Sweet Affliction [Sweet Awakenings 4] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Nicole Morgan

  They all held their positions. First minutes passed, but that quickly turned into an hour. None of them moved as they kept vigil. They knew the other one was still out there and no way in hell were they buying that the guy who lay lifeless on the front porch was not a threat. Every moment he laid there still brought them one minute closer to him jumping to attention and firing.

  He jerked his head toward Adam in surprise when he heard the familiar sound of gravel being spit up by tires. They both waited to see if it would pass. Instead, as they expected, it slowed to a stop. The one guy who remained had obviously called for reinforcements. Now they had a problem. They had no idea how many of them were out there. The odds were in their favor before, knowing who and what they were dealing with. Now this ambush that was set up for the enemy could very well turn against them. And fast.

  Another sharp pain shot in his side so fierce that he curled over in pain. He kept silent but wasn’t able to hide it from Adam this time. His brother gave him a look of more than worry.

  His whole body was starting to shake, not just his hands. Whatever his temperature was, his fever was raging now. His stomach roiled, and dry heaves hit him with full force. Damn it! This isn’t the time for this pussy shit! He chided himself silently. He was a goddamn Navy SEAL. What he needed to do was man the fuck up and complete his mission. His life, the lives of his brothers, depended on it.

  Suddenly shots rang out. He looked up to see Adam peering out from the wall he used as cover. Plaster was creating dust clouds around Adam’s head as he continued to return fire.

  Weak and shaking so bad his teeth were shattering, Nick pulled himself up and peeked up above the countertop. The one on the porch was now up and firing at Adam from the outside, taking cover around the long wall that flanked the living-room window.

  Jack saw the same opportunity he did. He shot up from his afghan camouflage and moved to the window. With the muzzle of his AK he pulled the curtains back.

  POP. POP. POP. The firing from the mercenary ceased. Jacked looked back toward Nick and gave him the affirmative nod, indicating that tango was down and not coming back. Nick’s condition must have been obvious to the naked eye, because even Jack gave him a look of worry. He jerked his head, telling him to get back in position. He didn’t want them worrying about him. They had more important things to worry about.

  POP. Nick watched as Jack went down. He’d barely moved from the window where he took down the one on the porch. His stillness was an obvious mistake. He was not only down. He was not moving. A trickle of blood came from his right side. Adam was about to go in the front room to get him when shots rang out. Plaster was flying all around the front living room. The entire room was filled with a white cloud. This time whoever was out there brought out the heavy artillery. They were spraying the house with bullets. He prayed that the room downstairs was truly sound and bulletproof. The image of AJ flashed before his mind until he heard Adam shout his name, shaking him from his thoughts.

  Adam was motioning for him to give him cover. He was going in to get Jack. Pushing up with all his strength, he placed the muzzle of his AK on the countertop. He sprayed bullets high. Adam stayed low to the ground as he went in to get Jack. He was checking his vitals when he got hit. He watched in horror as Adam’s body flew back and lay there lifeless.

  Nauseated and shaking so his vision was actually blurring from it, he knew he had to rein in every amount of willpower he had. Whatever strength remained, he had to press on. He could not die now.

  A loud crash sounded from the front room. He peered above his Formica shield and saw Rex. The closet door he was hidden behind was off its hinges, and he made way for the front porch. He watched in a somewhat dazed dream state as Rex began firing at will upon whoever was outside. He took cover behind the front-room wall once or twice, but the more he fired the less was coming back at him.

  Nick steeled himself against the nausea, pain, and fever. He braced himself to stand up. What the hell good was he if he couldn’t even stand long enough to fire his damn gun? Pushing up with everything that he had he brought himself to a standing position. The room spun, and the pounding in his head finally caught up and matched the pain in his side. His stomach churned, and he reached for the countertop, but it was too late.

  * * * *

  “You always were a pain in the ass, Metcalf. What the fuck was it with you two anyway? Whatever Peyton wanted you did. Were you two special friends or what?”

