“Shoot first, ask questions later.”
“Roger that.” Slater winked.
Slater turned to look at me and it took everything I had not to break down and cry. I steeled myself and gave him my best fake smile.
“Stop it, that’s just awful. A little scary even.” Slater pulled me back into his arms. “I’m coming back to you,” he whispered in my ear.
“I’m counting on it.” I squeezed my eyes tightly and willed myself to be strong.
I stayed until his plane took off, and then went home with Raquel and Quinlan. They tried to keep me occupied and thinking of other things, but I just couldn’t do it. I finally excused myself and went upstairs to Slater’s room. Raquel had offered for me to stay over and I agreed. Mainly because I wanted to be where I could be close to Slater. I slipped into his bed and sniffed the pillow. I could smell him; he was all over the bed and I snuggled in and closed my eyes. Slater had two months left on his tour, and then he’d come back to the States. It was going to be a long two months.
* * * *
The first month, I worked as often as possible. Slater would get on messaging as much as he could and we’d Skype, but we couldn’t really get intimate that way. I was never a keyboard enthusiast.
Slater was laughing at me. His image was a bit grainy tonight, but we were discussing the pros and cons of Internet sex.
“I just can’t see how people get off on here,” I groused.
“Oh yes, oh baby.” Slater hit the keys with exaggeration. “Do it to me harder.”
I laughed.
“See what I mean? I keep picturing that voice-over thing people use when they can’t talk.”
Slater howled in laughter, wiping at his eyes.
“Oh God. I needed that laugh.”
“You look so tired.” I touched the image of Slater on my laptop.
“So do you. Still not sleeping well?”
“I’m trying; I just miss you so much.”
“I know, before you know it I’ll be home though, okay? And we can go on a long vacation.”
“Oh? Where are you taking me this time Mr. Money Bags?”
“I thought about taking you on a cruise. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”
“Yes, it does. I’m actually really good on a boat. I don’t get seasick.”
“Good, so then it’s settled. A cruise when I get back.”
“You know, we could just stay here and eat in every night. I’d be happy with that, too, Slater.”
“I plan on doing a lot of things with you, Casper. So be ready when I get home.”
Slater covered his yawn and I smiled.
“Get some rest, tough guy.”
“You too. Sweet dreams, Casper.”
“You too.”
“Night.”
“Night.”
I waited for Slater’s side to go dark before closing my laptop. I crawled into bed and looked at my phone. Drakon had messaged me about the gym in the morning and I replied that I’d meet him there. I wanted to see Ryan, too. I had actually been shocked to see him at the Manhattan Men club working as a waiter. The kid was quiet and didn’t say much, but that had really thrown me for a loop. Plus, Drakon wanted to talk to me about the mysterious man he’d spoken with for a few minutes the night of the party. I couldn’t wait to get my mind off my own life.
Damn, I missed Slater.
Slater
I jumped in the vehicle and waited for the rest of the team to pile in. Ramos gave me his evil grin as he slid in, pushing me over to the end. I pushed back until he was at the other end. He slapped my arm and I elbowed him. We got a short cough from our captain and I eyed Ramos sideways. He winked at me as the doors on the vehicle closed. We began driving down one of the dirt roads toward a small village.
“Yo, Cassidy. I got you something,” Ramos crooned.
“You did?”
“Yep.”
Ramos leaned to his left and his hand started for his pocket. The next thing I heard was the bench beneath my ass rumbling, and the unmistakable smell of Ramos’ Mexican food fart. Within seconds the other men in the vehicle were bent over moaning. Our captain had his nose pinched.
“Dammit, Ramos!” he bellowed.
I coughed and my eyes began watering as the stench invaded the small space. It wasn’t the first time, nor would it be the last time, someone farted in one of the vehicles. MREs—Meals Ready to Eat—and chow hall food were vicious.
“Oh God,” I coughed.
