Page 13 of Bullets and Dandelions

“I did.” I quickly put my tee shirt back on. I hated people seeing how skinny I was.

Peggy sighed. “That man is sex on two legs.”

“And he’s hung like a stallion too.”

“You’ve had sex with him?” Peggy stared at me in awe.

“God, no! I just caught a glimpse of him swimming in the nude.”

Peggy asked eagerly, “Did you take any pictures?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Too bad. Let’s get you on the scale.”

Sliding off the gurney, I walked over to the scale and reluctantly stepped on it. Shit! Even with my boots on I was down to a hundred pounds.

Peggy noted it on her clipboard. “I’ll have the mess hall bring you some food.”

“Any chance of some chocolate cake?”

“I’ll ask Doctor Morrison.” Peggy patted the gurney. “Up you go.”

Yawning, I got back on the gurney and watched as Peggy efficiently took my blood and inserted the IV.

Lieutenant Moss pushed through the curtains. “How long will the IV take?”

“About an hour,” Peggy answered.

Lieutenant Moss handcuffed me to the gurney. “Don’t go anywhere.”

“Yes, sir.” What a smart ass.

He walked off.

“I’ll see about your cake,” Peggy said.

“Thanks.” I laid back and closed my eyes.

Gunfire woke me. I jerked upright when a woman started screaming for help. Shit! That kinda sounded like Peggy. Pulling the lockpick out of my bra, I unlocked the handcuff and yanked out the IV.

A Taliban goon charged through the curtains. “Allah Akbar!” He threw a knife at me.

I ducked.

His buddy didn’t. A look of astonishment on his face, he stared at the knife embedded in his chest and toppled over.

Rolling off the bed, I yanked the knife out of the dead guy’s chest and returned it to the owner. Making an awful gurgling noise, he slumped to the floor.

The woman screamed, “Someone help me. Please, I need some help here!”

“Shit!” I took the dead guy’s AK-47 rifle and checked the magazine. Damn, there were only twelve bullets left, and just my luck, the militant wasn’t carrying any extra ammo.

“Allah Akbar!” A volley of bullets shredded the curtains.

Laying on the floor, I shot the militant in the legs and duck walked toward the screaming woman.

It was Peggy. She had taken cover behind a desk and was desperately trying to keep a soldier from bleeding out.

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