“Good, now they put that anesthetic goop in my eyes. I gotta ask you something though. There’s a really cute sounding nurse coming in to check on you in a couple minutes. I was wondering....”
Roy smiled even wider. “I’ll tell you if she’s hot. Or not. You never know. She might have a sexy voice, but look like—”
“Oh, good. You’re awake.” Nurse Jan peeked around the door. She did have a sexy voice.
“Ah, yeah.” Roy couldn’t help himself anymore than Connor could. He sat up straighter when Nurse Jan came to his bedside. Connor was right. She had a way cute body to go along with her voice, definitely model material—blond, blue-eyed, about six feet tall and Connor’s type. At least she was Connor’s height. The girl should have played basketball she was that kind of athletically tall. And tan. And drop-dead good looking.
“First of all the good news.” She checked his monitor and scooted the sliding table aside to remove the blood pressure cuff. “We’re not going to keep you any longer, not even for observation. You only suffered superficial burns from the explosion and a minor concussion, so you get to go home tonight. It sounds like you were a very lucky man.”
Roy blew out a deep breath. “What’s the bad news?”
Nurse Jan gently pulled the IV needle from his arm. She covered the tiny blood spot with a bandage. His spirits improved immensely just watching her holding onto his arm like she was. If he were a younger man, he’d give Connor some good stiff competition where Nurse Jan was concerned.
“The bad news is you’ll need to come back tomorrow for a couple more tests. Doctor Remington wants to make sure you’re not having any headaches or double vision. You did take quite a bump to the back of your head.”
“I guess I can live with that. And what about my friend over there? Can he go home or do you need him to stay in the hospital awhile?”
“Mr. Maher?” Nurse Jan’s voice turned a tad sweeter. “He can go if someone drives him and stays with him. He might need help.”
“Don’t worry. He’ll be staying with me.”
“But you can’t drive, Mr. Hudson,” she said. “Is there someone you can call?”
“Murphy and Mark are already downstairs,” Connor added. “But I’ll have to come back tomorrow too, won’t I?”
“Not really. If you keep your eye patches on for the next forty-eight hours, you’ll be fine.”
“But, ah, don’t you think maybe you ought to check my sight tomorrow just in case? You probably don’t want to be leaving something as important as eyeballs to a guy like me.”
Roy grunted. What a lousy line.
“Well, you could come back with Mr. Hudson when he comes tomorrow. If I’m on shift—”
“And your shift would be?”
Roy watched the dialog fly back and forth between the conniving blind man and Nurse Jan. It wasn’t too many years ago that he’d have been the one making a fool of himself.
She stood at Connor’s elbow tucking a piece of paper with her phone number into his jacket pocket. “If you have any questions, call me,” she said sweetly.
His nose twitched, and Roy smirked. The hound dog.
“Yes, ma’am. We will. Ah, I mean I’ll be calling you, that’s for sure.” Connor tipped his hand to his dark glasses as she left the room. He might be temporarily blind, but the kid was not stupid.
“I thought you needed help? Looks to me like you’re doing okay,” Roy exclaimed.
“But what does she look like? With that voice, she’s gotta be a babe. I’m right, aren’t I?”
“If you like women with five o’clock shadows.”
Connor’s jaw dropped. “She WHAT?”
“Yeah. That sexy voice is coming out between two big old buck teeth.” Roy placed both feet on the floor as he prepared to stand and get back into his clothes. “She’s got a harelip too.”
A broad smile lit up Connor’s face. “You’re lying. She’s a babe. I knew it.” He punched the air with one fist. “Yes!”
“Call her what you want. Fido. Spot.”
Connor threw an empty paper coffee cup in the direction of Roy’s voice.
“Fluffy. Spike.”
“Come on, old man.” He felt his way across the room until he reached Roy’s offered arm. “Let’s get going.”
“Tiger. Max. You do know Babe was a pig, don’t you?”
“I’m never going to hear the end of this, am I?” Connor rested his hand on Roy’s shoulder. “Keep moving. Once they see us in motion, someone’s bound to get us a wheelchair.”
“Bucky. Fang. Lassie?”
