Authors: Emma Taylor
The emergency room doors burst open and three soldiers were wheeled in. One had a medic straddling him with the medic’s hands clamped firmly over his chest. He was wheeled over to Dell and me.
I almost fainted when I saw that it was Michael. His eyes were open and bloodshot as his gaze moved all over the place. He was in shock.
“Lina…Lina…” his voice was forced and he kept gurgling on each breath. I shushed him while listening to the medic tell Dell and me what had happened.
“We were ambushed and bullets were traded. Then they came at us in close combat; stabbed Michael right in the chest. I don’t know how he’s still alive right now.” Dell replaced the medic’s hands with his own to stop the blood seeping from Michael’s chest. My mind focused on what we needed to do to save Michael’s life.
“We have to open up his chest, he most likely has a punctured lung, though I’d say whoever stabbed him just missed his heart.” The knife had been removed from Michael’s chest and it wasn’t bleeding as much as it would have if his heart had been punctured.
Everything seemed to happen in fast forward once we were in a trauma room. We had to move quickly as blood was flooding Michael’s lung each time Dell removed his hands from Michael’s chest. We were able to patch his right pulmonary artery. Michael
was
lucky; half an inch to the left and he wouldn’t have made it.
It was a long operation, but Michael pulled through and I was confident he would make a fast recovery. After he was settled in the intensive care unit I changed into some clean scrubs and sat by his bed. I was waiting for him to wake up out of anesthesia and studying his pale face.
“You scared me half to death you know,” I said to him softly. “I thought I was going to lose you and I don’t know what I would have done if I had.” I tried to hold in my tears. I wasn’t sad; I was relieved, because I knew first hand that he’d be okay.
“I’ve got…nine lives…remember?” he gasped. The sound of his voice was like a breath of fresh air.
“You only have eight left so use them wisely okay?!” I ended up yelling at him out of the emotions I kept in check so I could operate on him with a clear head. “Don’t worry about me, it’s just routine. You were stabbed in the chest! I would’ve been a…like a widow or something,” I finished lamely. Michael smiled and I gave him a warning look so he didn’t laugh and hurt himself.
“I almost…die…and—
you
yell…at
me
?” he said. He had a hard time speaking, but his eyes were full of humor. I wiped my eyes and kissed him hard on the mouth.
“Yeah. You can’t leave me you dope,” I said.
Michael grinned at me and I sighed, smiling at him reluctantly in return.
“Never,” he said before he took my hand in his and squeezed it reassuringly. “There’s an upside…to being a lion shifter you know.” I looked at him oddly. Just a second ago he couldn’t get a word out between breaths.
“What’s that?” I asked cautiously. Michael grinned at me and then squeezed my hand again.
“We heal really fast.” I breathed a tremendous sigh of relief and Michael’s grin grew even wider.
“Thank
God
, I don’t think I could see you like this for days on end,” I said in relief. Michael’s expression fell and he almost seemed to pout.
“You wouldn’t nursemaid over me?” I rolled my eyes at him and his smile returned.
“So tell me what the hell happened, how did a simple intelligence mission turn into such a disaster?” Michael attempted to sit up but I made him stay put and raised the head of the bed for him.
“Well we were supposed to go into this suspected terrorist bunker near the capitol to gain information on what their plans were, that sort of thing. We went in without a hitch; it was completely quiet in the woods surrounding the bunker. We assumed they didn’t know we were there or coming. So we went in routinely. The bunker was completely devoid of movement. Of course we got suspicious so we hurried our movements…”
“We secured the necessary computer files and then set a fire in the bunker on our way out; that was just for extra measure.” Michael took a breath and I wondered if they carried out the mission in their human forms.
“Did you guys shift on your way into the bunker?” I asked curiously. Michael nodded. “Seriously? Don’t they have eyes on you the entire time you guys are in action?”
“Yeah, our commanders know about us. We usually shift when moving to and from a location. It’s the best cover you could have. No one would suspect a pride of lions to be SEAL officers…it’s just that on our way out the enemy returned to their base.” I held my breath for the next part of his story.
