Sweet Affliction [Sweet Awakenings 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) (6 page)

That sparked his memory. He remembered his long swim and dragging himself across the beach to shelter.

“Please go on,” he said.

“Dad didn’t know who you were. You could’ve been anyone, but he also couldn’t leave a man injured if he was able to do anything to help him. We both were approaching you when we saw a small inflatable boat with a motor whip around the inlet and come toward us. We both hid in a cluster of palm trees while the man jumped out of his boat. He had a gun.”

She said the last words as if they were a sin. She whispered the word “gun” and shuddered.

“I remember the gun. But not the man,” he added.

“It seemed like only seconds passed and he was bearing down on you, coming at you like he couldn’t wait to make you hurt. It seemed…I don’t know, personal maybe? I didn’t even know what was happening. Dad had asked me to sit there and not move. No matter what, he’d said. Next thing I knew he was running after the man and tackling him. They both went down with a thud on the sand and started to struggle with the gun.”

Wow
. He was impressed. Not only had her father literally saved his life, but he seemed to have a set of balls bigger than watermelons. That was the kind of thing you saw in the movies. Very rarely did he ever hear of someone stupid enough to actually try it.

“I guess he saved my life then. I really have to thank him. Now, where is he?”

“He’s resting.”

While she said the words calmly, her eyes betrayed her. He saw something there, something she obviously didn’t want him to see, because she quickly turned away with the bowl and washcloth in her hand as she set them both on a small table by the doorway.

“Is it late?” he asked.

Turning back around, her brow furrowed. “I’m sorry?”

“You said he was resting. I have no idea what time it is. Hell, I don’t even know what day it is.”

“It’s the 19
^th
. You’ve been here for a little over a day.”

Holy hell.
He’d only lost a day? He felt like it’s been days, maybe even a week or longer. Reaching down, he felt the pain in his side and now knew why it still hurt like a mother fucker.

“Only a day? I was shot. How did…” His voice trailed off as he considered who he was dealing with. Your average person can’t just stick their hands in your sides and pull out a bullet. “Is your father a doctor?”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “Technically.”

Technically
? For the love of God, why did this woman insist on speaking code? He was either a doctor or he wasn’t. What the hell was this “technically” bullshit?

He reined in his annoyance. “Meaning?”

She looked at him quizzically. Was she trying to size him up? He would’ve laughed had he not found it kind of endearing that she thought she stood a chance in hell.

“Not technically. I mean he’s licensed to practice his medicine. In the States that is. You’re just not his…Well, his patients are usually furry and most have tails.”

“A veterinarian? Your dad is a vet?”

She nodded her reply.

Well fuck me running
. He had not been expecting that one at all. Damn if he didn’t want to laugh at the news. A doc of four-legged creatures had taken down a damn mercenary and saved his damn life.
Unbelievable
.

“Your dad sounds like a bad ass mofo.”

A pain shone in her eyes as she rubbed at them, faking fatigue, but he saw the tears well up. He didn’t know why, but he was remorseful.

“I’m sorry. Did I say something wrong?”

Rubbing her eyes a bit longer than necessary, he wondered if she would rub them clear off of her face. When she finally looked back at him, he saw dark shadows lingering beneath. If they’d been there before he hadn’t noticed, but he was, after all, recovering from a bullet wound.

“Is it true?” She pointed toward him. “About the tattoo, I mean.”

“My tattoo? If we talked about my tattoo I don’t remember.”

She shook her head. “No. We didn’t discuss it. Not you and I. My father said it means…Well he thought you might be…” She contorted her mouth to one side and chewed on the inside of her cheek.

Oh
. So her father saw the tattoo and suspected he knew what it meant. “You mean the trident on my back?”

“Well, yeah.”

He could have and should have denied it, but he was lying in a bed recovering from a gunshot wound and pretty much at her mercy. Or at least until her father awoke. The idea of pissing her off didn’t seem like the smartest idea, so he opted for half truth.

“I can tell you I’m in the United States Navy, ma’am.”

The corners of her mouth curved up, and she gave him a small smile. “He said if you were a SEAL you would never admit to it.”

Was she smiling because she thought by saying he was in the navy he had admitted to it? Or was she smiling because she took his answer for what it was, a vague acknowledgement of his service with little detail? She was hard to read. That was unusual for him. He could almost always tell everything there was to know about a person within minutes of meeting them.

“Well I’ve known some SEALs in my day, and I’d have to agree with your father. Speaking of which, when can I shake his hand and thank him?”

“As I said, he’s resting.”

Her smile disappeared again and was replaced with a sadness. He couldn’t tell if there was something he was saying that was upsetting her or if she was just a crazy woman who had mood swings that flew up and down faster than a bungee-cord descent.

“Right. Well when he wakes I’d like to…” He stopped for a minute. The room suddenly was spinning, and he was overcome with the need to vomit.

“Are you okay?”

Despite being only a few feet away from him, she all but ran to his side as she placed a hand on his forehead. Her hand was soft and felt so cool against his skin. What was the temperature in this place anyway? He felt like he was burning up.

“Oh God. Wait right here.”

He closed his eyes and waited for the nausea to pass.
Wait here?
Yeah, sure thing. Where the hell was he going to go? Oh hell, he didn’t have the energy for sarcasm.

A sound echoed inside his head like everything was magnified. It was her and her father. They were back. Their voices were calm as they discussed something, but despite their even tones it felt like they were screaming inside his head. Somewhere on his head was a small circus monkey banging symbols together over and over. With every clatter of the brass circles clashing he could feel someone jabbing two very large knives into his eye sockets.

