by Robert Boren
“Ain’t nothing we can do about that,” Junior said.
Brenda looked over at Kelly.
“I’m a little sleepy. Mind if I go take a nap before the meeting?”
“I’ll go with you,” Kelly said. “Your tossing and turning made me toss and turn too.”
“Married life,” Junior quipped.
“We aren’t married,” Kelly said.
“Yet.” Brenda giggled. “I’ve got you under control, though.”
“That you do,” Kelly said. “Let’s go.”
They got up and headed for the door.
“See you guys later,” Kelly said.
“Set your alarm,” Junior said.
“Why? You’ll wake me up anyway.”
Junior laughed. “You’re probably right about that.”
They left, closing the door behind them.
“I thought they’d never leave,” Rachel said.
“You wanted to be alone?” Junior asked. “You could have passed me a hint, you know.”
“I didn’t want to do that,” she said, standing up. “I know how important Kelly is to you. Just wanted some alone time, that’s all.”
“You look worried,” Junior said, standing next to her.
“They’re gonna use you to spy,” Rachel said, moving closer to him, arms going around his waist. “That scares me.”
“Oh,” Junior said. “I know, we’re in scary times. Wish I could change it. Look at it this way. We probably wouldn’t be together in normal times.”
“We might not have met,” Rachel said. “but don’t get the idea that I’m only with you because of the war. Nice segue, though. That’s exactly what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“I heard what you guys were talking about,” Junior said. “Biology. I understand.”
She shook her head. “You’re right, the biology is driving me forward on certain things. That’s another reason why I wanted them to leave.”
Junior shot an embarrassed smile, but it was full of passion at the same time.
“I’ve seen that look before,” she whispered. “We aren’t done talking yet.”
“I’m listening, sweetie,” he said, arms going around her waist. He looked her in the eyes and melted.
“Let’s sit,” Rachel said, her breath coming quicker. “Before we get sidetracked.”
“Oh, all right,” Junior said, sheepish grin on his face. They sat back down. “Go ahead.”
“I know how you feel about me,” Rachel said, brushing the hair out of his eyes. “You’re like an open book.”
“If you’re saying you know I’m in love with you, then yes, you’re right,” Junior said. “I’ve told you that before. Quite a few times, actually.”
“You worship the ground I walk on,” she whispered. “I’ve never had anybody so much in love with me before. It scared me at first.”
“It did? Why?”
“It made me feel out of control,” she said, “but now I crave that feeling.”
“Is it biology again?”
She chuckled. “I’m doing a really bad job with this. Let me try again.”
“Okay.”
“I sense that you think I’m with you for convenience, with a little of my own biological drive mixed in. It’s like you need to enjoy it while you can; like you’ve fallen into some luck that might not last.”
Junior looked at her silently, not sure what to say.
“Here’s what I want to get across to you,” she said. “I fell in love with you after spending time with you. On the road here, and afterwards. It snuck up on me. I didn’t realize it until you went on the depot mission, but that’s what happened.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Junior asked.
She moved closer to him, getting her face close to his.
“I want you to understand, so you’ll feel safe and loved,” she said. “I feel the same way about you as you do about me. I worship the ground you walk on. I will never leave you. Ever. I’m your woman and you’re my man. I’ve given myself to you forever because I want you. Do you understand?”
Junior’s eyes welled with tears as he studied her face. “Yes, I understand.”
“Good,” she said, smiling. “Glad we got that out of the way.”
“You want to get married?” Junior asked.
“Yes,” she said. “Do you want that?”
“I do,” Junior said. “The sooner the better.”
“Then we’ll work on that,” she said. “I love you so much.” She kissed him passionately.
“Oh, God,” Junior said after the kiss, embracing her, both of them trembling.
“Let’s go to the bedroom,” she whispered. “We have some biological stuff to take care of.”
“It’s a good time?” he asked.
She nodded yes, her face flushed. “Felt one drop this morning. C’mon.” She stood and held her hand out to him. He took it and got up, his eyes still on hers. They went into the bedroom and slid the door shut.
Chapter 9 - Sedation
Juan Carlos slept in the chair beside Madison’s bed in the emergency room. She stirred and woke, eyes wincing, her foot pounding with pain. Then she saw him sleeping next to her, a smile breaking out on her face as the tears started up. She tried to turn, the throbbing of her foot stopping her.
“Ouch!” she said.
Juan Carlos woke with a start, his eyes lighting up when he saw her.
“Madison,” he said softly. “You need pain meds?”
“In a second,” she said. “Can I look at you for a moment? Come closer.”
He got up and moved his face over hers, kissing her softly. “I was so worried. I love you so.”
“I was afraid I’d lost you,” she said. “I don’t think I can live without you. I love you too.”
The nurse pulled the curtain open and walked in. “I’ll bet you need some pain meds.”
Madison glanced at her and shook her head yes, then focused her eyes back on Juan Carlos as if nobody else existed.
“Sorry, young man, but you’ll have to move out of the way,” the nurse said. “Maybe you should go to the waiting room for a few minutes.”