Twenty-Six
No one spoke. Murphy and Mark had just been ushered into the hospital family counseling room. Zack sat in the adjoining chair, his head down and his fingers interlocked between his knees. He never looked up. Harley caught the drift. Bad news travelled fast.
Alex sat with Kelsey securely inside his arm. Miss O’Brien had whisked her away the moment the helicopter landed, and now Kelsey was dressed in a clean pair of hospital scrubs. Her hair was wet and tied back. Nurse Judy must’ve taken her someplace to clean up. That was thoughtful.
As usual, Miss O’Brien seemed to think she was in charge. She’d shot Harley a dirty look the moment their eyes locked. He was first to break the hold. A man didn’t have to be a genius to recognize a woman’s wrath. Harley just did not know what he’d done to set her off to begin with. Sheesh! Was she still ticked because he’d gone with his boss to the Shenandoah? What was her deal? He didn’t want to stay in the hospital. He was Army. Didn’t she get it?
Enticing.
He sneaked another peek at her. Yeah. She was enticing all right. Sad too.
She focused on Kelsey who seemed to be staring at the wall, not making eye contact with anyone. Poor Kelsey. Never in a million years did he believe she could have killed anyone, not even Ethel Durrant. As hard as it must have been, his chest swelled with pride. That old hag deserved to die.
“You see, Kelsey, besides being mentally impaired, Raymond suffered from a very rare disorder known as acromegaly.”
Harley lifted his gaze. Grumpy or not, Miss O’Brien was attractive. Easy on the eyes. Tall and strong. Kinda mean, but kinda gentle too. He liked how she focused on Kelsey even though Kelsey wasn’t looking at her. Miss O’Brien’s hands on his back and neck had done wonders. She did know how to make a man feel good. His eyes drifted to her bosom, not much to look at in scrubs. But perky.
He groaned, pushed the stupid thought away, and focused. She did have the faintest sprinkle of freckles on her nose and just the uppermost part of her cheeks though. He always liked freckles. They were evidence of times spent in the great outdoors, and any woman who enjoyed being outside like he did—
Damn. He could not stop thinking about her.
“Acromegaly is a dysfunction of the anterior pituitary gland, usually caused by a tumor. It causes the gland to produce excess growth hormones,” Miss O’Brien continued. “Normal hormone levels range somewhere between fifty and two-hundred-fifty. For people with this disorder, their levels may go as high as four thousand. That little gland has no off switch. It’s been overloading Raymond’s system with growth hormones throughout his life. It’s crucial that you understand, Kelsey. By the time you met him he was already dying. There was nothing anyone could have done to change the outcome.”
Kelsey lowered her head, and Harley wiped his face. He didn’t have to see the tears to know she was crying. From the first second he’d seen her in that Washington forest years ago, Kelsey always got to him, no matter how tough he tried to be.
“There are many different treatments available today,” the nurse continued. “Some are quite effective. They might have made a difference if Raymond had been diagnosed as a child. But for a man with no healthcare, it was just a matter of time. The disorder took a tremendous toll on his body. Your poor friend had to be in a lot of pain every day, and not just from his heart condition. Advanced acromegaly affected his musculature, his skeletal syste
m, all of his organs, and, well, pretty much his entire body. Once he coded, there was nothing we could do.”
Green eyes drifted to Harley, but he wasn’t ready for another visual slap down. He jerked his gaze from Miss O’Brien’s stern face and focused on Kelsey. No one else spoke. If they were like him, they’d probably put their boot in their mouth and spoil everything. He kept his lip zipped.
“I know this isn’t what you wanted to hear. I’m so sorry.”
Alex rubbed Kelsey’s arm, and Harley wondered where his jacket and the blanket had gone. She looked cold. Gray scrubs were not her best color. It made her look washed out. Sad. Her brown eyes filled to the brim. “Can I see him?”
“Of course.” Miss O’Brien pulled Kelsey into her arms for a tender hug, and Harley was a goner. He looked away, blinking hard and not understanding how other men maintained control at times like this. He sure couldn’t.
With his eyes on the floor, Zack still looked like a loaded spring. Alex was doing his share of blinking. Harley succumbed to the moment and wiped his face with his sleeve. There was no sense denying what everyone else already knew. He was a sap.
