The blast ruined his hearing, leaving him with an electronic buzz that nearly split his head. It must have been disorienting to the dog too, because he lay very still, until Damon sat up and discovered a metal tie bar on the gate outer surface had given the dog a lethal blow, severing his spinal cord.
And, incredibly, that dog had saved his life.
The wholesale bursting body parts spurting blood and guts all over the ground and chaos that erupted in complete radio silence was surreal. And where the General had been, all that was left were his two well-polished boots, still standing as he was in a salute, fragments of the General’s lower legs protruding out the top in ragged peaks, oozing red blood. The other individual was nowhere to be found.
He heard a motor running and wanted to stand up, but he’d been injured. Trying to put his weight on it, the pain was excruciating, and he passed out like a pussy.
Chapter 18
Greg dropped Kaitlyn off at the crab shack. “Do you mind bringing her home?” he asked. “I don’t want her driving now.”
“Don’t you know? When you get pregnant you forget how to do everything!” Kaitlyn said, trying to get her big ass up on one of the stools.
“Please, Martel. It would mean a lot to me,” he begged, even putting his hands together.
“No problem. We’ll not be long. I’m tired.” Greg gave her a peck on the cheek, then kissed his wife and left.
“I’m sorry, sweetie, I know you were looking forward to that margarita, and now I’ve just spoiled it.”
She couldn’t tell her best friend that as of today, she wouldn’t be doing any more drinking, until she knew the results of a blood test she’d had on the way home from breakfast with Karmody.
“No worries, Kate. I’m not really in the mood anyway.” She sighed and gulped down half of the oversized glass of ice water. One thing she hadn’t gotten used to was the slight sulfur taste of the Florida water. It almost made her gag.
Kaitlyn watched her, the curious grin crossing her pink cheeks. Her eyes sparkled as if she was going to hear some really good gossip. Martel didn’t know where to start.
“You can’t tell anyone, not even Greg.”
At first, Kaitlyn angled her head, frowning. “Oh dear. That bad?”
“It could be.” She felt the hot tears collecting in her lower lids. She tried to will them to stop but it was no use, and she gasped into an ugly, snorting cry that turned heads.
If she noticed, Kaitlyn paid no attention to the reaction of the crowd. She reached across the table and seized Martel’s hand. “Your fingers are ice cold. What is going on with you?”
She halfway decided to break her own rules and have a margarita anyway, but she held firm.
Just where do I begin?
As usual, Kate wasn’t going to pry. She was going to wait until she was collected and wanted to share. She massaged her knuckles and gave her an adoring look, like some of her students did.
“I have a girl in my glass who appears to have been involved in some sexual activity. And it’s spilled over onto the class. She’s using her new-found experience, kind of flaunting it in front of a couple of the boys in my class. And, well, I caught her and two boys out behind the field house. Being inappropriate.”
Kate’s eyes narrowed as she bored into Martel’s stare. “How inappropriate?”
She let them put their hands down her pants, you know, touch her there. I guess she wanted to impress them, or something. She was acting out something she’d been taught, and not by another child, probably an adult. That’s the way it works.”
“Yes, I know. So, you reported it?”
“I reported it to Carlton Green, and we discussed having a parent-teacher conference with the girl’s parents before I called the authorities. That way, they’d have some kind of idea what they could expect. I didn’t want them blindsided by all of it, and, well, frankly, I was also checking out their reaction, in case I would have to also report that I thought they were involved.”
“Oh. My. God,” She said, putting her hand over her mouth. “And are they?”
“I don’t know, Kate. My gut tells me no.”
“So, this is what Green was doing on Monday, meeting with you, and the representatives of the child?”
“They obtained a lawyer. They’re saying that I didn’t keep their daughter safe. That somehow, I’m to blame, that I allowed the boys to abuse her and didn’t stop it.”
“That’s nuts. Someone got to them. So, what does Green say?”
“He’s kinda wishy-washy. It’s like he doesn’t want the controversy to come up in the first place. I get the impression that if someone’s going to fall over this, it won’t be him.”
“Have you called your union rep?”
“Three times. No answser.”
“You poor thing. So, you’re in this alone? Well, with Damon being gone, I guess you are. What can I do to help?”
“Nothing. I’m hiring my own attorney. He thinks it would help if we could identify who the real perpetrator is. So, we’re maybe hiring a private detective.”
“Ouch. That’s going to be expensive, isn’t it?”
“Lucky thing I was saving up for the wedding.”
“No, you can’t do that. You can’t sacrifice your wedding, Martel. That’s just wrong.”
“But with this hanging over my head, without it being resolved, how will I ever get a good job in a decent school, either here or in California? And there’s the cost, I don’t even want to know what Damon will say about all this.”
“Oh, he loves you. Don’t worry about that.”
“He’s away on deployment, I told you where.”
Kate nodded.
“It’s supposed to be very stressful. Oddly enough, they are investigating some sex trafficking cartels there. Very lucrative business helping people cross the border, charging an arm and a leg, and the cartels make them work it off in various terrible ways. Even children.”
