Page 23 of Trusting the Team

“Your accent is sexy, I mean you have a nice accent, I mean…I swear it’s the drugs. I’m not like this.”

Duke smiled, “Not like what?”

“My whole-body hurts, but I feel like I’m on a cloud. I’m not impulsive, despite what you all think about what happened, my mouth is just running---"

“Nobody’s judging you here, Embry.”

“Why do you say my name like that?”

“I—what did the doctor say?”

“He took out my spleen, said a bruised kidney, I have to have hardware put into my arm.”

“Are you going to be staying in California?”

“I’m the only one that survived, aren’t I?” Duke could tell her heartrate and breathing were starting to increase, he lifted an eyebrow at a nearby nurse.

“You were the only person we found in that house.” Duke answered. “Can you try and take a couple deep breathes for me?” Duke recognized her attempts and watched the nurse add a med to her IV. Embry started to level back out, her body relaxing.

“Don’t leave me, please,” Embry mumbled.

“I don’t think I can,” Duke muttered to himself.

The lights came on,the aircraft landed. Nurses started pulling off the more critical patients. Cowboy looked at the litter bearers coming toward Embry’s litter, “We’ll get it.” Duke stood up, his legs stiff from being on the floor for so long. Cowboy grabbed his and Duke’s ruck, Trey grabbed his own and Ferret’s. Duke and Ferret took Embry’s litter off the aircraft, loading it into the waiting ambulance. “I’ll find you,” Duke whispered into Embry’s ear as he left the litter.

Home

15

EMBRY

The team went through their mission debrief and were released within a few hours of their arrival. Most of the guys immediately headed toward home. Cowboy had a wife waiting for him. Everybody else just wanted to relax and reset. Duke went to the hospital to find Embry. He was sure they were both feeling the same weird pull toward each other. She was going through the nurses’ shift change assessment when he stepped in. Her blankets were down around her waist, her gown open exposing the bandage around her abdomen. His hands shot up to cover the view as he turned back toward the door, “I’m sorry.” The young nurses giggled at the unshaven, ripped, six-foot SEAL blushing.

He waited outside her door, hearing the male nurse confide in Embry, “Let me know if you don’t want him.” As he passed Duke at the door he motioned inside, “She’s ready.” “Thanks,” Duke responded, turning on his heel to go in.

“You came,” she whispered, her breathing labored.

“I told you I would.”

“Maybe you tell that---"

“Don’t,” Duke cut her off. “It’s not just me,” Duke stepped closer. Embry shook her head, her eyes never leaving his. Helifted his hand to cup her face, careful of the bruising. She did not move; he lifted his other hand to frame her face as he leaned in. He kissed tentatively, worried he would hurt her.

She turned her head, and he dove in, his right hand sliding to the back of her head, tangling in her hair. He felt fingertips trying to grip his shirt as her cast moved up his ribs. He reached deeper, their teeth gnashing as she tried to pull him even closer with her good arm around his waist. He caught his balance, putting his left hand out against the mattress behind her head, still not stopping the assault on her lips he lowered to his elbow. There was an interrupting cough from behind them. Eyes on Embry’s, Duke licked his lips and then turned his head to find a doctor waiting. He straightened uncomfortably keeping his back to the stranger, as he tried to shift his hard on. “And you are?” the doctor asked.

“Boyfriend,” Embry answered, turning red.

“Do you mind him in the room?”

“No,” she shifted up in the bed as Duke turned to face the doctor.

“Tomorrow morning we'll go in and fix the fracture. If you can manage it, 30 days before sex. Let everything in your belly heal from the splenectomy.”

16

---