Opening his eyes, the pain intensified. A bright white light sliced at his pupils, nearly blinding him. He howled in pain and felt his insides roil and curdle like he’d just chugged year-old expired milk. Not a moment later he was covered in his own vomit. The wrenching smell flared his nostrils in disgust as he smelled bile and other scents he didn’t know his body was capable of.

He listened to the two discuss things that didn’t make sense. There was mention of apologies, of doing the right thing, of sacrifices. He thought he heard her cry, and he felt an unknown tug from his insides. Despite all her crazy emotions he didn’t like the sound of her sadness.

He closed his eyes, spent and exhausted. Sleep took him as he listened to the man promise his daughter that she was strong enough.

All six of them climbed into the SUV. No one complained when Adam insisted on driving. They knew it occupied his mind and kept him from processing his grief. None of them agreed with his methods, but it worked for Adam, and no one relished the idea of challenging him on it.

Rex looked at his wife and covered her hand with his. She had been a rock for him during the service. Her hand had squeezed his tightly at almost every time he felt moisture was approaching his eyes. She had stood patiently by his side as he shook hands with some teammates he hadn’t seen in years and offered polite condolences to everyone she met. His Shelby had been through a lot of things, and it amazed him how well she had healed. Her strength, although she never admitted to have any, left him awestruck.

The thought brought his attention back to Adam. Chelsea sat beside him in the front seat, holding the wooden box bearing the trident in her lap. Their marriage had taken Rex off guard. Adam was never a one-woman man as far back as he could remember, but that obviously changed back when he’d been engaged to the woman, Alie, that no one was ever to mention. Even after that though, he seemed broken. Chelsea, for all her sweetness, had swept in under Adam’s radar and managed to hook him.

Their relationship was the opposite of conventional. Adam had a roughness that never seemed to leave. He at times was rude and curt, and more than once Jack and Rex had wondered if he was trying to push his new bride away. She seemed to understand him though. She almost always knew when to retreat and wait patiently while he came back from his dark moods.

Despite Adam being a puzzle that Rex didn’t think he’d ever solve, he was glad that Chelsea seemed to have most of the pieces in place. She grounded him in a strange way. For all his quietness, the only time Rex ever saw a tender moment was when it involved Chelsea.

Hell, even the short eulogy Adam spoke at the service was absent of emotion. He simply stated that his buddy Slater was going out to sea where he most felt at home. He commended him on his duty to service, his years of admirable work, and how he was always a trusted brother that any of them were lucky enough to come across. And just as simply as he’d said the words he stepped back to stand beside his wife and saluted Nick’s urn.

So here they were, leaving Miramar on their way to Coronado NAB to stand on one of the high rocks to scatter Nick’s ashes in the ocean. It surprised the hell out of him when Adam had supplied the navy with a notarized copy of Slater’s last will and testament. He knew the two were close at one time but never knew they had kept in touch this whole time.

He watched as Adam’s hand reached across the console of the SUV to take his wife’s hand. Rex couldn’t help but smile. Clearly there was quite a bit more to his friend, Adam, than met the eye.

He looked down as Shelby rested her head on Rex’s shoulder. She’d seemed tired all day, but she held up without lending a hint to her exhaustion. God how he loved her. He was one lucky son of a bitch, and he knew it.

A tap on his shoulder had him look to the seat behind him. Jack, who was sitting with Tamara, looked stressed.

“Yeah?”

Jack shook his head in frustration and nodded his head toward Tamara, who looked equally annoyed. He couldn’t help but smile. Jack and Tamara never argued, but whenever they did it was an instant moment of satisfaction for him. Jack needed to be brought down a peg or two once in a while, and Tamara was damn good at doing it.

“What’s the problem?” he asked them.

Exhaling a big breath, Jack answered. “Would you please tell her that when Colleen says JJ is fine, that it actually means that he is fine.”

Rex bit back any laughter that was itching to break free. Why on earth Jack thought he would win an argument over their new baby with Tamara he had no idea. The man was clearly an idiot.

Giving a sympathetic smile to Tamara, he asked, “Why don’t you think he’s fine, sweetie?”

She looked at him for a few seconds and rolled her eyes at her husband. “I guess I don’t really think that. Colleen wouldn’t lie to me.” She held up her hand to interrupt Jack, who’d started to talk.

“But it’s just that when I called she kind of scolded me for nearly waking him up after she’d just gotten him down for a nap. I asked if he’s been fussy, or colicky, or even sick, but she swore he wasn’t.”

“Okay then. There’s your answer. You said it yourself, she wouldn’t lie to you. Especially not about JJ.”

“Yes I know. It’s just she sounded kind of tired or like she was at her last rope. Maybe he’s too much work for her? What if…”

“Oh for God’s sake! She is at her last rope with you. You call her about every fifteen minutes!” Jack snapped out so abruptly that everyone in the SUV heard him and glanced to the backseat.

Tamara’s cheeks flooded with embarrassment. “I don’t call that much.”

Despite her protests, the inflection of her voice gave her away. Rex felt a tug of sympathy for her. Tamara was a loving soul, and baby JJ was her whole world. He winked at her and gave her a smile before turning to Jack.

“You pull me into an argument with you and Tamara again over my godson, I’ll kick your ass first then take her side.”

Jack flipped him the finger and put an arm around Tamara, who was trying to stifle back some tears. Despite not having a family of his own, Rex was pretty damn lucky to have these people in his life.

Nick woke to the sound of humming, singing. She was there with him again. Her soft voice was like a healing melody that made him feel peaceful. He could picture her lulling a child to sleep with her angelic sounds.

Slowly he opened his eyes, careful as to not have the light startle him like it had the past few times he’d woke. Faint memories of waking several times for only a few minutes only to quickly fall back under came back to him. Each time he remembered her being there, yet he couldn’t remember seeing or hearing the man she called her father.