Learning to Stand (15 page)

And passed out from the pain.

When she woke up, Max was there. He had
dressed her in her digital fatigues. With Max’s help, she was able
to stand, get ready and walk a little bit. Only her twin knew that,
for Alex, the pain of letting anyone down was much worse than any
amount of physical pain.

Everyone expected her to be fine. She would
be fine.

Coming in, Troy popped her beret on her head
and they were off across the atrium. Dressed in identical digital
fatigues and a beret, Max led the way, Raz walked behind her and
White Boy held the rear position. They walked casually, trying to
look like a group of soldiers leaving a shift.

They were near the front of the hospital
when they were joined by the Jakker and four US Air Force soldiers.
Without saying a word, the soldiers joined the group. Zack came to
walk beside Alex.

Across the atrium, Alex saw the backs of the
Fort Carson battalion and a sea of photographers and videographers.
Her stomach gripped with anxiety. She stumbled then stopped
walking.

Glancing to the side, she saw Vince Hutchins
with five fellow Navy SEALs waiting for them. She smiled at Vince
and he winked at her. The SEALs mixed in with the Air Force and
Army soldiers.

“
Ready?” Max
asked.

He turned to look at the group behind
him.

“
I’ll go first. If anyone
notices my face, they will follow me to Noodles and Company on
Sixth Avenue. Colin’s waiting for me there. You’ll move to the
Expeditions. Check your drivers. They should be someone we know. If
not, do not get in the vehicle.”

Max looked through the group to his twin.
Even after all these years, she was still the mirror opposite to
him. Even more so now that Troy shaved her head in a military buzz
cut. Her Green Beret hid the remaining blonde. She gave Max a weak
smile.

“
You have to fight it,” Max
said at the same moment Raz said, “She’s going down.”

Reaching to lift her into his arms, Raz’s
back cramped. They fell to the ground together. Raz scooped her
onto his lap while the men moved to block her view from the
press.

Alex stirred.

“
Shh…” Raz said. “You’ve
lost a lot of blood. You’re still bleeding.”

“
I need to… get out of…
here. Not… safe.” Alex moved to get up. With legs too unstable to
stand, she nestled back into Raz’s lap. “Are you ass-isting
me?”

“
I’m ass-isting you,” Raz
said. “Gentlemen, this is not going to work. No matter what she
says, the Fey is too ill to walk out of here.”

Alex leaned into Raz and his strong hands
stroked her back. In the warmth and safety of Raz’s arms, her eyes
sagged.

She could be sick.

She could be small.

She drifted off. She opened her eyes when he
shifted.

“
Trece’s going to help you
into a wheelchair. The Marines arrived with the Denver Police.
They’ve closed down two blocks around the hospital. The press is
gone. We’re getting you and Matthew out of here right
now.”

Alex mouth moved to the word, “Marines?”

“
Maybe your bad Marine luck
is changing,” Raz said. “Careful Trece, her IVs are tucked into her
waistband.”

Alex felt herself float through the air to
rest in Trece’s arms. She heard Larry help Raz to his feet.

“
I thought I’d carry you.
You know the whitey survives on the shoulders of the Hispanic
worker. Now that the press is gone, the statement is less
powerful,” Trece said.

“
You’re a regular César
Chávez,” Alex mumbled.

“
Hey! Don’t be mocking
César,” Trece said. “He was a heroic figure of the twentieth
century. Any person would be proud to know about someone like that,
let alone…”

Troy put his hand on Trece’s arm.

“
She passed out again.
Probably lulled to sleep at the sound of your voice,” Troy said. He
kneeled down to fold out the feet stops on the
wheelchair.

“
You better watch it,
Olivas,” Trece growled.

Troy startled at Trece’s voice. Looking up
at his face, he saw Trece’s bright smile.

“
Gotcha,” Trece
said.

Troy laughed. Trece gently set Alex in the
wheelchair. He pushed the chair through the Fort Carson Army
battalion holding the hospital. Marines, in full dress uniform,
lined either side of the door creating a tunnel to an armored
Expedition. As she passed, they saluted the Fey. When they reached
the Expedition, Trece and White Boy lifted her into the SUV. Raz
stepped into the other side of the SUV and they took off. They were
followed by an ambulance carrying Erin and Matthew.

John met them at the basement entrance to
the house. As promised, the basement was warm and accommodating.
Once Alex and Matthew were settled into their rooms, the men
returned to base.

After all, the President was looking for his
friend.

FFFFF

Four hours later

Wednesday night

March
26
–
10:40 P.M. MDT

Denver, CO

Puzzled, Alex opened and closed her
eyes.

Where was she? The bed was soft, the lights
dim, and it was quiet. Definitely not the hospital.

She sniffed. A smile grew across her lips.
John is here. Shifting a little to see if she could see him, she
grunted with pain.

“
You’ve had major surgery,
love,” John whispered.

He stood from the arm chair he was sitting
in. Moving across the bed to her, he lay on his stomach propping
his head on his forearms. She moaned at the bed’s motion.

“
I’m swelling from the
fight,” Alex said. “Fuck, I’m sore.”

“
You have a lovely bruise on
your face – two really. I was going to post a photo to your MySpace
page then I realized you don’t have a profile.”

Alex laughed and attempted to move on her
side. She felt the pull of IVs. Looking up she saw a saline and
blood IV.

“
More blood?”

“
You’re so tough. You
survived hemorrhaging and major surgery. You’re bleeding, on IVs,
and you just amble through the hospital. You never fool Raz
though.”

“
Did I hurt his
back?”

“
He says he’ll live, but he
canceled on his date. I checked on him, gave him some ice and an
injection of Toradol. He’s sleeping. He needs surgery.”

“
He’s not getting
surgery.”

