Page 16 of The Soul of Archer
"Slow breaths Lance. The ambulance is nearly here." Alora whispered.
"I need...to call Ethan..." Lance began.
"Once we get you on the ambulance I'll call him. Just lie still." Alora insisted.
Lance settled back. Pain now spreading through him. It hurt to breath and his right hip felt like hell. A few seconds later the ambulance screeched to a halt and the paramedics jumped out. The woman filled them in on what happened as they began checking him over.
"Sir, we're going move you to the backboard. It's probably going to hurt like a bitch." The lead medic instructed.
"Just do it." Lance gritted.
The medics, Alora and the woman eased Lance onto his side, got the board under him, and eased him back down. The whole time Lance noticed Alora held his hand in a vice grip. Moments later, with his tigress still clutching his hand, he was loaded up and headed for the nearest hospital.
Chapter 8
Alora sat in the chair next to Lance's hospital bed holding his hand. At the moment he was sleeping thanks in part to the sedative the doctor had given him. They were keeping him overnight for observation and she could take him home in the morning. She looked up when the door opened, and Ethan walked in.
"How is he?" Ethan asked.
"The doctor said he's lucky. Nothing was broken but he's going to have a helluva bruise and in some pain for a day or two. They're keeping him overnight and right now he's sedated." Alora explained.
Ethan chuckled, "He's gonna be pissed when he comes out of it. Hawk, hates being sedated."
"Oh?" Alora questioned.
Ethan pulled over another chair. "Oh yeah. We were training out at 29 Palms and he took a hard knock when he fell off an AAV. His boot snagged on the vehicle and he hit the deck. Anyway, the corpsman was having such a hard time treating him he knocked Lance out. When he came to a few hours later in sickbay...let's just say he was ready to kill everyone."
Alora giggled as she looked back at Lance. She grew serious once more. "He saved me Ethan. He put his body between me and that car. How did he even know?"
Ethan ran a hand through his hair, "We were meeting with Danny. There was a surveillance photo taken from the deli near your bakery yesterday afternoon. The picture showed Sam watching your shop. When Lance saw it and found out, he tore ass to get to you. We've all learned over the years to trust our guts and I guess his said you were in danger."
This floored Alora. Why would he do that? Could she have misunderstood him last night and jumped to conclusions? Was it possible that Lance "Hawkeye" Archer felt something for her like she did for him? Well, when they got back to his place they were having a discussion, then she was putting his ass to bed like the doctor ordered.
***
Lance groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. The room he was in smelled like Lysol. Glancing to his right he saw the heart monitor. Yep. He was in a damned hospital. He looked to his left and instantly calmed. Alora was slouched in a chair asleep. He smiled and reached out to touch her hand. She stirred when he squeezed her hand.
"Hmm. Hey." She sighed.
"Hey." Lance said.
"How you feeling?"
"Like hell. You okay?"
Alora leaned toward him, grasping his hand. "I'm just fine. Thank you. For saving me today."
"You don't have to thank me. I'm just glad I got there in time." He replied, squeezing her hand. "Um, two questions. One, why the hell am I still in the hospital? And two, who the hell authorized the butchers here to sedate me?"
Alora giggled. "Well, you're still here because Dr. Marcs, that's your doctor by the way, wants you to be observed to make sure there's nothing else but the bruising on your hip is wrong with you. As for who authorized them, I did."
"You? Why the hell did you do that for?" He demanded.
"You really don't remember?" Lance shook his head no. Alora just rolled her eyes and sighed. "Jesus, you Marines really are a handful. You were fighting the doctor and nurses so bad in the E.R, that it was either restrain you or knock your stubborn ass out. I figured you'd swallow that easier than being restrained so I told them knock you out."
Lance was dumbfounded. Alora had ordered that he be sedated. He blinked a few times before he spoke again. "Well I'll be damned. How were you able to do that? I thought only family could authorize stuff like that."
He lifted he brow when he saw her start to squirm in her chair. "Um, well, I kind of told them that I was your....um...well..."
