by KaLyn Cooper
Damn it, he wanted that water. This time when his lids lifted, the room was gratefully dim. His gaze found her quickly and when their eyes met, she gifted him with a real smile.
He sighed her name, “Melina.”
A plastic cup with a bent straw appeared in front of his face, and he jolted back.
“Very good, son. Just a few sips. We have to get your body working again. Your system may reject food at first so we’ll start with water.”
Well, isn’t that fucking great? He couldn’t remember his last meal. Matter of fact, he couldn’t remember much. As instructed, he sipped the water and relished the cold on his tongue cleansing the roof of his mouth and soothing his throat. He’d swear he could feel the cool liquid move all the way down to his stomach.
The second man from earlier cleared his throat. “Mr. Torres, I’m Dr. Cassidy. I work very closely with Dr. Tobias on cases like yours.” The short man who couldn’t weigh a hundred and fifty pounds, moved through the crowded room to stand between Melina and Dr. Tobias. “Now, can you please tell me, who is the president?”
Without thinking, Jacin answered, “Juan Manuel Santos.”
Snickers filled the room.
“Isn’t he the president of Columbia?” asked the kiss ass.
“Jacin, he meant the president of the United States of America.” She held his hand tight until he finally answered the question correctly.
“Good,” Dr. Cassidy complimented and looked over his shoulder at the young faces. “You start with easy questions and work up to harder ones.” Returning his gaze to Jacin, he advised, “I’m going to give you three words and I want you to remember them.”
For the next ten minutes, Jacin was quizzed on everything from math to spelling. All too often, he answered in Spanish or gave the Spanish spelling of a word rather than English.
After the second time, his angel saved him. Lying, once again, she told the psychiatrist, “Spanish is Jacin’s first language, and he has recently been immersed in a Spanish speaking country.” She looked around the room with a big smile. “He was never very good at spelling to begin with. Thank goodness for spellcheck and auto correct, or I’d never be to be able to read anything he wrote.” That won her chuckles and giggles from the future doctors.
All lies. Jacin had been born in the United States to a Puerto Rican mother and Venezuelan father who had seen the world together while working on cruise ships before settling in southern Florida and finally raising a family. Un-accented American English was most often spoken in his childhood home, but his multilingual parents also taught him and his sister Portuguese, Spanish, French, German, and even a little Italian.
Finally, the Inquisition came to an end when Dr. Tobias took pity on Jacin. “I think our patient is tiring. We don’t want to push him too hard; especially since this is the first time he’s been awake in nearly two weeks.”
Although chastised by his colleague, Dr. Cassidy rallied, “You’re absolutely right. Mr. Torres, thank you so much for allowing me to show these young interns some of the challenges of psychiatry. I’ll be back to see you several times before you can be discharged.”
And won’t that be fucking great?
No agent ever enjoyed the mind probe necessary to work for the CIA, but this grandstander seemed to be even worse. Given the vast amount of classified information in Jacin’s brain, he hoped Langley would spring him from this hospital soon and get him to Washington D.C.
Several of the younger people in white coats filed past him quietly thanking him. A tall lanky young man waited to be last.
“I’ll bet you were in Colombia, weren’t you? Were you undercover or something? DEA? CIA?” His questions flew at Jacin too fast to answer any given one. They almost hurt his brain.
Marlena stared daggers at the eager intern who couldn’t be twenty-five-years old. “Young man.” The tone of her voice commanded attention and everyone in the room stopped and looked at her. “You are in a military medical facility. You have already been told that information is classified. What you need to learn is that knowing that kind of information can get you killed.”
At the shocked look on the young face, Jacin’s avenging angel reiterated, “Hear me and understand…Information. Can. Get. You. Killed. I want you to forget you ever met Jacin Torres. I want you to forget what he looks like. You’re a security breach waiting to happen. Your questions just got your personnel file tagged with a big red flag. I can assure you, you will be watched very carefully, which is a shame for such a bright young man with such a promising future.”
Bright eyes looked to Dr. Tobias for help, but found none.
“I told you when your class first came into this room that as a military physician you will be exposed to highly classified situations,” Dr. Tobias said. “You just failed this first test. You are dismissed. Please join your class for rounds.”
Anger flashed in those young eyes before he acquiesced. “Yes, sir.” His gaze went to Melina. “I’m a fast learner, and I completely understand.”
She didn’t back down. “You’d better.”
“Yes, ma’am. Message received.” He spun on his heel and left.
“He’ll make it,” Dr. Tobias glanced from Jacin to Melina. “I don’t believe either of you have anything to worry about, but I too received your message loud and clear. His file will be flagged, and he will be watched, especially for the next year. I don’t know who you really are or if those are your real names.” He shrugged. “In truth, I don’t really care. You’re my patient, and I’m here to help you get better. We each serve this wonderful country of ours, but in very different ways.” He stared into Jacin’s eyes and held his gaze for a long minute. “I want to thank you for everything you’ve done. You took one hell of a beating for our country. I’m just glad I was here to help put you back together.”
