Jostling Joker (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (A SEALed Brotherhood Novella Book 3)

by Victoria Bright

  “Joker?” Summer’s soft voice cut into his thoughts. He blinked and looked down at her. Another sheriff stood next to her with a notepad in his hand. He looked to be in his late forties, short and overweight. His demeanor appeared as if he had better things do to with his time than to question Joker about what happened.

  “Can you tell us what happened here tonight?” the cop drawled. Joker relayed the events of the evening, from him arming her before he left and coming back to see that the place was trashed and there was blood on the floor. He told them that he’d shot the suspect to save Parker when he’d found them near the lake.

  “How were you able to find them?” the man asked, not even looking up from his notebook as he scribbled something down.

  “I heard Parker scream.” Joker swallowed the lump forming in his throat. “And I heard the gun shots, so I followed those sounds.”

  “I see,” he said. “Well, don’t go anywhere. I may have some more questions for you.”

  A few hours later, Joker, Mozart, and Summer finally arrived at the emergency room of St. Bernardine Medical Center. Parker’s parents held each other in the waiting room, both of them jumping to their feet when they saw him. Parker’s mother hugged him tight.

  “Thank you for getting there when you did,” she said, tears glistening in her eyes. “Things could’ve been so much worse.”

  “I agree,” Gerald said. “Parker would be dead if you hadn’t stopped him in time. I can’t thank you enough.”

  “No need to thank me,” Joker said, his voice low. He definitely didn’t feel like the hero they were making him out to be. If it weren’t for him, the situation wouldn’t have happened in the first place. He should’ve kept her safe.

  “She’s still in surgery,” her mother said and sniffed. “From what the doctors say, it’s not looking too good.”

  Joker shook his head, refusing to accept that as true. “She’ll be fine. She’s a fighter,” he said, trying so hard to believe his own words. I need you to pull through, baby girl.

  They sat around for hours, the sun slowly coming up over the horizon with no update on her status. The adrenaline from the night had finally worn off, exhaustion settling in its place. He walked over to the Keurig machine for the fourth time in two hours and made another cup of coffee, trying to force himself to stay awake. They always said no news meant good news, but it didn’t feel that way knowing the condition Parker was in.

  “How are you holding up?” Mozart asked, stretching his long legs.

  Joker sighed. “I don’t even know anymore. I just feel like I could’ve prevented this—”

  “You did the best you could, sailor,” Mozart commented, clapping him on the shoulder. Joker shook his head.

  “It doesn’t feel like it was enough.”

  “It was enough to save her life,” Summer added softly. “She could’ve died last night, Joker. You stopped that from happening.”

  Joker ground his teeth. Summer wasn’t 100% right; they still didn’t know if Parker would live or die at the moment.

  After another hour, an exhausted doctor finally came into the waiting room. “Is the Lovick family here?” he called out. Gerald, her mother, and Joker jumped up and walked over to him, eager to hear the news.

  “Is she okay? Can we see her?” her mother immediately asked.

  “The surgery was a success. All the bullets were removed. He hit her outer hip instead of the middle, so she’s only dealing with a fracture instead of it being completely shattered. The bullet she took in her side thankfully missed vital organs because of the angle it went in at. She had some bad internal bleeding, so we had to give her a couple of blood transfusions to replace what she’s lost. We’ve had to put her in a medically induced coma so she can heal right now. We’ll keep monitoring her, but she has a very long road to recovery ahead of her.”

  Relief flooded Joker to know that she was at least still alive. He was sure she had a lot of healing to do both physically and mentally, but the fact that she was alive gave him comfort. I knew you’d keep fighting, baby girl.

  “Can we see her?” Gerald asked, concerned and exhaustion lacing his voice.

  “I’m afraid now isn’t a good time. She’s in the process of being moved to ICU now and it’ll take a while to get her settled. She needs to rest after such a long surgery and you three look like you need sleep yourself. Maybe you can come back a little later this afternoon,” he said, giving them a small smile and walking away. They all sighed.

  “He’s probably right. We should go get some sleep and come back later,” Gerald said, glancing back in the direction that the doctor disappeared in. “I just pray she’ll be all right.”

  “Me too,” her mother said, wiping her teary eyes. “We should get to the cabin and assess the damage.”

  Gerald looked at Joker. “Ethan, we’re sorry about this. I’m sure this wasn’t how you expected to spend your vacation. To compensate you for that, we can get you a hotel room nearby if you’d like,” he offered. Joker nodded. Even though he was pretty exhausted, there was no way he’d be able to sleep in that cabin after what happened. Not that he really could anyway. It was now labeled a crime scene.

  “Sounds good, Mr. Lovick.”

  “Please, call me Gerald,” he said, waving his hand dismissively.

  “Miranda,” her mother added. “With all the madness going on, I never properly introduced myself.”

  “Understandable,” Joker said with a nod. They talked for a few more minutes and Gerald made reservations for Joker in a near by hotel.

  “If you’d like, I’ll bring your bags to the hotel when we come back to the hospital later tonight,” Gerald said.

  “Thanks, sir, but I was able to get them before I left.”

