Special Forces_Operation Alpha_Burning Skies

by Jen Talty

  The sound of a Harley roaring at unfathomable speeds rattled her ears.

  “Daddy.” Elle licked her dry lips.

  “He’s here.” Scarlet took Elle’s hand as they rolled her out of the front door and down the driveway. No way would she let go until Jax was by her side.

  Jax skidded his motorcycle to a stop in the driveway, tossing his helmet to the ground. “What happened?” he asked with a harsh bite to his tone.

  “Could be food poisoning or maybe appendicitis,” the EMT said. “But we won’t know until we get her to the hospital.”

  Jax drew his lips into a harsh line as he curled his fingers around Scarlet’s wrist. “I’ll take it from here,” he said, pushing her aside. “Daddy’s here, Buttercup. Everything is going to be okay.”

  Scarlet stopped dead in her tracks. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She hugged herself, trying to stop the convulsions she’d held at bay for the last thirty minutes. She couldn’t remember a time in her life when she’d been that scared. She covered her mouth as a guttural sob erupted in her throat.

  The ambulance blipped the siren, before taking off down the street, the cop car following behind.

  Deep down, she knew this wasn’t her fault. However, she couldn’t help but feel responsible. Whatever happened to Elle, happened on Scarlet’s watch and by the disappointed glare Jax had given her, he held her accountable. She glanced over her shoulder. She probably would have felt the same way if the tables were turned and it was her Rusty who had been in that ambulance.

  She made her way back inside and started cleaning. That poor girl. There was vomit everywhere, and Scarlet wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to get the smell out.

  “Mommy,” Rusty stood in front her, rubbing his sleepy eyes. “Where’s Elle? She’s not in her bed.”

  Scarlet gathered up all the dirty towels and the clothes she’d been wearing when Elle had gotten sick, stuffing them in a laundry basket. She took Rusty by the hand and led him through the family room. Never in a million years would she ever think she’d want a washer and dryer in the kitchen, but hell, this worked. She took her phone out of her back pocket. Still no message from Jax on Elle’s condition. She kept trying to say no news was good news. Besides, it had only been about thirty minutes since the ambulance took her away.

  “Climb up on the chair while I get you some cereal.”

  He sucked on his quivering lower lip. “Did they both leave?”

  “No, baby, not like you think.” She sat down next to Rusty, rubbing his back. “Elle got sick. Really sick and she had to go to the hospital.”

  “Is Jax with her?”

  Scarlet nodded as she swallowed the lump in her throat. “Why don’t you draw Elle a picture, and we can drive over to the hospital later and see how she’s doing.”

  Rusty nodded.

  She poured him a bowl of cereal and set down some markers and a piece of paper. As soon as she finished the laundry, she’d head over to the hospital, even if she hadn’t heard anything from Jax.

  Chapter 6

  Routine surgery.

  There was nothing routine about having to slice open a child and removing their appendix.

  Jax paced in the waiting. It had been sixty-seven minutes since they took her into the operating room. They told him the surgery wouldn’t take longer than an hour as long as there were no complications.

  The doors swished opened and Jax snapped his head toward the sound, but it wasn’t the doctor and it wasn’t Scarlet.

  Where the fuck was she? Instinctively he reached in his back pocket, but he’d left his phone in the station house. Didn’t matter, if she cared she would have been minutes behind him. He took in a deep calming breath. She did have Rusty to deal with, but really, it had been two hours since he and Elle had arrived at the hospital.

  “Mr. Stravos?” A man in scrubs entered the waiting area. “I’m Josh. I was the nurse in with Elle during her surgery.”

  “She’s out? How is she?” His pulse beat so fast he thought for sure he’d drop dead of a heart attack right there. He blinked, trying to clear the sudden double vision.

  “She’s fine.” Josh rested a firm hand on Jax’s shoulder. “No complications and we’re expecting to be able to send her home tomorrow.”

  That seemed soon, but then again, Jax had already gotten cleared for a week off, so he’d have no problem taking care of his little girl. “Can I see her?”

