Ten minutes later, they were shown to their rooms and the hospital doctor met them on their floor. Jet looked over at Skyler her look accusatory. Skyler shrugged, shaking her head refusing to apologize for calling the doctor.
“You need to get checked out, Jet,” she said simply.
Jet looked unhappy about the edict, but didn’t have the energy to argue. Sebastian carried Fadiyah into the room, taking her to the bedroom area and laying her down on the bed. Skyler marched Jet over to the table in the room, motioning for the doctor to come forward.
“Okay, let’s see what we’ve got,” Skyler said, opening Jet’s vest and carefully removed it, grimacing at the amount of blood. “Jesus, Jet….” she said.
“I’m fine,” Jet said.
“Yeah, that’s what you keep saying,” Skyler said, giving her a vile look.
The doctor examined Jet’s shoulder; the bullet had cut into her shoulder muscle, but hadn’t hit bone fortunately. The doctor stitched the wound, cleaning it well and gave Jet some painkillers. Sebastian and Skyler left a little while later. Jet walked into the bedroom and looked around. It was a nice room, once again Jericho’s arrangement.
Jet looked at Fadiyah lying on the bed. She was still unable to believe she was actually there, and that at least she’d been able to save Fadiyah. It broke her heart that she hadn’t been in time to save Fadiyah’s father or brother. Moving her shoulder around and grimacing at the pain, she decided to take a shower to try and soak out some of the soreness. She moved around the room as quietly as possible, pulling out clothes and items from her bags.
A half an hour later, she emerged from the bathroom feeling slightly human. Picking up the bottle of painkillers, she opened it and popped one in her mouth. She picked up her phone, moving to sit in the chair closest to where Fadiyah lay on the bed. Even though there was plenty of room on the king sized bed, she didn’t want to make Fadiyah uncomfortable.
Turning on her phone she saw that she had messages from Ashley. She texted Ashley back, and sent Kashena a message telling her how things had gone and that Sebastian and Skyler were both okay. She knew that it was about two in the morning in LA, so she didn’t worry about waiting for responses. Jet settled in the chair, curling up and resting her head on the arm. Her eyes settled on Fadiyah sleeping on the bed. She was asleep a few minutes later.
Fadiyah woke slowly some hours later, feeling disoriented. She sighed, thinking that she’d been dreaming the night before. Then she opened her eyes and saw Jet sleeping on the chair about two feet from her. At least she thought it was Jet. This was not the Jet Mathews she remembered. This woman wore black shorts and a black t-shirt, and her hair was longer than Fadiyah remembered. She couldn’t believe that she was seeing this. The same woman she’d thought she’d never see again. Still, she wondered if she was dreaming.
Reaching out she touched Jet’s leg. Jet woke instantly, groaning as she moved her sore shoulder. Then she looked at Fadiyah and saw that her eyes were open.
Moving to sit forward, Jet dropped her feet to the floor, her eyes looking into Fadiyah’s.
“It is really you…” Fadiyah said, her voice sounding surprised.
Jet smiled softly. “Yes, Fadi, it’s me,” she said.
“Jet…” Fadiyah said, her voice a sigh as tears welled in her eyes.
“Oh, God, please don’t do that…” Jet said, moving to sit on the side of the bed.
Fadiyah moved to sit up and Jet took her in her arms holding her as she once again cried. When Fadiyah had exhausted herself crying, she lay against Jet, her head against Jet’s shoulder. Jet shifted uncomfortably as Fadiyah was leaning against her injured shoulder, but she didn’t want to say anything. Unfortunately, she shifted a little too much and caused a sharp stabbing pain in her shoulder and she hissed.
Fadiyah’s head snapped up. “What is it?” she asked, her eyes searching Jet’s.
“It’s nothing,” Jet said. “Just rest.”
Fadiyah continued to look at her, wondering what was wrong. Then she shook her head. “You look so different…”
“Well, this is Jet the civilian edition,” Jet said, grinning.
“Civilian?” Fadiyah asked, looking confused. “But you were in your uniform…” Then her eyes widened. “You were injured…”
“I’m fine, honey,” Jet said, her tone soothing.