“I owe you one, Cassidy. I went home on leave and—”
An explosion rocked our vehicle and I held onto the bar above my head. Another one knocked us right over. One of the guys kicked open the door and we ran out, taking cover behind the vehicle. I could hear the captain on the radio calling in for reinforcements and then another round hit us. I flew back and hit the ground; someone landed right beside me.
My ears were ringing and I wiped at my forehead. My hand was covered in blood and my right arm wouldn’t work. Someone was screaming somewhere but it sounded far away. I rolled over to see Ramos on his back staring at the night sky. I scrambled over to him and tried to see where he was wounded. Someone slapped my back and I turned to see our medic. He was shouting at me, but I couldn’t hear him. He pointed to Ramos’ leg and then to my belt.
“Tourniquet!” he shouted.
I nodded and leaned over Ramos. His leg was spouting blood like a geyser. I tried to put the tourniquet on, but I couldn’t make my right arm work. Our medic was back and next to me, lifting Ramos’ leg.
“Tie it tight, Cassidy!”
“Arm,” I slurred.
“Aw shit, stay right here!”
I nodded and pulled at the tourniquet with my left hand and my teeth. Ramos shouted in agony and I leaned over him.
“Dude, have to.”
“Talk to me, please,” he gasped.
“Dude, you should have seen the guy I was with over leave. Beautiful, sexy and he actually likes me.” I smiled.
“You’re an asshole,” Ramos spluttered.
“I know, but tell me why.”
“Went home, girl was gone. I thought I’d have soft balls.”
“Oh hell,” I sighed. “I’m sorry man. She left you?”
“Who cares about her? I almost melted my nuts! I was crying on my mom’s kitchen floor with a bag of frozen broccoli on my nut sac. My mom held her rosary over me.”
“Oh, I had peas.”
“What?”
“Frozen peas.”
“Dick.”
“Yep.”
“Cassidy, I don’t wanna lose my leg.” Ramos was rolling back and forth in agony as I tried to keep him still with one arm and talked to distract him.
“I know. Help is coming, so just hang on, okay? You are not allowed to die on me.”
“I can’t, have to get you back.”
“That wasn’t it in the Humvee? You could have killed us all.” I tilted my head. “Enchiladas?”
“And red bean burritos.”
“I hate you.”
“Dude, man, your arm.” Ramos lifted a finger to point at it.
“I’ll live and so will you. Now focus on my face.” I leaned in, sucking in my breath as my vision went in and out. “Which brand of hair remover did you use?”
“That pink bottle stuff.”
I winced. “Yep, same one I did. Did you burn your asshole?”
“I couldn’t shit for four days.”
“No wonder you smelled like that. Been saving it up?”
“What’s his name?” Ramos asked softly.
“Casper.”
He grinned weakly.
“Aw, the friendly ghost.”
I managed to pull the picture of Casper out my uniform pocket with my good hand. I showed it to Ramos.
“Isn’t he beautiful?”
Ramos closed his eyes and nodded.
“Hey! Keep your eyes open and focus on me!”
“Always so conceited…” he managed.
“What a rush man…”
I narrowed my eyes. “Nice one.”
Ramos tried to laugh and then hissed, sucking in a deep breath.
The sound of a chopper overhead had me turning toward the noise. Sand blew at my face and I tried to cover Ramos with my body. Shots fired from all directions and then the chopper let loose. I closed my eyes as sounds of screaming and firing seemed to be everywhere. Another explosion came from somewhere, and my head snapped forward from the force of it. I landed on top of Ramos. Someone moved me and I automatically grabbed for my sidearm. The medic took me by my shoulders and shook me.
“Cassidy! It’s me! Get up!”
I took the medic’s hand and tried to stand. The world pitched sideways and I went down. People were grabbing at me, my eyes were blurry and nametags and faces passed before my eyes.
“Fuck, he’s losing too much blood!” someone shouted.
I opened my eyes to find Ramos looking at me.
“Don’t die,” Ramos mouthed.
