“Good,” she whispered fervently. “And what about Diablo? Are they still around? Or did they move into another area?”
Shrugging, Quinn said, “I don’t know for sure. Morgan Trayhern is working on a plan to locate them. He realizes that my fire team can’t respond as we first planned. And disease is starting to spread. He’s trying to coordinate medical teams getting into our area to help stop the epidemics.”
Kerry saw worry lurking in Quinn’s darkening eyes. Frowning, she reached out, her fingers grazing his hand as it rested on the edge of her bed. “Are you going to be involved in getting the medical teams in there?”
Just the touch of her hand sent an ache straight to his heart. Quinn realized Kerry was a helluva lot braver than he was on the emotional front. She wouldn’t touch him if he didn’t mean something to her. The question was, how serious about him was she? The question almost tore out of him, but he couldn’t find the guts to ask her yet.
“I don’t know. I spent part of yesterday down at the brig facility going through mug shots, trying to ID the Diablo dudes we ran into. We wounded one of ’em and took out the others. The one that’s still alive is here at the hospital right now, under armed guard. He didn’t have any identification on him, and he’s not talking to the military detectives put on the case.”
Shivering, Kerry closed her eyes. “He’s here?”
“Yeah.” Quinn’s fingers curled around her hand. “Don’t worry, okay? That dude is going nowhere. The marines guarding him are brig chasers—and they’re big and mean. They all hope he makes a break for it. They’d like nothing better than to take him down permanently after what he did to you.” So would he, but Quinn knew it wasn’t right. Let the legal system get this guy. He felt satisfaction in knowing the twenty-year-old-man was staring at a very long federal prison sentence for injuring and nearly killing Kerry. She was a law enforcement officer, and judges took a hard line and handed out long sentences to those who would do such a thing.
“I guess…well, I was wondering about him, too….” Sighing, she squeezed Quinn’s hand. “I’m glad you’re here with me. I’m feeling really vulnerable right now, shaky…. I was crying earlier. I don’t know why, I just was….”
“Dr. Edmonds said with a head injury your emotions can go up and down like a roller coaster at first,” he murmured soothingly, seeing the angst and turmoil in her eyes.
“I just didn’t expect it.”
“I’m here. I’ll help you as much as I can, sweet pea.” Quinn gave her a tender look and gripped her fingers tighter for a moment.
“I’m so glad…” Kerry’s voice broke. Tears flooded her eyes and Quinn’s face blurred again. “You know, before you stepped into my life, I felt like the rug was jerked out from under me. I felt unstable and unsure, Quinn. But when you’re with me, I feel okay. I feel like I’m going to get through all this hell on earth.” Sniffing, she reached over and took a tissue from the box on the bedstand, dabbed her eyes and blew her nose.
“You’ve been through a lot, Kerry,” he said, his voice a rasp. Watching her wipe the tears away made his heart ache. How badly he wanted to hold her. Just hold her. “And it’s gonna take time for you to work through all the trauma. The shock. Getting shot at and injured just compounds it. Give yourself some breathing room, okay?”
Nodding, she gripped the tissue in her left hand. “It hasn’t been all bad, Quinn. After all, I met you.” Risking a glance, she saw his eyes narrow upon her. His mouth was thinned and set, as if he were bracing himself for whatever she might say.
“You just walked into my life and blew me away,” Kerry told him brokenly. “I never realized how much of a load I was carrying by myself until you came and helped me out by sharing it. I liked your sensitivity, your care for others. I guess I had this stereotype in my head about rough, tough marines. When Morgan Trayhern told me you were coming, I wasn’t thrilled pink about it, to be honest.”
He grinned. “No?”
“No. I thought you’d be antiwoman or anti–law enforcement and just want to storm the beach and take over.” She managed a shy smile as his grin widened.
“I respected what you’d done, Kerry. I saw how the people responded to you. I had no business coming in and trying to take over. We needed to learn from you, listen to you. And we did.”
“I know.” Shaking her head, she added, “Most of all, you were a wonderful leader, the best kind. I really liked working with you.”
