Semper Fi (An Erotic Romance)
Page 11
“That’s impossible.” Mom interjected. “His Mom is in a mental hospital with Alzheimer’s. She’s been rendered medically insane. That’s how her husband got rid of her.”
“Mom!” Mandy yelled, “Don’t say that shit and upset her. This is bad!”
I stood, “Well apparently she has days when she’s fine, and this is one of them.” I responded.
“Get your stuff and I’ll drive you to the airport.” Dad spoke quietly.
“We’re going with her!” Monica and Mandy chimed in.
“I’m going to pack my bag,” Marlene stepped from the gameroom.
“No! I’ve got to go by myself. I’ll let you know how he is as soon as I get there.” I cried.
Dad loaded my bags in his car as I hugged my family goodbye. I promised to call them the minute I knew anything.
Chapter 19
Ronald was standing beside the black town car on the runway as the plane powered down in Washington. He rushed to me as I neared the bottom step. “Glad to see you, Mattie!” He gasped out of breath from the short run across the tarmac. “Logan’s plane already landed, he’s prepping for surgery.”
“Can you take me to where he is?”
“Yep, get in.”
I climbed into the front seat next to him as he sped around the buildings and on to the interstate.
“Any idea how he’s doing? I asked Ronald pointedly.
“It’s his leg. I saw it when they brought him in, and it’s pretty bad.”
I gasped. “Ronald, you don’t think he’ll lose it, do you?”
He shook his head strongly, “No, no, he’s strong as an ox. He’s been through worse. He and the other guys hadn’t even made it into the compound when the bomb went off. It was the two guys that went in to scout the situation that were lost. His guys just got blown to hell from the explosion.”
I nodded and let out a deep breath. He was going to be okay. I was determined to stay by his side no matter what. “How many were injured?”
“Four of them. All of them have stayed at the house with us over the years at some time or another. Can’t help but feel they’re all our kids.” Ronald wiped wetness from his cheek as he sped on down the highway.
We rode in silence; finally he pulled up into the hospital parking lot. “Go ahead and run on in. At my age it takes me longer to walk. It’ll just irritate you if you have to wait on me.”
On a normal day, taking the time to walk slowly with Ronald would have been something I enjoyed. Not today. I ran into the hospital lobby and confronted the nurse. I took the elevator up five flights and ran towards the room number she’d given me.
“Whoa, whoa Ma’am, this is an emergency situation! You can’t be here!” A darkly clothed Mexican man held out his arm and nearly choked me. He held on tight, he wasn’t tall but he was a rock. My chances of getting past him with force weren’t good. Ronald ran up behind me, “Jose! This is Mattie!”
“Wha?” Jose held me out of his arms and examined me. “I see!” He pulled me to him in a tight bear hug. “Glad you’re here, he’s been bitchin’.”
I remembered now, his group. He’d told me about them, this was Jose! “Come on in here, he’s headin’ into surgery in a minute.” Jose pulled me with him into a curtained surgery preparation room. A very surprised doctor and two assistants stared back at us. “Doc this is Mattie, the one he’s been yellin’ for.”
“Well for God’s sake get in here and tell him you’re here so we can get him into surgery!” The doctor screamed.
I moved quickly into the small room, the space was jammed with four of us plus Logan on a stretcher but I wrangled my way up near his face. He was covered in blood. I felt myself sway, my view spun in front of me.
I leaned over and cuddled Logan’s head in my arms.
“Damned politicians! They could’ve treated these men in Italy, and these boys wouldn’t be in such a mess.” The doctor muttered.
“Is he going to be okay Doctor?” I asked frantically.
He was surveying his leg intently. I closed my eyes as he inserted a needle into the open wound on Logan’s thigh. I’d never seen such carnage; his leg looked like it’d been in a wood chipper. The room began to swerve and sway as I watched them prepare the man I loved for surgery. “He’ll keep the leg, if that’s what you’re asking. Going to be a bear in physical therapy though.” He rambled on, I’d heard enough.
