“You can leave the paper, Troy,” Alex said. “We’ll add things as they come up.”
“I’ll walk you back,” Troy said.
Alex nodded.
“It’s snowing again,” Trece said. “Did you know November, March and April are the snowiest months in Colorado?”
“I didn’t,” Alex said. “I’m going to lie down for a while. Troy wants to walk with me.”
“Ok, we’ll escort you to your boudoir, ma’am,” Trece said.
“Boudoir?”
“Sounds fancy,” Trece said.
Troy laughed.
“Hey Alex, did you remember you promised to go with me to...”
“Oh crap, your father’s party. When is it?” Alex asked.
“Tomorrow,” Troy said.
“We have so much going on, Troy,” Alex said. “Would you...”
“Please Alex, please. I can’t do it myself,” Troy said.
“All right. I think it’s on John’s schedule. The General is coming,” Alex said.
“Thanks,” Troy said.
Alex turned to go up the stairs to her room. She heard Trece follow her.
“I’ll be all right in my room,” she said.
“Yes sir,” Trece said.
He continued to follow her.
“Trece?”
“You’ll be fine because I’m going to watch,” Trece said. “Plus you have a doctor’s appointment in a bit.”
“Won’t you be bored?” Alex asked. They turned the corner to the third floor.
“Nah,” Trece said. “It’s nice to have some alone time. These guys are all right but they talk all the time. It’s so noisy. I can barely hear myself think sometimes.”
Alex opened her mouth to say something but decided against it.
“See you in a bit, Andy,” Alex said.
“Sir.”
FFFFF
Two hours later
Monday evening
March 31 – 5:15 P.M. MDT
Anschutz Medical Center
“Your doctor is very cute,” Helene said in rapid Parisian French. “Do you think John will set me up?”
“When would you have time?” Alex asked. “You take your exams in a month.”
“I have a month. No parents. Just a lenient and loving...”
“Fairy godmother.”
“Sister,” Helene laughed.
“Mrs. Drayson? They will see you now,” the nurse said. “You may bring your guard.”
Alex, Helene and White Boy walked through the orthopedic surgeon’s office.
“Mrs. Drayson? Who calls you Mrs. Drayson?” Helene continued in French.
“John works a rotation here. He’s hoping to get a placement in their OR,” Alex said in French.
“Why does John work at so many hospitals?” Helene asked.
“Money,” Alex said. “He can make extra money for the house and medical bills and expensive real estate in Paris.”
“But you have the trust. Why not spend your inheritance?”
“We don’t spend it,” Alex said. “Plus this keeps him busy while I’m working. Like your Maman and her dresses.”
“Hmm… I am not going to be a spy,” Helene said. “Too much work.”
Alex laughed.
“Here he comes!” Helene whispered.
The orthopedic surgeon came in to check Alex’s arm. The surgical wound was healing. He usually didn’t put a cast on until the wound had time to completely close. Alex was sure she was going to be stuck with this aluminum and ace bandage contraption.
“Drayson. That’s an unusual name,” the surgeon said. “I know a doctor John Drayson.”
“He’s my husband,” Alex said in English.
“Great guy. I heard he was married to some bad ass Army lady.”
“That’s Alex,” Helene said in English.
Glancing at Helene, Alex laughed.
“Did you really helicopter to the hospital?” the doctor asked.
“Which time?” Alex asked.
“You were in a fight with some guy at the taco place.”
“Unfortunately, yes,” Alex said.
“You need a cast.”
“I really need a cast,” Alex said. “I broke the last fiberglass cast I had. This thing is not going to work.”
“Right,” the doctor said. “Listen if John will keep an eye on the infection, I’ll order a cast. But you have to come back Friday. We’ll change the cast every five days or so until the wound is clear.”
“He was supposed to be here,” Alex shrugged.
“Who was?” John asked as he came into the room. He kissed Alex hello and nodded to Helene and White Boy.
