SOLDIER

Chapter Ten

After Joe left, I turned to Lester and Ranger. "What's going on? I thought the Slayers were over me."

After my little run-in with the Comstock Slayers, the Trenton faction of the dangerous nation-wide street gang, and their leader, Junkman, last year, in which I was kidnapped, beaten and nearly gang-raped (only to be saved by none other than my favorite seven-foot tall drag queen, Sally Sweet), I had been assured that there would be no retribution. So why was Junkman shooting at us?

"Word on the street is they are over you, or at least they were. This must have to do with something else," Ranger said.

"Were they aiming at Lester or were they aiming at me?"

"We don't know yet. Bobby and Tank are talking to them right now. We'll find out soon."

Lester remained quiet during this exchange. Not that I can blame him. He did just wake up from surgery to remove a bullet from him abdomen, a bullet he received while guarding me. Guilt settled deep in my chest and suddenly it became hard to breathe. I felt tears prickling behind my eyes, and I did my best to blink them away. Ranger was right, we didn't know anything yet, and it wouldn't do anyone any good to be burdened with my unproductive emotions.

"So what do we do in the meantime?" I asked.

"You should stay here and keep Lester company. I'm going back to the office. I'd like to have a word with Junkman myself."

I nodded my acquiescence. Ranger turned to Lester, "How do you want to play this?" he asked.

"Keep me covered. At least until we know what this is about," Lester told him. Ranger nodded and left the room.

Keep him covered? What is that supposed to mean? I was really confused now. Obviously something is going on that they aren't telling me. Well, if they didn't want me to ask questions, they shouldn't be talking in "code" right in front of my face.

"Okay, Lester Santos, what the hell is going on?"

He looked at me with his crooked grin firmly in place. The one he uses when he's getting ready to charm the pants off someone.

"Have I told you how gorgeous you look today?" he asked.

"Do not change the subject."

He sighed. "Give me a break, beautiful. I've had an exhausting day. First, I was fucked senseless by a beautiful woman and then I took a bullet and had to have surgery to remove it."

I raised my eyebrows at the fucked senseless comment. "Keep talking like that and you're going to be taking another bullet," I said.

Lester smiled and pulled me down beside him on the narrow hospital bed. "Okay, how about if I say, I woke up in the arms of a beautiful woman and had amazing, mind-blowing, out-of-this-world sex all morning long? Is that better?"

Damn that crooked grin of his. I swear it's my undoing.

"Yes, that's much better," I said grinning back at him.

"Good. I'm glad you approve," he said. Then he lowered his voice and whispered in my ear, "But personally, I like being fucked senseless."

Oh, boy.

Despite his injury, Lester held me to him on the bed, spooning me from behind. His abdomen was heavily bandaged. I hesitated leaning into him and tried my best not to bump him, but he assured me that the drugs he was on were still in full-effect and he wasn't in any pain.

"So, are you going to tell me what's really going on now?" I asked in an attempt to get the conversation back on track.

"I must be losing my touch. I thought I could distract you with talk of sex."

"Not this time buddy. Not when you're in no condition to follow through. Now, give it up. What's going on?"

"I don't know for sure why we were targeted today," he said. "I have an idea, but I don't want to say until we hear back from the guys. There's no point in speculating when we'll know the truth soon enough. I have no doubt that Tank and Bobby will get to the bottom of it. I'll tell you everything, Steph. I promise. You just have to be patient. Please."

I wanted to argue. I really did, but he said please in such a pleading voice and he sounded so exhausted and who could blame him really? So, I decided to let him off the hook for now. I did intend to get to the bottom of this, but it could wait. For one thing, he was suffering from a gun-shot wound and for another, his arms felt really, really good wrapped around me. No sense picking a fight with him now. Not when if felt this good to lay here with him.

"You really scared me today, Lester," I said softly.

His arm tightened around me and he pressed a kiss to my neck.

"I'm sorry, Steph. I didn't mean to. I hope you know I wouldn't have followed them if I didn't think I could make it. I would never put you in danger like that. When I felt myself starting to slip, I stopped the car, okay? I would've stopped even if backup hadn't arrived. I was just lucky they did. You understand I wouldn't put you in danger, right?"

I nodded me head yes. But I already knew that. That wasn't why I was scared.

"You were bleeding so much and when you lost consciousness I was so afraid you wouldn't wake up. I need you, Lester. I can't lose you." I realized how much I was confessing and the weird thing was, it didn't bother me.

"I'm fine, baby. I'm fine. You didn't lose me. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. I promise. Now, I need you, too, beautiful. I need you to lay here with me. Just close your eyes and don't worry about a thing, okay?"

I nodded, suddenly feeling extremely tired. I'd had an eventful 36 hours, what with skydiving, marathon sex and getting caught in a drive-by shooting. The adrenalin was finally wearing off and exhaustion was catching up with me.

I woke up several hours later when I heard a knock on the door to Lester's hospital room. A portly nurse with bright, red hair poked her head in. She was probably in her early fifties and she spoke with a cheery Irish lilt.

"So sorry to wake you, dear. I just need to check on our patient here."

"No problem," I said, my voice raspy from sleep. "Come on in."

"I hate to disturb you. You know, it just warms my heart to see you two lovebirds lying there, looking so sweet. It makes me want to rush home to the Mister."

I made a move to get up.

"No, no, dear, don't get up. I just need to check his temperature and blood pressure. You're not in the way a bit. I'm Nurse Betsy and I'll be taking care of your fella for the next few hours," she said as she fitted the blood pressure band around his bicep.

She also took his temperature and checked the dressing on his abdomen.

