Quid Pro Quo

by Sherryl Hancock

  That morning Remington and Wynter lay in bed talking.

  “I’m glad Finley is involving herself so much in Kai’s care,” Wynter said.

  Remington nodded, a grin twitching at her lips.

  “What?” Wynter asked, her blue eyes sparkling, recognizing her fiancée’s expression.

  “I think there’s a little more to it than what we’re seeing.”

  “What do you mean?” Wynter asked suspiciously.

  “I think Finley’s got a thing for Kai.”

  “But…” Wynter began. “I thought… I mean, that kid Finley had with her at The Club a week or so back, and the ones before and after that—I wouldn’t think Kai was her type.”

  Remington looked back at Wynter for a long moment. “Would you have imagined us together originally?”

  “I did, Rem,” Wynter said, smiling. “Remember?”

  Remington skewed her lips in consternation. “Okay, well, I can tell you, I wouldn’t have pictured us together.”

  Wynter looked back at her. The woman didn’t hold anything back; she loved that about her in many respects. Sometimes it damaged a poor girl’s ego though.

  Remington leaned in, taking possession of Wynter’s lips, sliding her hand over her bare hip and pulling her closer, causing the fire to catch between them. They made love then, and Remington reminded Wynter how much she wanted her now. Afterward, Wynter smiled; Remington always knew just what to do to diffuse any situation.

  “Okay, but what makes you think she has a thing for Kai?” Wynter asked, as if there hadn’t been an interruption in their conversation.

  “I just think she does.”

  “But that’s good, right? Because it’ll make her more dedicated to making sure Kai gets better.”

  Remington nodded thoughtfully. “It might do more than that, but we’ll just have to see.”

  Wynter thought of Remington’s words later that morning when they greeted Finley in the waiting room.

  “Come on back, guys,” Finley said, waving them past security.

  “How is she today?” Cassiana asked doggedly.

  “She’s even better today. Her temperature is finally normal,” Finley said, sounding very happy about it. “If she stays stable like this, she could go home in a few days, maybe two.”

  “She’s doing that good?” Remington asked.

  Finley glanced back at the retired fighter. “Yeah, she’s healing really fast. I guess it’s a testament to being so fit, huh?”

  “Or good care,” Wynter said, smiling at Finley.

  Finley smiled, shaking her head. “No, I think it’s all Kai’s doing here.”

  They walked into the room. Kai was sitting up in bed, wearing her street clothes.

  “Who did you con out of those?” Finley asked, her look pointed.

  Kai grinned, shaking her head. “Sorry, can’t rat him or her out.”

  “Oh, it was a her, I guarantee it,” Finley said, narrowing her eyes at Kai in mock anger. “You have every one of my nurses, straight or gay, willing to do whatever you ask…” She shook her head as she trailed off, grinning.

  “KaiMarou!” Cassiana exclaimed, moving around Finley and hugging Kai.

  “Easy,” Remington said. “She’s still healing.”

  “Oh, sorry,” Cassiana said, looking to see if she’d hurt her sister.

  “You’re fine,” Kai said. “Just be careful.”

  Cassiana nodded. “Okay.”

  “How are you doing?” Kai asked Cassiana, even as she extended her hand to Remington, who took it, clapping her other hand over Kai’s. “Hey, beautiful,” she said to Wynter, who leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips.

  “How ya doin’, Kai?” Wynter asked, smiling down at the other woman.

  “I’m okay,” Kai said. “Better today, according to the doc here.”

  Finley nodded, smiling.

  “She said you might be able to come home in a few days, maybe even a couple,” Cassiana said. Her expression turned serious. “I was so scared, Kai…”

  “I know, Cass, I’m sorry.” Kai reached up to touch her sister’s cheek, her expression apologetic. “I had no idea what was going on. I really thought it was just a flu.”

  “Appendicitis can very closely masquerade as the flu,” Finley said. “So your sister wasn’t wrong to think that, Cassie. Luckily we caught it in time and were able to clean up the damage—that’s what’s important.”