“Will you keep an eye on this? She wants a cast,” the orthopedist turned to speak only to John. “I’d rather she have the limited activity the bandages mandate...”
“She won’t stay immobile. That’s not the life she leads.”
Alex rolled her eyes at the men. Every time John arrived, her doctors ignored her.
“That’s rude,” Helene said in French.
“Happen every time,” Alex replied in French. “They’d rather talk to each other.”
“I wish I had somebody to talk to the doctors,” White Boy said in French. “I hate talking to those fuckers.”
“He speaks French!?!” Helene squealed.
Alex laughed.
“Except John. He’s a great guy,” White Boy continued in French. “You think John would talk to my doctors?”
“Probably.” Alex looked at White Boy.
“I thought you liked G.I. Joe,” White Boy said to Helene.
“Hrmpft,” Helene said.
“I know that look. My ex-wife makes that look when I say something she thinks is stupid,” White Boy said. “Sorry.”
“What is going on with you and Larry?” Alex asked.
“He is impossible.” Helene switched to Irish Gaelic.
“How is he impossible?” Alex asked in Irish Gaelic.
“He acts like I don’t exist then… Ugh, I can’t explain it.”
“I think he’s crazy about you,” White Boy said in Irish Gaelic.
“UH!” Helene said in English. “He’s speaks Gaelic too!?”
“He’d better,” Alex replied in English.
“Spanish?”
White Boy nodded.
“Italian?”
White Boy shrugged.
“Hmmm,” Helene furrowed her brow.
“Love? I’m sorry to interrupt,” John said in English. “The nurse will cast your arm now.”
“Oh great,” Alex said. “You had quite the conference.”
“We discussed your next hip surgery,” John said.
“My WHAT?”
“See! Men are impossible,” Helene said in French.
Alex laughed.
“We’ll talk later,” John leaned in to kiss her again. “I’ll see you tonight. I have to finish up.”
She waved goodbye to John then did her best to be patient through the casting process. If it wasn’t for Helene’s bright chatter, Alex would have given up mid-way. But now her sore throbbing arm was encased in a shiny, brand new, purple fiberglass cast.
“Where to next?” White Boy asked.
“Buckley, I think,” Alex said. “I need to be there to pick up Charlene.”
“Ok,” White Boy said.
“Would you mind pretending you can’t hear us for a while?” Alex asked in Arabic.
“Yes sir.”
They were escorted from the doctor’s office. Alex stopped to make an appointment for Friday then they went out to their car. Because most of the Anschutz security were ex-Army, they had been able to park next to the building rather than patient parking.
“What did you say to him?” Helene asked in French.
“I asked him to take us to Buckley,” Alex said in French.
“You said that in English,” Helene said. “The other thing… in the other language.”
“Arabic,” Ale
x said. “I told him we would sit back here and talk.”
“Oh,” Helene said.
Helene scooted into the back of the SUV. Alex sat next to her.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Alex said. “I never feel like I spend enough time with you.”
“I brought my Magic 8 ball,” Helene said. She pulled the ball out of her backpack. “Do you remember this?”
Alex took the black orb from her. She turned it over in her hand then nodded.
“It’s familiar, but I don’t know why,” Alex said.
“Your head is so scrambled! You carried this with you.” Helene laughed. “I begged you for this specific one. You left if with Maman for my sixteenth birthday. You know, the day you were shot.”
“I can see why I don’t remember,” Alex said. “Let’s ask it a question.”
“Sometimes it doesn’t work,” Helene said. “You modified the answers. I don’t know how, but they are so much more fun than the usual ones.”
Alex nodded.
“First question?” Helene asked.
“Do you love Larry?” Alex asked.
“You cannot ask that!?” Helene squealed.
“I remember our rules? Do you?”
“You have to turn it over after the question – no matter what the question is,” Helene said. “But...”
“Turn it or forfeit your turn and your chance to ask a question for me!”
“Hmm....”