  “You sure can. She’s a still groggy and might fall asleep a lot over the next few hours.”

  Jax willed his heart rate to settle down. He didn’t want Elle to see how shaken up he’d been. The stronger he appeared, the faster she’d heal. Well, that’s what he told himself.

  “She did make one request of you though.”

  “What’s that?”

  “She asked me to tell you not to call her Buttercup.”

  Jax shook his head. “I’ve been calling her that since the day she was born. Kind of a hard habit to break.”

  “Take it from a father of three teenage daughters. Unless you’re handing them the keys to your car or a credit card, best to stick with their given name.”

  Opening and closing his hands, Jax slowly rid himself of the tension that had all his muscles tied up in knots. “Do they ever stop rolling their eyes?”

  “My oldest is seventeen and she’s the worst, but my favorite is the foot stomp, while yelling ‘Daddy, you never let me do anything. You’re the meanest.’ All followed by a hair flip, long sigh and a slammed door. Ten minutes later, she’s all, ‘Daddy, I love you, can I have twenty dollars?’” Josh shook his head laughing. “It never gets easier, it just gets different.”

  “Not sure that makes me feel any better.”

  Josh slapped him on the back as they turned the corner. “I’ve got all girls, and I can’t imagine life any differently. Oh, before I forget, Elle keeps asking for Scarlet. Is she somewhere in the hospital where I can track her down?”

  “She’s at home. I’m hoping she’ll be here soon, though.” The fog started to lift from Jax’s brain as he recalled the events since he’d heard the call over the station radio. Everything between the time he heard his address and this moment, had been on big blur. “Is there a phone I can use?” Only he didn’t remember Scarlet’s number, and he had no way of looking it up since he was horrible at remembering numbers, but he wanted to give her a piece of his mind. She should have known Elle would want her to visit.

  “You can use the one at the nurses’ station.” Josh stopped at a door. A white board with Elle Stravos written in black ink hung from a hook. “I’m on duty till five tonight, so if you need anything at all, just let me, or one of the other nurses, know.”

  “Thanks.” On his tiptoes, Jax made his way to his daughter’s bedside. Tears burned his eyes as he watched a machine pulse with her heart beat. An IV hung from a metal rack above her head, the tubing circling down to where a needle had been threaded into a vein on the top of her hand.

  Her head flopped in his direction, and a bright smile spread across her cheeks. “Hi, Daddy,” she said with a hoarse voice.

  Leaning over he kissed her temple, fanning his hand over the top of her head. “My darling Elle,” he whispered. “You gave me quite the scare.” He sat on the edge of the bed, holding her hand.

  “I didn’t mean to.” Her eyelids fluttered heavily over almond eyes.

  “Well, we can’t control a burst appendix.”

  “It was horrible, and I got sick all over Scarlet.”

  Lifting his hand, he squeezed the bridge his nose. That had to be the worst smell on the planet. “It’s over now, and in a few weeks, you’ll be running around like nothing happened.”

  A couple of taps echoed off the wood door. Josh peeked his head in. “Sorry to bother you, but Scarlet is here.”

  Finally.

  “Unfortunately, we can’t let small children in,” Josh said.

  “Daddy, I want to see Scarlet,” Elle’s voice quivered as if it were lace
d with tears.

  “I’ll go watch Rusty so she can visit.” He kissed her, giving her hand a good squeeze. Exhaustion from being up for over twenty-four hours kicked in. His eyes burned, and he suspected they were bloodshot as all hell.

  Nurses and doctors hustled about the corridor. The smell of antiseptic made his stomach clenched as it begged for food.

  “Jax!” Rusty jumped up and down and around in a circle before bolting down the hallway.

  “Stop,” Scarlet called, but Rusty obviously wasn’t going to take heed as he flung himself into Jax’s outstretched arms.

  “Hey there, little man, how are you?”

  Nothing like having plump little fingers wrapped around your neck as a toddler attempted a big bear hug. Jax closed his eyes, taking in the fresh scent of baby soap.

  “How is she?” the voice of an angel asked.