  “But the ambulance—isn’t that going to be really expensive? I heard it’s like twenty thousand dollars or something crazy!” Cassiana said.

  “I don’t think it’s quite that much,” Finley said. “But your sister has good insurance that covers stuff like that, and I can tell you, Cassiana, if you hadn’t called an ambulance she may not have made it to the hospital. You saved her life.”

  Cassiana looked absolutely stunned. “I did?” she asked, her eyes trailing over to Kai for confirmation.

  “If the doc says so, then I guess so,” Kai said, smiling. “You did good, Cass, you really did.”

  Cassiana bit her lip, happy to bask in the praise.

  “So have you been doing what you were supposed to, young lady?” Kai asked then.

  Cassiana looked blank, then worried, and then blank again, shaking her head. “What, Kai?”

  “Prep schools?”

  “Oh, shoot, I forgot all about that. And I figured with your being sick and all, that would pretty much kill that idea.”

  “Well, you thought wrong,” Kai said mildly. “Again, insurance covers all this, Cass. You need to find a school.”

  “What for?” Remington asked.

  “For here in LA,” Kai said.

  “But…” Remington looked confused.

  “She’s staying here with me.”

  Remington seemed surprised. “And the general bought off on that, huh?”

  “What’s he gonna do with another gay daughter?” Kai asked.

  Remington’s lips twitched. She’d never liked Kai’s father, and definitely didn’t like that he’d dismiss her or Cassiana for being gay so easily. She looked over at Wynter and saw that she was just as surprised. Finally she nodded. “Well, then it sounds like a good solution.”

  Kai nodded, sensing that Remington was surprised by the news.

  They talked for a while longer, but then it became evident that Kai was getting tired. It also became obvious to Finley that Kai had no intention of saying anything about it. Cassiana was avidly talking to her about this, that, and the other thing; she didn’t notice the way Kai’s eyelids were growing heavy, although she was battling admirably to stay awake for her sister. Finley was more worried about her patient at that point, so she stepped in.

  “Okay, I think we need to let Kai get some rest,” she said, using her official “doctor tone,” as Jackie called it.

  Cassiana looked disappointed, but nodded. “Okay, I’m sorry, Kai… I didn’t mean to…”

  “Cass, it’s the stuff they’ve got me on,” Kai said, her voice reflecting her weariness. “It’s not you, okay?”

  Cassiana chewed on her lower lip, but nodded. Then she leaned in, giving Kai a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Love you.”

  “Love you too,” Kai said, smiling fondly.

  Remington put out her hand; Kai took it, and Remington moved in to bump her shoulder to Kai’s.

  “Thanks,” Kai said.

  “Akeyi ou,” Remington replied—You’re welcome.

  Kai grinned, never sure if her friend knew how often she used Creole instead of English.

  Wynter moved in to hug Kai, kissing her forehead. “Keep getting better, okay?”

  “Ma’am, yes ma’am,” Kai said.

  The three left then and Finley turned back to Kai. “Wore yourself out a bit, huh?”

  Kai settled herself more comfortably on the bed. “Probably, but she needed it.”

  “You need to think about you right now, Kai.”

  “I need to think of her too. You don’t know h
ow rough things have been for her.”

  Finley wanted to say that she hadn’t just nearly died, but she knew it wasn’t the right tack to take with Kai Temple. “Well, now you need to rest, understand?” she said, giving her a mockingly narrowed look.

  “Ma’am, yes ma’am,” Kai replied, grinning even as she closed her eyes.

  “Is that a military thing?”

  “Ma’am, yes ma’am. Fourteen years in the Marines, oorah,” Kai said, her voice nearly a whisper.

  Finley was surprised, but she could see that Kai was now asleep. She looked at the woman again, definitely seeing the Marine in her, and was surprised she hadn’t seen it before. But it was evident in the way she carried herself, her posture always erect, even when she was sitting up in a hospital bed. Shaking her head, Finley did a quick check of Kai’s vitals and headed back out onto her rounds.

  Later that evening she checked on Kai again and saw that she hadn’t awoken or even moved. She had indeed overexerted herself. Finley was happy to note, however, that she still had no signs of fever—things were looking good.