“Do I have to?” he asked.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” Madison said. “You can come back in a few minutes. Go tell Hannah and Lita that I’m okay.”
“All right,” Juan Carlos said. He went to the waiting room. Lita was sleeping against Richardson, Hannah against Brendan.
“She okay?” Brendan asked. “You’ve been in there a long time.”
“Yeah, she just woke up,” Juan Carlos said. “Get any calls while I was in there?”
“Richardson did,” Brendan said. “He fought sleep for a while, but finally crashed. He’s really out. So’s Lita.”
Hannah woke up, smiling when she saw Juan Carlos. “Is she okay?”
“Yes, but she’s in a lot of pain,” Juan Carlos said. “They’re giving her meds now.”
“Probably looking at the wound too,” Brendan said.
“What are we gonna do now?” Hannah asked.
“For starters, find a lot safer place for you,” Brendan said. “I can’t lose you.”
“Seriously,” Juan Carlos said. “We can’t arrange it through the DPS office. Somebody in there is dirty.”
“You got that right, bro,” Brendan said. “They picked our trailers out of over a hundred, and it wasn’t just us. Some of the other crews got hit as well. One of them had a family inside.”
“Oh, no, really?” Juan Carlos asked.
“Yeah, man, they told us while you were in there,” Brendan said. “Never saw Richardson cry before.”
“Wonder what they’ll have us do next?” Juan Carlos asked. “You know it’s gonna be hot.”
“I’m guessing they move us to Houston,” Brendan said.
“That’d be good,” Juan Carlos said.
“Yuck,” Hannah said. “Why would Houston be good?”
“Because if we get our own place there, without involveme
nt from the DPS, it’s going to be a whole lot harder for the enemy to find,” Brendan said.
Hannah thought about that for a moment. “Okay, I understand. Forget what I said.”
“If you feel safer, we could split for now,” Brendan said. “You could go somewhere really far away like Waco or Dallas.”
“Did you really just say that?” Hannah asked, tears welling up in her eyes.
“It’s not what I want, but it might be safer,” Brendan said.
“Well you can forget that,” Hannah said.
“I don’t think Madison would go for that either,” Juan Carlos said. “I understand what you’re saying, though, dude.”
Richardson’s phone rang, waking him and Lita up.
“Dammit,” he said, pulling his phone out of his pocket.
Lita rubbed her eyes, smiling when she saw Juan Carlos. “How’s she doing?”
“Pain hit her pretty hard when she woke up. They kicked me out for a little while, to get her some pain meds and look her over.”
“I’ll bet she was glad to see you,” Lita said.
“I think she was,” Juan Carlos said.
“Yes, sir,” Richardson said into the phone. “How soon?”
“Uh oh,” Hannah said, watching him.
“Please don’t let it be another mission so soon,” Lita whispered.
Richardson ended the call and put his phone away.
“Well?” Lita asked.
“Moving again,” Richardson said. “Houston area. Our job will be to guard the bay between Galveston and Texas City.”
“Told you,” Brendan said.
Richardson glanced at him. “What?”
“I figured that was the most important place now that Corpus Christi has been taken out,” Brendan said.
“Pretty much,” Richardson said.
“I’m glad,” Brendan said. “It’ll be easier to hide the girls in Houston. We aren’t getting housing from the DPS again, I hope. They got somebody dirty in that organization.”
“It will be different this time,” Richardson said. “DPS will increase our pay to cover a housing allowance. We go get our own places. We don’t have to tell them where they are.”
“Good,” Juan Carlos said. “How soon do we leave?”
“Two days,” he replied. “We’ll have to drive our boat up there.”
“How do the girls get there?” Brendan asked.
“They can go up in the SUV,” Richardson said.
“Made that drive before,” Lita said. “It’s pretty easy. Route 77 to Victoria. From there you can either take Route 59 or go up to I-10.”
“Wonder which one is safer?” Brendan asked.
“Probably the I-10 route,” Richardson said. “Jefferson said they could go up with the rest of the people from the base.”
“Maybe they’d be better on their own,” Juan Carlos said. “The mole is probably somebody who works at the base, dude.”
“That is possible,” Richardson said. “We have a couple of days to think about it.”
“I wish they could send your boat up there and let you guys drive with us,” Lita said.
“I know, but the new models are too big to trailer, and we’re short on crews,” Richardson said. “That’s the only advantage to the old patrol boats. They were towable.”
“We’ll have to act like we’re in witness protection,” Juan Carlos said.
“Definitely,” Brendan said.
“I agree, guys,” Richardson said.
The door into the emergency room opened, the nurse poking her head out. “We’re done with Madison, if you’d like to come back in, Juan Carlos.”
“Great, thanks,” he said. “What are you guys gonna do? You don’t have to hang out here. She’ll be okay.”
“We’ve got two days to kill,” Richardson said. “How long is Madison going to be here?”
“I don’t know,” Juan Carlos said.
“We aren’t sure about that yet,” the nurse said. “I’d guess she’ll be here overnight.”
“Okay,” Richardson said. “I’ll call the emergency room and let you know where we’re gonna settle.”
“Roger that,” Juan Carlos said. “I’m going in.” He followed the nurse inside.