  He blinked open his eyes and once again, Scarlet sucked out all the oxygen from his lungs. Her long, blond hair cascaded over her shoulders. Her indigo eyes twinkled under the florescent lighting.

  “She’s really good,” he said, shifting Rusty to his hip. “She’d like to see you.”

  “You don’t mind watching Rusty for a couple of minutes?”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Of course not.”

  “I won’t be long.” She shot past him like a lightning bolt, scurrying down the hallway, clutching her purse in one hand, a piece of paper flying in the other.

  “Can we go play with the blocks?” Rusty kicked his feet.

  “Where did you see toys?”

  Rusty pointed to a room not far from the nurses’ station.

  “Sounds good to me.” Jax glanced over his shoulder once, but Scarlet had already disappeared down the hall. He ran his palm down the side of his cheek, the stubble scratching his callused skin.

  He got down on the ground, sitting cross-legged as he helped Rusty stack the blocks on top of each other. “So, what have you and your mom been doing this morning?” God, he was pathetic. Resorting to grilling a toddler to find out where Scarlet had been.

  “Mommy did laundry because Elle got sick on everything.” Rusty glanced up with a scrunched face as if he’d eaten something sour. “And it smelled worse than poop.”

  Jax chuckled. “I bet. Did you do anything else?”

  “I made a picture for Elle of her and me playing in the sandbox.”

  “She’ll love that.” Jax held a block between his fingers. He studied the rounded edges, contemplating his next question. It’s not like Scarlet could have done anything, except maybe sit with him, but he supposed having a toddler hanging around a hospital probably wasn’t the best plan.

  “Did Mommy say anything about me?” Did he really just ask a three-year-old that question? Hell, no grown man should be fishing for gossip.

  Rusty lifted a block and pretended to fly it through the air, making engine noises. “She said a bad word.”

  “Sometimes mommies do that.” Jax tried to pull his pride out of his ass, but he’d gone so far down the rabbit hole, there was no coming back. They’d barely shared two kisses and attraction doesn’t make for good companionship, a lesson he’d learned the hard way. He had a kid and a career, and she had a life to get back on track. Neither one of them had any time to even explore any kind of feelings they might have for one another. He patted Rusty on the head, giving his hair a good ruffle. The longer he stuck around, the more he’d end up hurting this little boy, and he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

  He was going to have to ease himself out of Rusty’s life. Maybe not completely, since he’d told Mauve it was fine with him if she babysat him and his daughter, but still, there was no point in entertaining this train of thought anymore.

  The smell of sweet citrus filled his nostrils right before Scarlet strolled into the family waiting area.

  “Thanks for watching him.” She stood with her hands on her hips.

  “Not a problem.” Jax jumped to his feet. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

  She glanced at her watch. “I’ve got to get going. My aunt called, and she’s coming home tomorrow, so I need to run a few errands and clean up the house.”

  He tilted his head. “Why are you mad?”

  “You’re kidding, right?” She narrowed her eyes.

  “No. I’m not. It’s been a long morning, and I can’t imagine what I’ve done to deserve the cold shoulder.”

  She narrowed her eyes into tiny slits. Her lips pulled tight. “You really don’t know?”

  “Enlighten me.”

  “I don’t have the time for this,” she said, her gaze shifting to Rusty. “Put the blocks down, buddy. It’s time to go.”

  “Wait a second.” He coiled his fingers around her biceps.

  She jerked her arm away.

  Holding his hands to his sides, he said, “I just want to hold true to the promise I made to Rusty about fishing. I don’t want to be just another asshole who disappoints him.”

  She huffed out a breath. “I appreciate that. Just let me know when it works for you, and if it’s okay with you, I’d like to come visit Elle tomorrow after Mauve lands.”

  “They might send her home tomorrow, but come whenever you like. Bring Rusty whether it be here or my place. I’ll take him for a ride on the Harley.”

  She nodded. “Just answer my texts this time.” She bent over and picked up a protesting Rusty.

  “What does that mean?”