  “We should get going too,” Mozart said as he and Summer approached him. He gave Joker a slip of paper with a number on it. “You need me, you call me anytime.”

  “Thanks, man. I appreciate it,” Joker said, giving them a small smile. He waved at them as they left, leaving him alone in the waiting room. He flopped down in a chair and ran a hand over his face with a sigh.

  God, if you don’t answer anything else I ask for, please let Parker be okay. I can’t lose her too, he prayed and closed his eyes, leaning his head against the wall.

  He wasn’t usually a praying man, but he hoped God heard him at least this one time.

  Chapter 12

  Joker

  After tossing and turning all night, Joker finally got up and sat on the side of the hotel bed, running a tired hand over his face. Parker had been on his mind all night. He hadn’t been able to see her last night since the ICU unit restricted the first visits to family only, but he definitely wanted to see her today.

  He thought coming home would give him closure, but it did nothing but add another problem to his list. He sighed. No, Parker wasn’t a problem. If he were being honest, her breaking into that cabin was probably the best thing that could’ve happened to him. Had he been alone, he would’ve done nothing but wallow in depression and grief, which wouldn’t have been healthy if he were due to go back to work soon.

  The sun filtered through the curtains of the hotel room. He thought back to the time he spent with Parker as he flopped back onto the bed, staring at the popcorn ceiling. A slight smile pulled at his lips as he remembered their first encounter. He’d had a gun trained on her, but he couldn’t help but think how beautiful his intruder was. He’d thanked his lucky stars that the universe deemed him worthy of having an attractive criminal break into the cabin he was occupying. Even with her smudged makeup, dirty clothes, and wild hair, something about her pulled her to him before she even told him why she was there.

  He knew she did the best she could. At first he was angry with her and himself. He was mad at her because she’d let go of the gun when he’d told her to keep it with her at all times. He was mad at himself for leaving her alone in the first place. Who was to say that the guy wasn’t there the whole time just waiting fo
r the perfect opportunity to strike? Unfortunately, Joker put that opportunity right in his lap.

  Now wasn’t the time to point fingers. At least he knew that she’d made it out of surgery okay and it was now just a waiting game for her to heal and wake up. He only had a few days left before he had to return to Syria with his team, but a part of him didn’t want to go back until he knew she was awake and on the road to recovery. Seeing her bruised and bloody was the main image in his nightmares last night. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen someone like that, but he didn’t want to see her that way. He wanted to see her bright smile again, to see her eyes twinkle in amusement when they talked. He wanted to feel her warmth next to him while they sat on the couch and watched television together. He even wanted to hear her complain about not wanting to eat another sandwich.

  He looked over at the clock, seeing that it was nearing 8 a.m. He got up and dragged himself to the shower, standing under the spray for a few moments before finally lathering. His mind drifted to their first time together. Her beautiful gaze held his as they moved together, everything else around him fading as he became consumed with her. He was highly aware of everything about her; her warmth, her scent, her soft moans, and the way her nails lightly scratched his skin in pleasure. He didn’t even know what was going to happen between them once she was better, but first she had to wake up. He’d deal with the rest later.

  When Joker finally walked into the hospital, her parents met him in the lobby.

  “Good to see you, Ethan,” Gerald said, giving his hand a firm shake.

  “Same, sir. Any updates?”

  “Nothing has really changed since we’ve been gone, which is good, I suppose,” Miranda answered. Joker let out a tiny breath of relief. He knew she wouldn’t heal from those kinds of injuries overnight, but it was good that she was at least stable right now.

  “Have you been up to see her yet this morning?” he asked.

  “Not yet. We wanted to wait until you got here so that we could go up there together,” Gerald said.

  “Thank you for doing that,” Joker said. He was glad her family allowed him to be a part of this. When they’d arrived at the cabin after everything happened, he was sure they were going to partially blame him and ban him from coming to the hospital. Instead, they’d been thankful, treating him as if he’d saved their daughter when he didn’t feel as if he had. If anything, he’d left their daughter as fresh bait for the psycho that was after her.

  They made their way up to the ICU unit, stopping at a desk outside of the secured doors. A woman looked up at them when they approached.

  “Are you here to visit someone?” she asked.

  “Yes. We’re here for Parker Lovick,” Miranda said. The woman looked at something on the computer screen before her.

  “There can only be two visitors at a time due to some of the equipment around her. Which two will be going first?” She looked up at them with inquiring eyes.

  “You two can go. Waiting a little longer won’t hurt.” Joker offered, stepping aside.

  “I’ll need to see I.D. from the both of you,” the woman said. After they presented their identification, the woman printed them a sticker name badge to wear. The solid wooden door of the ICU unit opened and Gerald and Miranda disappeared inside. Joker walked over to the ICU waiting area and found the coffee pot, pouring himself a cup. Fatigue crept over him from lack of sleep the previous night.

  He paced the area, unable to sit. He ran the events through his mind, trying to think if he could’ve done anything differently. He remembered how afraid she looked when he’d given her the gun. He should’ve known that there was going to be a high chance that she didn’t keep it with her. She’d told him she didn’t want to go to the grocery store in fear of the same thing happening. He didn’t think leaving her there would’ve resulted in all of this; he wasn’t even gone that long.