"Everything is just as it should be," she said. "He sure is a handsome one. I hope he's not got himself messed up in anything bad, getting shot like he did."

"No, I can assure you, Nurse Betsy, he's one of the good guys."

"Well, I'm glad to hear it, for both your sakes. It's quite obvious how much he loves you."

I looked at her, confusion evident on my face. "It is? How can you tell?"

"Oh, just look at him, dear. He's so relaxed. He doesn't even know I'm here. Men like him don't let their guard down like this unless they're with someone they love and trust with all their heart," she said smiling brightly.

"Well, he is on a lot of medication," I said.

"Oh, no, dear, it's not the drugs. Let me tell you, I've treated my fair share of men like him, soldiers and the like, and medication or not, they are still very much alert to what is going on around them. I may not know much, but I know this. That man loves you and he trusts you with his life. So long as you're lying next to him, he's going to get the rest he needs."

I gave her a speculative look.

"You don't believe me, but you'll see. Take care, dear," she said as she slipped out the door.

I shook my head slightly and smiled after her. She was a sweet lady, even if she was a little off her rocker.

I glanced at the clock. It was half past eleven, which means Lester and I had been asleep for about four hours. Lester's arm was still draped over me. Since the bed was a single and Lester is, well, Lester, we hadn't had room to change positions. The entire right side of my body was asleep and it felt as if a thousand tiny pin needles were poking me at once. I needed to get up and stretch…bad. I glanced back at Lester and he was still sound asleep, his breath coming in slow, shallow waves, and not looking like he was going to wake up any time soon. I figured I could slip out of the bed without disturbing him. I slowly lifted his arm off of me and slid from the bed, careful not to let his body shift in my absence. I didn't want to cause him any pain. My feet touched the floor and I eased off the bed. I'd barely taken a step when his voice made me jump.

"Where you going?"

My hand instinctively went to my heart. "Jeez, you scared me. I thought you were asleep."

Could Nurse Betsy be right? He was sleeping soundly until I moved away from him. Maybe this is something I should give serious thought to. Just not right now. Right now, it was too much for me to deal with. Not that Lester loving me was a bad thing. It's just that it is a big thing…a very big thing…and if any more big things happen to me right now, I'm not sure I can handle it.

"I was just getting up to stretch. How are you? Are you in any pain?"

"A little. It's no big deal."

I did an internal eye-roll. Only one of the Merry Men can sustain a gun-shot wound and say it's no big deal.

"Do you want me to get the nurse?"

"No, I'll be okay. You look exhausted though. Why don't you call someone at RangeMan for a ride home?"

"I don't want to leave you alone."

He smiled at me. "I'll be fine. In fact, I'm willing to bet I have me own personal bodyguard perched right outside the door."

I cracked the door and stuck my head out. A large man dressed in black looked at me and nodded. I gave a little finger-wave and shut the door.

"Big guy, Latino, Fu Manchu mustache…," I said to Lester.

"That's Manuel. See, I'm safe, and, unfortunately, I'm not going anywhere. You should go home and get some sleep."

I supposed he was right. I dug out my cell phone and, ignoring the no-cell-phone-use sign, put in a call to Ranger. His line went directly to voicemail. I hung up and called the RangeMan control room hoping to catch him there. Just my luck, Jase, the resident nudist, answered.

"Hey hotstuff, what's shakin'?" Ugh.

"Hi Jase, is Ranger there?"

"Sorry, he's busy giving some guys the beat-down." I couldn't tell if he was joking or not. "What can I do for you?"

"I need a ride home from the hospital. Maybe Cal or one of the other-"

"My shift is over in thirty. Can you wait that long?"

"Actually, if someone else is avail-"

"Nope, just me. Hang tight. I'll be there as soon as I can." Click.

I turned to Lester. "Jase will be here soon. I hope he remembers to put his pants on."

Lester smiled. "I'm sorry it bothers you. I can talk to him if you want."

"It's just weird. I've never known a nudist before. Doesn't it weird you guys out?"

Lester shrugged. "Ranger doesn't let him do it at the office. I've only seen him a couple times. I figure, whatever floats his boat."

"Well, doesn't it bother you that that he sits around my apartment naked?"

"Should it?" he asked.

"Well, no."

"Then I'm not bothered. Truth is, and no offense, you're not really his type."

"Is he gay?"

"No…at least I don't think so."

"So why am I not his type?"

"You're skinny and you're white," he said matter-of-factly.

I appreciated the skinny comment. So if he doesn't like skinny, white women, and he's not gay, then he must like…oh, I see. I suddenly had an idea of how I could get Jase off my case. "Can you hold on a sec, Les? I need to make a phone call."

A short time later, Jase phoned to let me know he was idling out front. I kissed Lester goodbye and promised I'd be back in the morning.

Just as I stepped off the elevator into the hospital lobby, Lula came barreling through the revolving glass doors, looking like a runaway freight train. Her hair was mussed from sleep and she was wearing pink plaid boxer shorts and a hot pink tank-top. Her hair had hot-pink tips to match. It's good to know she even coordinates her sleep-wear, I thought with an eye-roll. She was breathing heavy and I wondered briefly is she'd taking the time to get in her car and drive or if she'd just run here from her apartment.

"I got here as fast as I could. What's so important that you had to call and wake me up from my beauty sleep? Whatever it is, it'd better be good."

"Oh, it'll be good. Come with me," I said, grabbing Lula by the arm and pulling her with me to the shiny black SUV that was waiting at the curb. I opened the door and flashed my sweetest smile.

"Hi Jase, have you met my friend, Lula?"

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