Down and Dirty: SEAL EXtreme Team Short Story

by Kimberley Troutte

  DOWN AND DIRTY

  SEAL EXtreme Team – Short Story

  by

  Kimberley Troutte

  Final request…

  SEAL Lieutenant Commander Nick Talley keeps promises, but taking care of a teammate’s sister is a vow he should’ve made. How can a man tortured by the past, help a woman fight her tough future?

  Broken dreams…

  Ironman qualifier, Jill Connors, is counting the days until her brother brings handsome Nick home with him. But a buried IED takes her brother’s life and a drunk driver steals her competition hopes. Will Nick want a woman with only one foot?

  Love has a way of healing the wounded…one muddy step at a time.

  ****

  Dedicated to the brave men and women who serve in the U.S. Military. You are my heroes.

  ****

  Chapter One

  Steps. Shit, there had to be a dozen of them leading up to the hospital entrance. Coming straight from the funeral, Lieutenant Commander Nick Talley was still in his naval dress uniform. He’d be damned if anyone caught him using the wheelchair access. As he hoisted himself up the steps, one grunt at a time, a SEAL motto ran through his brain—The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday.

  Today was proving to be a helluva hard day.

  Wiping the sweat off his lip, he took a deep breath and flinched. His ribs were just bruised, but hell, he’d broken bones that hadn't hurt this badly. Plus, he ached in places no one could see. At the top of the steps, he steeled himself for what he'd find inside. The glass doors opened, and the pungent odor of disinfectant hit his nose. He hated hospitals almost as much as gravesites. Did fate have to keep punching him in the balls?

  At the Information Desk, a little old lady who resembled his Granny Mo—blue hair and all—was head down in her crossword puzzle. The tag stuck off-kilter to her yellow sweater read: “Hi! I’m Lucille. Can I help you?”

  “Excuse me, ma’am. I’m looking for a woman they brought in this morning. Car accident.”

  “Heavens!” She smiled up at him, pressing her gnarled fingers to her chest. “Seeing a handsome man in his blues does my heart good. Real good. My husband was a Navy man too, God rest his soul. Now, what was the patient’s name?”

  “Jill Connor.”

  “Let’s see.” Squinting at the computer, she dragged her arthritic fingers slowly down the list of hospital patients. “Yes. Here she is. Oh.” Her lower lip trembled. “Dear.”

  A fist strangled his vocal cords. “She didn’t survive the accident?”

  “Now, don’t think the worst. She’s had surgery, which means her visitors are restricted.” The woman rose and came around the desk. Taking his arm, she said quietly, “You might not be able to see her today unless you are an immediate family member. Are you family, Lieutenant Commander?”

  Nick didn’t answer. He knew better than to lie to his elders.

  “I thought not. But she is important to you?”

  Jill Connor was a dying man’s last wish and a promise Nick shouldn't have made. “She’s the only thing important to me right now. I have to see her.”

  Lucille nodded and gave his arm a gentle squeeze. “All right then.” She wrote on a visitor’s card and handed it to him. “Take this to the nurse at the station on the third floor. She’s a bit of a stickler about visitors, but this note should get you in. Good luck, Lieutenant Commander. I hope your lady friend gets better fast.”

  Once inside the elevator, he glanced at the visitor’s card. Lucille had scrawled, “Brother of patient.”

  Nick’s heart pounded. His hand shook. The ringing in his ears started up, and his vision began to tunnel. Shit, it was happening again. The card filled with blood and splattered the linoleum tiles beneath his feet. “Son of a bitch!”

  He dropped the card and ground it under his heel. Blood soaked up his pant leg as if it were a thick straw. No matter how hard he stomped, he couldn't stop the flow. He was panting when the elevator opened on the third floor.

  A man got on. “Good afternoon.”

  Nick nodded, picked up the card, and smoothed out the wrinkles on his pants. No blood in sight. Visions attacked him when he least expected them, and there wasn't a damned thing he could do about them.