  Nick blinked his eyes several times, trying to right his vision. The voice that was shouting was one he didn’t recognize. The sound of gun shots no longer filled the air like they did before he’d passed out.

  “Fuck you!”

  That voice he recognized. It was Rex. Suddenly he remembered that Adam and Jack had been hit. He turned to get see if he could get up, and a stench filled his nostrils. Taking a better look in the dark room, he saw a puddle of vomit. His he presumed.

  WHAP. “You forget who’s in charge here, boy!”

  He winced at the sound of Rex being struck with what sounded like the barrel of a gun. Pushing against the floor, he tried to force himself into a sitting position. Never could he remember being this weak before. Actually his memory failed him. This was how he felt when he suffered from infection back at the beach bungalow. It was no use denying it. He was in bad shape, and his body was probably suffering from sepsis.

  “In charge? Shit, you haven’t been in charge since they 86ed your ass out of the navy. You’re a worthless piece of shit who has no idea what honor on and off the battlefield even means.”

  Commander Broderick. That’s who that other voice belonged to. He couldn’t believe the asshole actually came to do his dirty work. Nick listened to Rex antagonize him even though it sounded like Broderick was getting the better of him.

  “Should I be a weak and sorry piece of shit like you? You left the SEALs to look after your buddy after he couldn’t deal with the guilt of losing those two Nightstalkers on that mission.”

  “You mean the mission that never should have happened? You mean the fucking mission you sent us on and set us up?” Rex was shouting now.

  “Oh please, spare me your dramatics. You win some missions, you lose some. What’s the first thing they tell you when you make it through BUD/S? That many of you won’t make it to see your thirtieth birthday.”

  Broderick’s arrogance and flippant attitude over his teammates’ lives pissed Nick off.

  “Yeah when they’re killed in action. Not when they’re killed on a mission which takes place on ground we were never supposed to set foot on in the first place. Not on a mission that our commanding officer told us was an approved necessary action when in fact it was just a bullshit move made by someone trying to get promoted to rear admiral at the cost of people’s lives!”

  WHAP. WHAP.

  Nick gritted his teeth against the pain and pushed himself to a standing position when he heard the hard blow of metal hitting against bone and Rex spitting what he presumed was blood onto the floor.

  He held his jaw tightly closed for fear his teeth chattering would give him away. His movements were sluggish, and he felt as though the room was literally spinning. Blinking his eyes rapidly, he tried to control his vision. If he could just place himself a few feet away from Broderick and brace his weight against the wall, he could get a clean shot off.

  Rex caught sight of him and kept talking. He presumed so Broderick didn’t catch on to the fact that he was in the backdrop.

  Nick took aim with his Steyr. His hand was shaking violently. There was no way he could take the shot like this. One of three things would happen. He’d either hit Broderick, miss, or hit Rex. The last two were not an option.

  “You know what, Metcalf, I’m done with you. Fuck you and the horse you rode in on. You and your buddies ruined my career, and I had to do time because of your asses. So fuck you!”

  Nick watched as he leveled his gun at Rex, whose hands were tied to the back of the chair he was in. H
e was helpless, and this was his only chance to get him and all of them out of this.

  Steadying his arm with a firm grip by his other hand, holding it from underneath, he took aim. Please, God, don’t fail me now. He prayed to himself and the man upstairs as he focused his sights only on Broderick zeroing in. Then he squeezed the trigger.

  Time stood still. He waited for the asshole to turn and return fire, but everything started to happen, or rather not happen, in ultra slow motion. He looked at Rex, squinting his eyes trying to see if he’d hit him. Finally Broderick fell to the ground. His eyes were frozen, and a hole in his cheek told Nick he’d killed him instantly with a through and through.

  “Shit, man, where the fuck have you been? I thought he got you before I came out of the closet.”

  Nick ignored his question and stumbled to the front room.

  “Jesus, are you all right? You are hit, aren’t you? Untie me so I can get the medics.”