Helene turned over the Magic 8 ball. Alex and Helene peered into the Magic 8 ball.
“DON’T BE A DUMBASS” The ball said.
Alex laughed.
“One of Jesse’s favorite sayings,” Alex said. “So you’re in love with Larry?”
“Best of three,” Helene said.
She turned the Magic 8 ball over. They peered into the little window as the white die floated to the top.
“YES”
“That’s an original one,” Alex said. “I left a couple I think.”
“No, only that one,” Helene said. “One more time.”
Helene turned the Magic 8 ball over. They peered at the window one last time.
“DOES SHIT STINK?”
“Hrmpft,” Helene said.
Alex laughed. Disgusted, Helene stuffed the Magic 8 ball into her bag.
“What’s wrong with loving someone?” Alex asked.
“He doesn’t like me, Alex. He treats me like I’m strange,” Helene said. “Plus you don’t like him at all. Why would I have a relationship with someone you don’t like at all?”
“Oh honey,” Alex said. “I don’t dislike him. He’s just very young.”
“Why should I be with someone so young?”
“Because you love him and you’re young. Why not enjoy it? You don’t have to marry him. Just have a few laughs.”
“You married John right away,” Helene said.
“That was different,” Alex said. “I had this overpowering feeling that I had to marry him, make him my world, and stay with him forever.”
“How could you be so certain?”
“Good question,” Alex said. “I haven’t been very certain about things lately.”
“You will be again. I know it.” Helene hugged Alex.
“We’re here,” White Boy said. “I need IDs.”
Alex and Helene passed their IDs forward to the Buckley guards. While they were running Helene’s ID, White Boy gave Alex a padded envelope with her ID. Opening the envelope, Alex dumped a pocket computer into her lap.
“Chris? This doesn’t belong to me,” Alex said. “Can you ask the guard…?”
White Boy turned around in his seat.
“Get out of the car. GO!” White Boy grabbed the hand computer.
F
CHAPTER THIRTY-Four
Alex pushed Helene out Helene’s side of the SUV. White Boy jumped from the driver’s seat.
“Get down, NOW! DO IT NOW!” White Boy screamed to the gate guards. “Bomb. Get down now.”
The MPs ran toward a concrete barrier. With all of his might, White Boy threw the handheld computer into the sand space near the fence.
The computer bounced once.
White Boy pushed Alex and Helene in the opposite direction. They made it to a cement barrier when the handheld computer bounced twice. Alex wrapped herself over Helene.
The handheld computer landed.
Nothing.
Alex peeked over the cement barrier when White Boy screamed “NOOOOO!”
The handheld computer blew the concrete guard station onto its side. The station bashed into the armored SUV. The armored SUV tipped over onto its side then slid across the cement. The general alarm blared throughout Buckley Air Force base. The roof of the SUV smashed into the concrete barrier where they were hiding.
Heat and sand blew over them. The base alarm, and its accompanying response, filled the air. After a few moments, they heard the sound of running feet moving toward them.
“STAY THERE!” White Boy ordered Alex and Helene.
Crouching from the concrete barrier, he moved forward to see who was coming toward him.
“Are you all right?” Alex asked.
“Oh my God, Alex,” Helene said in French. “Oh my God.”
Helene threw herself in Alex’s arms. Helene’s body shook with fear.
“I know in my head that this happens. To you. This week. Twice. And last year. But it’s like movie or a video game. Alex’s fun and exciting life. It’s never been real. And now? Oh my God, Alex.”
Alex felt White Boy standing next to her. He nodded to her.
“Lieutenant Colonel, it’s best if you wait here,” White Boy said. “Should the MPs pick up your Sergeant?”
“Absolutely not.” Alex spoke over Helene’s shoulder. She was not willing to let go of the terrified girl. “The computer wasn’t from him.”
“How did you know there was something wrong?”
“Anything that comes from him has a specific mark known only to him and me,” Alex said. “The computer didn’t have the mark. How did you know it was a bomb?”
