by Saxon Andrew
Anjette walked up next to Malph and said, “I’m so sorry she hurt you, Malph.”
Malph raised a shoulder and then turned to the pretty woman standing beside him. He smiled and asked, “Anjette, are you a good runner?”
“Only when I want to be.”
Malph smiled, “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“See that you do,” Anjette replied.
• • •
The ambulance arrived at the community hospital and the techs rushed Alex straight through the emergency room to the operating room. A nurse stopped Jingle and asked, “Do you have the patient’s information?” Jingle kept her eyes on Alex and nodded. “What’s the patient’s name?” Jingle answered her questions and kept trying to leave until the nurse said, “I’m assigning him a room and you won’t be able to see him until he’s taken there after surgery. So calm down and try to relax. How was he injured?”
Jingle turned to her and answered, “It was an accident.”
The nurse shook her head, “That was some accident!”
• • •
Jingle was taken to Alex’s room and she sat there weeping at what she had done. Dolly arrived with an overnight bag and Jingle rushed into her arms. She wept and Dolly said, “Jingle, don’t beat yourself up over this.”
“DOLLY, I MIGHT HAVE KILLED HIM!!”
“But you didn’t know why he was there. This was the second wedding that was being interrupted and you simply lost control.”
“He could have stopped me, Dolly!”
“Then this is on him for not doing it. Now pull yourself together and I’ll stay with you until we find out how he is.”
Jingle sat down and tears continued to flow down her face. Four hours later, a bed was rolled into the room and Alex had a medical body case covering him. His head was inside a healing-helmet and Jingle jumped up as the doctor entered the room, “IS HE GOING TO BE OK?”
“We managed to release the pressure on his brain, and he should recover from the concussion. The broken sternum and ribs were the most dangerous injuries, but we’ve got them back in place and the medical case should heal them. His prognosis is fair.”
“Just fair?!”
“He’s endured a tremendous level of pain and we’ll have to see if that caused any long-term effects. I’m keeping him in an induced coma for three weeks and then we’ll remove the machinery. We’ll know more then.”
The doctor looked at his medical pad and said, “I understand he was injured in an accident; were you there?” Jingle’s eyes were wide open, and she nodded. The doctor stared at her and looked back at his pad, “Tell him to be more careful in the future.” Jingle nodded jerkily and the doctor left the room.
Dolly chuckled, “I don’t believe they would have allowed you in here if they knew you did this.”
“That’s not funny, Dolly!!”
“Just saying, Jingle. There’s nothing for you to do here so you should come home with me.” Jingle shook her head. “Jingle, he won’t be conscious for three weeks and if you force yourself to remain here, you won’t be in any kind of shape to greet him when he is taken out of the coma.”
Jingle looked at her and sighed, “I’ll go home tomorrow. I want everyone treating him to know I belong here. Once I meet them, I’ll take a break.”
“You’re worried they won’t let you back in?”
“I am.”
“Well, that makes sense. Contact me when you’re ready to take a break.” Jingle nodded and stood beside Alex with her hand on the medical case.
• • •
The next three weeks seemed to drag by slower than any time in Jingle’s life. It was pure torture waiting for the day to arrive when they would bring Alex out of the coma. Jingle decided to stay in Alex’s room the night before he was due to be wakened; she didn’t want to possibly miss being there. She sat beside his bed and felt her communicator vibrate. She took it out of her pocket and saw Admiral Glennon on it. Her eyes widened and Glennon said, “I understand you’ve injured one of my senior admirals.”
“It was an accident, Sir.”
“Hmmm…don’t let it happen again, Admiral!”
“No Sir, I assure you it won’t!” The call ended and Jingle realized she wasn’t going to be court-martialed for striking another officer, even though she richly deserved it.
• • •
The next day at midmorning, Jingle was awakened by a doctor entering the room. He was followed by two techs pushing a large cart. Jingle sat up in her chair and watched the doctor take a cord out of his pocket, insert it into the medical case, and then insert the other end into the pad he was holding. He began pressing the pad and reading. After thirty minutes, Jingle couldn’t stand it anymore, “Is he OK, Doctor?”
The Doctor didn’t look up from his pad and replied, “So far.” He continued to stare at the pad and then removed the cord from the medical case. He inserted it into the healing-helmet and started staring at his pad again. This time it took almost forty-five minutes before he unplugged the cord. He turned to the techs and ordered, “Remove the case and helmet. Stop the drip and check him for any bruises the machines might have caused.” The doctor turned to Jingle, “Once the case and helmet are removed, the drugs going into his system will be stopped. He should regain consciousness shortly after. Everything looks fine.”
“How shortly, Doctor?”
The doctor smiled and Jingle realized he knew that she had put him in the hospital, but he didn’t say anything about it. “Every person is different. However, the vast majority coming out of an induced coma regain consciousness within an hour or two.”
The doctor left the room and the two technicians began removing the medical case and finally the helmet. They put the machinery on the cart and rolled it out. Jingle looked at the wall clock; he should be awake by noon.
She sat beside his bed and began worrying about what she was going to say. Now was a fine time to start thinking about that! Yeah, just wait until the last moment and sound like a fool.
