widened. She took a step back. He needed to ease up his method of interrogation, or he’d have to find another nurse.

“Uh, um, yes. You’re outside Washington, DC. Do you know—”

“Who brought me here?” His mind and his mouth hadn’t agreed yet to the terms of easing up the line of questioning.

“You’re in a private suite. Jared Westin of The Titan Group made arrangements for you. We’re to call him as soon as you’re awake. I’m surprised no one’s here. They’ve had someone with you twenty-four hours a day.”

Shit. He’d never live this down. And Mia. What about Mia? Please let her be back in her normal life and not chasing after a man who’d asked her to run into danger.

“Were there only men here?” And did he have to sound so desperate and scared?

“No. Mia’s been here most of the time, whether the other men were here or not. She was on the Titan approved list.” The nurse tinkered with a beeping machine. “She’s wonderful.”

His head dropped against the plump, plastic pillow, and his eyes rolled to the ceiling. That wasn’t what he wanted to hear. His squeezed his eyes. Why didn’t Mia run from him? She should be long gone.

“Don’t let her in to see me. Don’t let her know I’m awake.”

“What?” She shook her head, then cocked it in confusion. After a pause, she did a once-over of his IV bag and monitor, evidently concerned that he neared a PTSD freak out.

“Do not let her in here.” He was a fucking bastard. “I’m serious. She’s no longer Titan approved, or whatever you said.”

The sound of heavy-booted footsteps stole his attention away from the nurse. Cash, in his best cowboy-mosey, ambled up behind the nurse. His hat was tugged low over his shaggy hair, and he towered over the woman with a half-assed, one-sided grin. Clearly, they’d been acquainted. Damn Cash. Was there any woman who didn’t drop drawers for him? Cash whispered in her ear, she blushed and sidestepped around him toward the hallway.