“Why isn’t he awake?” I asked. Logan looked pale and unresponsive.
“I gave him something so he wouldn’t have to be awake right now.” One of the nurses replied.
“Mattie?” Logan whispered.
I grabbed his head touching him gently. “Hey!” I tried to sound cheerful.
“You chose me?” He garbled.
I leaned over him and smiled, “Of course I did!”
He fought to keep his eyes open, but he was losing that battle. “I didn’t kill her…” He mumbled, nearly incomprehensible. One of the nurse’s stared at me questioningly. I just shrugged my shoulders. I didn’t know what he was talking about any more than she did. He went unconscious again. It didn’t matter, nothing did anymore. If Logan was okay, I didn’t care about anything else.
Logan was taken directly to surgery. I was given his room number and told I could wait there with the others. With the others? I found the floor and started walking down the brightly lit corridor. Four rooms in a row had the doors covered with the Marine flag. I walked past three of them until I came to the room that would be Logan’s when he got out of surgery. The Marine flag covered the entire outside of the door; there were those words again, Semper Fi. I really needed to look that up. I pushed the door open and instantly noticed the cigarette smoke emanating from the corner of the room.
Elise McNarry sat in the large chair in the corner of the room smoking a cigarette. She looked exactly as she did in the photo above the fireplace in her husband’s home. It was if time forgot her. She was stunning. Only Mandy would be able to tell what designer she was wearing, but she was clearly not a woman to be reckoned with. I smiled and moved towards her. “Mrs. McNarry?”
The dark nurse standing beside her shook her head sadly. “She ain’t there. ‘Bout an hour ago,” she informed me. “I was getting ready to take her back to the home.”
I was deflated. I’d so hoped that she would be herself still when I got here. I hugged the beautiful woman anyways. We’d had a small bond on the phone; I understood her. If I had a son like Logan, I’d move heaven and earth to love him just like she did. Yes, this was a woman I could relate to.
“She doesn’t know who you are,” muttered the steel blond sitting across the room in the other corner.
I turned in a flash and scowled at Patricia Johnson. What the hell was she doing here? Instead of unleashing on her, I turned away from her and back to the nurse standing guard over Elise McNarry.
“She told me to ask her about her sweater pocket.”
“So then go ahead, she’s not deaf,” the nurse shrugged.
“Mrs. McNarry, you wanted me to have something in your sweater pocket.”
The woman looked confused, but her finely veined hand reached into her pocket. She pulled out a single key. A piece of paper was wadded around it. I took the key from her, but her hand still clung the paper tightly. She looked in my eyes and let go. It’d seemed like something flickered when she looked at me. I could swear she knew who I was. I stood up straight and read the scribbled but exquisite handwriting on the wadded paper.
“Take care of this my dear. Love, Elise.”
The nurse nodded. “She meant it too! Made me promise to make sure she gave it to you.”
I smiled, no telling what the key went to. I’d probably never find out.
Patricia Johnson let out an audible “humph.”
She shot me a wickedly sweet smile as she stood and stepped towards Elise. Instantly I felt protective over Logan’s mother, but I stood aside. Patricia took Elise’s hand and leaned towards her left ear, whi
spering. She kissed her lips and squeezed her hand tightly as she looked into the woman’s eyes. It was almost a tender moment; that is if I didn’t already suspect Patricia Johnson to be an uncaring bitch. It was time I figured out why this woman was still hanging around. I hate to sound crass, but her daughter is dead now, and it’s time for her to torture someone else’s family for a change.
I ran out the door. “Mrs. Johnson!” I yelled, she stopped in her tracks. I reached her in the hallway. “Why are you here?” I asked standing firm in front of her.
She tilted her head slightly. “It seems as if our Logan left out some details,” she said snidely.
I nodded, speechless.
“I lost my daughter to this family; I was just here to see if Logan was going to join my precious Leila today. Since that doesn’t seem to be the case, I guess I’ll be going, for now.”
She had paused in the hallway but started walking now with a purpose.
