“You are not standing right. What’s wrong?” She waited for me to answer.
Damn, she was not going to be happy about this. Well it wasn’t like I was either. “I screwed up my ankle running up the stairs.” I didn’t know what I did, but I knew what it meant. Surgery and sitting on my ass to recover.
“Let me see.” Lach made his way over to us and looked at my ankle. “Yup, you get to go see Polgara. Ha-ha, I don’t envy you, mate. She is going to be pissed at you,” he said, going back to help Ari.
“Who is Polgara?” Mary asked.
“She is an orthopedic doctor and surgeon. We call her Polgara because she makes magic happen like a sorceress. Plus, she is Polish, and we slaughter her name when we try to pronounce it,” I explained.
“Well, let’s call her and see how soon she can see you,” Mary said.
“Already done. She will meet you at Northwestern Hospital in three hours. In the meantime, you are not allowed to put any weight on it, she said. Go give your statements to FBI agent Shelia and meet her over there,” Domino said over the coms.
“Thank you,” I said. “Come on, let’s see where Shelia is. I need to lean on you, Mary, doctor’s orders.” She let me use her as a crutch as we left the office.
“Are you Ammo and Mary?” a southern-voiced young woman asked.
“Yes.”
“Please come sit at the table. I have it set up to take your statements.” She directed us to a folding table they had set up on the driveway. I sat in the chair while Mary looked around. Soon, she spotted something and brought it back to where I was sitting. It was a neighbor’s recycling bin.
She turned it upside down. “Here, put your foot up. It should probably be elevated,” she said.
“Thank you.” I smiled at her. She was wonderfully perfect. I could not wait to marry her.
Agent Shelia handed us both clipboards and pens. “Write down everything that happened, starting at the beginning, please.”
“The beginning of meeting Mr. Greyson or today?” Mary asked.
“From today. We can get into the backstory later if need be,” Agent Shelia said. She let us work for about two hours before we were done. “Thank you both. You are free to go; we will be in touch if we need anything else,” she said, collecting the statements.
“All right, let’s get you to the car and to the hospital,” Mary said, helping me get up. She looked for her car. “Um, Ben, where is my car?”
At that moment, Sarah pulled into the driveway with her car. “Right here; we moved it so it would not get stuck in the mess of feds,” she said. “Hop in.” Sarah drove us over to the hospital.
“Everyone is on their way and will meet you in the surgery waiting room,” Sarah said after we got out. An orderly showed up with a wheelchair for me.
“Thanks, Sarah!” She drove off. “Let’s go.” The orderly took us down to X-ray. Mary waited while they took the films for Polgara. Then they took us upstairs to the surgery waiting room. Mary sat next to me on a chair and held my hand as we waited. Soon the waiting room began to fill with operatives, the Forces ladies, and someone even brought Kamon.
“Oh, my Benboy! What did you do?” She rushed over to me. “Mary, are you okay? What did he do?” she asked.
“He messed up his ankle. We are waiting for the doctor to tell us how bad,” Mary told her.
“Benboy, I will make you soup to help heal faster.” She sat next to Mary and took her hand.
Soon the waiting room filled with just about everyone from Forces. That’s when Polgara finally came in. “Hello everyone! Glad to see you all! Well, sorta. Ammo, I see here I have to fix my work … again,” she said, walking over to me.
“Hiya, Pol, yeah, you do. Pol, this beautiful lady next to me is Mary. She has agreed to marry me in a few weeks. Mary, this is Polgara; she puts up with us when we break things.” I looked at Mary the whole time. She smiled and blushed so prettily when I talked about her.
“Well, congrats! It’s good to meet you. Is everyone here?” Pol asked me.
“Sure, go ahead.”
Polgara turned to the crowd and got their attention. “All right, listen up. There is not-so-bad news and good news. Ammo managed to shear off two of the screws in his ankle, so the bad news is, yes, it requires surgery. But the good news is it seems to be as simple as removing the broken screws and putting the news ones in. Of course, I will know more once I get in there, but that’s what I see on the X-rays. As far as recovery, the first two weeks while the stitches are in—no workouts, no going to Forces, stay home and relax. If you can do that for two weeks, then I should be able to pull the stitches and get you back to light duty. Sound good?” Pol asked me. She found if she just told everyone what was going on, it saved time and headaches. She’d also learned it helped the patient follow the recovery rules since all of us tended to push too hard.
“Yes. Domino, did you make that phone call for me?
“She’s all taken care of, Ammo,” he called from the other side of the room.
I wanted to make sure, in case the worst happened, Mary got everything. “Perfect,” I turned to Mary and tugged her to me for a kiss. “Mary, are you okay with me moving in with you?”
“Absolutely.” She smiled.
“Good. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“I should have him back to you in about two hours. Once he is in recovery, I will come get you,” Pol said, getting ready to take me.
