Learning to Stand (17 page)

Alerted by Max’s call, the Emergency Room
nurses waited for them in the Emergency driveway at St. Joseph’s
hospital. Trece laid Alex onto the gurney. White Boy and Max
followed the gurney into the hospital.

“
I need to make some calls,”
Raz said to Trece. “Can you move the car?”

Trece nodded.

“
Is she dying? She was dying
behind the door and I was sitting with my thumb up my ass. Again,”
Trece said. “Oh God...”

His guilt, remorse and pain caught up with
him and the giant Trece broke down. Raz caught him before he fell
to the ground weeping. Raz helped him to the passenger seat of the
car. While Trece cried, Raz drove around the corner to the parking
lot. Raz sat with Trece until he was able to gain some control over
his emotions.

“
Our intel said the Boy
Scout was going to kill the team,” Trece said. “We were with him
when the… when she…”

Trece slammed his fist into the dashboard
causing the entire vehicle to rock back and forth.

“
No one had good intel,
Trece,” Raz said. “We heard the whisper of the possibility. But
we’d heard the same whisper for years and years. We didn’t take it
seriously. It was after we received the phone call, after it was
done, we knew we screwed up. Then we couldn’t find them. Did you
know where the locker was?”

Trece shook his head.

“
But she’s right. If I was
any good at my job, I would have been with her.”

Raz gave Trece his handkerchief. Trece wiped
his face and nose then gripped the white cotton tight in his fist.
The white square all but disappeared in his big hand.

“
The Boy Scout was supposed
to get Alex after she was subdued by the machine gun,” Raz said.
“She was his prize. His booty, if you will. If you and White Boy
hadn’t disabled him with alcohol, she wouldn’t have been in the
vault doorway for me to find.”

Trece looked at Raz.

“
That’s nice of you to say,”
Trece said.

“
And true, Trece,” Raz said.
“If Alex is right, and she always is, Joiner set this whole thing
up. He got the Boy Scout out of Afghanistan.”

“
We have work to do,” Trece
said.

“
Oh yes, we have work to
do,” Raz said. “But first, you should know…”

Trece looked over at Raz.

“
Alex lost her baby
yesterday. It was her one shot at having a baby and he wasn’t a
very good shot. Deformed. Chromosome damage. She should have
miscarried a month ago. But he was the only chance she had at
having her own child.”

“
Oh God. Poor Alex.” Trece
sniffed and wiped his eyes again. “She used to talk about having at
least five kids. Jesse would tell her she should have nine kids so
they could play baseball against his kids. Now Jesse’s gone and
Alex...”

While the men sat thinking, white fluffy
snow began to drop onto the windshield of the car. Raz turned the
car on to keep them warm.

“
I can see why she’s so
bitter,” Trece said. “She lost the last thing she always
wanted.”

“
Maybe,” Raz said. “No one
knows what this darkness is about. No one. Not Patrick, Ben, John
or me. I don’t think she knows.”

“
What about Max?” Trece
asked.

“
Max doesn’t really count.
Does he? Even if he knows, he’ll lie if we ask him.”

As the snow fell, the men processed the
information in the warm comfort of the car.

“
Should we go
in?”

Raz nodded.

“
I need to call her family,
her fathers and mother. I’m sure John’s already on his
way.”

“
Max texted him in the car,”
Trece said. “Let’s find out what’s going on. She’s probably just
down a pint or two of blood.”

“
I hope so,” Raz
said.

F

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

An hour and a half later
Thursday morning

March 27 - 10:10 A.M. MDT

St. Joseph’s Hospital, Denver, CO

“
Hi,” Alex
whispered.

John was sitting on the side of her hospital
bed holding her hand.

“
Where am I?”

“
St. Joes. You’re making
quite the tour of Denver hospitals. Are you checking up on
me?”

“
To meet all your
girlfriends?” Alex asked. “I’d have to be conscious and armed for
that assignment, sir. What about your class?”

“
I’ve spoken with my
attending,” he said. “As long as I can pass the test, I should be
fine. I’ll need to study tonight but... Some things are more
important. Do you remember getting here?”

“
Vaguely,” she
said.

“
I’m sorry about the water.
You probably didn’t remember the hot water was shut off
today.”

“
Hooking up the new boiler
to the solar, yes,” she said. “I only turned it on so the men
wouldn’t hear me cry.”

“
Ah,” John said. “Good
reason to give yourself hypothermia.”

“
I… I’m sorry,” she
said.

“
When did you start
bleeding?” John asked.

“
I don’t remember bleeding,”
Alex said. “Was I bleeding?”

“
When Max found you. Yes,”
John said.

“
Do I need more
surgery?”

“
Yes, but not for the
bleeding. You need rest. Quiet. Peace. I understand you were very
upset today?”

Alex nodded.

“
The ER doc thinks your
blood pressure spiked then dropped with the cold water. Your
stitches seeped. Shouldn’t happen, but... I don’t think most women
have chest pounding arguments with their colleagues less than
twenty-four hours after surgery.”

“
Uh.” Alex flopped back
against the pillow. “I was on.”

“
So I hear,” John said.
“Don’t worry. It seems like everyone survived.”

“
Trece?”

“
Oh, love, he feels bad. And
he should.” John stroked her short hair. “I don’t think anyone has
seen you angry. I’ve only seen it myself a few times. Horrifying,
really. They are rattled but they will survive.”

Staring at the ceiling, Alex wanted to pull
the thin blanket over her head and hide. And she knew she couldn’t
stay in the hospital.

“
We are taking you out of
here,” John said. “Max and I. The press hasn’t caught on that you
are here. We’ll spend the afternoon together then back to bed for
you.”