“Wait!” I yelled, halting her in her steps.
She scowled at me but stopped her tracks, “What do you want?”
“Mrs. Johnson, why is it that you hate Logan so? It was an accident…”
Patricia Johnson smirked. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t hate Logan, as a matter of fact I prayed every night that my daughter would give up her lofty goals and settle down with him. But you see I knew the Senator, I knew him well. That son of a bitch was the devil incarnate. Leila only thought she had her claws in him; she was wrong, dead wrong as it turned out. Don’t you see? Logan was only a pawn to the Senator and to Leila.”
I shook my head, “I don’t get it. I thought Logan and Leila were supposed to get married?”
Patricia laughed wickedly. “Oh my, you really are in the dark. My daughter didn’t want that stupid little prick. No, no, not my daughter. She was shooting for the real money. Don’t get me wrong, she was friends with Logan since they were babies, and Logan thought she hung the moon. But it was his masochist father she was after.”
I stood still considering what she’d said. It didn’t seem likely that Leila would agree to marry Logan if she wanted his father.
“Why was it on the news that Logan and Leila were engaged then?”
The bleached blond gazed at me as though I were an alien. “They were engaged. The Senator couldn’t have his pregnant girlfriend trotting around now could he? So he forced Logan into proposing, saying the baby was his.”
“And Leila went with this plan?” I found her story somewhat implausible. Logan hated this woman, and that gave me license to dislike her as well.
“She didn’t have much of a choice.” Patricia mused; I’d have given my right arm to know what was going through her head at this moment.
“Mrs. Johnson, I hate to ask, but what did Mrs. McNarry have to say about all this?” It was certainly enough to make anyone lose their marbles, but I needed to know.
Patricia smiled almost tenderly. “Elise has been my best friend all my life. She was well aware of the consequences of being involved with her husband. She pleaded with me to keep Leila away from him. She and I both intimately knew the horrors he was capable of creating. I tried. I even sent her to college with Logan. I did everything I could, but in the end he took her anyway.” She paused, rubbing her manicured fingers across her chest. “That man was cruel and unreasonable. He took everything from me, my daughter and Elise. The only two things I really ever cared about,” her voice faltered as she finished.
I recalled the tender kiss she’d just given Elise in the room down the hall. Clearly Patricia held a special fondness for Elise. I looked down at the floor studying the white linoleum. “I’m sorry Mrs. Johnson, I shouldn’t have pried.”
In a moment out of character, Patricia’s hand moved to my shoulder and she sighed, “Listen. Other than Elise, Logan’s never had anyone who truly gave a damn about him. He was used by his father and my daughter until he broke. When he ran off to the Marines I didn’t blame him one bit. I just hope that his money isn’t what you’re after, because some part of me really does hope that kid finds someone one day who loves him.” With that she turned and flounced down the hallway of the hospital. I was left in shocked silence. What in the world would make her think I was after money? I didn’t know if Logan had a dime to his name, nor did I care.
I stood in the hallway in total silence watching her enter the elevator and disappear. Eventually I realized I was standing in the middle of the hospital hallway alone, staring at the closed elevator doors. Jose barreled down the hall and called my name.
“Mattie? Mattie? You alright?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Yeah, I think so.”
“Good! They’re bringin’ Ryan up now! He’s already through with his surgery. Doctor says he looks good.,” Jose said, wrapping his arms around me.
“And Ryan is?” I asked as he turned me around towards the hospital rooms.
“Man, Lo hasn’t told you ‘bout all us? We sure have gotten an earful ‘bout you!” Jose boomed near my ear.
“Ryan was hit too; he and Logan were covering the entrance to the Consulate together.”
He started walking me back towards Logan’s room. “You know, we been tellin’ Lo for years he needed to find himself a woman. We damn near interrogated him when he got back talkin’ bout you.”
I stopped walking, Jose stood still with me. “Jose is there anything about Logan I should know?”
