Corpsman and the Nerd (2 page)

“
There’s not all that much
to do,” she said, trying to suppress her panic. “Just find someone
to do my job for possibly the next year. And find someone who can
take Ryan and Spuds...” she trailed off, resisting the thoughts
swirling in her brain at hurricane force.
Ryan
. She had purposefully blocked
all thoughts of leaving him.
How could
she?

“
Katrina Celeste, what about
your place, and car and mail and—”

KC cut him off, not wanting to hear
the laundry list. Monday mornings were bad enough, she certainly
didn’t need a To Do list spewed at her.

“
Right now I need to worry
about today. The rest will have to wait. And the name is
KC.
”

“
You’re much calmer than I
would have thought,” Max said in a contemplative voice, stroking
his chin. KC swallowed and hurried to her office.

Why couldn’t her evenings have
involved some wonderfully hot man rather than sand, heat, and a
military field unit?

Footsteps sounded behind her and KC
nearly panicked. On her knees, she gasped as a pair of masculine
black leather shoes showed in her line of vision. “What are you
doing?” she asked, suspicion coloring her voice.

“
I thought I’d help you
locate that needle I saw drop off our newest syringe prototype.
This could be a problem, you know, if the needles fall off,” Max
replied, running a hand over his chin, and KC’s heart tripped a
beat when she heard beard bristle rasp against his palm. She liked
that sound. She wished she could hear it every day.

Instead of going to
Kuwait
. Her heart tipped sickeningly and
she squashed further thoughts.
It’s just
the unknown. You’ll be fine once you get there,
a little voice reminded her. She hoped the voice spoke the
truth. Her stomach couldn’t take much more abuse.

KC worked hard and eventually
succeeded in pulling herself together enough to answer him. “Yes,
we do seem to have a problem with these syringes and needles
staying together,” she muttered, desperately wanting something from
him, but not certain what. She hoped she didn’t look as stupid as
she felt kneeling in the main hallway of their office
suite.

Max dropped to his knees and surveyed
the floor with her, both of them struggling to find a needle that
blended in perfectly with the carpeting.

Of course.

KC was soon struck by the hilarity of
the situation, but stifled her amusement. They really did need to
locate that needle. She needed it to test so they could determine
why the syringe and needle weren’t staying together. Not to mention
the safety hazard the needle presented in its present location. One
should probably expect such a hazard when one ran a company that
manufactured and supplied medical supplies, but most people
didn’t.

Approximately two seconds later, Max
snagged the needle and held the thin metal above his head
triumphantly. He even managed to cluck her under the
chin.

“
Would you look at that? I
found it. And you didn’t,” he tacked on just to taunt her, she
guessed.

“
Thank you very much, Mr.
Morrison.” She took the needle. “Only children shouldn’t have to
work with people from large families,” she muttered, managing to
sneak in a decent punch. She wasn’t a military woman for nothing.
KC knew how to defend herself.

“
You’re not an only child,”
he reminded her unnecessarily.

Thinking of her other job
made her remember her newest assignment.
In Kuwait
. KC turned away, feeling
her heart clench at the thought of not seeing those she loved for
eight months or longer.

“
Are you okay?” KC heard the
concern in Max’s voice.

“
I’m fine,” she lied, her
heart beating painfully.

Chapter 2

“
Mom! Whewe’s Spuds? I can’t
find him,” KC’s son, Ryan exclaimed, running from the living room
into the kitchen where she worked at preparing supper. Her heart
seized at the thought of what would happen to him while she was
gone. Where would he go? Who would take him? When panic encroached,
she yanked her thoughts to the present. The future was too
frightening to consider right now.

“
You let him out when you
got home, did you remember to let him back in?” KC watched his
face, loving the freckles scattered across his nose, and his curly
brown hair and bright blue eyes. She might not have borne him from
her body, but he was hers in every other way. Her brother had
brought Ryan to her when he was barely a week old and had never
returned to pick up his son.

They received post cards from him now
and then. He had signed all legal rights over to her years ago, and
KC doubted they’d ever see him again. Greg was unreliable at best,
and the passing years only seemed to strengthen that unfortunate
characteristic. He lived for the moment, not caring that he had a
son. Or that the woman who gave birth to Ryan had died before she
could hold her son in her arms.

“
I don’t know,” Ryan said
and KC raised an eyebrow at him after she remembered their
conversation about Spuds, their dog. With purpose, she shoved
thoughts of Greg from her mind.

“
Maybe you ought to go see
if he wants in. I bet he’d like to play with you.”

Ryan ran to the door and opened it.
Their little mutt, part dachshund, part terrier, part Chihuahua,
proved a bizarre mixture between all three breeds. He wagged his
way into the room. In truth, Spuds resembled a black and white
potato on feet. He barked and jumped on Ryan, dog and five-year-old
rolling across the floor in their usual display of
antics.

KC laughed at the pair, trying to
memorize this precious everyday memory before she left. How in the
world was she supposed to tell Ryan she was leaving? Who would care
for him? Who would take Spuds? When her thoughts came full circle
again, and she still had no answers, KC hastily dried the tears
that formed before they spilled onto her cheeks.

This little boy and little dog were
her life, and now she had to leave them for at least eight months.
But she had been called to serve her country, so she would. There
was no other way. She was a mom, and a pet owner, but she was also
a member of the Medical Corps, a trained surgeon, and her country
needed her skills. Therefore, she would go. She had signed onto the
Navy before Greg brought Ryan to her, so she couldn’t deny the
Navy’s right to her skills.

