Fighting For Nadia

by Nicole Flockton

  Nadia only hoped that somehow, someway he would find the strength to beat his demons.

  The hands holding her tightened their grip to the extent that she almost couldn’t breathe. She wouldn’t give in to them. She’d fight with everything she had. No way would she make it easy for these bastards to take her down. Nadia looked again at Buff, they were now kicking him in the ribs. Buff had curled in on himself to minimize the damage from the blows. At least his self-preservation instincts were still intact.

  Maybe she could pull him out of it. She had to try. Their time together couldn’t end this way. Nadia didn’t want the last thing he remembered about her to be their argument.

  “Buff!” She screamed his name. “I need you. I love you.”

  The declaration popped out of her but she didn’t care. It hadn’t been her intention to say she loved him. She hadn’t known for sure until this second, but amidst the fear coursing through her, peace settled in too. If her life was about to end at the hands of these men then she wanted him know. Wanted Buff to know she loved him. That she’d declared it for the universe to hear. And she hoped he heard it too. He had to know that no matter what happened he was loved.

  How the hell was he under attack? He was on base. Wasn’t base supposed to be a safe place? There was no such thing as a safe place in war.

  Air rushed out of him on a gasp as another kick landed right above his kidneys. If he didn’t do something he was going to die in this hellhole and he didn’t want to die. Not now. Not when his life was looking up. But how could that be? Nothing monumental happened to him when he was deployed. Relationships were always the last thing on his mind.

  However, in the far recesses of his consciousness Buff acknowledged that yes his life was looking up. That there was a big reason for him to live.

  “Buff! I need you. I love you.”

  The voice sounded familiar and he wanted to grasp onto it like it was a life raft in the stormy seas of his life. He opened his mouth to tell the person to keep talking, but nothing came out.

  “Buff please. Come back to me.”

  Yes! Yes. He wanted to come back. To her. To this shadow of a woman who needed him. Who loved him.

  Loved him.

  Nadia.

  Nadia loved him?

  Gaps appeared in the fog of his brain. Buff shook his head, a sharp stab of pain pierced his skull but he ignored it.

  Nadia needed him.

  “Oh you’re gonna be so tasty, bitch. I can’t wait to rip that pretty little dress off and feast on your pussy.”

  “No.” The word roared out of him. Adrenaline spiked the neurons in his brain. Awareness of the situation returned. He and Nadia were being ambushed by a group of men on the streets of San Antonio. Men who were going to hurt and possibly rape Nadia. He wasn’t going to let that happen. Not to the woman he loved. As quickly as the notion entered his mind he latched onto it and held it close. Because it was true. This woman saved him in so many ways he didn’t even recognize. Until she’d stormed into his life, he hadn’t known what he wanted. What he’d been missing. Now that he had it, he wasn’t letting go. And he intended to fight these bastards so that he could have a future with Nadia—if she’d have him.

  Buff grabbed the leg that attempted to kick him again. He may have been an Army surgeon, but he’d also done some hand to hand combat training with the guys on the base. They all needed to let off steam and he found physical activity was a great way for that. He twisted the foot he held hard. The man yelped but didn’t go down. There was no way he could take them all down, but he could fight. Maybe someone had heard Nadia’s screams and had called for help. He could only hope and pray that that was the case.

  Pushing to his feet he ignored the screaming pain in his side and back. He didn’t think his kidney was hurt and he didn’t care if it was. All he cared about was getting to Nadia and keeping her safe.

  Taking a moment he didn’t have he looked over to where she stood. Their eyes met, fear marked every inch of her face, but her eyes held hope and love. Once again she’d pulled him from the depths of his demons. He nodded to her, hoping she got the message that he would do everything he could to get them out of this.

  Her answering nod assured him she had and she raised her leg, stomping her foot down on the man holding her, as her elbow went back and she poked him hard in the belly. It was enough for him to loosen his hold and Nadia managed to break away.