“
Would you like something
for your pain?” John asked.

“
A romp in the sack with my
husband,” Alex said.

“
Four weeks,” John
said.

“
How are we going to do
that?” Alex asked.

“
I was thinking about doing
a four week training in Antarctica. I hear they need some Vascular
Surgeons there.”

For the last thirteen years, they made love,
at least once, every time they shared a bed. Since Alex had been
home, they fell into a pattern of a fast morning romp only to
return at night for a lingering sensual ride. The magnetic draw to
each other overcame any obstacle, exhaustion, anger or even Alex’s
crazy work schedule. Social people, their daily sexual connection
was a private intimacy which kept them deeply connected to each
other.

“
Why were you sitting in the
armchair?”

“
What?” John’s eyes went
wide in mock insult. He gestured to the empty shelf. “You don’t
think I’m fascinated with the television? You know March Madness is
on.”

“
Manchester United playing
in March Madness?”

“
No, love, I told you this.
The season’s over for my United.”

“
Then no, I do not believe
you’re fascinated with the television. Plus there’s no TV in
here.”

“
There isn’t?” John looked
around the room as if someone stole the television without him
knowing it.

She smiled her crooked smile. She hadn’t
intended to, the smile just happened. She was happy to see him.

“
Do
not
do that,” John scolded. “You know
the crooked smile ignites me.”

“
Sorry.” She said looking
away.

Feeling movement near her, her eyes shifted
in his direction. He moved to kiss her. His lips grazed her mouth.
He pulled back for a moment as if he was trying to decide what to
do next.

“
We can do this,” she said.
“Remember how much fun we had when we were able to after I was
wounded.”

His face flushed. He had pulled her into the
bathroom of her hospital room. They were so fast and hard he had to
change her bandages. Sighing at the memory, John raised an
eyebrow.

“
Do you want to talk
about...?” He started.

The shadow of sadness fell across her face.
She turned her head away from him.

“
Hey… hey…”

Lying on his back, he pulled her onto his
chest. She rested her head on his shoulder. His hand moved across
her hair and shoulders.

“
How’s Mattie?” Alex
asked.

“
Asleep. Erin said he woke
up once in the hospital. He’s fairly doped up, and doesn’t fight
the medications like some people.”

“
He hasn’t had 1.2 billion
surgeries,” Alex grumbled.

John laughed. “He’s going to be fine.”

“
Do you have my diamond?”
Alex asked.

“
Raz has it. They took the
diamond out of your belly button when you reached the hospital.
They gave it to Raz. Don’t worry, Alex. You’ll get your bling
back.”

“
Do you have my wedding
ring?” Alex asked.

“
I do.”

“
How come you aren’t wearing
it like you usually do?”

Alex touched his right pinky where he wore
her ring when she wasn’t wearing it. John’s silence dragged.

“
What happened?”

“
They cut the ring from your
finger. Your hand had swollen completely black and blue from
fighting and the break near your wrist. You would have lost your
finger if they...”

And the storm came.

Alex clutched at him, and began to sob. John
made soothing noises and stroked her hair and back as her sadness
and loss came forward. She wept against him. When the storm passed,
and she was breathing deeply, he raised his head to see if she
wanted to talk.

She had cried herself to sleep.

FFFFFF

Eight hours later

Thursday morning

March
27
–
7:00 A.M. MDT

Denver, CO

Alex woke when John got up. He stayed with
her until the final moment then raced to his class. She fell asleep
wondering what she was going to do with herself. She woke when she
heard Troy laughing somewhere in the basement. She grunted with
pain as she rolled onto her back.

“
I bet that hurts,” Raz
said. “Do you want any of these pain pills?”

“
No thanks. Can you help me
up?”

Raz sat on her side of the bed. She reached
out her hands. He took her hands and pulled her to sitting. She
hugged him. He kissed her cheek then stood from the bed. She moved
into the adjacent bathroom.

“
Joseph gave me this and
told me to make certain you drank it,” Raz said. “He says you have
an eating disorder.”

“
Oh?” Alex took the Ensure
from him. “And you believed him.”

“
Alex, you have an anxiety
induced eating disorder. You should have seen us. Little light
bulbs lit up over our heads when Joseph told us.”

Alex curled her lip and took a swig of the
Ensure. She was about to set it down when she caught Raz’s face.
With a nod, she drank the rest.

“
You used to have those all
the time when you were with the team,” Raz said.

“
Jax found them.” Alex
sighed. “This vanilla one is the only thing I can keep down when
I’m anxious. We could go weeks or months in intense, dangerous,
anxiety provoking situations. I would go a long time without
eating. He didn’t want me to get sick. I’d drink them to make him
happy… And get him off my back.”

Alex fell silent. She looked at the Ensure
then set it down.

“
Jax was… really
special.”

“
He was,” he
said.

He gave her antibiotics, which she took
before getting back into bed.

“
How’s your back?” Alex
asked.

“
Bad thanks.”

“
Raz…”

She stopped talking when he held his hand
up. They had gone around and around about this surgery. He wouldn’t
budge about this surgery. Period.

“
You, me and Matthew are on
the injured list.”

“
How come you’re not in bed
then?” Alex asked.

“
I didn’t want to disturb
you. Joseph gave us this heating pad,” Raz held up a heating pad.
“I asked Troy to get you one of these.”

He held up a red hot water bottle. Alex
furrowed her eyebrows.

“
Momma used one of these
when her periods became bad. Of course, we didn’t know about the
cancer.” He shrugged. “I used to fill it for her.”

Alex beamed at Raz’s thoughtfulness.
Embarrassed, he left for the bathroom to fill up the hot water
bottle. She held up the covers for him and he slipped under.
Reaching over, he plugged in the heating pad then placed it on his
sore back.