“I’ve heard. It’s terrible. So rampant now.”
“I’ve told you more than I’m supposed to, about both Damon’s work and my situation. If I get sued, I could lose my job, my ability to get another job, the financial setback would be horrible, but worst of all, what kind of an introduction would that have to Ainsley? How would she ever believe in me?”
“Love finds a way, Martel. You know this.”
“I’ve lost those rose-colored glasses, Kate. I really have. I used to be such a Pollyanna about things, always believing the best in people, always believing the best things happen to good people. Here, I thought I was helping them, I wanted them to know about their daughter so she can get some counseling. But it’s blown up into a legal affair where it has to be someone else’s fault. And it is, truth be told, just that I’m not that someone.”
The waitress had come by several times, and neither of them had even looked at the menu.
“I don’t think we’re very hungry,” Kaitlyn said to the woman.
“Suit yourself, but it’s going to get crowded tonight. If I need the table, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“How about two bowls of soup. You have some chowder and French bread?” asked Martel.
“Cup or bowl?”
“Bowls.” Kate nodded her agreement.
“Coming right up.” She took the menus and hustled away to wait on someone else.
“Have you told Damon yet?”
“He knows something’s up. But it wasn’t until this morning that I found out how much it was going to cost me. He won’t be pleased, but I do think we’ll have to put the wedding on hold, or just do a barn dance or something very easy and inexpensive.”
“That actually sounds more like his style, anyway.”
“He was letting me do it but no, it wasn’t his idea. I just wanted a perfect, beach wedding, like yours.”
“It was perfect, wasn’t it? But that’s because you were there, Martel. You, and the kids from the school. That was so cute. Now they’re getting
into the baby and everything. It’s really sweet how all of this is unfolding.”
Martel was happy for her, but their two lives didn’t have any resemblance of each other. Kaitlyn did everything perfectly. She had the fairy tale wedding with the handsome prince. She had the love and support of the whole school. All the other teachers loved her. The children adored her, and parents tried to get their kids in her class.
Martel was loved, and was considered a good teacher, but she didn’t have that level of respect. Her life was lived under a little rain cloud. She’d given up Ainsley, missed out on ten good years with Damon because she hadn’t fought hard enough for them. It was a mistake to take such a passive role in all that. Now there was so much to regret.
All based on the decisions she’d made when she was young. It had changed the whole trajectory of her life.
They hardly spoke all the way to Kate’s house. Greg came out and helped her get out of the car, her belly becoming a real obstacle now. Martel remembered those days, when she’d take long walks in the woods and talk to her baby. She told her all about their family, even though she’d never get to meet them. She taught her to listen to the birds and to smell the leaves after it rained, as it always did in Oregon. She sat in her car with the windows open looking at the rough surf. An angry surf. Not like Sunset Beach. It was dangerous and relentless, powerful and strong. It made her feel strong as she carried the child, she knew was not going to be part of her life. She willed that her daughter would be just as strong but make better choices.
Yes, Ainsley might be one of those, like Kaitlyn, who would have it all, the fairy tale all the way through. She hoped she would learn to appreciate all her gifts and celebrate her life like Martel had.
And maybe someday, maybe she’d forgive her.
She didn’t have any reason to expect it, but all the reasons in the world to hope it would happen someday.
Chapter 19
Damon woke up in a hospital bed. He was confused at first, but then the last painful memories of the Mexico trip came flashing by—the explosion, the carnage, even the bizarre celebration of the Day of the Dead, when everyone dressed up in skulls, sugar skulls. They worshiped ten-foot-high ghosts and horned creatures who cavorted with the living and coaxed them into their deaths. He’d had all those vivid dreams, but now he was back, amongst the living.
Someone had brought some flowers by, which was nice. Several of the SEAL kids drew pictures. He examined them carefully, pulling himself up on the bar strung across the bed. What caught his eye first was that someone had drawn him on crutches.
He flipped the sheets over and felt the warm bandage covering his upper thigh. He’d either broken his upper femur, or his hip. Either one was bad. He guessed it was his hip.
Next to the flowers one of his brothers brought him some Jack Daniels. I wouldn’t mind a drink right now, but he was still on an I.V. and he hadn’t been shown how to walk. He didn’t want to risk crashing to the floor and maybe breaking his other one.
He lay back, realizing it was exhausting just sitting up. How long had he been there? He must have been unconscious all the way home because he didn’t remember any of it. He did remember the General’s boots with parts of his legs sticking out the top, greenstick fractures that would never heal, even if they could find the rest of his body.
Then he remembered the dog. How warm and almost protective that animal was, as he was lunging for his neck. He touched his neck and felt a bruise there. But nothing like what would have occurred if that dog had survived. He hadn’t even gotten far enough to break the skin.
“Well, look at what we have here. Mr. Hamlin is up and awake. Is he hungry this morning?”
For some reason, he didn’t understand why she was talking that way. Was there someone else in here too? He turned around and no, just saw the wall with all the monitors on it. He was alone, with the nurse. He didn’t find her attractive or cute at all. He wanted to throw something at her because she was too pert, too happy, happy, happy. Didn’t she know he’d almost died?”