  The nurse glanced at the “brother” card and buzzed him in without question. People saw what they wanted to see, and a decorated hero usually went where he wanted to go. Nick scrubbed his hands thoroughly at the washing station and was grateful that no blood circled the drain. He followed the nurse down a long corridor that reeked of cleaning supplies, and to him, death.

  “This is her room,” the nurse said.

  He hung back while the nurse messed around with the IVs going into tanned, muscular arms. A swimmer’s arms. How many times had he fantasized about them wrapped around his back?

  Nick couldn’t take his eyes off the frail woman in the bed. Shadows pooled under her closed dark lashes. Brown freckles sprinkled across her nose stood out as a sharp contrast to her impossibly fair cheeks. She had random bruises too, most likely collateral damage from the airbag. The dark hair he’d only seen pulled up in a ponytail fanned out across the stark white pillow. Damn, she was beautiful, even now. But so small.

  The picture he carried in his wallet had captured a stop-your-heart gorgeous athlete with tanned skin, a wicked glint in her green eyes, and a first place medal around her neck. The times they’d spoken by Skype, she’d seemed larger than life. This person in the bed clung to life.

  “Your brother is here,” the nurse said softly. “Can you open your eyes?”

  Jill stirred in her sleep.

  The nurse turned to him. “She’s tired. If she does wake, don’t be surprised if she’s a bit fuzzy-headed. That’s normal. She’s been through a terrible trauma and might not know about the foot yet.”

  Nick’s gaze swept across the off-white cotton blanket. Near the bottom of the bed, where the pillows had been piled up, he saw something he’d never wanted to see. Holy hell! Jill’s right foot was gone.

  “Don’t stay long,” the nurse admonished on her way out. “If she’s thirsty, you can give her a few ice chips.”

  Nick was alone with a woman he’d never met in person.

  ****

  Jill heard the nurse whisper that her brother was there. But something dark and ugly clung to the edge of her consciousness. She didn’t want to see it. Refused to know.

  “Billy,” she mumbled.

  Someone took her hand, and a deep voice said, “Shh. You’re not alone. Rest.”

  She fought as hard as she could and finally peeled her eyelids open. It took a second to understand what she was seeing. She was…where exactly? And who was that handsome man peering down at her? He was in a naval uniform, but he wasn’t her brother because Billy was… No! She squeezed her eyes shut. She wouldn’t go to that dark place. Don’t think about Billy!

  Her lips and throat were dry. She opened her eyes again. “Water?”

  “Let me help you.” The guy dumped out ice chips from a pink pitcher into a cup. One of his warm hands supported the back of her neck while the other spooned chips into her mouth. She savored the warmth of his touch and the cold water melting in her mouth. It was intimate, somehow. Gently, he laid her head back down. Amber eyes studied her face as if searching for answers she didn’t want to think about. She would not think about.

  “Nick?” she barely choked out.

  He took her hand again. So warm. So strong. The knuckles were scarred. “Hi, gorgeous. You sure went out of your way to avoid our date. You could’ve just said no.”

  “Avoid?” Her head was swimming. She tried to cling to words.
“Billy?”

  Nick chucked his hat onto the nightstand. “He wanted me to check in on you.”

  It looked like he could use a drink of water, or maybe something stronger.

  “Where…is…he?”

  He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “You were in a bad car accident, Jilly-girl. It’s okay. You’ll be okay. You don’t need to remember what happened now. Forget things for a while and focus on getting better.”

  Bad memories floated to the top of her consciousness and she snatched onto the one that hurt the least—screeching tires, crunching metal, and searing pain. “Car accident! I remember.”

  “A drunk driver rear-ended you at a stoplight. Bastard was going fifty miles an hour. You’re lucky to be alive.”

  She didn’t feel lucky. “I feel…like hell.”

  “Nah, you’re beautiful. Like always. Thank God you got the good-looking genes in the family.” He brushed the hair off her cheek and gently ran a knuckle across her cheekbone. His hands were cool now. They felt so good. She wanted them all over her skin. “Damn. You’ve got a fever. I’ll get the nurse.”