He reached down and wrapped a big hand around Jacin’s forearm well above his sore wrist. “I’m sure you want to spend some time with your beautiful wife. I’ll be back at least once a day until you’re released.”
Finally, Jacin and Melina were alone.
“Come here,” Jacin commanded.
He tried to reach up only to realize he was still restrained. “Can you unfasten me?”
She smiled and went to work on the padded cuffs. As soon as his hand was free, he pulled her head toward his. When their lips met, for a brief moment shehesitated before they both gave in and were consumed with each other. His world—which had been tilted for far too long—was once again righted.
This was the way his life was supposed to be. Melina was his, and they were together, hopefully forever.
2
She shouldn’t have kissed him. That was stupid of her.
No! Kissing wasn’t anywhere in the plan. No more kissing.
Although, she longed to taste him again. Just once more, she promised herself.
With his lips still swollen, his jaw more purple than black and blue, she didn’t want to hurt him. But the instant their lips met, heat passed between them sending a calm through her that only he could bring. She gave in and let him take what he needed while she absorbed whatever he would give her.
She would take these few precious moments for herself and cherish them forever. They might be her last with Jacin, the only man she’d ever wanted to keep…but couldn’t.
With his only free hand, he pulled her to him. She hadn’t taken the time to free his other wrist. They had both wanted this kiss. Needed the connection as much as their next breath. When he pressed into her mouth, she savored the taste of him. Pure Jacin. She moved her head for a better angle and bumped into his cheek.
Wincing, he gasped.
She immediately jerked back. “I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you.” Her words rang true on so many levels he had no idea.
Melina took a deep breath, dreading what she had to do next. The CIA had been breathing down her neck to return to Langley for her debrief, but she’d put them off claiming she could control Jacin
better when he finally awoke than an unknown agent. Now that he was fully cognizant, she no longer had an excuse.
Shifting into handler mode, she began her own series of questions. “Do you know who I am?”
Managing only to lift the right side of his lips a quarter of an inch in a smile, he said, “You’re my wife.”
She raised one eyebrow and asked. “Are you sure?”
He sighed. “No. We’re not married, but I wish we were.”
Melina’s heart sank to the pit of her stomach. Damn him. He could be so charming and wonderful, yet he was more off-limits now than he’d been in Colombia. Did he mean what he’d said? Jacin had always known the right things to say to her as a woman. Of course he was just kidding. He’d always teased her .
She returned to her interrogation. “What country were you in when you got hurt?” Sometimes memory was quirky. That should have been a simple question for him.
Jacin ignored the inquiry and leaned away from her to untie his other hand. When he rolled back, he stared at her for a long time through swollen eyes. She repeated the question.
“So you and I are going to play fifty questions, too?” That one corner of his lips cocked up a little. “I’d rather play doctor with you.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and stared down at him.
“Okay. Okay.” With swollen and bandaged hands, he managed to retrieve the glass of ice shards. After letting a few melt in his mouth, he finally answered. “We both know I was under cover in a Colombian cartel headed by Turi Solis. I was followed when I went to visit you. My cover was blown, and two men I’d worked with spent days beating the shit out of me. Now I’m here. You don’t have to worry. My training won’t allow me, even under days of extreme torture, to tell anyone, anything, I don’t want them to know.”
Melina let out a slow breath. His brain was functional enough to not give away any state secrets, and he did not seem drug impaired. “How did you get here?”
He took a long draw on the water and tried to set it back on the tray. She grabbed the glass from him and deftly set it within his reach before he dropped freezing water onto his lap. She repeated the question.
“I have no fucking clue, if you want to know the truth.” His admission seemed to hurt him physically.
Her phone buzzed. She took it out of her pocket, and saw the text was from Bill Smedley, Jacin’s new protector. He was on his way up the elevator and would be there within minutes. She needed to finish this, now.
Keeping the facts true, but not necessarily as perceived, Melina proceeded with her rehearsed speech. “Well, it seems like you are doing so much better. I guess I can leave here knowing you are in good medical hands. Rafe is in D.C., and I need to get there right away.” Every statement she’d said was accurate, but her former agent, Rafe Silva, had nothing to do with her return to Washington. Although, it was essential for Jacin to incorrectly connect the two.
According to standard operating procedure, upon landing she should have left Jacin in the hospital with another agent and immediately reported to CIA headquarters for weeks of debriefing. But she couldn’t leave him, not after almost losing him so many times.
When they had arrived at the Texas hospital, she’d made up her mind. She was staying at his side until…. She never could have lived with herself had he died alone. Too many times on the hospital plane from Bogotá, the medical transport staff had nearly lost him.
Now, though, she had to go. She knew the mention of Rafe would set Jacin off.
“You’re still seeing him?” Jacin seethed.
Again, staying to the truth, she explained, “He’s been debriefing while I’ve been here with you. And, yes, I plan to see him while I’m in D.C.” She had plans to see both Rafe and his new fiancé, Harper Tambini. If the rumor mill was right, he’d asked the ATF explosives expert he’d unwillingly kidnapped then he’d helped her escape from Colombia, to marry him. But if Jacin didn’t remember how he been extracted from his cartel torture chamber, he’d missed so much. At the moment, though, that was an advantage she would exploit.