  “Run. Get help.” He shouted as another two men attempted to grab him. He whirled his leg around, catching one of the guys in the jaw. He went down with bang on the pavement, his head jolting as it connected with the unforgiving surface.

  Buff threw punches and kicks and received a few of his own, but in the background he could’ve sworn he heard sirens. The sound was getting louder and louder but he didn’t want to risk a look and leave himself open to be hurt. A second later the person he was fighting was pulled away and arms banded around him.

  “Police. Don’t move.” Voices yelled and immediately Buff relaxed his stance, to try and transmit that he wasn’t the threat. That he wasn’t the one who needed to be carted off to jail. Blood obscured his vision but he could see that there were at least half a dozen policemen surrounding them. A woman officer had pulled Nadia to the side, away from the group of men.

  Buff wanted to go over to his love, check her out for himself to make sure that she was okay and not hurt.

  “Are you okay, sir?” The officer asked him and removed his arm from around Buff. “An ambulance is on the way. Once here the paramedics will check you out.”

  “I’m fine. I don’t need looking at.”

  “You can tell the paramedics that when they get here. Now can you tell me what happened to you and your partner?”

  In his peripheral vision he could see the group of men who’d attacked him and Nadia all face down on the ground. Their arms cuffed behind their backs. Buff had no idea who contacted them, if it was Nadia or a passerby, but he was glad that help had arrived when it had.

  Turning his back so he didn’t have to look at the assholes who’d almost taken his girl away he told the officer everything that had happened. He left out how he’d fallen into an attack, that information wasn’t necessary.

  As he spoke to the officer, Buff kept glancing in Nadia’s direction. The need to be with her becoming more and more urgent.

  “We’ve just about finished and you can get to your woman.” The officer said with a smile on his face.

  Buff attempted a smile, but the dried blood on his face cracked. “Thanks.”

  The officer canted his head. “Maybe you want to get cleaned up first.”

  “Yeah, probably a good idea.”

  “How about we get you checked out while I finish questioning you?”

  Getting checked out was probably a good idea. Even though he was a physician, and was pretty sure that all he was suffering from was bruised ribs and a contusion on his kidney, it was never a good idea to self-diagnose. “That will work.”

  While the paramedic checked him out and Buff finished giving his statement to the officer, he was aware of where Nadia was and every time she looked over at him.

  Fuck, how he wanted to tell her he loved her too. She’d called it out to him, but he’d been lost and hadn’t answered. Buff stood and shook off the blanket and the paramedics hands. They wanted him to go to the hospital to be checked out, even though they agreed with his self-diagnosis that he was okay. Going to the hospital was the last thing on his mind. He just wanted Nadia. “Are we done?” he asked the officer.

  As if he could tell that asking Buff further questions was pointless the officer nodded. “If I need anything else I’ll be in touch. I’ve got your contact information.”

  Buff nodded and began to walk away. He’d only gone a couple of steps when he stopped and turned to the officer. “Thanks for being there. I’m not sure I could’ve held them off and,” he canted his head in Nadia’s direction. “I don’t want to think about what
they would’ve done to Nadia if you hadn’t have come when you did.”

  “Just doing our job, but thank you Mr. Alexander.” He held out his hand and Buff gave it a brief shake before returning to his mission—holding Nadia.

  As he limped over to where she stood, Nadia moved away from the woman she was talking to and ran toward him. He picked up his pace. Nadia slammed into him and he winced at the contact but he didn’t care. He closed his arms around her, as hers bandied around his neck. Having her close soothed all his aches. Everything was better when he had Nadia close.

  “I’ve got you, Boston,” Buff whispered. “I’m never letting you go. You’re stuck with me. I will always, always, do everything in my power to keep you safe.”

  “Buff, thank God, I was so scared.” She buried her face in his neck and he relished having her close again.

  They stood there for endless moments. Buff’s mind turning over and over at how close they’d come to losing each other and, possibly, their lives.