  After what seemed like forever, the Lovicks finally came out of the unit. Miranda had tears in her eyes as she looked up at him, giving him a small smile and she sat in one of the chairs with Gerald at her side.

  Joker walked to the desk and followed the same procedure as Parker’s parents. She printed him a sticker name badge as well and handed it to him.

  “Bed eight,” she said. Joker mumbled a thanks and finally walked into the unit when the door opened. Everything seemed dark and gloomy when he walked in, the lights dimmed and everything quiet except for the sounds of different machines. He nearly jumped out of his skin when the heavy door closed behind him, the sound hollow in the quiet area. The unit was small, no more than ten beds in it and each of them separated by a blue curtain.

  His legs felt heavy as he made his way to bed eight. When his eyes landed on Parker, his chest tightened. A heart monitor beeped softly, and a ventilator machine whirred next to the bed. Her face was still swollen, the bruises a dark purplish and red color.

  He took her limp hand into his and sat in the chair next to the bed. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there,” he whispered. “I promised you I’d keep you safe and I didn’t.” He placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles before running his thumb over them. Guilt crept over him as he looked up at her. This wasn’t how he wanted to remember her when it was finally time for him to leave. He wanted to remember her as the woman who raced him to the lake, pulling her clothes off as she ran. He wanted to think about the woman who’d pinned him to the ground during their self-defense lessons and who’d been close to kissing him then. He wanted to think about the woman who was bold enough to kiss him while they stood in the lake, who thought his long hair was sexy, and who made him feel something when she was near her.

  He didn’t want to see her in ICU fighting for her life.

  “I have to leave soon,” he said to her. “I’m not sure when you’ll wake up…” He swallowed hard. There was also a possibility that she wouldn’t wake up, finally succumbing to her injuries. He shook his head. He refused to accept that she wouldn’t make it. Parker was strong. He didn’t think she was the type to give up so easily. He cleared his throat.

  “I probably won’t be here when you wake up,” he said, correcting his earlier statement. “But I’ll check in with your parents as much as I can to see how you’re doing. Just because we aren’t at the cabin anymore doesn’t mean I won’t be here for you when you need me.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “I’ll be praying for you while I’m away. You’re going to make it through this. I know you will.”

  Over the next few days, Joker split his time between seeing Parker and helping his aunt go through the rest of his mom’s things. On the final evening before he was to leave, he went to see Parker one last time. When he’d arrived at the hospital, he saw Gerald and Miranda with the police. Gerald’s loud voice boomed in the hallway, so much so that the woman at the desk had to tell him to lower his voice or she’d be forced to make him leave the area.

  “What’s going on?” Joker asked as he approached them.

  Gerald looked at him with fire in his eyes. “Somehow Jarrod survived his gunshot wound. Who in the hell survives a gunshot wound to the head?” he said, throwing his hands in the air.

  Joker looked at the cop. “Where is he?”

  “He currently in another hospital, but once he’s well enough, he’ll be transported back to prison without bond.”

  Oh shit. Joker was sure he’d killed him with that shot. “Yeah, it’s surprising he survived that kind of wound,” he mused.

  The cop shrugged. “He lost his right eye, got a slight concussion and a broken nose, but he’ll be fine soon enough to ship him off to prison in a couple of days.”

  Sounds like Parker put a hurting on him too. She did what she learned, Joker mused.

  “How can we know our daughter will be safe?” Miranda asked.

  “His room at the hospital is secured with officers both inside and outside of his room. He won’t be going anywhere. He won’t be eligible for bond once he’s back in custody.”

  “Good. I hope he never sees
the light of day for what he’s done,” she snapped and looked to Joker. “Ethan, you’re more than welcome to go see her while we finish speaking with the police.”

  Joker nodded and dismissed himself, finally going in to see her. Her condition hadn’t changed. He’d learned that she wore a cast from the waist down to help with the healing process.

  “How long will she be in a coma?” he asked the nurse on one of his visits.

  The nurse looked at Parker with sympathetic eyes and shook her head. “There’s really no way of knowing. Due to her injuries, it’s best to keep her in that way because even the strongest pain medicine wouldn’t really keep her comfortable. She’s been through a lot,” she answered. Joker nodded. She’d definitely been through the ringer, but she was still fighting.

  He thought about her safety now that he knew Jarrod wasn’t dead. Maybe his shot wasn’t as accurate as he’d thought. Either way, it was enough to subdue him long enough to get Parker to safety. He just hoped the police did their job by taking Jarrod to where he needed to go and that Parker would be safe.

  Joker called her parents regularly while he was in Syria. Two months after he’d left, he learned that she was finally awake, but she wasn’t talking much. She still had a lot of healing to do, but the casts were off and she was getting ready to start physical therapy. It made him happy to know that she was making progress and that she would be okay.

  “Everything okay with you?” Ghost asked, sitting in the metal chair next to him. Joker nodded. “You sure?”