His ears still rang, too. He tried to talk and his tongue curled over on itself until he relaxed and tried again, with the same result. It was the strangest thing.
“You’re having a reaction to the anesthetic they gave you to give you a new hip.”
“New hip?”
“You’ve got a brand-new beautiful hip with a titanium ball and new ball socket. And the doctor says you were lucky. It could have meant both hips, or, perhaps the injury could have been higher and then you might not have survived.”
“Higher? He couldn’t remember any of it.”
“Your memory will come back in no time. Some people sleep for days after a trauma like this. Do you remember what hit you?”
“A fuckin’ door. A huge solid metal door about as long as this room and five times thicker.”
“A flying door. I’ll bet that will be an interesting story over beers at the Scupper. You’ll have some tall tales like all the other guys there.”
“I blew up a general, a Mexican general, too.”
“Well, I’m sure you didn’t mean it. You should say a prayer for his soul, may he rest in peace.”
“No way, I want him to rot in Hell. He was a bad dude.” Damon was feeling punchy and then realized she’d put something into the plastic tube that went right into the back of his hand. “Hey, that’s not very—he wanted me to marry his daughter so I blew him up. But I already got a girl—I got two girls, as a matter of fact—”
And then the darkness consumed him.
The next time he woke up he had a splitting headache, more like a migraine. He didn’t dare move a muscle, even opening his eyes would risk a blinding flash of yellow light and a pain so great, he’d nearly poked his eyes out once to be rid of it.
A rough hand peeled up his eyelid and peered down at him. “Hello Damon,” said Coop.
“Don’t touch me. I have a headache.”
“Not to worry. Sex is the furthest thing from my mind, besides your hairy ass is just too, well it’s just too hairy. It doesn’t turn me on at all.”
Through the foggy dreams with all the bouncing sugar skulls, pictures of little children with their teeth filed to points, blood dripping down their chests haunted him. Just who was he messing around with his eyes, his chart, even making notes in it.
“Hey, that’s my chart. It’s for my doctor, and besides, you’re no doctor.”
“Why yes, it is. And no, I’m not a doctor. I’m the one who stopped the bleeding so you had a chance to live and hassle all the staff here, be an asshole to me. Your guardian angel. I’m the one who saved your life.”
“And I’m the one who blew up a general, and don’t you forget it.”
“No, I’ll never forget that as long as I live. Did you see his boots? They were still shiny.”
“I know!” Damon was beginning to warm back up to Coop. Maybe it was the drugs making him think the medic was being a dickhead.
“How did my hip get broken?”
“You mean, how did you manage to blow yourself up and at the last-minute grab a dog to save your sorry life?”
“What was it that happened?”
“The rod that went through the dog, went right into your hip and sheared off the top of it. If it had been a few inches up and over toward the middle, and if you hadn’t been so freakin scared and shriveled, you might not be able to father any children. But you can breathe a sigh of relief. You can breed to your heart’s content. You’re checked out. You’re fine.”
“You handled my junk?”
Coop stood next to the bed with his arms folded. “Nah. I didn’t. But I think they would have said something if you were missing anything else.”
“Did everyone make it out alive?”
That made him sit on the bed and give him a serious look. “We lost Special Agent Ridgeway. But he was half-dead when we found him anyhow. Kelly made it, though. Everyone else made it out in good shape, without a scratch.
; “And I bagged a general.”
“You bagged a general and a capo. An up-and-coming capo. The head of the Guittierez family in Baja. You rid the planet of a couple of real bad dudes.”
“Hey, thanks, man. I’m sorry if I said some scary stuff a few minutes ago. I’ve had some very weird dreams.”
“Damon, you earned your spot on this one. Kyle, everyone is pleased. He’s going to come talk to you. But my man, that’s one helluva wound and repair. Your days jumping out of airplanes might be over.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it.”
“Ain’t up to me. Up to the Navy doctors.”
“I want to stay a SEAL. I’m not ready to get out. Don’t you let them talk about it like that. You tell them—all of them—I’m staying. I will haunt all you guys down at the SEAL Team 3 building every day and make your lives so miserable, you’ll wish I died in the explosion.”
“Even SEALs have paperwork to do. You can still do that. You could go be an instructor and laugh at froglets and tadpoles and try to get them all to quit. Somebody actually did that once. You could be that guy. I could see it.”
“The whole class quit?”
“Yessir. He got relegated to making welcome packets for SEAL graduations, you know, the little programs for the families?”
“And that’s where they want to put me. A war hero. A man who sacrificed his hip for the cause, for his brothers.”
“Yes, and for blowing up a dog and a general and others. They first give you the medals and then they give you the desk and the paperwork. You’ll see, it isn’t that bad.”
“Hell No!” Damon shouted.
Coop just laughed at him. “Yeah, that’s what I told Kyle. There was no way that was going to happen.”
And then he left.
Second Chance Reunion Page 14