“No,” Fadiyah said, shaking her head. “You were shot. You were shot… shielding me…”
“Well, I didn’t come seventy-five hundred miles to have you die in my arms, Fadi,” Jet said reasonably.
Fadiyah stared back at her, her mouth open slightly, her eye reflecting confusion.
“You came from America?” Fadiyah asked.
Jet nodded, looking back at Fadiyah, her look quizzical. “Where did you think?”
“I thought you were still here…” Fadiyah said.
“Fadi, I was discharged shortly after I left Raqqa.”
“But then how did you come to be back in Raqqa?” Fadiyah asked.
Jet looked back at her for a long moment, understanding dawning in her mind; she’d realized that Fadiyah really didn’t understand. “I came back here for you.”
Astonishment swept over Fadiyah’s face, she blinked a number of times. “For me?”
“For all of you,” Jet said, her voice softer. “I’m sorry I was too late…”
Fadiyah shook her head. “You came all the way back to Iraq from America to save my life, and you are apologizing?”
Jet looked back at her, blowing her breath out, her look circumspect. “Yes?” Jet said.
“No,” Fadiyah countered with a narrowed look.
Jet’s phone chimed, and she reached for it. Fadiyah watched, fascinated as Jet put in the passcode and read a message, grinning, then tapped out a response. Then she set the phone aside. Fadiyah was still watching her.
“What?” Jet asked.
“So different,” Fadiyah said, shaking her head.
Jet looked back at her. “Is that a bad thing?”
“No,” Fadiyah said, “I am just surprised.”
Jet leaned back against the headboard of the bed, starting to feel the days of travel and action catching up to her again. Fadiyah watched her.
“What is it, Fadi?” Jet asked softly.
Fadiyah looked unsure. Jet reached out, touching her cheek, her eyes searching.
“What?” Jet repeated softly. “Tell me.”
Fadiyah clasped her hands in front of her, her eyes downcast, she shook her head.
Jet sat forward, putting her finger under Fadiyah’s chin, turning Fadiyah’s face up to hers, her light green eyes staring into Fadiyah’s silver-gray eyes.
“Tell me what you’re worried about, Fadi.” Jet said, her tone as gentle as it could possibly be.
Fadiyah grimaced, shaking her head and trying to look away again.
Jet moved closer, putting her head next to Fadiyah’s, her hand at Fadiyah’s cheek, her lips right next to her ear.
“Please tell me, honey,” Jet said whispered.
Fadiyah put her head against Jet’s cheek. “I am afraid,” she said.
Jet pulled back, looking down at Fadiyah then..
“Of me?” Jet asked, her tone both hurt and sad.
“No!” Fadiyah exclaimed. “No, never of you,” she said, her tone earnest. “I am afraid of what I am to become now.”
“Become now?” Jet repeated, looking confused. “What do you mean?”
Fadiyah shrugged, looking down. “I have no male relatives now.”
Understanding dawned on Jet; women with no male relatives were often outcasts in Iraqi society. Since women were perceived to need men to look out for them, not having any male relatives left women with little or no prospects. Any prospects they did have were far from preferable.
“Oh, honey…” Jet said, taking Fadiyah into her arms again, and holding her, rocking her to try and soothe her.
Pulling back after a couple of minutes, she tilted
Fadiyah’s chin up again. “You have a couple of options,” she said, her tone serious. “First, you have the option of staying here in Tehran to attend the university. You would have an apartment of your own so you wouldn’t have to rely on anyone.”
Fadiyah looked back at her, shaking her head. “I do not have any money, I would not be able to pay for these things.”
“Money is no problem,” Jet told her. “It will be taken care of.”
“But how?” Fadiyah asked.
“Just trust me on this one, okay?” Jet said. “Your other option would be to come home with me and go to school in LA.”
“Home with you?” Fadiyah asked, her voice filled with wonder suddenly. “To America?”
“That’s where I live, honey,” Jet said, her smile warm.
“But where would I stay? America is so expensive, and―”
“And again, that would be taken care of,” Jet said. “And you would stay with me.”