“Your chair is still there,” the nurse said. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“Thanks,” Juan Carlos said. He parted the curtains and saw Madison’s smiling face.
“I’m a little loopy,” she said. “They’re using strong pain meds. They’re really hitting me now.”
“Enjoy it,” he said. “How are you doing?”
“I wish we could just curl up into a bed somewhere together and cuddle,” she said.
“You and me both.”
“Can I have a kiss?” she asked.
Juan Carlos got up and moved over her, kissing her tenderly. She pulled his head down and raised the passion.
“Wow,” he said.
“Did that bother you?” she asked, eyes dancing with the drugs and her happiness.
“Are you kidding?”
“Well, then kiss me again, silly,” she said. He kissed her again, more urgently than before.
“Ahem,” the nurse said as she walked in. “Better slow that down. She’s a little too open to suggestion right now.”
“I know,” Juan Carlos said. “I’m sitting back down.”
“Spoil sport,” Madison said, grinning ear to ear. “You’re trembling.”
“You have that effect on me.”
“Kids,” the nurse said, shaking her head. “The doctor says you can leave tonight at about six. Do you have a place to go?”
Madison laughed. “Yeah, we got a hole in the ground where the trailer used to be.”
“Don’t worry, Richardson and the others are finding a place for us to spend the next couple of days.”
“What happens after that?” Madison asked.
“We’re being moved to the Houston area,” Juan Carlos said.
“Oh,” Madison said. “That’s not bad. At least it’s a big city. We’ll be harder to blow up there.”
The nurse shot a glance at her. “Lunch is coming in about twenty minutes. Would you like a second lunch brought up, Juan Carlos?”
“Sure,” he said. “I can pay you for it.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “You’re a service member. It’s the least we can do.”
“Thanks,” Juan Carlos said.
“Remember, no monkey business in here,” the nurse said as she left, pulling the curtain closed again.
“Monkey business?” Madison asked, eyes dancing. “Is that what it was?”
Juan Carlos chuckled. “So you’re okay with following me to Houston? With getting a place there?”
“What, you want me to shack up?” She giggled. “You probably want to knock me up too.”
“You’re a riot when you’ve got a buzz,” Juan Carlos said. “Maybe we should hold off on this conversation.”
Madison rolled her eyes. “I’m gonna follow you wherever you go, but you already knew that.”
Juan Carlos snickered. “Oh, really? Anything else you want to tell me?”
“A great many things,” She giggled. “This stuff is fun. It feels stronger.”
“Do you feel your cut anymore?”
“Just a dull throbbing,” she said, voice slurring. “Don’t change the subject.”
“What subject?”
“Marriage,” she said.
“Marriage? When were we talking about that?”
She put her hand over her mouth. “Did I just say that out loud?”
Juan Carlos chuckled. “That stuff is hitting you harder.”
“You’re still trying to change the subject,” she said. “What about us?”
“You’re going to follow me wherever I go, remember? We’re going to find a place in Houston together.”
“Are Lita and Richardson going to get married before we leave?”
“I don’t know,�
�� Juan Carlos said. “Maybe.”
“They’d better not go without us,” she said.
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Juan Carlos said.
“But I want to be there,” she said. “You want me to be there too.”
“What are you talking about?” Juan Carlos asked.
“You’ll try to get me to marry you while we’re there.”
“You warned me not to do that,” Juan Carlos said.
She laughed. “That’s what I told you. You’d better do it anyway.”
The nurse poked her head inside the curtains. “You know it’s illegal for her to make contracts when she’s under this kind of sedation, right?”
“Well, she is my fiancé,” Juan Carlos said.
“You’ve been eavesdropping,” Madison slurred. “Naughty naughty.”
“Yeah, whatever,” the nurse said. “You’re right next to me. Curtains don’t kill the sound.”
Juan Carlos looked at her and winked. “It’s okay, we were having this conversation before. I’m just a little more anxious. She loves to tease me, and these meds ramp that up.”
“Understand,” the nurse said. She got up to his ear and whispered. “This woman is seriously in love with you. Don’t hurt her.”
“She’s my whole life,” he whispered back. “Don’t worry.”
“See that you do right by her,” the nurse said. “She’s a lovely girl.”
“You can count on that,” Juan Carlos whispered.
“Hey, no fair whispering,” Madison said. “What’d you say?”
“I told her you were pregnant with triplets,” Juan Carlos said.
The nurse rolled her eyes and left.
“You did not,” Madison said. “What did you say?”
“I told her you were my whole life,” Juan Carlos said.
“Oh. That’s nice. Is that really true?”
“You know it is, Madison.”
“I love it when you use my name,” she said. “My very own man using my name.”
Juan Carlos laughed.
“Don’t change the subject,” she said. “What about Lita’s wedding?”
“I don’t know about that yet,” Juan Carlos said. “Sure you want to talk about that now?”
“Why not?” she asked. “You were planning on marrying me there, weren’t you? I could tell.”
“The thought crossed my mind.”
“If you do, I’ll say yes, but don’t tell anybody,” she said softly.