“I’m looking forward to seeing your smiling face when I open my eyes in recovery,” I said, kissing her one last time. Pol pushed me to the door to take me to the prep area.
“So, tell me, how did you two meet?” Pol asked.
“Oh no, a better story is our first date. She took me to have lunch with the seals,” I said as we left everyone in the waiting room.
Chapter 30
Mary
Seeing him being rolled away from me was really hard. I wanted to be right next to him. Kamon had my hand though, and she was not letting go. Thank God for her since I would have run after him. After he was gone, some of the operators I’d never met started coming over and introducing themselves to me. Some left after that since they’d gotten the news they needed.
Eventually, Lego, Ninja, Joey, and Oatmeal stood in front of me. Lego spoke for the group. “Mary, we would like your permission to move Ammo in.”
“Sure, do you need keys?”
“No, are there any special requests of where you would like stuff?” Ninja asked.
“My garage needs a little rearranging so his car can fit out there. One of the items is a dresser. That should get brought into my room and his things can go it. There is plenty of room in my closet for his clothes. Maybe let him organize his kitchen stuff? And anything else can go in the lounge until I can deal with it—not on my sewing table.” I had really been thinking about this.
“Got it. It will be done by the time you get home.” They left after that. Now it was just Sarah, Domino, Charlotte, Kamon, and me.
“I am your driver, so you are stuck with me,” Sarah said.
“Thank you, Sarah, takes a load off.”
“I am going to go find some food and coffee. Can I get you anything?” she asked.
“Water would be nice.” I really was not thinking of me, though I knew I should.
“I am going to go with her and find the restroom, too.” Charlotte walked off after her. She caught up to Sarah and they went off together.
“Thank you for staying, Domino.” I didn’t know what to say to him.
“I am glad to be here. Ammo is not just my employee; he is my friend. It’s really I that should be thanking you. He is happy, and it’s all due to you,” Domino said.
I blushed. “I don’t know what to say other than I am happy too.” I smiled. “Domino, I was wondering how Gena and Ari are?”
“Gena is up in her room, resting, being checked on by Lach. Lach is in the bunk room with Ari. He seems fine, but he is watching him
for concussion. They both should be back to work, or in Ari’s case, whatever he does all day, tomorrow.”
“I am glad she was not hurt worse. I don’t want Ben beating himself up over it.”
“Oh no, actually, she is going to be getting the workout of her life because she was just too slow. But that will be after they both have healed,” Domino said with a smile. “Well, I got phone calls to make. I am going to roll over there. Yell if you need anything. I am sure my hellions will be back with food and water for you at some point.”
I sat, holding onto Kamon’s hand. I had wanted to talk to Kamon, and this was the perfect time, even though the reason behind it was not so great.
“How are you, Mary?” Kamon asked, after hearing me sigh.
“I am okay. How are you?”
“I think the same. Adam and Phoenix were eating lunch with us when they got message that Benboy was hurt. I made them bring me.” She seemed proud of herself and explained why she was still wearing her apron. “So, Mary, I got call from Rosa.”
“You did? Did she tell you?” I was wondering what Rosa had said.
“She said December fifteenth I was requested to help provide feast.”
“Yes, you are. I have not had time yet to send invitations, or really do much towards the wedding this week. But I wanted to talk to you about it. Yes, Ben and I would like you to work with Rosa to make the food, but I had a special request.”
“What is that?”
“Kamon, you know Ben has no family left. Yes, he has the Forces family, but that’s not the same as a mom, dad, siblings. I was wondering, on our wedding day, would you and your family be Ben’s family for the day? Would you be the mother of the groom for him?” I was tearing up. This meant a lot to me, and I knew it would mean the world to the two of them.
She was quiet. Then she started fiddling with her apron pocket. She pulled out a tissue. She wiped her eyes and nose. “Mary, when Benboy brought you for dinner, I knew you special. But now you more special. Nothing make me prouder. I see why he love you.”
“I love him very much. He deserves to have the people around him that love him on our day. You and your family love him like your own.”
“I remember the first time Benboy came in with Johnboy. They ate. Said loved food, like being in Thailand. They came in next day and had pictures of a time they in Thailand. They loved my country, made me happy. When they come in, we talk. They help me with my English, I cook for them, they help my family. They become part of my family. I am so honored. Thank you, Mary,” she said, giving me a hug.
“Oh, Kamon, thank you for being the mom he needs.” She gave me the best mom hug I’d had since I last saw my own mom. She let go and sat back, patting my cheek as she did. We sat waiting for Polgara to come tell us how everything had gone.
Not long after that, Sarah and Charlotte came back. “Here, I got you both a sandwich and a water,” Sarah said as she handed them to us.
“Thank you,” I said. Kamon nodded at her. I really did not want to eat but knew I would need the fuel. I’d had the eggs and toast he made me hours ago. I opened the sandwich and took a bite; it was chicken salad. Not great, but at least it was fuel.