“With you?” Fadiyah asked, sounding like a child at Christmas.
“I live in a pretty big house, there’s lots of room,” Jet said.
Fadiyah simply looked back at her, unable to believe what Jet was saying.
“So,” Jet said, her look speculative. “You just need to tell me what you want to do, and I’ll make it happen, okay?”
“You can do that?” Fadiyah asked.
“I moved Heaven and Earth to get back here, babe, I can make anything I want happen right now,” she said, winking rakishly. “I’m on a roll.”
Fadiyah pressed her lips together, her eyes sparkling with suppressed excitement. “I want to stay with you.”
Jet smiled fondly and then picked up her phone. Fadiyah watched as she tapped out a message on the phone. A few moments later a message came back. Jet once again tapped out a message and sent it. Again the reply came quickly.
“Okay,” Jet said, setting the phone aside. “We should be flying out tomorrow night.”
“It is that simple?” Fadiyah asked.
“Friends in high places right now, babe.”
“High places?” Fadiyah asked.
“Influential places,” Jet explained.
“What influential places?”
“Well, for one, the previous ambassador to Iran. The State of California Attorney General, and the Director of the Division of Law Enforcement for California who also happens to be the daughter of the former Ambassador to Iran.”
Fadiyah’s eyes widened at the sound of these important people. She didn’t know exactly who all of them were, but they sounded important.
“And they can do this?” Fadiyah asked.
“They can do this,” Jet confirmed.
They were both silent for a while. Jet felt fatigue starting to push in on her again. She closed her eyes, relief flowing through her, knowing that things were stable now. She was asleep a few minutes later.
She awoke hours later, looking down to see that Fadiyah was asleep against her shoulder. She sat looking down at this woman whose face had been with her for a year. It amazed Jet that she was finally here again, and that she’d found Fadiyah. It still made her ache that she hadn’t been in time to save Abdul or Farshad, but she also knew that saving Fadiyah from what had been about to happen to her, was life changing for the girl. She was exceedingly happy that Fadiyah had chosen to come back to America with her.
Jet knew that life for a woman with no male relatives was highly restrictive, to say the least, and could be very dangerous. An unescorted woman could be attacked, raped or killed if any man took offense to anything she did or said. A man could even have her charged if he decided something as simple as being able to see through her veil in a certain light. Things were better in more modern Iran, but the traditions were still very restrictive to women in the Middle East. Without a man to protect her, Fadiyah would always be in danger.
Jet got out of bed, stretching carefully, mindful of her sore shoulder. She walked into the bathroom to check out the wound to the back of her shoulder; it looked red and angry, with black stitches in it, but she knew that she’d been lucky. The man that shot at them only had a handgun, likely a 9 millimeter caliber; it wouldn’t have made it through the vest she’d worn. If he’d had an AK like many of the insurgents carried, it would have gone right through the vest, and both she and Fadiyah would likely have been killed. She’d seen that the man had a handgun, so she’d known turning away would protect Fadiyah, at the very least. She’d meant it when she said she hadn’t come all that way to save the girl, only to have her die in her arms.
She took a quick shower, making a point of soaking her shoulder for an extra few minutes. Then she got dressed again and walked quietly, gathering her cigarettes, lighter, phone and her portable speaker out of her bags. Down in the kitchen area of the suite, she made herself coffee then stepped out onto the balcony to smoke and drink coffee. She sat and stared out over the city that was just waking up for the morning. She turned on her music, sitting back and relaxing for the moment.
When Fadiyah woke, she was alarmed to find that Jet was not in the room. She got up, walking around the room, looking for the other woman. She was astounded by the room that they were in. It was an entire suite; she’d never been in anything so luxurious before in her life. When she got downstairs she heard music and after a few minutes search she figured out it was coming from the balcony. The sliding door was partially open, she looked out the curtains and was shocked by what she saw.
Jet sat in one of the chairs, her head leaned back on the chair, her eyes closed. She held a coffee cup in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Fadiyah was shocked that Jet smoked, but she was more shocked by the sound coming out of Jet’s mouth. She was singing to a rock song playing on the speaker and she had a beautiful voice!
