Page 46 of Stryker

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John

John was limping heavily by the timehe made it to the first floor, but he refused to stop. He pulledthe heavy stairwell door open and walked into a dark lobby areathat looked as deserted as the rest of the building. A central deskwith a large information board stood in the middle, but nocompanies’ names were on it. The building was either closed down orabandoned.

He wondered if there was an alarmsystem set up he could trigger to bring the authorities. Johnscanned the area but saw nothing, not a single blinking light. Hesighed.

The front door itis.

He limped in that direction. By now,his lungs and legs were fighting him every step of the way, but hepushed on. He saw flashing lights in the distance when he was onlya few feet from the glass front door. As he watched, they gotprogressively closer. Relief flowed over him as he sank to theground and waited for the cavalry.

His ordeal was almost over.

***

Stryker

Stryker saw the staggering figure inthe distance sinking to the ground, and before the vehicle slid toa stop outside the front doors, he was jumping out of it, headingstraight for John.

“I’m here. How bad are youhurt?” He dropped to his knees beside his lover as the other teammembers piled out of the cars.

John smiled, his face scratched andbruised. Stryker’s blood boiled at the sight. “I’m doing okay. Madeit all the way down but damn, I’m glad to see you.”

Stryker helped John to his feet.“Let’s get you to the hospital, get you checked out. I’ll tell youall about how we found you in the car.”

Brick patted John on the back. “Soundslike a plan. Hell, I’m glad you’re okay.” He looked around at theteam members, all smiling and thumbs-upping at John. “Let’s get theman someplace safe, then we can re-form at the lake house.” Heclapped John on the arm again. “Good to see you.”

The team piled into the cars, Johnwith Stryker, and he leaned his head against Stryker’s broadshoulder, and closed his eyes.

***

Stryker watched John as he slept inthe hospital bed. The doctor wanted to keep John for observation tomake sure the drug Raymond had given him didn’t cause any lastingeffects. John also had a hairline bone fracture in his right footalong with muscle bruising. John’s whole ordeal was due toStryker’s fault alone. His past had caused John to be targeted andhurt.. He’d failed to protect the one person he cared about aboveall others, and now he had to live with that. It would never happenagain.

“Are you going to sleep atall?” John’s groggy voice brought Stryker out of his darkthoughts.

“Eventually, when you’reback home,” Stryker answered honestly.

He couldn't let down his guard sincethey were still technically out in public.

“I’m fine. You shouldrest.”

“You’re hurt, notfine.”

“I’ll heal in no time, andthis was all my fault. Hell, if I hadn’t gone back to the apartmentalone, and been pissy, none of this might havehappened.”

“None of this is yourfault,” Stryker stated.

“Same to you. None of thisis your fault,” John said as he squeezed Stryker’s hand.

“How can you saythat?”

“No, it’s Raymond’s fault,not yours. And if you want to go back even further, it’s yourmother’s fault for making such a shitty choice.” The growl inJohn’s voice was unmistakable.

Stryker had explained everything toJohn in the car on the way to be treated. It was almost dawn of thefollowing day, and he hoped he’d be able to take John home when allthe tests came back.

“How are you feeling?”Stryker asked.

“Changing the subject willnot stop the truth from being the truth, but I’ll allow it. I’mfeeling much better. My headache’s gone at least, and I can thinkagain.”

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