“Yeah, there were like twenty of them that came in on flatbed trucks just as we were moving out in our lion forms. That’s how two of my brothers got shot. We were able to shift back before any more damage could be done. We returned fire and shot a few of them. But they were
skilled
, they had body armor on and they were running at us for a fight, not even afraid that we had just shifted from lions into men.” Michael was lost in his memory of the fight and I felt like I had been transported there with him.
“They wanted a knife fight and we gave it to them, but I was double-teamed and distracted. One got his knife into my chest just before I could kill him…everything was in tunnel vision after that. The medic was shouting orders and those of us injured were being cared for on the spot…” Michael paused and he looked directly into my eyes, his expression somber.
“All I kept thinking about was how much I wanted to see you again. That I
had
to see you again. I wouldn’t let myself pass out because I was afraid I wouldn’t wake up again. I wanted your face to be the last one I saw…then you were there, shushing me and fixing me up.” Michael smiled and I had to wipe at my eyes again. Give a guy a near death experience and he becomes the biggest romantic in the world. If Michael kept talking like that he’d probably slip up and ask me to marry him before he was really ready. Hell I might even say yes, it wouldn’t be so bad. I loved this man, even though I’d only known him for such a short time.
“You scared me half to death you know. All day I just had a bad feeling about your mission. I just knew something would go wrong. And when you came in on that stretcher…the medic on top of you holding your chest to stop the bleeding…I thought the worst. But I wouldn’t give up on you, I couldn’t. I needed to save you because…you’re my one.” I said the same words he’d said to me and then the brightest smile spread across his face. It was breathtaking how gorgeous he was.
*****
“You’ve just made me the happiest guy in the world right now Lina,” Michael said before he pulled me in for a searing kiss. “Now we have to make up a good cover so I can get the hell out of here. I’m pretty sure I’ve fully healed by now.” I shook my head and stood up with my hands on both of his so he didn’t get any bright ideas.
“No, you need to take it easy Michael, we can’t just skip out of the hospital. Especially as you’re in the ICU. You could have died you know. Half an inch to the left and you would not have made it. Fancy lion shifter healing skills or no, you’re staying in that bed unless I say otherwise,” I spoke to him firmly. Michael was looking at me with a bored expression and he sighed.
“Hear that? Me sighing. My lungs are better. I can laugh for you too if you want. Matter of fact give me one of those lung exercise machines and I’ll blow in it for you.” I giggled at his rush to get out of the hospital.
“Michael can you please humor me? I had my hands in your chest today—” But Michael cut me off by lifting up his hospital gown. I gasped. There was no scar; there wasn’t even the faintest line from his stitching.
“See? All better, now can we make a break for it
please
?” Michael pleaded with me while holding my hands in his once more.
“At least breathe into this for me.” I went to grab a spirometer from one of the cabinets in the room and instructed Michael on how to breathe into it. I watched as he took in a full breath and held for five seconds before releasing. His lungs were truly back to normal. I glanced at his vital monitor and saw that his pulse, blood pressure, and respirations, not to mention oxygen level were all fine. I could not argue with the evidence.
“Okay so how are we going to sneak you out of here?” I asked. Michael smiled at me and got out of bed.
“You might want to silence those, I’m going to take all these leads off now.” I followed his request and silenced the machines so he could remove the leads and sensors from his body.
“Let me get you some scrubs, stay put,” I instructed him before slipping out of the room and going to search for scrubs large enough to fit him. I found some deep in the spare supplies closet and almost ran back to Michael’s room.
“Here I found these—why are you so naked?” my eyes traveled all over Michael’s body as he stood in the center of the room, waiting for me to get back.
“I was waiting for you to get back with new clothes. Thank you baby.” Michael kissed me softly on the lips while he took the clothes from me. I wondered briefly if it would be okay for us to have sex so soon after his surgery.
Well he
was
completely healed… I smirked and Michael lifted an eyebrow at me in reply.
“If you keep looking at me like that Lina, I might have to pause our getaway to celebrate life, if you know what I mean,” he said with a wink. I bit my lip, seriously considering it.
“No, no, you get dressed and then we’ll head to my place.” Michael smiled eagerly and pulled on the scrubs faster than I thought any person could.
“Let’s go!” he was way too excited about ‘celebrating life.’