“What about us?” The pain in his heart reflected in his hazel eyes that looked nearly brown in the low light of the hospital room.
Melina swallowed the hard lump of truth and lied, “Jacin, you’ve known from the beginning a lifetime together could never work for us.” But damn it, she wanted that more than anything in the world. Gathering inner strength she didn’t know she had, she continued to cut the emotional ties that bound them together. “I’m sure we’ll both be reassigned within the next few weeks. For security reasons, I can’t tell you where I’m going, but I’ve heard rumors that you may be headed into Mexico next.” Hopefully that lie came off better than she’d expected. She’d practiced her speech several times in front of the bathroom mirror at her brother’s apartment.
She couldn’t stop her body as it approached the bed once again. She slid her hand into his, needing to touch him, and she told him the truth one last time, “Believe it or not, I have truly enjoyed working with you.” She felt the burn behind her eyes as she confessed, “I will never forget you, Jacin.” Or any minute we spent together. She had placed all those cherished memories in a special box to be savored later, when she needed him but couldn’t have him.
“You’re really going to him?” Jacin said through clenched teeth.
Melina couldn’t speak, only nodded.
“Get the fuck out of here.” He turned his mangled face away from her.
With perfect timing, there was a knock just before the door opened.
Her heart breaking, she pasted on a smile as she passed Bill. “He’s all yours.”
She didn’t remember walking down the hall she’d traveled daily to visit Jacin over the past ten days. To avoid meeting other people, she’d taken the stairs. From there, everything was a blur through tear-filled eyes. As she sat in her brother’s car, she let her pain flow in salty rivulets down her cheeks.
As always, she’d done what was necessary, not what she had wanted. Times like this, she hated the life she’d chosen for herself and questioned why she continued to work for the CIA. She knew what lay ahead. The analysts would interrogate her for a week, maybe two, then the psychologists would take over to determine if she was fit for continued duty. Briefing on her next assignment could take weeks or even months. Thankfully, she had a few days before the barrage of questioning began.
Since it was Friday, Langley had given her until Monday morning to make her way to Washington D.C.
Wiping her eyes, she chose to look at the bright side; she might get to see her brother, Austin. His Special Forces team was on its way back to Fort Hood from the Middle East. Although it may only be a few minutes together, it would be more than she’d had with him in years. She missed him more than she admitted to herself until she walked into his apartment nearly two weeks ago.
The corners of her mouth quirked up. The universe worked in strange ways. Fort Hood was not on the flight plan as the U.S. medical transport plane left Bogotá. Turbulence over the Caribbean had bounced Jacin just enough for a broken rib to pierce his lung. Melina had never been so scared in her life as she watched the medical staff attempt to re-inflate his collapsed lung. He’d fought them, grabbing at the oxygen mask, until they had to tie down his raw wrists. When his lung refused to hold air, the physician on board requested an emergency landing in Texas since Jacin would never have made it all the way to Walter Reed Hospital.
As soon as she’d heard they were headed to Fort hood, Melina texted the brother who had raised her most of her life. Even though their mother had lived in the same house with them, she was more often gone than home. Austin had always been her protector, especially as Melina matured into a woman’s body. At fourteen, her mother had simply disappeared leaving Melina and her sixteen-year-old half-brother alone. By then, lying had become so much easier than telling the truth.
Fate seemed to have dropped her exactly where she needed to be, but she was extremely disapp
ointed when Austin returned her text informing her he was out of the country. At least he’d allowed her to stay in his apartment and use his SUV. She’d thank him by filling his empty refrigerator and restocking his pantry. It gave her something to do while waiting for him to arrive home since she would never return to the hospital.
After the fight with Jacin, her stomach roiled. Day after day she’d sat at his side, holding his hand, listening to the beep and shush of his lifelines. Once, and only once, she’d eaten food from the hospital cafeteria. After that, she’d eaten a big breakfast and brought power bars to hold her over. Every night, after visiting hours had concluded, she’d stopped into the only grocery store she passed on her way back to Austin’s apartment. She’d lived in Columbia for so many years, her first trip through a U.S. grocery store was like a culinary fantasyland.
Melina loved to cook, thanks to Giuseppe. A few days after their mother had disappeared, so hungry she was ready to start eating out of garbage cans, Melina and Austin landed jobs at an Italian restaurant. They had both lied about their age, not that they could have produced birth certificates had the grandfatherly owner asked for one. He seemed to understand their situation when they insisted on working the same shifts and explained they had to go to school. He’d allowed them to eat as soon as they reported for work, and if there were leftovers, the septuagenarian had allowed them to take the food home, often filling take-out bags to overflowing.
As though he’d known Melina was under age, even though she was tall and looked much older than her years, Giuseppe had put her to work in the kitchen, hiding her from the public. She loved the fast pace on a busy night, but when things were slow, she and her mentor would experiment with spices. Over the next dozen years, she found cooking relaxed her .
Well, nothing relaxed a woman quite like good sex. That thought brought her full-circle to Jacin. Unwilling to go there, she focused on food choices.