She listened to Alex’s breathing and suddenly heard a small change in it. She came out of her chair and stood over him staring into his face. Fifteen minutes later, he opened his eyes and winced. “The light is too bright,” he said softly. Jingle went across the room and activated the tint in the windows and turned off the room’s lights. She rushed back over to the bed and saw Alex look up at her. They stared at each other in silence and Alex said softly, “I’m sorry I messed up your wedding day. I do wish you all the happiness the universe can bring you.”
“I didn’t get married, Alex.”
“What?”
“I called it off. I didn’t love the man I was going to marry.”
Alex stared at her and Jingle asked, “Why didn’t you stop me from hurting you?”
“I deserved it, Jingle. I never told you how I felt and now I saw I was losing you forever. I wanted to feel pain for my stupidity.”
“But I almost killed you, Alex.”
Alex managed to raise his left shoulder slightly and winced before saying, “I think at that moment I felt that I would rather be dead than live with you married to another man.”
“Alex, how long have you felt like this and why didn’t you tell me?”
Alex closed his eyes slightly, “I think it started when Fleet sent me all the data they had on you when you fled the Union. In the data was a picture of you standing beside a lake smiling. I vowed that I would not kill you or allow you to be harmed if I could prevent it. I decided at that moment that you were too beautiful to die.”
Jingle was silent and Alex continued after a moment, “I didn’t want to admit my feelings to myself and we had some rocky moments when we butted heads. But through it all, I couldn’t get you out of my mind. I think once I came to the realization that you are smarter than me everything fell into place for me. I realized my life wouldn’t be worth living without you in it.”
“Alex, I’m not smarter than you.”
“Jingle, the tim
e for deception is over. You know you’re smarter than me and the reason you were so stubborn and hard-headed was to keep us safe. I just didn’t realize it at the time.”
“Why didn’t you tell me!?!”
“I was afraid you’d reject me, Jingle. Gary told me that you said you despise me to Deidre. I just couldn’t muster my courage up to tell you.”
“I didn’t tell her I despised you; I told her I thought you despised me but that we worked well together. How did you find out about the wedding?”
“Jangle contacted Brooks and told him. Brooks told me and I immediately left Canis Major to get to Bucket in time to try and stop you from going through with the wedding. I knew that there could be no more delays or hiding how I felt. It was now or never, and time was running out.”
“Jangle, why did you tell Brooks?”
“Why don’t you tell Alex why I did it?”
Jingle knew Alex couldn’t hear Jangle without a link and Jingle sighed before saying, “You told Brooks because you knew that Alex was the only man I loved or ever would love. You told Brooks hoping to stop me from making a huge mistake.”
Alex stared at her and asked softly, “Is that true?”
“It is, Alex.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because for two very smart people, you and I can be incredibly stupid.”
“Or just frightened of being rejected.”
“Same thing, Alex; we’ve wasted so much time.”
“Jingle, I love you.” Jingle leaned down and kissed him tenderly. When she broke the kiss, Alex sighed, “That was everything I thought it’d be.” Alex’s eyes closed and he instantly fell asleep. The effort of talking with her had worn him out. But he was smiling. And so was she. She ran her fingers lightly through his hair and stared into his face. He was a warrior and that wasn’t going to change. But…”
“That’s what I like to hear!” Jangle replied instantly. “I like thoughts like that!”
Jingle nodded, “Where he shall go, I will go with him.”
“Even if it means you have to move back to the Union, Jingle?”
Jingle sighed, “That’s where he’s employed.”
“So are you, Jingle.” Jingle could only shrug.
• • •
Alex suddenly opened his eyes and looked around the hospital room. No one was there. He looked out the window and saw the sun was below the horizon; he must have been asleep for a while. He remembered talking with Jingle…but…could it have been just a wistful dream? Was she and Malph now married and she was gone forever? He felt his fear rising as Jingle entered the room pushing a food cart, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Alex’s head fell back on his pillow. Jingle rushed over, “What’s wrong?”
Alex blew out a long breath, “I thought you and I were a dream and that I was waking up in a world where you belonged to Malph. It frightened me.”
Jingle smiled softly and leaned down to kiss him. She straightened up and smiled, “I took a shower and cleaned up, but you were still sleeping, so I went to the hospital’s kitchen and picked up your dinner.”
Jingle was wearing a sun-dress and Alex shook his head, “You look so beautiful Jingle.”
Jingle’s face turned red, “It’s been a long time since I’ve dressed up for someone, Alex. Thank you.”
Alex stared at her and then his eyes widened, “WHERE’S MY UNIFORM?!” He looked around the room and repeated, “WHERE’S MY JACKET?!”
“Alex, relax. I hung it up in the closet, although it needs to be sent out for cleaning, it got dirty when you were lying on the Watering Hole’s floor.”
“Bring me my jacket! Please!” Jingle took his jacket out of the closet and handed it to him. She turned to butter his bread and Alex reached into one of the pockets on his jacket. Jingle finished buttering his bread and turned around. Alex was holding a small open box out to her, “Jingle, will you marry me?”
Jingle’s mouth fell open and her hands went to her cheeks. “Alex, this ring is…is…”
“What?”