“I still say you need to take it easy, Michael. I swear if you drop dead I’m going to kill myself and then haunt
you
,” I told him sternly. Michael laughed so hard he had to support himself on the wall nearest us.
“I promise you won’t have to kill yourself so you can haunt me in the afterlife,” he said, still chuckling. We managed to escape the hospital, mission impossible style. We were slinking around corners and dashing through hallways. By the time we made it to my car I was breathless from laughing so hard.
“Hey Lina,” Michael tugged on my hand before I unlocked my car door. I looked up at him expectantly and he slowly got down on one knee. All I could think about in that moment was that I
knew
he’d do this. “I love you, and like I said last night, I know you’re it for me. This whole experience has opened my eyes and I don’t want to waste another moment when I know who I want to be with for the rest of my life.”
My eyes were wide as I stared down at him. Michael was completely sincere and I marveled at the love shining in his eyes. He really did love me! I knew then exactly what I was going to say, because there really was no one else I’d rather be with.
“Lina Ross…will you marry me? Will you be my mate, and alpha?” He was formally asking me to be his alpha female. I stared into his earnest gaze and knew that I really didn’t have a choice to make.
“Yes Michael, I’ll marry you…and be your alpha female too,” I said with the sound of hushed tears in my voice. Michael smiled that dazzling smile once more before he picked me up and twirled me around in a tight hug.
“I love you baby,” he whispered in my ear and I let the happy tears flow.
“I love you too Mufasa.” We both laughed at my corny joke and then hurried home to start our lives together.
The End
Shelly steps up to the bar and raises her hand so that the bartender will see her. At least she hopes he will. He is leaning over the bar talking to a younger, skinnier woman and barely acknowledges her wave. She knows that she isn’t skinny or petite like the most of the girls in the bar, but she likes to think that she is attractive enough. “Thick, not fat.” That was what her best friend, Candy, always said to her. The club music pounds from the speakers and for the umpteenth time tonight, she wonders why in the world she let Candy talk her into coming to this club. A night at home with her favorite television show or a good book and a bottle of wine would have suited her just fine. For a full five minutes, she stands by the bar waiting for the bartender to serve her, but he just keeps talking to the same woman at the opposite end of the bar. She is beginning to get discouraged when a handsome man steps up beside her and gives her a wink. As he looks for the bartender, Shelly takes a chance to look him over and likes what she sees. He is tall and judging from his arms, well-muscled. His olive-colored skin looks smooth. So smooth, in fact, that she almost reaches out and touches it.
The man waves to the bartender as well, but nothing happens. She sees anger flash across the man’s face. He quickly suppresses it and throws a smile her way. Another man steps up beside them and Shelly can’t believe her eyes. The newcomer looks exactly the same as the other. She assumes they’re twins. The first man briefly speaks in the newcomer’s ear. The man nods and raises his own hand to the bartender. The bartender acknowledges him and goes back to his conversation. She sees the anger flash across the newcomer’s face, but unlike the other man, he does nothing to suppress it.
His hand darts forward and grabs up a glass off the bar. With a smooth motion, he chucks the glass at the bartender and strikes him in the side. The bartender stumbles to the side and the glass tumbles to the floor and shatters.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” The bartender roars over the music as he runs over to where Shelly and the two men are standing.
“Someone who’s thirsty and wants a drink.” The newcomer’s voice is calm and loud, but not quite a shout.
“I’ll get your drinks in a second!”
“See, that’s the problem. You are under the assumption that you can pick and choose when and who you may serve. That’s not how this whole thing works out. You serve everyone equally. Now I do believe that this beautiful lady was waiting for a drink for some time. I suggest you serve her now.”
“I’m not serving shit. I’m calling security and you three are leaving!”
“I was afraid that you were going to say that.” The newcomer leans across the bar and grabs the man by the front of his shirt. He lifts him clean off his feet and pulls him in close so they are face to face. “You go ahead and call security, but by the time they get here, you’re going to be in a world of hurt. Now I’m going to set you back down and you’re going to choose. Security or pain.”
As soon as the man sets the bartender down, he falls back against the shelves holding bottles of liquor. Many of the bottles rattle around, fall from the shelves, and smash on the floor. One from the top shelf takes a tumble and smacks the bartender squarely on top of the head. His eyes cross and he slumps to the floor. Somewhere, a woman shrieks and the music cuts short. The sound of running feet is the only thing that can be heard.