She was still Ryan’s mom though and
this decision was going to eat away her soul if she didn’t think of
some brilliant solution for her son and dog.

KC sighed and turned back to shredding
cheese. There was still a little bit of time before she left. And
she needed to set so much in order.

How in the world would she tell
Ryan?

How in the world could he
understand?

Who in the world could she trust to
keep him?

Ryan attended the daycare at her work,
so she saw him often during the day. Plus, she could work from home
from time to time. Max, genius that he was, had arranged for her to
stay home with Ryan a few times a month. He felt Ryan was the most
important aspect of her life, just as she did. She better figure
out how to tell Ryan she was scheduled to leave him soon. Her
stomach churned.

Maybe she should wait until she knew
who would keep him. With a snort, she overrode that thought. Since
that person hadn’t miraculously appeared, she still had no idea who
she could trust to keep Ryan for eight or more months. Who would be
willing to become an instant parent?

Ryan had to be comfortable with this
person. Not to mention they would have to be buddies, and this
person had better understand kids. She suppressed another desperate
snort. Where would she find such a paragon?

She had to tell Ryan about the change
in their futures because she figured she would need to tell him
several times before he comprehended. Even so he still might not
understand he wouldn’t see her for close to a year. That was
approximately two hundred and forty sleeps. There was no way he
could grasp that.

If
he did,
then
she could figure out who she could trust to raise her
son.

KC wished she could let someone else
tell him. And let someone else figure out who would be the lucky
civilian to keep her precious son.

“
Ryan, there’s something I
have to tell you,” she said after they ate and cleaned up the
dishes. She couldn’t let this rest, so figured now would be a good
time to reveal the news. How much would a five-year-old
comprehend?

“
What?” he asked, but she
doubted she had his full attention. His eyes kept straying to the
overfull toy box in the corner.

“
Honey, you know how I have
to leave one weekend every month?” Since she joined the Navy before
Greg had given Ryan to her, her commitment weekends weren’t new to
him.

“
Yeah, you alweady did
that,” he said impatiently, and this time his eyes followed
Spuds.

She tipped his head up with a hand
under his chin, wanting him to understand the seriousness of their
conversation. His little boy scent teased her as a wave of longing
to not miss a moment of his life nearly overcame her. KC fought it
and won.

“
Yes, I did. But Ryan, I’m
going to be leaving for more than a weekend soon.” KC almost choked
on the words. She could do this.

“
I’ll have to go to
Gwandmothew and Gwandfathew’s house?” He sounded alarmed and KC
resisted the urge to close her eyes.

“
No, baby. I don’t think so.
We’ll probably keep your monthly visits, but you won’t stay with
them.” Even as she made the statement, KC resolved to find someone
else. Her parents were barely tolerable for a weekend, much less
eight months. She couldn’t do that to Ryan.
But who
? Who could she trust to take
Ryan? Who wouldn’t mind? Who would love the opportunity? Who loved
Ryan enough?

“
Who’ll I stay with, Mom?”
Ryan asked, and KC realized she had his full attention
now.

“
I don’t know yet, baby, but
I’ll find someone,” she promised.
Who
? Desperation clawed at her
insides.

“
S’kay, Mommy, I know who,”
Ryan announced and the temptation of the toy box finally overcame
him. He wiggled off the couch and scampered to the brimming
container of toys.

“
Who, Ryan?” she asked,
watching him chose a fire truck from the pile.

“
Who what?”

“
Who’ll watch you?” KC
realized she was quite interested in his answer.

He turned and gave her a mysterious
smile. Not unlike the one Max often sent her when he was up to
mischief. Which now that she thought on it, happened on a frequent
basis.

“
Can’t tell, Mommy, it’s a
secwet.” He made fire truck siren noises.

She sincerely wished she knew this
particular secret. It might make her life a lot easier.

Chapter 3

“
KC,
hello
? Can I please have your
attention?” And to add insult, Max waved his hand in front of her
face.

She batted him away, but
returned her attention to their meeting. “
What
?” Grumpiness laced her voice in
liberal doses.

“
We’ve got to get these
prototypes fixed, and since this is more your area of expertise
than mine, I figured you’d want more input than you’re providing.”
He didn’t sound completely exasperated with her, which was good.
Just a little bit, which she could handle.

“
Sorry. I was off somewhere
else.”

“
Yeah, I figured that out.”
He raised an eyebrow.

“
I’m here now, what’s
up?”

“
That’s a good question.
What is up?” he returned, and folding his arms on the table, leaned
forward.

KC quelled the urge to sit back.
Having the full impact of Max Morrison’s attention was a little bit
like standing up in front of a thousand people with a speech you
might not have practiced enough. Doable, but daunting.

Taking a deep breath, KC stared into
Max’s blue eyes and thought about dumping her problems on him. Here
was a good friend, her best friend, in fact, and she needed to
unload to someone. And he could take it. KC gave in to
temptation.

“
Max, who’s going to keep
Ryan when I leave? Who’s going to keep Spuds? I can’t send them to
my parent’s house. And who knows where Greg is? And what if he does
come back and decides he wants to be a larger part of Ryan’s life?
He’s not reliable. All he’ll do
is hurt
Ryan
.” All her fears and frustrations
welled inside until she feared they might spew. She retained the
ability to hold onto her emotions for now but hated to gamble with
being able to keep everyone safe from the disgorge if her grasp
failed.