Page 48 of Operation: Discovery

“I was wondering how long it would take you to get here,” Nixon said, then laughed. “All right, boys. Give them some room.”

The firefighters helped her off the gurney, and one asked if she needed any further assistance. She barely heard him as she shook her head no. The only thing she needed was racing toward her. If only he didn’t look like he might throttle giants to get to her.

* * *

Brendon couldn’t takehis eyes off Dee. Finding her was like finding treasure. He couldn’t move fast enough to get to her. Seeing her wasn’t enough. He needed to touch her, talk to her, be assured that nothing was wrong, no one had touched her, that she was unhurt.

Dark splotches of blood caked in the fabric of her scrubs at her knees where she’d been injured, but it looked like a fall, not abuse or a fight. Had she tussled with the woman? He watched as the group of people literally parted. Vaguely, he heard Nixon order everyone away, and Dee stood from where she’d been lying.

By the time he reached her, they were alone. “Dee …” Emotion clogged his throat and a heaviness fell on his shoulders. He got the immediate sense that he’d done wrong. He’d been given this opportunity to forgive and be forgiven, and he’d almost wasted it.

“Brendon. You’re just the guy I wanted to see.”

Her words sent power through him, reassuring him. When she’d avoided him all week, he’d begun to think he’d messed up so irrevocably that they were finished for the second time. This time before barely starting. If they couldn’t manage to keep on the right track, maybe they weren’t meant to ever be together. Yet the thought of that felt wrong in every way.

Her legs trembled slightly, and she looked at the ground. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you where I was going. We hadn’t talked.”

He opened his arms, giving her the choice to sit on his lap or choose not to. He wasn’t going to be offended if she didn’t. Dee sighed softly and gently lowered onto his lap, then curled into his neck. “I was scared when she tried to run me over.”

Brendon wrapped her tightly in his arms and held her close. “Anyone would be. That’s natural.”

“I was afraid Mike was working with her. I don’t remember him from the other scenes and officers look so different out of uniform.”

He ran his fingers through her hair, in the hopes of calming her nerves. “You’re still new to this area. I’m glad he was there when he was.”

“Me, too.” Her voice squeaked slightly.

His mind warred with his heart. He wanted to kiss her, to show her she was with him and could stay with him if she wanted to. He wanted the kiss to tell her all the things he couldn’t say, that he was more sorry than words, that he’d made a grave mistake, that he wanted a second chance with his first love.

But his mind warned him this was not the time. Last time he had kissed her after a scary situation, she’d pulled away from him. She’d left him to worry about what he’d done. If she pulled away again, that would start the process all over again and he wasn’t strong enough to deal with the emotions.

He held her head where she’d found comfort in his neck. Her soft breath warmed the skin of his throat, where the first button of his shirt was open, and his tee didn’t cover. She shivered and he held her tighter. “We should get you inside.”

She sat up slightly and a chill ran down his body at the loss of her heat. “I’ll be fine now.” Her brown eyes watched him intently, and he caught her subtle glance at his lips. It was all the invitation he needed. He threaded his fingers into her soft hair and directed her to the kiss she apparently wanted.

In the next instant, she clung to him, her kiss conveying more than he ever could. If a kiss was a language, she gave him an essay on exactly what was in her heart. He wanted all of it, every word, every breath, every sigh.

He wasn’t sure how long the kiss lasted, but both of them were breathing harder when she ended it and clung to him in another fierce embrace.

“I was so worried you’d kissed me before to get me to think of something other than what was going on. I thought it was a pity kiss and I was ashamed that you thought I was so weak that I needed the distraction. Especially because it worked. Iwasdistracted. You took me out of that awful situation for a moment and I hated myself for that. I hated that I could forget the horror that we were in the middle of with just one kiss.” She pressed her forehead to his shoulder.

“That thought never crossed my mind. I promise you that I have only ever kissed you because I wanted to or because I felt like you wanted me, and I was ready to kiss you the first moment I met you.”

She laughed and the sound relaxed him, letting the tension of looking for her and the sweet tension of kissing her melt away.

“I shouldn’t have worried, but in some ways, after what happened between us, I’m walking on eggshells. I don’t want to hurt you again.”

He had to dispel her fear once and for all. This was on him. She’d been kind and supportive. His feelings mattered. If they didn’t, he wouldn’t be a counselor. In the same token, her feelings mattered in equal measure and her intent had been good. She’d never meant him any disrespect.

“Your support and encouragement and even blunt honesty will not hurt me now. I’m in a different place than I was then. I’m confident in who I am. Say what you need to say to me, Dee. I can take it.” Though he knew he wasn’t ready for a profession of love, he was ready for an agreement to work on fixing what they’d broken.

“Then I’ll honestly tell you that I don’t want to leave Wayside.”

It wasn’t an ‘I love you’ by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a good start.

Conner cleared his throat. “It’s getting dark. I called Lacy and let her know Dee was found so she could pass that on to Moira. Lacy will work on getting her a temporary phone she can use so we can contact her, and she can ask for help if she needs it. We should head home.”

Brendon glanced at the pickup and realized belatedly that fitting three people in there would be difficult. Here on the ground, Dee could sit in his lap, and it caused him no discomfort at all. That wasn’t legal in a vehicle. There was a narrow seat between the driver and passenger, mainly unused, where the center console could flip up or down to either be a seat or an armrest, but it wasn’t very wide. Definitely made for a child. With Connor being the big man he was, fitting Dee in that middle seat would be difficult.

---