As the song faded, Fadiyah watched fascinated as Jet lifted the coffee up to her lips, holding the cup not by the handle, but with her hand around the cup itself. Then she watched as Jet lifted the cigarette to her lips, inhaling deeply, and blowing smoke out a few moments later as another song started.
The song that began was softer, a single piano. Fadiyah listened to the words as Jet sang them, her sense of wonder only increasing with the way that Jet sang them. They described a “boy” who was alone and had no place to be. It was the story of Peter Pan, although Fadiyah had no way of knowing that. The song talked about Peter Pan coming to talk to the singer of the song and offering to take them to Neverland.
Jet’s voice rose on the chorus and Fadiyah felt a shiver go through her at the timber and tone in Jet’s voice. It talked about running away from reality and about lost boys “like me.” It seemed very poignant to Fadiyah and she could see that Jet felt the words as she sang them.
The song went on to talk about Peter Pan sprinkling the singer with pixie dust and how they flew away to Neverland. Fadiyah found herself holding her breath expectantly as the chorus began again.
The song continued, but Jet lifted her cup to her lips again and took another long drag from her cigarette. Fadiyah opened the slider wider and stepped out onto the balcony. Jet heard the door open and moved to stand immediately. Fadiyah looked at her in surprise. In the Middle East, traditionally men always stood when a woman entered the room, she found it odd but somehow endearing that Jet stood now for her.
“I like that song,” Fadiyah said as the song ended.
Jet grinned, gesturing to the chair across from hers and waiting for Fadiyah to sit before she did as well.
“Me too,” Jet said.
“You have a beautiful voice, Jet,” Fadiyah said, her eyes reflecting her amazement.
“Eh,” Jet said, shrugging. “I sing with the radio,” she said dismissively.
“And you smoke…” Fadiyah said, gesturing to the cigarette in Jet’s hand.
“Yes, I do,” Jet said, her light green eyes sparkling in amusement.
“You did not when you were here before,” Fadiyah said.
“I couldn’t when I was here before, babe
,” Jet said, her look benign. “Besides the fact that my cigarettes were in the Humvee that went caflooey, I had shrapnel in my lungs, so…”
“So you did smoke then too?” Fadiyah asked.
“I’ve been a smoker since I was about sixteen,” Jet said nodding.
“So young?” Fadiyah askes surprised.
“I was a rebel.”
“A rebel?” Fadiyah asked.
“A troublemaker, a rabble rouser, whatever you want to call it.” When Fadiyah still looked mystified she said, “A mashaghib,” in Arabic.
Fadiyah nodded in understanding then. “You?” she asked, sounding surprised.
Jet grinned unrepentantly. “Yeah,” she said.
Fadiyah shook her head, her look scolding. Jet continued to grin.
“You are truly so different than I believed,” Fadiyah said, shaking her head in wonder.
Jet gave her a bewildered look. “Fadi, you have to know that the way you met me was far beyond a normal meeting.”
“Well, that is true,” Fadiyah said. “But still, we talked.”
Jet nodded. “Yeah, but I had to be very careful then,” she said.
“Careful?” Fadiyah asked.
“Yeah, not to be myself too much,” Jet said.
“What do you mean?” Fadiyah asked.
Jet blew her breath out, taking another drag off her cigarette, then pulling one knee up to her chest, wrapping her arm around it before she spoke again.
“Besides the fact that I was an American soldier in an Iraqi home, I was also a gay woman left alone with an Iraqi woman. Add to that the fact that you are Shia, it was a very precarious situation.”
Fadiyah blinked a couple of times during Jet’s statement. She hadn’t realized how much Jet had truly known about the Iraqi culture. She knew that Jet knew that Shia were in a perilous position in Raqqa, but Jet’s understanding had gone so much deeper than that. Once again, Fadiyah found herself amazed by this woman. She looked back at Jet for a long moment.
“What?” Jet asked, recognizing that she wanted to ask a question.
Jet Blue (WeHo Book 5) Page 15