“Incredible! How could you afford it?”
“It was my mother’s ring. I told my father that I had found the woman I wanted to marry. He gave it to me insisting that Mom would want you to have it.”
Jingle stared at the ring and sighed, “Alex, if I accept the ring now after having dumped Malph…I just don’t want to cause him more pain.”
Dolly walked into the room and flipped a hand at them, “That’s not an issue.”
Alex and Jingle jerked their heads around to her as Dolly put a bag down she was carrying. “Malph carried Anjette across the threshold a week ago. If you want the ring, take it, Jingle!”
Jingle turned to Alex, “YES, I WILL MARRY YOU!!! YES, YES, YES!!”
Alex reached out and took her hand; he slipped the ring on her third finger and it fit perfectly. Jingle raised her hand and was amazed at how well it fit. She looked at Alex and he shrugged slightly, “I had it resized after I got your size from Jangle.”
“And just when did you do that?” Alex didn’t answer and Jingle said loudly, “JANGLE!!”
“He asked me your size about eight months ago.”
“AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME?!”
“Hey, I thought he was getting your size for some sort of officers ring or something. He didn’t say anything about an engagement ring.”
Jingle looked at Alex and he exhaled slowly, “I’ve been struggling so hard to ask you. I just thought I had no chance with you and couldn’t bring myself to do it.”
Jingle leaned down over Alex and kissed him. They held the kiss for a long moment until Dolly said, “You two need to get a room!”
Alex and Jingle burst out laughing and Alex replied, “What do you think this is?”
Dolly looked around and shook her head before saying, “I brought some food from the bar; you can starve to death eating hospital food.” Dolly pushed the cart out of the room and began piling Alex’s eating tray up with what she brought.
Jingle looked at Alex and said softly, “Dolly told me I was making a mistake accepting Malph’s proposal.”
Alex looked at Dolly and she rolled her eyes, “But did she listen? Of course she didn’t. I’ve told her she needs to pay attention to me, to write things down, and follow my advice; but noooooo!”
Jingle went to Dolly and hugged her, “Dolly, I love you.”
“And you love him as well, Jingle; the best thing happened.” Dolly hesitated and asked, “So, where are the two of you going to live?”
Jingle sighed, “Alex wants to live in the Union and wherever he goes, I will follow him.”
Alex’s brow furrowed, “When did I ever say anything about living in the Union?”
Jingle turned to him, “Annie told me that y’all broke up over your refusing to live on Barrow with her. You told her it was the Union or nothing.”
Alex waved a hand, “I had to come up with some reason to let her down easy.” Jingle’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she shook her head. Alex continued, “Annie was a distraction, nothing more. I thought it might work but every moment I was with her, I couldn’t get you out of my mind. I used living in the Union to give her an easy out without embarrassing her. You should have known that, Jingle.”
“I’m not a mind reader, Alex.”
“No, but you’re the one that told me the only reason I was in the Navy was I was given an opportunity to visit the Wilds. Our home will be on Bucket. That’s where I found you and that’s where I fell in love with you.”
Jingle was back on Alex kissing him again and Dolly blew out a breath. “Tell me when you’re ready to eat.” They broke the kiss again laughing and Dolly said, “Thank you, Alex. I hated the prospect of losing my best friend.”
Jingle looked at Alex, “Will Fleet allow us to live here?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we have to, Jingle.”
Jingle looked at Dolly, “I’m glad you came. We’re getting Alex on his feet and start him
walking.”
“WHOA!” Alex replied.
Jingle turned to him, “The doctor told me that once you start walking your recovery time will be greatly reduced. I will not get all lovey-dovey with you in a hospital room!”
Alex’s head went back slightly, “Well…maybe I should try to walk before we eat!!”
Dolly and Jingle both burst out laughing and Dolly managed to say through her laughter, “I do like his priorities, Jingle!”
Chapter Eighteen
Alex was walking in a park next to the hospital holding Jingle’s hand. He was quiet and Jingle finally asked, “What’s bothering you, Alex?”
Alex sighed, “Nothing…really.”
“I know your expressions, Alex. Like you said after you woke from the coma, the time for deception is over. Part of what caused my stubbornness and hard-headed behavior was you not being open and honest with me. You should tell me what’s going on.”
“Jingle, for almost ten-thousand years of space travel, humanity never encountered an alien civilization. Now in less that a couple of years, we’ve run across three of them and all three are a threat to the Union. Well…two of them are still threats; the Canis Aliens are now allies.”
Jingle nodded, “Go on.”
“I sent some scouts to the LMC and they discovered that the civilization with the large battleships is larger than the Nebula Aliens. The only reason they haven’t directly attacked Canis Major is that they’re currently involved in a war with another civilization. My scout estimates they will win that war in about two years.” Alex turned to Jingle, “What do you think that civilization is going to do when they arrive at Canis Major and all the planets there have been abandoned?”
“They’ll start looking to find where they went.”
Alex nodded, “And the obvious place to start their search is in the Milky Way. They will inevitably run across the Union.”
Jingle was silent a moment and then replied, “The Nebula Aliens must be handled before that civilization finds the Union.”