  “Tell Billy…come…or I’ll…” Her eyelids were heavy. “…kick his ass.”

  ****

  “She’s burning up,” Nick told the nurse.

  “Happens sometimes after an amputation, but we’ll keep an eye on it. You’ll have to go now.”

  He plopped down in the chair next to the bed. “I won’t bother her, I promise. I need to be here. It’s going to be hell when she wakes up and realizes that she lost her brother and her foot.”

  The nurse cocked her head. “I’m sorry. How many brothers do you have?”

  “None.” Crap. He forgot he was supposed to be Jill’s brother. “I’m not leaving her.”

  Her gaze flicked down to see he was cradling his sore ribs and back up to his face. “Okay. But don’t wake her.”

  For three hours, he watched Jill sleep and studied the monitors that kept track of her vitals. They seemed more stable. Her breathing was soft, not labored. He pressed his lips to her forehead. Her fever was gone. He also noticed her hair smelled like coconut shampoo, and her skin was soft. With the back of his hand, he traced her cheek and her jawline. She had a tough road ahead.

  “I’ll be there,” he promised.

  Shit, he wished she’d wake up and say something. Anything. He longed to hear the voice that had been coming to him in his dreams. Hell, what he wouldn’t give to hear her hearty laughter. A kidney, maybe. He’d never dare to admit it, but he’d fallen in love with Jill the first time he’d heard her speak.

  He’d just passed BUD/S training, top of his class. Though exhausted to the bone, he’d been bursting with pride for having accomplished a feat few men could’ve survived. Looking around the group of tired guys, he realized he was a member of an elite group for the first time in his life. And he had no one to share the news with.

  Billy Connor stood next to him, talking on a cell phone, “I made it!”

  A woman’s voice came through the speaker. “Always knew you would! You’re the strongest, bravest man I know. You can do anything you set your mind to. I’m so proud of you.”

  Nick ached everywhere, but loneliness squeezed the sorest muscle he owned—his heart. When had anyone said she was proud of him? Cared about him?

  “Thanks, Jilly-girl. I love you.” Billy wore the goofiest grin that Nick had ever witnessed on a man.

  “Love you too, Worm.” The woman laughed. “Now, go save the world.”

  As Billy hung up, Nick elbowed him. “Worm?”

  Billy shrugged. “Nickname. My sister has dozens of them for me.”

  “Sister, huh? Never had one of those.” Nick hung his arm around Billy’s shoulder. “Let’s go, Worm. There’s a keg of beer with our names on it.”

  From that moment on, he and Billy had been best friends. And Jill’s voice had stayed with him like a sweet melody he couldn’t get out of his head.

  Chapter Two

  Jill awoke to see a figure sleeping in the chair next to her bed. Wide shoulders, short dark hair, naval dress…“Billy!”

  The man lifted his head and pierced her with amber eyes. Not green. Not Billy’s.

  No, this was the courageous, hard-headed lieutenant commander her brother adored. He was also the man who had starred in quite a few of her steamy fantasies. Nick’s here? I’m not dreaming?

  Nick Talley was the only man Billy respected enough to call brother. One of the few he’d die for. If he was really here, not a figment of her overactive imagination, then…

  Oh, God.

  She remembered everything. It was as if her insides were suddenly shredded. “I was driving to his funeral when this car slammed into me.” She studied a face that was rugged and strong, but old too, like he’d lived through centuries of pain and barely survived. “Billy’s dead?”

  “Yes.” The muscles in his jaw worked to ground down his feelings, but his eyes filled with grief. He was suffering, maybe as much as she was.

  “You were there?” Her voice ripped out of her. It was too screechy. She couldn’t control it.

  “He died in my arms.”

  “Thank you.” She opened her arms and welcomed him. He lurched forward, pressing his head into her chest. Tears flooded out of them both. Together they mourned. She’d missed her brother’s funeral, but somehow she knew Billy was okay with that. This personal moment from the two people who loved him the most would’ve been enough. Somewhere, Billy was smiling.