  “It would have been nice to know what was wrong with Elle. I had no idea until I got here what was wrong with her. I was sick with worry.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry. I left my phone at the station, or I would have.”

  She pursed her lips, shaking her head. “There are a million phones around here you could have used. Rusty, say good-bye to Jax.”

  Rusty leaned over his mother’s shoulder as she walked away, waving frantically.

  “I don’t have your phone number memorized.”

  “I’ve got yours memorized.” She flipped her hand in the air. “But you had that as a priority on your lists, which I did read, by the way.”

  “I’m sorry. I’ll work on it,” he called to the back of her hair. “We’re good? You’re not mad anymore?” God, he wished she would just turn around.

  “That was only half the reason.”

  “What’s the other half?”

  He scratched the back of his head as she entered the elevator, mentally going over everything he could recall from the day’s events. It had all been one big blur. He remembered seeing the ambulance, which squeezed the air right out of his lungs. When he saw his daughter sprawled out on a gurney, his knees went weak. All he wanted to do was be by her side, and he’d barreled through anything to get to her…

  Well, fuck.

  What an asshole he’d been. Of course, she was mad. He’d not only shoved her out of the way, but he never once said thank you for taking such good care of his Buttercup.

  Flowers. He’d send her flowers.

  And chocolate. That should be a good start at making things up to her.

  At least he knew Mauve’s address.

  Didn’t he?

  Chapter 7

  Scarlet curled up on the sofa with a box of her favorite chocolates, thanks to Jax, and her favorite housewife show. She’d forgive him for the lack of communication. If the tables were turned, calling him might have been the last thing she thought of, especially if she didn’t have her phone. She even had to admit, if only to herself, that she could have easily elbowed anyone, including him, if they stood between her and her sick child.

  Ding. Dong.

  She jumped. The digital clock blinked nine-thirty. Who the hell would just stop by at this time of night?

  Leaning over the sofa, she glanced out the window, relieved and annoyed, to see Jax’s car parked in the street. Her heart fluttered as if she were about to go on her very first car date. Her palms lined with clammy perspiration. But her mind tried to hold onto being angry just a little while lon
ger.

  Just to be safe, she peered through the peephole and sighed. On the other side of the door, Jax stood with a dozen carnations in one hand and a little fire truck in the other.

  “Why aren’t you with Elle at the hospital?” she asked, taking the flowers he offered and bringing them to her nose. She couldn’t remember a time, other than her father, where a man had sent her flowers. The gesture was something she could get used to.

  “They kicked me out. Something about me needing rest and Elle needing rest, and I wasn’t doing her any good being exhausted, hovering over her.”

  She patted his arm, admiring his thick biceps. “They’re right, but how did Elle feel about that?”

  “She rolled her eyes and agreed with them.”

  “She’ll be fine. Why don’t you sit down while I put these in some water and get you a drink?”

  “Before you do that, I need to say something.” He cupped her chin, leaning so close his hot breath tickled her cheek. “I’m sorry. I was just so scared. I had no idea what had happened other than an ambulance had been dispatched to my house.”

  “It’s okay. I get it.”

  “Do you want to know something crazy?”

  “Sure.” She tried to tear her gaze from his dark eyes stained with the color of cocoa on a cold winter’s night, wrapping you with the warmth of a fleece blanket in front of a roaring fire, making you feel as though you were right where you belonged.

  “I wondered why you hadn’t shown up at the hospital. When I was alone with Rusty, I kept asking him questions about what you’d done all morning.”

  She cocked her head, deciding if she should get mad all over again, or if what he’d done had been sweet. “And what did he tell you?”

  “Just that you’re the kindest, most generous woman that ever lived.”

  “He said no such thing,” she said, letting out a slight laugh, until she realized that Jax meant the words. She cleared her throat.

  He scowled. “Maybe not in so many words, but it’s true.” He fanned his thumb over her cheek. “Thank you for being there for Elle.”

  They stood there for a long, awkward moment as if they were playing the staring game with flowers and a toy truck between them. His tongue parted his lips as he slowly licked them.