“Both of you eat at least half,” Sarah said before taking a seat near us.
I ended up eating the whole thing and drinking my water. Kamon ate half, like she was told. It was still going to be about an hour before Polgara came back. I pulled out my phone and looked through the Ladies’ texting tree.
“BB busted his balls!”
“She did? She really broke one?”
“Yeah, she punched his nuts so hard one had to be removed!”
“BB, she is.”
“Any word on Ammo?”
“No, still in surgery. Hopefully BB will update us soon.”
Was I BB? I’d really broken one of his balls? I heard Charlotte and Sarah laughing. I looked at them. I’d missed so much on the text tree.
“Sarah, who’s BB?” I asked, wanting to confirm what I was thinking.
“You are.” She was laughing hard now.
“What does it mean?” I had earned a nickname.
“Ball Buster, but we will call you BB for short!” Charlotte snorted, then laughed harder. “The best part is the FBI threatened him with bringing her in to question him if he didn’t answer. He cried about his balls and kept spilling his guts.” She and Sarah started to calm down.
I was kinda proud of myself. I added to the text tree,
“No news yet. About an hour more.”
I sat back and reached out for Kamon’s hand. Waiting sucked. Sarah and Charlotte went back to texting on the tree. Domino had finished his calls and started texting himself. Another half hour ticked by.
I was looking at my phone again when we heard the doors open. I turned. It was Polgara. I stood. She walked up to me. Kamon stood next to me and grabbed my hand. Domino, Charlotte, and Sarah came and stood with us too.
“Good news, all done. He did perfect. I ended up replacing all the screws,” she said, smiling.
We let out a collective breath. I was so relieved. Kamon hugged me. Sarah and Charlotte added themselves to the group. They let me go.
“You ready to see him?” she asked, holding out her hand.
“Yes.” I grabbed her hand and she led me back. I waved bye to the group. She led me through a maze of hospital halls and brought me to a room with just a single bed. She opened the door. There he lay. He was the most handsome man. I went to him and brushed his hair off his forehead and gave him a kiss.
“He should wake up soon. I had a chair brought in for you. Okay. All settled?” she asked as I pushed the chair closer to him so I could touch him, and he could see me. I nodded.
“As long as he wakes up in the next half hour, he should be able to be discharged tonight. We are treating this as an outpatient surgery. I have antibiotics and pain meds for him. He won’t take the pain meds; you might want them instead. Antibiotics—one pill every four hours till gone. Give him two ibuprofen with that if he is not taking the pain meds. Leave the bandage on for twenty-four hours, then do whatever he wants. But don’t get the stitches wet. Keep the ankle elevated as much as possible. Try to keep him off his ankle for the next two weeks. He can go to the bathroom; he can bathe, if he doesn’t get the stitches wet. Keep it elevated. Any couple activities you want to try, as long as he stays off the ankle, will be fine. He will drive you nuts since he is so active and can’t sit. Any questions?”
“Once the two weeks are over, he can go back to work, but light duty. What’s light duty for him?” I was blushing over her reference to us having sex.
“He can play with his toys; he can walk and supervise training. He can’t kick, take any kicks, or run. He will be able to tell when he does too much. Hopefully he will listen to his body.”
“Okay, I think I got it.” I really liked her.
“Great, I wish you luck. Here’s my card with my number. Please call me if you have any questions, problems, or need him committed. I will give the scripts to Sarah so she can get them filled. I will let you two be together. Take care and congrats,” she said and left. She was funny and really seemed to understand him, and I would guess the others he worked with too. No wonder why they’d nicknamed her and liked her so much.
I turned my attention back to Ben. They had him tucked in, but his hands were exposed. He was in one of those hospital gowns. I looked around and saw a bag with his name on it. His clothes were probably in there. I looked at his left hand; they had replaced the bandage over his knuckles, and it seemed bigger. They must have had an IV there. They had the heart monitor hooked up to his finger as well. His right hand had nothing. I picked it up and held it against my cheek. It was nice to feel his warmth again.
“Well, this is not what I thought we would be doing tonight. But on a good note, you will be moved in. Oatmeal said he put your chair next to mine. I also earned myself a nickname. Ball Buster. BB. I think it’s cute. Ammo and BB.” I chuckled. The
re was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” I called softly.
A woman in scrubs walked in. “Hi, I am Schel. I am Polgara’s assistant. I brought Ammo his pop and cookies. He will be a little queasy and shaky when he wakes up; these will help.” She placed them on the bed near me.
“Thank you.”
“I was also going to bring Kamon back in a few minutes; she will want to see him before she heads home.” She patted my shoulder and left.
“Kamon will be happy to see you. That was pretty special, that everyone came to see what was wrong with you. They cleared out after it was decided you would be just fine.” His breathing changed. He was starting to wake up.
Ammo and Mary Page 16