  “Are you okay?” She asked, her words muffled because her face was still pressed against him.

  Buff pulled away and looked into her eyes, brushing strands of hair off her face. “Just some bumps and bruises. I’ll be fine. What about you? Did they hurt you?”

  “No they didn’t. But I wanted to as…” She looked away and he knew what she wanted to ask but seemed afraid to.

  “I heard you. I heard you calling to me when I was lost.” Buff hooked a finger under her chin, lifting it until she was looking back at him. What was about to say next was the most important thing he’d ever said to anyone in his life. “You pulled me back from those demons once again. Your voice reached out to me and I grasped the lifeline you threw.” He lowered his head until his forehead rested against hers. “I heard you say you loved me, Boston. Did you mean it?”

  She shuddered in his arms. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, I did. I do. I love you, Buff.”

  Buff closed his eyes and breathed deeply, letting her words sink in—she loved him. They were standing on a sidewalk on a street in San Antonio, not the ideal place to have this conversation, but he didn’t care. There were things he needed to say and he was going to say them.

  Opening his eyes he framed her face. “When I returned from my last tour, I knew my life was in turmoil. I had no direction and denied that I had issues. As time went on and my demons threatened to overtake me, I didn’t believe I was worthy of love. Didn’t think I deserved it because I’d walked away when I was still needed by the Army. I believed I was better off by myself, that no one could love me when I was so unpredictable.

  “But then one evening in April, when I was in the grips of an attack an angel came to my rescue. Someone who didn’t know me, but didn’t judge me either. Time and time again this angel rescued me when I needed it. She showed me that I was worthy of being loved. More importantly that I was capable of loving as well.” He kissed her softly with the corner of his mouth so that he didn’t get her with the cut on his lips. “I love you, Nadia. You bring light to my life and I don’t ever want it extinguished. If you want to take that job in Boston then take it and I’ll go with you.”

  “What?” She lifted her head from his chest. “What did you say?”

  He smiled at the confusion on her face. He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised by it, he’d unloaded a lot of information on her. “Which part do you want me to repeat? This bit—I love you Nadia Fletcher. Or is it this—take the job and I’ll follow you. If you want me to, of course.”

  Her mouth opened and closed and nerves began to swell in his stomach. Had he read her wrong? She said she loved him, but had he started to make assumptions when he shouldn’t have? His love for Nadia was so encompassing that he was prepared to do whatever it took to be with her. It wasn’t like he was that attached to Texas. He’d been in the Army for years. Done plenty of tours and had been based in other parts of the country. He could move anywhere. He would move anywhere for Nadia.

  “I don’t know what to say.” She eventually said.

  “I’m sorry I’ve put it all out there and not given you any warning, but after what happened just now and the thought of losing you, well, that’s worse than anything I could imagine. Even more worse than my PTSD attacks. I need you in my life, Boston. I want to create a life with you. One that includes, if it’s what you want, children. I want it all. I love you. I don’t know what else to say.”

  Nadia reached out and touched his face. He laid his palm over her hand. “I want all that too, Buff. Family. You. Everything. Good and bad. When we were being attacked, I could see you were lost in your mind. I wanted so badly to pull you out of it. I wasn’t sure if you would be able to hear me or not, but I needed you to know I loved you. That no matter what happened, at least I’d said it.”

  Buff released the breath he’d been holding, the tension seeping out of him at the same time. “Whatever you want to do, just know I’ll support you.”

  “I don’t know what I’m going to do, Buff. I need to think about it. I wasn’t expecting this call and to be honest.” She looked up at him and the love for him shone brightly in her eyes along with a hint of confusion. “I really like working at Kerrville, but I know if I take the job in Boston my parents will be ecstatic.”

  “But will you be?” he asked. They hadn’t talked in detail about her parents, but she had mentioned to him that they hadn’t been happy with her decision to move to Kerrville.