  He wanted to answer him, but he was using all the strength he had just to cut through the ropes.

  “Careful. That’s my arm, not the tape.”

  Nick’s head was pounding like the clash of the titans was actually taking place inside his brain. Nausea was filling his entire being, and he tried to contain it when he felt a slicing pain rocket through his side again. He wasn’t going to make it. The sepsis had taken over his body. After everything he’d survived in his life, in the past week, he was going fast. He fell to the floor, keeling over in pain. All he could think of was AJ.

  His vision was cloudy, and everything seemed to be happening around him like it was a dream. He heard a loud echo. It was Rex. He had the phone to his ear and was calling for help as he hovered over Jack and Adam, as he told the person on the other end that he had three critically wounded.

  Thank God. They were both alive. They had so much to live for.

  AJ. His sweet, beautiful, angelic Alyssa Jo. A week ago she’d come into his life. A week ago her father had saved him. Days ago he died. Days ago he fell in love with her. So much had happened in such a short time. God, he’d wanted a life with her.

  He felt his body giving into the infection as he started to drift off. Grabbing onto Rex’s pants leg, he struggled to get out the words through the pain. “Tell AJ…I…lo…”

  Chapter 34

  AJ fidgeted in the chair she’d been sitting in the last several hours. Tamara and Shelby had tried to keep the conversation going, but she and Chelsea were not very interested in idle chat. It was obvious they meant well, but the waiting was driving her insane with worry. Despite the soundproof of the basement, they were able to make out faint sounds that they knew were gunfire.

  A loud clanking sound echoed in their small underground apartment, and all three women stood up and stared at the door across the room. AJ was filled with anxiety over what would happen once that door opened. Was Nick all right? Were they all all right? Was the nightmare finally over? So many questions raced through her head.

  The door opened, and Rex appeared. “It’s over. No time to explain, get upstairs, paramedics are on their way.” He disappeared as quickly as he’d blurted out the words.

  All of the women raced toward the stairs. AJ felt a twinge of fear that Nick hadn’t come down to let them out with him. In mere seconds they were all upstairs and running through the kitchen to get to the living room where Rex was.

  “Oh, God!” Tamara was the first to enter and was kneeling beside Jack. “Are you okay?”

  Chelsea was next to race to Adam’s side. “I’m here with you.” She took his hand in hers.

  Both men were awake but seemed to be weak. She didn’t see Nick anywhere and frantically looked around the room. There was a body of a man she didn’t recognize with a bullet wound to his face. Another man’s feet showed themselves by the front door, but nowhere did she see Nick.

  She turned when she heard Rex shouting at Shelby to run to the basement to get ice. She was horrified by what she saw. Nick lay there on the dirty sofa in the far corner of the room. His face was white as a sheet. Even though his eyes were closed and appeared to be unconscious he was shaking violently and sweating.

  “Nick!” She ran to him and touched his face, quickly pulling her hand away when she felt how hot he was.

  “What’s wrong with him?” She turned to Rex. “He’s burning up!”

  “Septic shock.”

  “Oh God.” She turned her attention back to Nick and kissed his forehead. Tears stung her eyes when the heat of his skin felt like fire on her lips.

  “How bad is it?” she asked, not entirely sure she could handle the answer. Even when his wound became infected at the bungalow he hadn’t looked this bad.

  “I’m not going to lie to you, AJ. He’s in bad shape. He wasn’t fit for running this operation with us. Had I known, he would’ve been in an ER, to hell with the consequences.”

  His last sentence knocked her in the gut. She should have insisted he let her tend to her wound or at least look at it. If she had, then maybe she would have known. If she had, then maybe she could have gotten him to the hospital. If she had…Damn it, AJ! What ifs didn’t do Nick a damn bit of good now. She chided herself silently.

  “He’ll be okay though.” She waited for Rex to assure her, but he just gave her a sympathetic stare. “He will be okay, right? Rex, please. Tell me he’s going to be okay!” Her words came out pleading with desperation.