I shook my head.
Then it was dark.
I woke up slowly. Sounds of beeping floated around the room and I knew I was in the hospital. I tried to sit up and winced at the pain lancing down my arm and into my back. My arm was in some sort of sling and my side hurt. I pulled the blanket up with my good arm and stared down at my legs. They were there. All ten toes were intact. I breathed a sigh of relief and then the memories came back. I reached for the call button and slammed it down repeatedly. I tried getting up and that was when I noticed the clear tube coming out from below my gown.
“Oh, hell no.”
The door to my room opened and a nurse bustled in. She looked extra cranky.
“What is it, Sergeant?”
“Where’s Ramos? And get this catheter out of me.”
The nurse shook her head. “Can’t do that until the doc comes in to see you.”
“Well where is he? I want this thing out of me. And what the hell is wrong with my arm?”
“Ah, Sergeant Cassidy.”
I glanced over the nurse’s head to see a man in a white coat walk in with a clipboard.
“Finally,” I sighed in exasperation. “When can I get out of here, Doc? And where’s my buddy, Ramos?”
“One thing at a time, Sergeant,” he said, moving around my bed.
“Get this catheter out of me. And where am I?”
“You are at Walter Reed. You’ve taken quite a blow to the head and shrapnel entered your body right under your armpit. We’ve kept you in a medically induced coma to bring the swelling down in your brain.”
I froze.
“What?”
“You’re looking at months of rehabilitation.”
“What do you mean?” I asked slowly.
“You’ve lost the use of your right arm for now. I’m confident it’s not permanent, but like I said—you’re looking at a long recovery time. Your head just needs time to heal.”
“My head?” I lifted my left hand and felt my head. My fingers ran over smooth skin and then what felt like stitches.
“You parents are here. I told them they could come in as soon as I was done.”
“I gotta go back, Doc. You’ve got to fix me up!”
“That’s not possible, Sergeant. You are in no shape to fight.”
“Where’s Ramos?” I pushed the blanket aside and stood up. The room seemed to elongate and I reached out for something to steady myself. The doctor coughed slightly.
“Did he…I mean is he…”
“I can’t discuss another patient’s care with you, Sergeant. You know that.”
“Just tell me if he’s alive and okay!” I shouted.
“Sergeant Ramos is alive. That is all I can tell you.”
“Give me a mirror.”
“Sergeant—”
“Give me a fucking mirror!”
The nurse moved to my right and I watched her with narrowed eyes.
“Don’t you do it,” I spat.
I tried to stop her as she pulled the syringe out her pocket, but my damn arm wouldn’t work. I ended up on the bed on my left side breathing hard.
“I’m sorry, but you need to rest.”
“Fuck you,” I slurred.
The next time I opened my eyes, my mother was sitting next to my bed with a book. I tried to speak and in the end, grunted. She sat up and smiled, placing the book on the tray.
“Well, look at who woke up.” She smiled, smoothing my hair from my forehead. “Let me get you some water.”
I tried to move again, but my right side wouldn’t comply. I grunted again and my mom came back with a glass of water and a straw. I sipped slowly, the cool water feeling wonderful down my parched throat.
“Mom,” I rasped.
“You’re all right, baby.” She kissed my temple. “Thank God, you’re all right.”
“Casper,” I tried to sit. “Casper!”
“He’s here. He went back to the hotel to shower. He came as soon as I called him. You got lucky, honey. You’ve got a long road to recovery, but you’re going to heal up just fine.”
“Ramos—they won’t tell me about Ramos.”
My mom’s smile faltered.
“Mom?”
“I’m not supposed to talk about what happened. They want you to recover.”
“Bullshit! Where’s Ramos?”
“Watch your mouth, boy.”
I started at the sound of my father’s voice. He came up behind my mother and crossed his arms.
“You know better than anyone that you will be debriefed. We’ve been asked by your commanding officer not to speak to you about what we’ve seen on the news. I can tell you that Ramos is alive. I heard the nurses talking about a patient with that name flirting with them.”