  “As I said, the decision is yours and I will follow you. If you want to know the truth, during my sessions with my therapist I’ve been working toward trying to get back in the medical field.”

  “Oh Buff that’s wonderful. We have a lot to talk about don’t we?”

  “Yeah, Boston, we do. But we can do it together.”

  “Together. I like the sound of that,” she said smiling up at him.

  “Me too.”

  Epilogue

  Nadia leaned against Buff’s chest, his arms slipped around her stomach, anchoring her to him. “I can’t believe what the town has achieved in the last six months. You’d never guess a tornado practically destroyed the whole place.”

  “The beauty of small towns, Boston, everyone works together to help everyone get back on their feet.” Buff dropped a kiss on top of her head and she sighed in happiness.

  After a lot of soul searching and talking to Buff about their dreams and goals, Nadia decided against taking the job at Boston Memorial. Her life was now in Texas and she couldn’t be happier. Christmas was just around the corner and she couldn’t wait to spend it with her Tarpley/Kerrville family.

  She loved working at the Hill Country Medical center. She loved the people she worked with and her diagnostic skills had improved greatly. Every day was different and she knew that if she’d taken the job in Boston she would’ve been relegated to treating patients with minor injuries. The best thing was that Buff had started working there as well. He was the surgeon on call so sometimes he got called out in the middle of the night. He was happy with that and eventually would work up to being a fulltime member of staff like her.

  “Randy’s probably itching to let everyone in,” she said, craning her neck to see if she could see Cerise. It had been a sad day when she’d moved out to go live with Buff. But she still made sure to catch up with her friend as much as possible. It helped that they worked in the same place as well.

  “Yeah, although I’m going to miss that stale beer smell that was unique to the bar.”

  Nadia chuckled. “I’m betting it won’t take long before it permeates every corner of the place.”

  “Probably.”

  “Hey lovebirds, how’s it going?” Cerise bounced up to them, sparkly cowboy hat atop her head, the glitter on her cheeks glinting in the sunlight.

  Nadia extracted herself from Buff’s hold and gave her friend a big hug. “Hey, I was getting worried.”

  Cerise rolled her eyes. “For a small town it was hard to find any parking. I can’t believe there are so ma
ny people here.”

  Nadia scanned the crowd, it seemed as if the Tarpley population had tripled in the last hour. But a lot of the people who assisted with the clean-up were in town. Her gazed landed on Dirty-D and the other guys from Buff’s team. All of them had women held tightly to their sides, even Pops was gazing down lovingly at the woman by his side. Everyone had found love. Everyone except Cerise.

  Hmm, what could she do about that.

  “What’s going on in the pretty head of yours. Should I be worried?” Buff murmured in her ear and she shivered, desire pooling low in her belly. Even the simplest touch from her man her had all worked up and ready to rip his clothes off him.

  “I was just thinking how everyone is happy and partnered up. But Cerise is still single.”

  “And you can keep any matchmaking ideas to yourself, Nadia Fletcher.” Cerise interjected. “I’m very happy being single.”

  Nadia opened her mouth to object but Buff closed his mouth over hers for a quick, searing kiss. He broke it before she could take advantage of him. “You can’t rush these things, Nadia. Look at us. When I arrived at the community event in April, I never expected to find the love of my life. When the time is right, it will happen for Cerise. But,” he lowered his voice. “We’ve got a new guy starting on the team in the new year. And I hear he’s single.”

  Nadia turned in his arms and wrapped her arms around Buff’s neck. “I like the way you think, Mr. Alexander.”

  “I’ve got an even better idea,” Buff said as he let go of her, his hand going into his jacket pocket.

  Nadia gasped out loud when Buff dropped to one knee, a ring box open in one hand. Behind her she heard Cerise squeal out loud and figured everyone else was watching them.

  “Nadia Fletcher, you burst into my life and it’s never been the same since. I thought I was going to walk through life alone, now I can’t imagine not having you walking beside me. Will you do me the honor of marrying me?”