  The next day, when Finley entered Kai’s room, she saw that Kai was sitting up and tapping away on a cell phone.

  “Who’d you talk into giving you that back?” Finley asked as she checked Kai’s chart and vitals.

  Kai simply grinned unrepentantly. “It’s easier for me to stay in touch with Cass.”

  “And less tiring?” Finley asked, raising an eyebrow.

  Kai grinned. “Copy that.”

  “So, Marines, huh?”

  Kai inclined her head.

  Finley nodded. “I can see it.”

  “Most people can once they know,” Kai said, clearly not bragging.

  “But not anymore?”

  “I discharged about three years ago, but I’m still a reserve.”

  Finley nodded. “Can’t give it up, huh?”

  Kai smiled. “Once a Marine, always a Marine. So, how long do you think I’ll be here?”

  “Wow, so anxious to get away from me, huh?” Finley smiled to show she was joking.

  Kai chuckled, a low, rich sound. “Not you so much as this,” she said, her finger circling to indicate the hospital itself.

  “Sure, sure, that’s what they all say,” Finley said, still smiling. “I’m hoping that if you’re still doing good tomorrow, you might be able to go home then.”

  “Oh, now who’s anxious to get rid of who?” Kai said, nodding knowingly.

  Finley laughed.

  Kai shook her head, and Finley caught the gesture. “What?” she asked, seeing the bemused look on Kai’s face.

  “I can’t believe you’ve been part of the group and we’ve never met. How does that happen?”

  “Well, I’ve actually seen you a couple of times, but you were… uh… busy both times.”

  Kai looked surprised. “When have you seen me?”

  “Well, the first time I saw you was at The Club.”

  “I think I’ve been to The Club once in recent memory.”

  “Well, that must have been it.”

  “And the second time?” Kai asked, knowing easily how she could have missed the beautiful blonde that night at The Club, with another particularly lethal blonde crawling all over her.

  “At Natalia’s studio. I actually thought you saw me then too…”

  Kai looked pensive, a whisper of a memory coming to her, but she just couldn’t grasp it.

  “Natalia had just smacked me on the ass and told me to pay attention, as she tends to do…” Finley said, grinning as she thought of the hot little Latina instructor, who was very passionate about her craft of getting people into shape.

  “Yeah, and she wonders why us bois don’t want to do her class,” Kai said, grinning. “Then again, some of us would do it if she’d promise to smack us on the ass…”

  Finley laughed. “Yeah, I imagine so.”

  Kai looked at her for a long moment. “I do vaguely recall something like that…” she said, trailing off as she shook her head.

  “Well, I didn’t look quite this glamorous.” Finley fluffed out her mess of curls, held in a loose ponytail, and since she wasn’t wearing makeup, Kai knew she was being sarcastic.

  “Oh, no, I would have noticed you…” Kai said, trailing off as her dark eyes connected with Finley’s for a long moment.

  Finley felt her breath catch in her throat, but quickly remembered this was her patient and they were in the hospital.

  “Well, you were busy,” Finley said, her tone as normal as she could make it.

  Kai caught that and nodded. “But I assure you, I’ll notice you from now on,” she said, her very white smile far too engaging.

  Finley had to mentally shake herself to keep from doing something she’d be really sorry for later. “So,” she said, her tone changing completely, and Kai recognized it.

  “Uh-oh,” Kai said, her look suddenly circumspect.

  “What?” Finley asked, giving her a suspicious look.

  Kai grinned. “I recognize that tone—I know I’m now in some kind of trouble.”

  “I hear you’re not eating.”

  Kai rubbed her hands together slowly, contemplatively, then shook her head. “I can’t eat that stuff you guys call healthy, unless you actually want me to get sick.”

  “It’s hospital food—it’s designed to be healthy,” Finley said, giving Kai a narrowed look.

  “It has margarine on it, and margarine is about one molecule away from being plastic, so thanks, but no.”

  Finley looked back at Kai in surprise, then canted her head. “So is that basically like instead of ‘I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter,’ it’s really ‘I Can’t Believe it’s Not Tupperware’?”