“
What about
work?”

“
It’s my understanding that
you’re a civilian,” John said.

Alex grimaced.

“
You get the day off. The
men are working on their own puzzlement. According to Joseph, they
will be busy all day today. Unless you have a problem with it, they
will stay working in our basement.”

Alex shrugged.

“
Joseph would like to see
how the men do living together. They’ve moved in.”

“
I figured they already
had,” she said.

“
Right. He would like you to
come for a briefing this evening.”

“
And Trece? White
Boy?”

“
Trece’s coming with us,”
John said. “He wants a chance to talk to you.”

“
Oh. But...”

“
You need the protection,”
he said. Alex turned her head away from him. He stroked the side of
her face, and she turned to look at him. “I know you’re irritated
with him, but he’s a lovely person. Annoying as all hell sometimes,
yes, but really lovely at his core.”

Alex grimaced.

“
Your mother would tell you
that a face like that creates wrinkles,” he said.

“
What are we doing
today?”

“
That, my darling, is a
surprise,” he said.

FFFFF

One and half hours later
Thursday morning

March 27 – 11:45 A.M. MDT

Denver, CO

Alex stretched out in the back seat of
Trece’s Expedition. With John in the passenger seat, Alex’s head
rested in Max’s lap. From the hospital, they drove for about ten
minutes. The Expedition pulled into a parking lot.

“
Be right back,” Max
said.

He and John got out of the car.

“
Where are we?” Alex
asked.

“
Mc Donald’s,” Trece
said.

“
Why didn’t we drive
through?”

“
They’re giving us a chance
to talk,” Trece said.

Alex shifted to sitting up.

“
Don’t get up,” he said. “Do
you mind if I come back there?”

“
No,” she said.

Trece got out of the driver’s seat and took
Max’s seat. Uncomfortable with herself, and him, Alex lay with her
head on the middle part of the seat.

“
Max said...” Trece started
then stopped. Taking a breath for courage, he continued. “Max said
you figured it out at the hospital when you came out from talking
to Larry. He said it was like losing Jesse, only worse because we
never chose to be your friend.”

Alex closed her eyes.

“
Is Max right?” Trece
asked.

“
I never thought about it
until White Boy said something… I don’t remember what it was… at
base. I thought you were assigned where I was assigned like some of
the other guys. We are the same age, started at the same
time.”

Alex wondered why she never realized she was
their job.

“
I was always so glad to see
you. I guess that’s why I thought we were friends.”

“
Don’t say that Alex,” Trece said. “We
are
friends. In fact, we’re more than friends. I mean, I know
you rescued Vince and Matt. But you, Jesse, me and Chris? We’re
buds.”

Alex scowled.

“
You don’t believe me,”
Trece said.

“
I don’t know what to
believe,” Alex said. “I... You...”

“
Can’t two things be true at
the same time? Isn’t it possible that I’m assigned to protect you
sometimes and you are also my friend?”

“
I guess.”

“
You’re our favorite
assignment. Bar none. We jump at the chance to hang out with you,
our beloved Alex. And Jesse too. What’s Jesse say about all of
this?”

“
What happened yesterday?”
Alex asked to avoid answering his question.

Unwilling to defy her again, yet unable to
face his own behavior, Trece looked down at her then out the
window.

“
We thought the Boy Scout
was in Denver but I had no idea where. He thinks of us as his
friends...” Noting her shocked face, he added, “NOT like you and I
are friends... “

“
How did you
and...?”

“
Many disgusting hours
feeding him drinks and listening to him rant,” Trece said. “You
never trusted him. You kept digging, asking questions, running
queries about him. We were assigned to answer some of those
questions.”

“
And yesterday?”

“
I thought I saw the Boy
Scout on the way to the hospital. I figured I was paranoid, but
Chris hit my arm and pointed. There he was. Standing like a stupid
heifer on the corner.”

“
So you weren’t with a
woman?”

“
I was with a woman to cover
my tracks,” Trece said. “Not a great way to treat someone but she
seemed to have a nice time. I...”

“
If you were working, why
are you in so much trouble?”

“
Two things: I disregarded a
direct order, your direct order, and you found out about our
work.”

“
Oh,” Alex said.

“
God Alex.” Trece’s hand
hovered over her head then stroked her fuzzy head. “I love you.
Chris loves you. We’ve been through so much together. Do you really
not know?”

“
I don’t know what I know or
don’t know. I have a lot of doubt.”

“
Why?” Trece asked. “I’ve
never known you to doubt anything, especially something you feel.
I’ve never known you to have a bad friend or make a mistake on a
person. I mean you married John after knowing him for thirteen
hours.”

“
I wish there was more I
could tell you,” Alex said. “But this year? It’s like everything is
backwards. I feel one thing but something else happens.”

“
Like what?”

“
I’ve felt close to people
and seen them openly disrespect me. I...”

“
I understand,” Trece said.
“Do you believe me when I say you are and have always been my
friend?”

“
I hear your sincerity. I
reason that you don’t lie. I...”

“
What does Jesse say?” Trece
asked again.

“
He says... The night I got
sepsis? Last Fall? In the room? I lost my mind. Completely lost my
mind. He says I don’t trust myself because of that
experience.”

“
Even though it brought you
back to yourself, your sanity?”

“
I guess,” Alex
said.

“
They’re coming,” Trece
said. John and Max stood near the car waiting for Trece’s signal.
Trece waved and they came forward.

“
Why me? Why protect me,
Trece?”

“
In Bosnia? Standard
protocol for Senator’s children in combat situations. After Forces
training? You’re a one of a kind, a national treasure. No one can
do what you can do. No one. You’re too valuable to… well,
everyone.”