“You weren’t what I expected, either,” Quinn admitted. “I had a few stereotypes of my own to bury regarding you.” He saw her answering smile.
Kerry was looking tired. Quinn knew she needed to sleep, so he got up and reluctantly released her hand. “Listen, you need to rest. Okay?”
Sighing, Kerry laid her head back on the pillows and closed her eyes. “I’m tired all of a sudden, Quinn.” And she already missed his strong, warm hand on hers.
Walking around the bed, Quinn moved the wheeled table with the tray to one side. “Sleep, sweet pea,” he whispered, leaning over and brushing a kiss on her wrinkled brow.
Opening her eyes, Kerry stared up into that blue gaze focused on her. “I feel so warm, safe and happy with you close to me like this….”
Reaching out, Quinn stroked her pale cheek. “Then I’ll make a habit of being a pest around here. I’ve got to meet Morgan in a few minutes. I’ll come back late this afternoon and check on you.”
Closing her eyes, she absorbed Quinn’s touch like life-giving water to thirsty ground. “I’d like that…a lot….”
“I’ll be back.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
January 28: 2100
Kerry looked at the clock on the wall; it was 2100. Darkness had fallen outside her private room. Most of her meal, which had been delivered at 1800, was still sitting there, untouched. Where was Quinn? There was a phone at her bedside, but she had no number to contact him. Worried, she kept glancing toward the door and then out the window.
There was a soft knock on the door and it opened.
“Quinn…”
He smiled tiredly and took off his cap. “Hi. Sorry I’m late. Things snowballed today.” He shut the door behind him. Turning, he saw the anxiousness in Kerry’s eyes even though she tried to hide her reaction.
“I’m just beginning to realize how busy it is around this base,” she murmured. How good Quinn looked! But he was tired. She could see it in his eyes and the set of his mouth. He stuffed the cap he’d been wearing into his back pocket and unbuttoned his bulky jacket. Taking it off, he threw it on the chair next to her bed.
“Twenty-five hours a day,” he assured her. Moving to her tray, he said, “What’s this? You haven’t touched your food. How come?” And he gave her a concerned look. There was a bit of color in her cheeks as he met and held her gaze. “Aren’t you feeling any better?”
“I’m okay,” Kerry lied. “I was just…well, worried when you didn’t show up this afternoon….”
Moving the tray back across her bed, over her lap, Quinn opened the container of Jell-O and pulled off the transparent wrapper. “I got asked to fly out to Area Five unexpectedly, Kerry. At 1500 today. I’m sorry I couldn’t let you know.”
“I figured something came up.” She watched as he picked up the spoon and handed her the container.
“You need to eat. Get your strength back, sweet pea.”
Rallying at his undivided care, Kerry took the Jell-O and spooned some into her mouth. It was sweet and tasted good.
Unwrapping a sandwich, Quinn sat down on the edge of her bed and faced her.
“Help yourself,” she said between bites. “I’m not that hungry.”
“I’m a starvin’ cow brute,” he said with a chuckle. Just being with Kerry lifted his spirits. “That’s hill slang for a steer.” He saw her mouth draw into a smile. Did Kerry know how beautiful she was to him? Quinn didn’t think so. He was ravenous and bit into the sandwich as she continued to daintily eat the stra
wberry Jell-O.
“Let me fill you in on the day’s events,” he told her between bites. There was some orange juice in a bottle, so he opened it and poured half of it into the plastic cup for her and kept half for himself.
“Morgan asked me to fly out on a Huey shipment bound for Area Five at 1500. Even though my fire team is there, and they have a new corporal, he wanted me to reconnoiter the area for the incoming medical team that will be here tomorrow evening. I spent all afternoon, until dark, going over a street map of the area, noting information that this team will need. There’s all kinds of sickness starting to crop up. Dysentery, typhoid, strep, and others. Morgan is trying to get medical teams in there to stop it, but our medical supplies can’t even begin to handle the epidemics that are starting to explode in the area.”
“I’ve been worried sick about that, Quinn. I knew it would only be a matter of time. People are drinking dirty, unsafe water. They’re eating food that’s rotten and germy. I’m glad Morgan has made the medical teams a priority.” She brightened a bit. “Did you see Petula? Sylvia?”