Kelsey pulled away from Miss O’Brien with a deep breath. “I want to see him.”
Nurse Judy opened the door to the adjoining trauma room where Raymond lay beneath a sheet. Harley took the seat opposite Kelsey and Alex. Murphy and Mark took their post at Raymond’s enormous feet. Zack brought up the rear, closing the door behind him.
The room stilled, the heavy hand of gloom a weight Harley could feel. The damned place felt like a morgue. He shifted his feet. The familiar palpitation in his heart started again. He wanted to stay for Kelsey’s sake, but he didn’t want to fall apart in front of everyone either, especially not Miss O’Brien. Something had to give soon.
Judy’s hands shook when she lifted the sheet off Raymond’s face and folded it over his massive chest. It was like looking at Frankenstein without the green tint and bolts in his neck. The guy’s face had been washed and his hair was combed with a neat part on the right. He looked like he was dreaming with the corners of his lips turned up like they were.
The sheer size of Raymond amazed Harley all over again. He had to be around four hundred pounds, maybe more, and at least seven and a half feet tall. The table he’d been laid on was actually two tables with another butted up sideways at the bottom to accommodate his feet.
“Do you want us to leave you alone, Kelsey Girl?” Harley asked quietly.
“No. Please stay. I’m glad you’re all here with me. I didn’t get to see my sons before....”
Harley bowed his head. The poor thing deserved a break. She lifted one of Raymond’s hands, and rubbed a spot on the pad of his thumb. “She made him dig a grave. He couldn’t get out of it once it was done, so he had to use a ladder. He pinched his finger. He got a blood blister.” Her voice sounded far away. “I couldn’t just walk away and leave him.”
Harley closed his eyes. They’d all been through two days of hell. God, it had to end.
Her voice cracked. “We had a secret code. He was my Red Rover. My poor little boy. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you. You never had a chance, did you?”
“You’re amazing.” Alex pulled her into his chest. “Everything started Friday night when your friend here kidnapped you. It’s two days later, and you’ve been taking care of him the whole time. Figures.”
“He was afraid of the dark, only he said he was a scared, the way little boys say it.”
“He was sure a big little boy—seven feet three inches and close to four hundred pounds. It’s no wonder his heart gave out.”
“I knew it was serious. He had a headache all the time, and he couldn’t catch his breath. But we couldn’t stay where we were. We thought Ethel would....” She leaned against Alex.
“I know, honey, I know.” He wrapped his arms around her. “Nothing she did made sense, did it?”
“None of my boys ever hurt her,” Kelsey whispered.
Zack stepped forward, blinking hard and his jaw clenched. “Boss. I need your wife a minute.” When Alex released her, Zack wrapped her in a bear hug, his face in her shoulder.
Harley couldn’t bear to watch. His entire body had turned into heartache along with Zack’s. Lowering his forehead to his clenched fists, he blocked the view, but he could not block the words.
“I tried, Kels. God knows I tried. I didn’t let up once, but I couldn’t do it. I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. Thank you for helping him. For helping... me.”
How did women do it? How’d they reach out to others when they were broken too? Harley didn’t have a clue. He wiped his face and wished he were stronger.
“It’s not okay.” Zack’s anguish poured out of him for all to hear. “It will never be okay. I should have saved him.”
Harley winced, blinking furiously. Zack had just voiced every good soldier’s worst nightmares. They all began with I should have....
“I thought you might want this.” Once again, Nurse Judy interrupted a tender moment. “I asked one of my nurses to make it for you.”
She handed Kelsey a plaster cast of one of Raymond’s handprints. The thing was the size of a turkey platter. Multicolored crayon printing rounded the edge, but Harley couldn’t make out the inscription. Murphy passed the box of tissues. Zack stepped to Kelsey’s side as she accepted the gift.
A funny expression shifted across her face. She handed it back to Judy, her voice ratcheting higher with every word. “I’m sorry, but... I don’t want this. I don’t. Not another memory. Not another handprint of someone’s hand I can’t hold anymore. No more. That’s all I’ve got, and I’m sick of it. I’m tired of everyone I love dying!”