“Yeah.” I ran my hand over my hair. “That sounds like him.”
“Okay, your mom is going to find the doctor, okay?”
“Okay,” I nodded.
My father sat down and smiled at me. He reached out and cupped my chin.
“We were worried about you.”
“Doc said they put me in a coma.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“How long?”
My dad fidgeted and I glared at him.
“How long?”
“A little over a month, but we’ve been here the whole time. And Casper—”
“Casper’s been here a month? What about his job?”
“Relax. He hasn’t been here a month. You were in Germany first, but he’s been here since we got back. Blaine told him to stay as long as he needed to, as did Matthew Hawke. Casper didn’t leave your side.”
I slumped back against the pillow and sighed. “Shit.”
“Slater,” my father warned.
I blinked and the room began to get blurry. I held my hand up and tried to focus on it.
“You’re going to need time to relearn a few things, son.”
“Huh?” I felt my tongue getting heavy, like I couldn’t form the right words.
“You need to rest,” he said.
“I’ve rested enough.”
I tried to move, but my legs wouldn’t respond to what I was trying to tell them to do.
“What’s wrong with me?”
“Like I said, you need to relearn a few things.”
“What? What does that mean?”
“Slater, you need to calm down,”
“What does that mean?!”
My eyes started to shut and I tried to fight it, but the darkness was there, begging me to succumb. I heard Spencer from somewhere, I think. He was throwing me a baseball. Wait, what the…?
“Get some rest, son.”
“Is he okay, Dad?” Spencer asked. “I knew this would happen!”
“Shushhhh.” I opened my eyes to slits. “Don’t wanna play baseball.”
“Oh God, Slater.” Spencer wiped at his eyes.
“Don’t cry, Spence.” I tried to lift my lips in a smile. “I’m a Rangerrr.”
&nbs
p; My eyes did close then, and when the blackness came, I welcomed it.
Casper
Driving back to the hospital, I had a lot of time to think. I knew as soon as I saw the news break that it was Slater and his guys. I just knew. The phone call from Raquel Cassidy confirmed it. When I got to Walter Reed, they weren’t going to let me in to see Slater until Raquel had screamed up a storm in the hospital. I had to smile at that.
You didn’t cross Raquel Cassidy.
Not ever.
I stayed by Slater’s bedside day in and day out. The few times I had walked the halls, I’d run into Slater’s battle buddy, Ramos. He had lost his right leg below the kneecap, but he was stubborn and refused to buckle. I’d spent some time with him over the last three weeks. Only four of Slater’s team members had gotten out alive, and no one wanted to be the bearer of bad news to Slater.
I was just elated that Slater had survived.
I parked by the entrance and got out. As I made my way inside, I saw Ramos being wheeled down the hall.
“Hey, Ramos. I thought they were going to fit you for a prosthetic?”
“Yep, want to come watch?” Ramos waggled his eyebrows. “I can’t wear it any time soon, so I’ve been shaking my meat at the ladies.”
I cracked up. I couldn’t help it.
“I will, after I see Slater,” I promised.
“Smack him in the nuts for me.”
I laughed and headed down the hall. Raquel was talking to Slater’s doctor as I came up on them.
“He’s awake again. I think this time it’s for good,” she said.
Slater had woken up once or twice after he’d been brought out of the coma, but had fallen right back into deep sleep soon after. My heart raced at being able to talk to him and have him answer me back for once. I was giddy at the prospect.
“Can I go in?” I asked.
“Of course you can.” Raquel kissed my cheek. “Thank you for being here, Casper.”
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”
I opened the door to find Slater sitting up in bed somewhat, and Quinlan sitting on the chair next to the bed. Slater’s eyes met mine and I smiled.
“Hey there, sexy,” I said, sitting down on the other side of him. “It’s so good to see you awake.”
A Fighting Man Page 9