Smiling, he nodded. “The first thing I did when we landed was drop in for a visit with them. They’re fine. They asked about you and I told them you’re doing fine. Petula cried. But it was tears of happiness.”
Sighing, Kerry whispered, “That’s great.”
“You’re missed by everyone,” he told her seriously. “Walking around the area, I must have had close to thirty people come up and ask me about you. They knew you’d been wounded and they were worried.”
“I lie here thinking about so many of them. I miss everyone. We bonded because of the tragedy and they feel like extended family to me now,” Kerry said. She took a drink of orange juice.
“To them, you are family,” he agreed. Quinn handed her half the turkey sandwich.
“Eat this.”
She bit into it without a word. Her spirits were flying. The darkness, the depression she was feeling, dissolved.
“I didn’t run into Diablo, either,” Quinn told her, frowning. “I think the gunfight with us changed things. I’m not sure where they are right now.”
“Hiding, more than likely,” Kerry answered. The turkey was amazingly tasty. She realized for the first time that she was truly famished. It had to be Quinn’s presence that triggered her appetite. With her leg resting against his hip where he sat on her bed, she sponged in his presence like the earth soaked up the rays of the warming sun. The happiness in his eyes made her heart beat harder. Hope threaded through Kerry, strong and good.
“Yeah, that’s what Logistics thinks. Morgan is asking me to be point man on this project to try and find them.”
Frowning, Kerry whispered, “Does that mean you’ll go out with another team to find Diablo?”
“Take it easy,” he said, wiping his mouth with a paper napkin after finishing his half of the sandwich. “No, I’m being assigned back to Area Five as Logistics officer.” He smiled at her. “I’ll be working with you—again.” Kerry had made it clear she wanted to go back to her area. Dr. Edmunds agreed that she could as soon as her head wound was better. The flesh wound on her thigh was almost healed.
Shocked, Kerry stared at him. “Officer?” A thrill shot through Kerry. Quinn was going to be working with her once more. She felt euphoric.
Chuckling, Quinn said, “Did you notice the black embroidered bar on each of the shoulders of my shirt here?” He pointed to his left epaulet. The silver bars Morgan had given him would go on his official marine uniform, but not on his cammies. “I got a field commission, Kerry. It sure shocked me. That kind of thing hasn’t been done since Vietnam. But Morgan said they were giving it to me because of the earthquake. They need more seasoned enlisted men and women out there in the basin. They’re shorthanded and they need leaders to get the help to where it’s critical. They don’t have enough marine officers to do that with, so they’re making new ones so we can help sooner, faster, better.”
“Oh, Quinn, congratulations!” She reached out and touched his hand.
He grasped her fingers and squeezed them gently. “It was sure a surprise to me.”
“Well deserved, I’d say. What a gift.”
“You’re my gift,” he told her seriously. “In more ways than one, Kerry.” He lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. “All I want is for you to eat, sleep, rest and get better. The world might have fallen apart around us, but we have each other. That’s the gift to me.” He hoped it was for her, too, but he wasn’t about to put words into her mouth on that topic. Just the way her eyes turned smoky with desire made his heart beat faster. The way her soft, full lips parted made him groan inwardly.
Kerry didn’t want Quinn to release her hand, but he did. He was intent on getting her to eat. Uncovering a piece of chocolate cake with a thin layer of white frosting, he divided it between them, then handed her the fork.
“At some point when the time’s right,” Kerry told him softly, “we need to sit down and do some serious talking, Quinn.”
His heart thudded in his chest. Looking down, he muttered, “Yeah, I know. Things have been crazy of late, and our worlds have been like sheets twisted in a windstorm.”
“I love your hill sayings,” Kerry said. More than anything, she loved him. And how she felt had to be put on the table. Whether Quinn loved her, she didn’t know, and that scared her as little else had in her life. Still, Kerry knew she had to tell Quinn how she felt.
“Two days from now,” he told her, “if things go right, let’s talk. Okay? I’ll be back on base on the thirtieth.”