Jose stared at me perplexed. “Darlin’ we’re a tight group. If there is anything Lo needs you to know, he’ll have to tell you.” He shuffled uneasily in his boots. “But yeah, there’s a bunch you need to know.”
Several nurses were wheeling a stretcher down the hallway. “There’s Ryan!” Jose left me standing there and went to the moving stretcher. He waved me over beside him.
On the stretcher looking partially drugged was yet another muscular Marine with a shaved head. Jose bumped the stretcher and the man scowled. “Fuck man can’t you see I’m all stitched up?” Ryan fussed from his prone position.
“No man listen, this is Mattie!” Jose motioned to me at his side.
Ryan’s eyes suddenly cleared, “The Mattie?”
I nodded with a smile. “Well listen here chickadee, you don’t let these little boys give you any shit. If they do, you tell me. Understand?”
I smiled back at him, “Got it.”
Ryan was wheeled into his waiting room, Jose at his side.
Elise and her nurse left Logan’s room. “Guess I’ll be getting her back now,” the nurse motioned. I moved over to Elise and hugged her neck. She returned my hug but I was fairly sure she had no idea who I was. I turned to the nurse, “I’ll call as soon as we know something.”
The nurse nodded politely, “Thank you. If she has a good few minutes, she’ll want to know right away how he is.”
“Can I walk down with you?”
“Sure.” The nurse said as if my company one way or another was of no consequence.
As the elevator lowered to the ground floor I felt Elise McNarry’s hand take mine and squeeze tightly.
Chapter 20
Logan was in and out of consciousness for four days. I wiped his head with a damp washcloth and monitored his breathing. He was attached to seven different machines and after four days, I knew the normal sounds of each one intimately. Each small movement he made caused me to jump to his side. During the times he was awake, he was semi-himself. There’d been a big scuffle with a nurse who’d insisted on sponge bathing him.
He’d been sound asleep when she yanked his covers down and began cleaning his body. I watched her every move. Her eyes almost popped from her head when she pulled the covers down over his hips. I started to complain and suggest that maybe I should clean those parts myself when Logan’s hand snaked from beneath the covers and grabbed her wrist.
“She’ll do that,” he said sternly, glaring into her eyes as if she was the enemy.
“No sir, I’m required to sponge bathe you and that’s w
hat I’m going to do. I’m used to you Marines coming in here actin’ like your all that and a bag of chips. It doesn’t play well with me.”
She seemed to have a strong will and I hesitated. His stare at the woman was eerie; I’ve never seen his eyes with such conviction. “Lady if you so much as breathe on my balls I’ll kill you,” he was deadpan serious.
“I’m callin’ security,” she said.
Logan began to slur his words and I knew that she’d hit the medicate button on his intravenous pain killers. What a bitch. “Go ahead Ma’am. She’ll explain to them how you wanted to play with my dick while I was unable to defend myself. She’ll say you wanted a threesome with us.” He nodded to me as if I was in collusion with him.
I reached over Logan and pulled the sheet and blanket back over him. “Leave the sponge and I’ll take care of it.” I almost whispered. The confrontation had made me uncomfortable. The nurse made incomprehensible noises and muttered to herself as she left the room.
Logan had fallen asleep while I was wiping down his skin. On the norm he was a better patient than he’d just displayed. But he was clear, other than bandaging his leg he wasn’t fond of other people touching him. Several times during the week I knew I’d hurt him and he’d wince. But then his eyes met mine and he’d relax.
I’d spoken to my parents on several occasions. Dad wanted to know each and every detail of Logan’s leg. There were some occasions where I’d called Dad in the middle of the night to ask him if Logan’s reactions were typical. I’d also spoken to Gracie several times, and called Elise’s nurse and explained our progress. Ronald was there every single day, sitting in the hospital room lobby. It was the same daily. He’d come in and visit with Logan, if he was awake, then Ronald would go to the lobby and sit and read all day. In the evening he would come back to the room and let us know he was going home. Logan told him it was ridiculous for him to sit there every day, but Ronald continued.