  When she finally caught her breath, she scooted over as best she could. “Lay down beside me.”

  “You sure? I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “I’m already hurting. It’s a nightmare I can’t wake from.” The way he winced, she suspected he had nightmares of his own. “Please. I want to touch something real.”

  He eased down beside her.

  Tentatively, she laid her head on his shoulder. He was all muscle and warmth. She placed her arm over his chest and felt his heart beating strong under her palm. Just what she needed.

  Lifting her hair, he pulled it back out of the way and wrapped his arm around her. “I’ve got you, sweetheart.”

  A sweeter truth was never spoken. Nick had her, all right, since the first day she’d seen him.

  She had been Skyping with her brother when a tall, dark-haired man of steel peeked around Billy’s shoulder and came into view on her computer.

  “Hey gorgeous, why are you talking to Worm when you could be talking to me?”

  She laughed. “You must be Nick.”

  “He mentioned me, huh? Whatever he said was a lie.” He looked into the screen, melting her with his intense stare. “You’re beautiful.” He glanced at Billy. “Shit, Connor, what happened to you? Did they drop you on your face when you were a baby?”

  “I have no problem with the ladies, wise-ass.” Billy elbowed Nick in the gut so hard he doubled over.

  “Is that my not-too-subtle cue to step away from the Skype?” Nick asked, never taking his eyes off her.

  Holy mackerel, he was gorgeous. “No, you don’t have to leave yet. Stay.” She was a thin line away from begging.

  “No way! Nu-uh. It’s my brother-sister bonding time. Go away, Nick,” Billy complained, but Jill couldn’t help but notice he was grinning.

  “All right. I’ll go.” Nick moved closer, and his face filled her screen. And what a face! All chiseled and rough, except those full lips. A girl could spend a lifetime getting to know that mouth. “Nice meeting you, Jill. I hope to talk to you again. Soon. Real soon.”

  Wowza, she hoped so too.

  Billy had said that Nick was tough, loyal, and damned good at his job. He’d saved Billy’s ass more times than he could count. Her brother had neglected to say that his buddy was hot.

  And now she was lying in bed with Nick Talley. Her head was on his amazing shoulder. It was the one great moment in a terrible day.

  “Go to sleep, Jilly-girl. I’m right here.” His deep voice rumb
led in her ear.

  And he was there. God, he really was. How had he come to her at the exact moment she needed him the most? His heartbeat soothed her, and she let herself drift.

  They both went to sleep.

  ****

  “Not exactly what I meant by not waking her.” The nurse lifted Jill’s arm and took her blood pressure.

  “Sorry.” Nick started to move.

  “No.” Jill pressed her free hand to his abs. “Don’t go.”

  “You’re fine there.” The nurse smiled at him. “Our patient is much better this morning.”

  “That’s great news. When can I leave? I’ve got to get back to my training. I qualified for the Ironman in Hawaii. I’ve only got three months to sort out my running splits. My legs will be better by then, right?”

  The nurse’s mouth fell open. Nick shot her a look to shut it.

  Jill must have known that her leg was injured badly, but she couldn’t feel the pain. The meds they were giving her were good and wicked strong. The tent of pillows and blankets around her leg blocked the heartbreaking view. Jill couldn’t see that her foot was missing. Yet. He desperately wanted to keep the bad news away from her as long as he could. She was still processing Billy’s death. She didn’t have to know about the amputation this minute, did she?

  “I’ll, ah, tell the doctor to come see you.” The nurse left quickly.

  “Let’s wait and see what the doctor says. You’re not feeling any pain now, but once that medication wears off, things will be different.” He didn’t want to tell her that phantom pain could be a bitch. “Give yourself time. If you can’t make this Ironman because of the accident, they’ll let you compete next year, right?”

  She cut her eyes up to him. “I’ve been dreaming about this for years! I’m better on the bike than I’ve ever been, and my swimming skills are awesome. You should come watch me.”