“That’s not good, Gerry,” the first man says to his twin. “Not good at all.”
They turn to leave out the back, but the first man stops and turns around. He offers a hand to Shelly. “You better come with us unless you want to spend the night in jail.”
Without a thought, she grabs the man’s hand and seconds later, he is dragging her along as she tries to keep up with his long legs. Gerry is in front and he knocks aside anyone who won’t move out of the way. A few scrambling moments later, they emerge from the club. Gerry turns left down the alley, but Shelly knows that to get to her car, she needs to go right. The man tugs at her hand, but she plants her feet and shakes her head when he turns around.
“What?” he asks.
“My car is this way.”
“Alright. Take care of yourself and sorry that we got you into that.”
“Wait.” she calls to the man, but he is already pounding down the alley behind the man she assumes is his brother. “Will I ever see you again?” she asks the night.
On the walk to her car and the drive to the apartment, she shares with Candy she can’t stop thinking about the two identical olive-skinned men and the strange night she had with them. As she unlocks the door and steps inside the apartment, she stops and slaps her forehead. Candy was with her at the club. She was so caught up in thinking about the two men that she forgot her friend and drove all the way home without her. Just as she is about to lock up the apartment and step into the hall, her phone vibrates in her purse. She picks it up and sure enough, it is Candy on the other end, only it’s not a phone call, it is a text.
Don’t look for me. I found a ride home. :)
Shelly lets out a sigh of relief and quickly answers the text by telling her friend to have a good time. She goes to her room and gets ready for bed. As she drifts off to sleep, her thoughts once more turn to the two men at the club.
“They certainly were handsome.” she whispers as she falls asleep.
*****
Monday comes and goes without incident as do the rest of the days of the next week and Shelly slowly forgets about the bar and the two men. Her job as a mortician’s assistant isn’t a glamorous one, but it pays well and in a failing economy, that is all that is important. She makes a habit of not telling people what she does for a living because most of them get freaked out when she does. Most people can’t handle the thought of their bodies being dissected like a frog in high school science class when they die.
Shelly is walking to the back door of the morgue and about to leave for the evening when the phone rings. Her instincts make her turn back, but someone else picks it up before the second ring. She shakes her head and walks out the door toward her car. Putting the car in drive, she pulls out onto the street and heads home.
As she nears the apartment building, she can hear the sound of sirens racing toward her from the opposite direction. As she stops at the last light before her home, she glances up and her breath catches in her throat. Black smoke is billowing into the air from the direction of her building. She slams the gas pedal to the floor and tears through the intersection even though the light is still red. Car horns blare at her, but she pays them no mind. The tires of her small car squeal loudly on the pavement as she turns right at the next intersection. Slamming on the brakes, she jumps out of her car and stares.
Two big, red fire trucks, a couple ambulances, and a police car sit on the street in front of the building where she shares an apartment with Candy. Firefighters rush to and fro in front of the building as they try to contain the roaring inferno that is gutting the building. Fire belches forth from the windows on the fourth, fifth, and sixth floor. In a daze, Shelly walks up the street toward the burning building. She thinks of Candy sleeping on the couch because she doesn’t have to work during the day and breaks into a run. A policeman steps in front of her and says something, but she shoulders past him.
“My friend is in there!”
He nods and follows closely behind her. A firefighter steps in front of her and holds out his hands to stop her. She tries to run around him, but he wraps his arm around her and stops her. She fights hard against his tight grip.
“My friend is in there! Candy!”
“Calm down, ma’am.” He holds her out at arm’s length and looks her in the eyes.
Shelly tears her eyes away from the fire and looks at the firefighter. Her eyes widen in surprise as she sees who he is. “You’re one of the guys from the club.”
“I am.” He smiles at her. “I need you to calm down and tell me your name.”
“Shelly. My friend is in there! We share an apartment together! She’s in there!” She grows frantic again when she thinks of Candy.
“Shelly, my name’s Jerome and I need you to stay calm. Can you do that for me?”
She nods her head. “Yeah, I can stay calm.”
“What floor is your friend on?”
“The fourth.”
“What apartment number?”
