Casualties of Love (6 page)

              “Hey.” 

Tyson turned and watched as Marcus wheeled himself back into their hospital room. The other guy had been moved and it was just Tyson and Jones in the space now. Soon Tyson would be there alone. Marcus would soon be able to go back to the barracks. He would transition to crutches and finish his “vacation” in his own room. They’d already been told they weren’t being moved anywhere. Even needing to stay in the hospital a while longer, Tyson wasn’t going to be sent anywhere else for recovery. They would stay in Afghanistan until they were well enough to get back to work or until it was time for them to go home.

              “Hey,” Tyson replied to his friend.

“I’m about wheel myself down to see Collins. You want me to see if they’ll let you go?”

              “Hell, yes. I need to get out of this room.”

He
needed
to stop pining after Jessica Watts.

              After a several minutes of growling and throwing his Captain status around, plus the additional minutes of fussing about how to get him in a chair so he could get to Collins’ room, he and Marcus were talking to their teammate. Collins was a little worse for the wear after the attack but he was in good spirits.

              “Cap, it’s good to see you.” Collins slightly inclined in his bed. His skin was a little pale and gray, but there was a smile on his face.

              “You too Collins, you too,” Tyson said gripping the man’s offered hand.

              “It was too bad about Lassiter. Hell, I still can’t believe he’s gone. It was like I went to sleep, woke up, and he was dead.”

              “Yeah,” Tyson said. It had felt the same for him and he knew Marcus was taking it hard, too.

              “How you holding up, Jack?” Marcus asked Collins.

              “What? The foot? Man, shit. I’m just glad to be alive. I’m gonna trick that thing out with some titanium and steel and rock a Lt. Dan.” 

They all laughed. Collins was referring to his amputated foot. Despite the efforts in the field and in surgery, the doctors couldn’t save the badly damaged extremity. But, Collins always took stuff, however it came, with the most positive outlook he could. In the life of a warfighter, there really wasn’t any other way to remain sane.

“Seriously, though. I get to go home to my family still breathing. I’m grateful, man. I’m bummed the foot’s gone, but I’ll get over it at some point. Don’t know how I feel about not being able to come back, though. Can’t imagine not being on the team.”

“I hear you, brother,” Marcus said.

“What about you, Cap? They gonna let you back after this one?”

Collins gestured to Tyson’s leg injury.

“Probably,” Tyson answered with a shrug. “They say I should be able to get back to normal. Or as close to normal as we are after seeing and doing this shit for so long. Nothing’s broken. The artery wasn’t nicked like they thought. Just a lot of flesh to heal because it was kind of deep. And hopefully the headaches will stop…hopefully. At this point, I’m wondering how many more lucky breaks I’m gonna get. Three tours and injuries that get worse each time. Maybe I’m running out of luck. Maybe I ought to hope that I don’t get put back.”

“Yeah, but what the hell would we do if we didn’t do this?” Marcus asked. “I don’t know how to do anything else.”

“I’ll let you know, Jones. Looks like I’ll be figuring it out.”

“The team won’t be the same without you, Collins,” Marcus said sincerely.

“Course not. Who’s gonna be the pretty one?” Collins tired voice said in a superior tone.

“Fuck you, man.
I’m
the pretty one,” Marcus argued with an exaggerated expression.

“You’re both nuts. I’m the pretty one. Hell, if for no other reason than I’m the boss!” Tyson said.

“His ass is always pulling rank,” Marcus said jerking a thumb toward Tyson. “You know he’s thinking he can just order us to say it’s true.”

They all laughed and it felt good. It felt like a release. They had lost a buddy, but they all knew they were blessed to be alive.

“You
pretty boys
need to keep it down and get some rest.”

They all turned heads to see Jessica standing in the doorway with small smile on her face. Clearly she’d heard their exchange. Her naturally sultry voice had moved over Tyson like a soft breeze - one that was blowing right over his crotch. Tyson’s eyes ate up the vision of her. Her hair was pulled back, accentuating her features. She was fresh-faced, completely void of make-up, and in uniform, but she still managed to stun him. 