  Kai laughed. “I guess that’s a safe way to put it, yeah.”

  Finley nodded. “Okay, well, look, I’ll talk to the kitchen and get something done there for you, but you need to eat. Your chart says you’re hypoglycemic—how have you been keeping your blood sugar up?”

  “Cranberry juice,” Kai said, grinning.

  Finley reached over to pick up Kai’s chart, then rolled her eyes. “Takes care of the sugar as well as being good for your kidneys, which I see you sometimes have issues with.”

  “Yep.”

  “Smart,” Finley said, but then pinned her with a look. “But with a body like that, I know that you know that you need protein to help you heal.”

  Kai immediately looked contrite. “Well, let me out of here and I’ll make sure I do that.”

  “The problem is I need to assure that, uh—shall we say, everything is functioning properly before I let you out,” Finley said, putting it as delicately as possible.

  Kai closed her eyes, grimacing. “Ah, got it. But I can’t eat that stuff.”

  “Well, I’ll go talk to the kitchen now. You will eat, right?”

  Kai smiled. “Ma’am, yes ma’am.”

  Finley shook her head. “I’ll check in on you later, troublemaker.”

  “Have a good day, Doc,” Kai called after her.

  Later that evening Kai was surprised when Finley walked into the room carrying a bag from a local Chinese restaurant. She raised an eyebrow as Finley pulled up the doctor’s stool, which she set up high as she pulled out boxes of food, placing them on the tray table next to Kai’s bed.

  “What’s this?” Kai asked mildly, even as her grin gave away her amusement.

  “This is dinner. You and I are going to have dinner together.”

  Kai licked her lips, then bit them tentatively, not wanting to break the woman’s heart when she informed her how Chinese food was likely even less healthy than the stuff the hospital was serving.

  “Now, relax,” Finley said, seeing Kai’s expression. “This,” she said, holding up a box stamped Special, “is grilled chicken with lemon marinade. No crazy MSG or anything fried, I promise.” She smiled, looking pretty proud of herself.

  Kai smiled. “You win—that would be pretty healthy,” she said, even as he
r stomach growled at the smell of real food.

  “I heard that,” Finley said, grinning. “Oh, damnit.”

  “What?”

  “They only gave me one fork—I know I told them two. I’m sure there’s one in the breakroom,” she said, setting the bag down to go check. Kai’s hand on her arm stopped her.

  “Did they give you chopsticks?”

  “Well, yeah, but unless I’m gonna sharpen one and stab my food with it, I can’t use those.”

  “Good thing I can then, huh?” Kai grinned as she held her hand out.

  Finley gave her a quizzical look, then reached into the bag to pull out and hand her the chopsticks. She watched as Kai pulled them out of the paper wrapper, broke them apart at the base, and expertly rubbed them together like she’d seen so many others do.

  “So you’re one of those…” Finley said, trailing off as she grinned.

  “One of what?” Kai asked, mystified.

  “Those highly dexterous people who can use chopsticks, who always make me feel like a big clumsy ape for using a fork,” Finley said, grinning widely now.

  “You use a scalpel, Doc—that’s much more dangerous. Besides, I’m two-thirds Asian—I think by some kind of law I have to be able to use chopsticks.”

  Finley canted her head as she opened her box of food and stuck her fork into it.

  “Asian?” she said. She looked at Kai more closely, then shook her head. “I wouldn’t have guessed that one.”

  Kai grinned as she opened the box of chicken and dipped the chopsticks in, pulling out a chunk and putting it in her mouth. She set the chopsticks down next to the box on the table tray as she chewed and swallowed.

  “I’m half Burmese,” Kai said, reaching for her chopsticks and taking out another piece of chicken, then setting the implements down again as she chewed.

  “Burmese? I don’t think I know that one.”

  “A lot of people don’t,” Kai said. “It’s south of China, near Thailand. It’s actually called Myanmar now.”

  Finley nodded. “Interesting. I’ve always thought you had kind of an exotic look, I just couldn’t ever put my finger on what it was.”