  He placed his hands on her shoulders. “I’m sorry, AJ. I don’t know if he is.”

  “No…” She looked back at Nick and held his hand. “He promised me.” She looked back up at Rex. “He did. He promised!”

  Shelby ran back in the room with a bucket full of ice and handed it to Rex. He dug his hand in the bucket and started taking two and three ice cubes at a time and placing them on various parts of Nick’s body. She prayed the effort would cool him. His fever seemed dangerously high. She kissed his hand and told him she was there. Over and over again she talked to him.

  Sirens sounded in the distance, but she refused to leave Nick’s side. Rex was shouting something at her, but she couldn’t take her attention off of Nick for a second. She’d let him down by not insisting he take better care of his wound.

  “AJ, listen!” Rex shouted from behind her. She turned to see all three of the women staring at him and attentive.

  “All right, listen… Here’s how this is going to go down. We have a shit load of dead bodies here and three critical. I’ve already called NCIS, but there’s a chance they won’t get here before the police do. They can and will detain all of us after they transport the three of them to the closest hospital.”

  “I’m not leaving, Nick,” she blurted out.

  “There is no time to argue about this, AJ. If the authorities say you’re staying, then you’re staying. As soon as NCIS gets here, we can get to the hospital. They’ll ride with us. We’ll technically be under their custody, but they won’t let us be detained here, not with these three being in surgery.”

  She tried not to worry at the thought of Nick being put under for surgery when he was already so weak, so she focused her attention back to what Rex was telling them.

  “The important thing to remember is,” Rex continued, “tell them anything they want to know. And I mean anything. That means local authorities or NCIS. We did nothing wrong, so whatever they want to know, give it to them. Is that clear?”

  All of them nodded just as the first two paramedics came in the door. “Jesus, what the hell happened here?”

  “No time. He’s the worst.” Rex pointed to Nick.

  The paramedics shooed her out of the way as Shelby put a comforting arm around her. Her heart skipped at least three beats when she heard one of them say his fever was 104.7 degrees. She knew how dangerous fevers could be when they reached that high. If the person survived his infection, brain damage was a real possibility.

  The second and third teams of paramedics showed up at the same time. All she could do was rub her arms over and ove
r again. Despite the heat from outside she felt a chill. Tamara and Chelsea were talking to Jack and Adam, who were now being placed on gurneys. Both of them were awake, but according to the medics working on them, they’d lost a lot of blood and needed to get to surgery to remove the bullets and repair the damage.

  Several sirens were now filling the distant air. She knew it was the police, and she prayed the naval investigators Rex called would get their soon. The thought of Nick going off to the hospital without her sent a terror through her. She didn’t want to leave him.

  “Rex, are you sure you’re okay?” Shelby asked her husband, even though she hadn’t left her side.

  It was then for the first time since leaving the basement that she had finally gotten a good look at him. His face was badly bruised, and blood seemed to be dried from where it poured from his mouth, and a fresh trail still appeared to be trickling from a head wound.

  “I’m fine. The prick knocked me around a little, but Nick took him out before he had the chance to do any real damage.”

  Nick. God, she loved him. In the crazy way things had unfolded over the past week she fell in love with him and now…now she may never get the chance to tell him.

  Two officers came in the room with their weapons drawn. “Everybody get your hands up.”

  Rex lifted his hands and told the ladies to follow his lead.

  “Now get up against that wall.”

  Maybe it was just her, but to AJ these two cops looked scared out of their minds, like it was their first scene with dead bodies.

  “We’ll take it from here, boys. At ease, folks.”

  She turned to see Rex shaking hands with someone who wore a baseball cap with a navy insignia on it. She breathed a sigh of relief as she heard Rex explaining things to two investigators who’d arrived on the scene. The paramedics were placing Nick on a gurney. His IV was in, and they’d just finished giving him a round of penicillin. Both things were good for a man in his condition. She knew this, but the look on the medics’ faces wasn’t encouraging.