Collins let out a soft wolf whistle.

“I’ll do anything for you darlin’,” Collins said to Jessica with a teasing wink.

“Really? And, what would we tell your wife, sugar?” she teased back as she walked into the room. Collins gave her a sheepish grin. “But since you said anything, you need to rest,” she said talking to Collins. He held his hands up in surrender. She checked his leg and asked him if he was in any pain. Collins assured her he was fine as she looked over his charts.

“
You
shouldn’t be out of bed at all.” Jessica was looking across Collins’s bed at Tyson with that statement. “I worked hard to keep you alive until you made it to surgery. Don’t screw up my handiwork.” Tyson’s expression had to have shown his surprise. He hadn’t known that she had worked on him in the field. “And you, Lt. Jones, need to stay off that ankle
and
stop stirring up trouble. I hear you’ve been flirting with the female PAs.” Marcus gave Jessica a “who me” gesture at which she rolled her eyes.

“Come on, I’m rolling you back, Cpt. Kidd. Lt. Jones, please follow in your own vehicle,” she said pointing to his wheelchair.

              “Yes, ma’am,” Jones said.

              “Don’t ma’am me, sir,” she said as she started to wheel Tyson out of Collins’ room.

Jones just laughed. He followed them until he saw one of their other teammates. He broke off the path to their room, despite Jessica’s protest, promising her that he wouldn’t make trouble. He did so with a wink, so Tyson hoped she didn’t believe what Marcus had said. She wheeled him back to the room and managed to help him get into the bed. He was surprised she succeeded because he wasn’t that much help, but apparently she had a lot of practice with that kind of thing.

              “So, you patched me up? Kept me alive out there until we got pulled out?”

              “Yes.”

              “Did you know I was here; in country? Before you saw me?”

              “No. I was…very surprised to see you.”

              Tyson was glad she didn’t know. It had occurred to him that she might have known he was in Afghanistan and succeeded at avoiding him. As it stood, he had no idea if she would have tried to seek him out had she known he was in country with her. He didn’t ask. Wasn’t sure he would like the answer.

              “Thank you,” he said.

              “It’s my job, sir.” True, he thought, but he was grateful.

              “Still, thanks.”

              “Not a problem, captain.” Jessica adjusted his pillows and helped him settle in. She was close, standing near him at the right-side edge of the bed - close enough that he caught her light fragrance. He breathed her in. Lavender.

              “You don’t have to keep it up with the rank and file stuff.”

              “It’s protocol.”

              “I don’t want the protocol, Jessica.”

He’d already said the words before he thought about what they might imply. He half wanted her to ask him what he did want, but he wasn’t sure he could actually tell her that he wanted her - even if that was the case. He wasn’t sure that wanting her was a good thing given the nature of their shared past...particularly the part where she had left him. Plus, he didn’t know what, if anything, was between them. So far they had only spoken a few words and he hadn’t even been able to process her comment about missing him. She had walked away, not the other way around. Why would she miss him?

              But, she didn’t ask. She looked away. He sensed her about to retreat and, on impulse he reached for her. He didn’t want her to move away, and he surprised them both by grabbing the front of her uniform. For a few seconds, he only stopped her departure.  Then, he began to pull her in. Slowly. Deliberately. When he had her mouth hovered over his, he stilled the movement. Her hands were on the mattress on either side of his body. They stared until Jessica spoke.

              “You probably shouldn’t,” she said in a breathy voice.

              “Maybe not. But, do you want me to?”

              “Yes.”

No hesitation. Tyson might have growled. He couldn’t be sure, because he was too busy pressing his way into her mouth. She tasted as good as he remembered; better maybe. Sweet. Intoxicating. Singularly Jessica. Her tongue brushed against his and he tightened his grip on her shirt. She sank into him, ending up half seated-half lying at the side of his bed. Her upper body was leaned into his torso. Her right hip was next to his hip on the mattress.

Tyson moved his hand from her top and put it on her waist. He put his other hand at the back of her head. He spread his fingers wide and dug them into the base of her bun. Unthinking, he ripped the band away and freed the silky hair that he had once spent hours rubbing between his fingertips.  He felt the hair spill from its confines to fall about her shoulders and face. The soft scent of lavender wafted around them.