“I’ve seen them before. Israel.”
“Sir, we need to get you to a secure location,” a MP moved to help them up.
White Boy pushed him away from them.
“She has her own ride,” White Boy said.
An armored SUV screeched to a halt next to them. Matthew and Troy jumped out of the back seat of the car and ran toward them. Vince hopped out of the passenger seat with a camera and a couple of other devices. He ran toward the bomb to take measurements and photos.
Seeing Matthew and Troy, Alex coaxed Helene into standing.
“HELENE! OH MY GOD!” Larry jumped from the driver’s seat of the SUV. Sprinting toward them, he screamed, “Oh my God. Oh my God.”
Larry skid to a stop a few inches from Alex and Helene. His hands moved in a rapid mime. As if drawn by a magnet, his hands floated toward Helene’s back. Once they were close, he jerked them away again. Close then back.
Rolling his eyes, Troy took Larry’s hands and placed them on Helene’s shoulders.
Helene looked up from Alex’s shoulder when Larry touched her. Turning, she threw herself in to his arms.
“Say nothing, let her cry,” Matthew said in a low voice. “Just hold her.”
Larry closed his eyes and held on with all of his might.
Troy touched Alex’s shoulder. He, Alex and Matthew looked over at the blackened hole created by the bomb.
“What the hell blew up?” Troy laughed.
“Israeli handheld computer bomb,” White Boy said.
“Holy fuck, you mean you got one of...” Matthew started.
“Yes,” White Boy said.
“Wow,” Troy replied. “You’re moving up the ladder of hit men, Alex.”
“I’m flattered,” she said. “Charlene?”
“They delayed landing due to the bomb. We’ll have to check to see if they are allowed to land. Joseph and Nancy are there waiting for her,�
�� Matthew said. “Are you all right? Uninjured?”
Alex nodded. She looked over to see Larry and Helene kissing.
“I need to get our backpacks from the car,” Alex said. “Helene has something I need.”
Troy ran to the SUV. He yanked the door into the air then climbed on the vehicle. They watched his legs dangle in the air. He came out with two backpacks and the Magic 8 ball.
“Hey, look Alex. It’s your Magic 8 ball!” He tossed it to her.
“This is what I needed. Thanks.”
“Come on, lover boy,” Matthew said to Larry. “We have work to do.”
“I’m all right if he wants to take Helene home,” Alex said. “Can you call for an escort for them?”
Matthew smiled. It was so like Alex to put love over everything else. Their eyes held for a moment. With a nod, he set up an escort for Helene and Larry.
Vince ran back to Alex to give an update. Buckley was launching a full scale investigation into the matter. Vince had been asked to share his findings.
“And what are they?” Alex asked.
“Who knows?” Vince shook his head and shrugged. “I’d like to stay here, sir.”
Alex nodded.
“Keep my Sergeant in the loop. We’ll need to know what’s going on.”
“I’ll do it,” Vince said. He was about ten feet away when he turned. Smiling, he said, “I’m really glad you’re okay. This would have been bad.”
Alex nodded. He winked before turning to run back to the burned out hole where the bomb went off. An armored SUV drove up to their location. After White Boy checked the driver’s identification, he signaled Larry and Helene over to the vehicle.
Helene hugged Alex. Whispering in her ear, she said, “I do love him.”
“I know,” Alex replied. “You’ll be safe with him. I’ll see you later tonight?”
Helene held her close.
“You can borrow my Magic 8 ball but you have to give it back,” Helene said.
Alex gave her one last squeeze then kissed her cheek. Larry helped Helene into the backseat of the SUV then went around the back of the truck.
“I won’t let you down again, sir,” Larry said.
Smiling, Alex returned his salute. When they had turned onto Sixth Avenue, Alex, Matthew and Troy piled into the other SUV. White Boy took the driver’s seat. Matthew and Alex took the back. White Boy turned the SUV into the Air Force base.
Learning to Stand Page 29
