Page 74 of A Touch of Frost
“I’m okay.” Jesse shifted upward and rested his head against my chest. “I was so scared when I saw you take on Striker. It made me so angry. When Widow and Tink told me to let you fight this battle, I wanted to scream. I never want you to fight that kind of war on your own. But they had a point and I hated them for it.”
I kissed his head. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”
“It wasn’t as hard on me as it was on you.”
He kissed my neck and settled down again.
Though I was hungry, I stayed there, caressing his hair and down his back. I knew he wasn’t a soldier, and all of this must have been exhausting for him.
“I’m sorry for being so complicated.” I told him.
“Shhh.” Jesse whispered.
We stayed that way for a while. Even when Lizard and Paul entered with bags, I didn’t want to let him go. Still, Jesse sat up and crawled into the bed to sit with his back against the headboards.
“Look who’s awake!” Lizard cheered. “Hey, beautiful!”
He set the bags down on a chair across the room and rushed over to hug me.
I grunted.
“Sorry.” Lizard laughed.
I waved at Paul. “Where’s Widow and Tink?”
“Black Widow had to head back to the carrier.” Jesse told me. “She’d been off for a while. But she says as long as you don’t go ghost again, she’ll call you soon. Apparently, Tink has a job and is now behind on translations—she loves you though.”
The sadness that caused throbbed through me. I’d have liked to have given Black Widow a hug before she was off again. I supposed I could probably pull some strings to swing by the carrier before heading back to the United States.
As for Tink, I’d definitely see her before leaving.
“Oh!” Lizard grinned. “Before I forget—Kandi stopped by to bring you a bag of—um—girlie things.”
I giggled. “She knows better.”
“She did bring you a bag.” Jesse confirmed. “It’s mostly clothes and some other stuff.”
Making a mental note to thank her later, I inhaled. “So, what’s up?”
Jesse smiled. “We brought you food.”
“Give her the nutrient mix.” Lizard told Paul.
Once I was drinking, Lizard and Paul made themselves comfortable to explain what Jesse had told me about what happened to Striker.
Apparently, while I was down, Lizard, Jesse and Black Widow had to go save Blink and Ray from Mountain Head. Kandi stayed as my protection.
Blink had flown back into the United States to face the music for his part in this entire thing.
“He didn’t really do anything wrong,” I said. “I guess I could see my way to putting in a good word for him. He was trying to clear things up.”
“And he is cooperating, I’m sure they’ll see he was only trying to do the right thing.” Paul told us. “I mean, the guy almost died trying to set things right. That has to count for something.”
“Sometimes.” I told him. “Especially if he has news that could help clean up that squad.”
“That man deserves to have his ass handed to him.” Lizard grumbled.
“I’m not going to disagree with you there.” Jesse accepted his Njeguski steak.