The kiss was a duel.  Fencing tongues. Attacking and retreating. Giving and taking. They went back and forth for longer than either of them was aware. Tyson’s only measure of time was the ever increasing tightening in his crotch, which indicated to him that it was time to touch bare flesh to bare flesh, to sink into Jessica’s warm body. When her hands gripped his thick neck, they seemed to check themselves. They pulled apart, though it wasn’t a significant distance. Tyson stared into her eyes and wished he could trust everything he saw in her gaze.

He slowly moved his hand from the back of her head to caress the side of her face. She leaned into his palm and moved her right hand down to rub her thumb across his bottom lip. Her other hand stroked the pulse point at the side of his neck. He smoothed her thick hair back, reacquainting himself with its texture and feel.

“Why did you stay away the last few days?” he asked. He had not meant to ask, hadn’t meant to indicate that he’d noticed her absence or had been looking for her to come by.

“I don’t work here. Help out sometimes, but I’m a combat medic, 68 Whiskey. I was with my unit. Not staying away.”

“You don’t work in the infirmary?” Tyson asked with a slight frown.

“No.”

“Then why are you here?” he heard himself ask. He searched her eyes.

Tyson watched emotions he wanted to ignore but couldn’t pass over Jessica’s features. She sighed and he felt her breath against his face and lips. Then, she closed her eyes, and, with that blink, a single tear slipped between his thumb and her cheek.

“Because you’re here,” she said to him. She opened her eyes to look at Tyson, and what he saw ripped his insides to shreds.

“Jess,” he said, his voice rough. Another tear. Another kiss. “What the hell happened to us?”

Chapter 5

              Jessica never got around to answering Tyson’s question. Lt. Marcus Jones returned to their shared room and burst the bubble of intimacy they had been floating upon. It was a good thing too because one of the PAs was on his way to check on Tyson’s thigh wound.  Marcus had blocked the doorway and Jessica had quickly disengaged herself and restructured her hair before the PA had noticed...she hoped. True, she was assigned to a unit, but as part of the trauma team, she still had to work with many of the people at the military hospital. She was already dodging questions about West Point. She didn’t want to have to dodge questions about why she was making out with the Officer who everyone now knew she had known at West Point.

              That kiss had been amazing.
Clearly
, her conscious mocked.
It’s been a week and you’re still thinking about it.
She had not realized how much she had missed it – being with Tyson, being held by him, touched by him. Nothing had changed. He was still as sexy as hell, could still send her body into frenzy. She’d been young and inexperienced when they had first started dating. Not a virgin, but her first time had not been a pleasant memory. She had been with a boy from high school that was more interested in bragging about being the one who had finally breached “Fort Watts” as they called her. She’d thought he was really into her, but it had been about notching his proverbial bedpost. But, Tyson...

He had taught her how to love. Together they had learned what she enjoyed, what truly set her body on fire, what she needed to find fulfillment.  She had learned how to pleasure him, memorized the things that would bring him to his knees. In the past few days, Jessica had tortured herself with those memories. Now, she sorely longed to test just how much she remembered about how to satisfy him.

But in the days that she had seen Tyson since the kiss, they had not again ventured into that realm. They had talked and, sort of, become reacquainted. It was like they wanted to know each other again, but they were each wary and cautious when they talked. Then, they’d end up crashing into some awkward dead end, because she couldn’t come clean. Like yesterday...

“Are you ever going to tell me what happened?” he had asked.

She had been checking his wound while they engaged in small talk. Jessica had not been surprised by the abrupt change in subject or the direct question. She had been waiting for him to ask her outright.

“I hope so,” she had replied. Jessica had been sincere not flippant, but he had taken offense.

“What the fuck does that mean, Jessica?” 

She had frowned at him, looking up from the leg she’d been re-bandaging.

“Just what I said and don’t curse at me,” she had warned him in a hard tone. He had never used coarse language like that with her in the past...at least not in anger.