Everyone stilled. Alex’s eyes widened at the sudden outburst from his usually tranquil, predictable wife.
“This is what I want. This!” She grabbed Raymond’s giant mitt in hers, glaring at her friends while tears drenched her pretty face. Harley could not look away.
“I want Raymond to live in a real house with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs instead of a cardboard box on the street. I want to grill him a cheeseburger the size of the whole damned ocean! I want to make him a chocolate cake. I want to watch him eat every last piece of it. Don’t you get it? I want another secret word. I want... I want....” She choked. “I want my boys back! I want all of them back!”
And Harley lost the battle. Not everything she’d said made sense, but he got the drift. He bowed his head again. Me too, Kelsey Girl. I want Rick to tell me another bad joke. I want Kent to tell me what his mama fixed for dinner last night. And Carlton. I want to meet his baby girl. Maybe she looks like him. Maybe....
Whoosh. Pop. Fizzle...
A gentle breeze poured down from the ceiling. Harley lifted his face as fuzzy shapes descended and materialized into—men? His men? Rick. Snakes. Carlton. Robbie. Kent. Garth. They all appeared. Only they were not dead. In somber formation, they took their place around Raymond’s bed, all dressed in tactical gear, rifles slung over their shoulders and dusty boots still on their feet. Snakes gave him a silent nod. Rick winked, that sly old devil.
Harley shook his head, seeing things for sure. His throat went dry. No freaking way!
Kent’s dark face lit up with his usual bright, toothy grin. “Why ain’t you called my Mama yet? You lost her number or something?”
Harley gulped, his heart pounding fast and furious. Did no one else see these guys?
Kent kept grinning as he placed his palm in the center of Raymond’s chest. “’S okay, brother. We just come to take this soldier home. You ready, Raymond? It’s time to go.”
Of all damned things, Raymond grabbed Kent’s hand and lifted off the bed. Only he didn’t, but he did. His body stayed there, but a shimmering white shadow that looked like him sat straight up. He smiled, the most radiant smile Harley had ever seen, crooked teeth, unibrow, and all.
“Hi, Harley.” His fingers splayed in a goofy wave. “Is you good now too?”
Kent clutched the big guy’s hand in an assist off the table. “Time to go, buddy. Your battle’s done. You’re going home.”
Harley scrubbed his face to make the apparition vanish. None of this is real. It’s not happening. Is it?
“You was supposed to call Mama, Corporal Mortimer.” Kent’s grin was gone. “Tell her she was right. I should’ve listened. Army food ain’t no good at all.”
“Tell Kelsey I love her.” Raymond waved one last time. “She’s my Mama for ever and ever.”
Harley nodded, stark raving crazy for sure.
“You good now?” Kent asked as he and Raymond turned into pixilated vapor that merged with the other men’s already fading shapes. Ah, ghosts. Umm, soldiers. Oh, what the hell!
“Harley. I asked you something. You hear me? Are you good now?” A voice drifted down from the ceiling. “Don’t forget. Call Mama.”
No faces. No vapor. Just ceiling tiles. Harley answered anyway. “Yeah. I’m good. You bet. I’ll call your mama.”
“You promise?”
“Yeah, buddy. I promise.”
The vision, or whatever it was, ended. When Harley lowered his head, everyone in the room was looking at him like he’d lost his mind. Well, that was one big ‘Duh!’
Judy held a clenched fist to her lips, but it was Alex who spoke. “Are you okay, son?”
Define okay?
Harley wiped his eyes, convinced he’d seen his men. Between E words and apparitions, he couldn’t win. Hell no, I’m not okay. I’m insane!
The silence stretched, broken only by Kelsey’s soft whimper. She even cried like a lady, full of grace in everything she did. How did Alex ever get so lucky? Better question, how did Harley get so screwed up? Seeing ghosts? And they took Raymond? And they called him a soldier? Didn’t make one lick of sense.
I need a pain pill.
He contemplated telling Kelsey what Raymond had just said, but held back. There was no way his friends would believe him right now.
“I’m still here,” Alex whispered as he pulled Kelsey back into his arms.
Harley (In the Company of Snipers Book 4) Page 22