“7D.”
Shelly’s heart rises to her throat when she sees the look on Jerome’s face. He looks down for a split second and she knows what is coming.
“I’m afraid I have some terrible news. Come over here and have a seat.” He takes her over to the steps of a nearby apartment building. She looks up at him with tears in her eyes as he rubs a hand over his face. “I’m afraid that the fire started on the same floor as the apartment you share with your friend, Shelly. I don’t know exactly what happened, but it by the time we got here, the entire fourth floor was engulfed in flames.”
“Did Candy get out?”
“No, she did not.”
“How can you know that?”
“We have some eyewitnesses who verified it.”
“How can they know?”
“Just trust me. They know.”
“Tell me how.” She grabs him by the shirt collar and looks at him with pleading eyes.
“They heard her screaming inside her apartment.”
Shelly’s hands fall limply away from his collar and land in her lap. A small ‘oh’ escapes her lips. Looking down at the ground, she begins to cry. Her shoulders shake as she weeps. Jerome sits down beside her and throws a comforting arm over her shoulder. For some time, she just weeps as he holds her. With a shuddering gasp, she pulls herself together and looks up.
“Oh, Candy.” She shakes her head. “She was so bad to fall asleep with a cigarette. I don’t know how many times I yelled at her for it, but she would just keep doing it.”
“Hey, don’t worry about that right now.” One of the firefighters yells from across the street and Jerome raises a hand to him. “Listen, I’ve got to go. Are you going to be alright?”
“Yeah, I suppose so.”
“Do you have somewhere to go tonight?”
“No, but I’ll rent a hotel room with . . . my credit card was in the apartment.” She lowers her head.
“Do you know where the fire house is?”
She nods her head.
“Drop by there in a few hours and I think I might be able to arrange a place for you to stay for a few nights. How does that sound?”
“Okay.”
“See you in a while.”
Shelly raises a limp hand in a half wave, but doesn’t raise her head. All she can think about is her best friend of twenty years being dead. She sits on the front stoop of the building across from her apartment until all the fire and rescue workers are gone. As the people on the street begin to disperse, she strolls over to her car in a daze and climbs inside.
For a full hour, she drives with no destination. She has almost a hundred dollars in her purse, but that won’t even get her a night in the sleaziest hotel in town. Seeing the parking lot of the park, she pulls in and sits for a while as she contemplates what to do next.
“Should I go to the fire house?” she asks her reflection in the rearview mirror. “I really don’t have anywhere else to go so I guess it couldn’t hurt.”
Twenty minutes later, she is sitting in front of the fire house in her car. Earlier, the thought of going in didn’t bother her in the least, but now that she is sitting in front of the building, it is a whole different matter. She is just about to put her car in reverse and sleep in a parking lot for the night when Jerome and Gerry step out of the front door and wave to her. She shuts off the car and climbs out.
As they walk toward her, she tries to think of a polite way to tell them that she can’t stay here, but nothing will come to her. Both men wear solemn looks on their faces as they near her. Jerome steps close and wraps her in a hug. Shelly starts to pull away, but the warmth of the hug and the human contact is just more that she can take. She falls into the hug and begins to weep.
“I’m so sorry for your loss.” Jerome whispers to her as he rubs her back.
“Thank you.” She pulls away from the hug and looks to Gerry.
Jerome catches her look and waves a hand at Gerry. “You remember my twin brother, Gerry. The one who shoved the bartender and almost got all three of us arrested.”
“How are you?” she asks.
“I’m fine. Jerome tells me that you need a place to stay for a few nights.”
“Yeah. I guess I do.”
Gerry nods his head toward a house across the street from the fire station. The house is small and white with a green metal roof. A small pickup sits out front alongside the curb.
“It isn’t much, but it does have two bedrooms and you’re welcome to one as long as you like.” Jerome tells her.
“I don’t know, guys. I appreciate the offer, but . . .”
“No if, no buts, no coconuts. You’ll stay with us until you get back on your feet. I don’t want to hear any more about it.” Gerry, the bolder of the two, tells her as he puts an arm around her shoulders. “Your car will be fine right there for tonight. Come on, and I’ll show you to you room so you can get some sleep. You’ve had a long, stressful day.”