Nodding, she picked disinterestedly at the cake. “Yes, two days, Quinn.” Her appetite had fled once more with the fear of losing Quinn. His larger-than-life presence was exactly that—something so good, clean and wonderful that Kerry had a tough time believing that life had placed a second good man before her.
Chapter Ten
January 30:1600
Quinn hurried into the greenhouse that was attached to the hospital. Laura Trayhern had told him that in the last two days, Kerry had become mobile in a wheelchair. Her recovery was so swift that she was spending a lot of time in the greenhouse instead of staying in her room.
He hadn’t realized there was a greenhouse and solarium affixed to the hospital. It was a nice way to get the patients out of their rooms. His heart hammered. Would Kerry be glad to see him? That he’d promised her he’d see her two days ago made his gut clench. Would she understand? Pushing through the double doors, their windows steamed up because of the humidity, he entered a world of warmth and moisture.
The greenhouse was a glass-and-steel structure housing a good five thousand square feet of tropical greenery—brightly flowering orchids and tall palms that reached for the light. Where was Kerry? Quinn halted and looked around. The redbrick sidewalk was wide enough to support a wheelchair. Very few people were in the exquisite greenhouse, maybe because it was 1600. Mouth dry, he wiped it with the back of his hand and turned. Something told him to take the left fork in the path, around the huge stand of palms in the red planter that welcomed visitors into this jungle world.
He found Kerry at the end of the curving red path, a watering pot in her hands. She was watering some of the low plants along the sidewalk, one at a time. From where he stood, he could see that she wore only a dressing on her temple, and the swathes of gauze around her head had been removed. Her hair, dark and slightly curled, had been recently washed and framed her face. Most surprising, she was in civilian clothes and not a hospital gown. Kerry wore a long-sleeved, pale pink turtleneck that provocatively outlined her upper body. She had small, beautiful breasts, Quinn realized for the first time. When she’d been in her uniform or wearing a flak vest, that feminine secret had been hidden from him. Further, the jeans she wore outlined her long, curved thighs. She was leaning down, a peaceful look on her face as she dribbled water on a bright red anthurium with dark green foliage.
“I’m kinda thirsty,” Quinn said, coming forward. “Can
I get a drink of water from you, too?”
Kerry’s head snapped to the left. Quinn’s voice was low, intimate and teasing. As she sat up, she nearly dropped the watering device.
“Quinn!” Her voice was muffled by the many plants and high humidity around them. She twisted toward him. Her heart bounded and joy shot through her. He was grinning crookedly, a welcome burning in his eyes.
With a soft cry, Kerry set the watering bucket down and turned the wheelchair toward him. The look of happiness on his darkly bearded face, in his bloodshot eyes, made her smile.
Quinn crouched before her, his hands settling on her shoulders. “Hi, stranger.”
“Hi, yourself.” Kerry touched his bearded face. There was dirt on the side of his jaw, and his cammies were dirty, also. “And you’re no stranger.”
“No?” He searched her silver-flecked eyes. There was no doubt Kerry was happy to see him. He ran his hands across the silky pink turtleneck covering her shoulder and upper arms. More than anything, he liked touching Kerry. Her body was firm and athletic.
“No. How are you?” To heck with it. Kerry threw her arms around him and drew him against her in a tight, quick embrace. Quinn came forward without protest, chuckling as he wrapped his strong arms carefully around her shoulders and held her. He smelled of sweat. Kerry knew he’d been out in the field for two days in Area Five.
“I’m fine—now.” Giving her a quick kiss on her ruddy cheek, Quinn eased away. Taking off his cap, he rose and tucked it in a back pocket. “You look great.” Delicious. He wanted her. So very badly. He wanted to claim her in every way to show her how much she meant to him.
“Thanks.” Kerry laughed delightedly. Gesturing to the brick walk, she said, “Can you sit down? Do you have a minute or are you off putting out another brushfire crisis somewhere else?”
Sitting on the sidewalk, which was only slightly damp, Quinn crossed his legs and looked up at her. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be here this morning when I said I would, Kerry. I know I promised.” He opened his hands in a helpless gesture.
The Will to Love Page 11