Chapter 11

Chip and Janet were moved to rooms across the hall from each other. The admiral was sitting with Chip and Jamie was with Janet. Kowalski and Sharkey were going between their rooms.

Lee left Janet to talk to Jason about the intel.

"Here's the intel Admiral Johnson is waiting for," Lee said giving Jason the small disk. "I'm sure he wasn't too happy with me."

"At first he was really pissed but calmed down when I told you I would get the intel. I have to leave now. My flight is taking off in an hour. I've called a cab to take me to the airport."

"Please tell him I will call and debrief him on the mission once we are back in Santa Barbara."

"No problem. I'm glad Janet and Chip are going to be okay. Say good bye to them for me. I see my cab is here," Jason said as he shook Lee's hand.

"Thanks again, Jason. I owe you one."

Jason got in the cab and Lee watched it drive away. He wasn't looking forward to talking to Admiral Johnson and limped back to Janet's room.

((()))

Jamie could see Janet was tired. She must have yawned three times in the few minutes Lee was gone. Lee limped back into the room and Janet saw how much pain he was in.

"Everybody out, they need to rest and so do we. No exceptions," he told them, "that includes you Captain. You look like hell and need to rest your leg. You can come back tomorrow morning."

Lee was about to protest when Jamie gave him a look.

"Even though we're not at Med Bay, I'm still in charge of all the medical decisions here," Jamie stated emphatically.

Lee gave Janet a kiss good bye and a wink. She smiled at him and knew he was up to something. They all said good bye to Chip and Janet and left for the night.

Jamie insisted they stop for dinner at the diner down the street from the hotel. Kowalski dropped them off and went back to the hotel and reserved a room for the admiral and Lee. There was only one room available so they would have to share the space. He returned to the diner as the waitress was taking their order.

All the men were tired after the long day they had and discussing how to get FS-1 out of the clearing.

"I checked over the wiring. I think we can fix it. We brought what we need to repair it," Chief told the admiral and Lee. "But I think we should take it to the airport and do a more thorough check before flying her back to Santa Barbara."

"The only other problem is how to get her out of there. The clearing is small but I think I can get her out," Kowalski reported.

"If you can get her out of there without endangering your lives, do it and definitely take her back to the airport," the admiral told them. "Check her out and let me know."

"Chip and Janet probably won't be released until later in the morning," Jamie added.

How are we going to get them home?" Lee asked not knowing at about the jet. "Not enough room on FS-1 for all of us."

"We have jet at the airport waiting to take you home," the admiral told him. "If FS-1 is able to fly, Chief and I will take her back to Santa Barbara. Kowalski will fly the rest of you home."

They finished up dinner and left for the hotel. They all were very tired not that any of them would admit it.

The admiral and Lee checked into their room. Both of them couldn't wait to take shower it had been a long day. Lee let the admiral go first. The admiral finished his shower and Lee took his. The hot water felt wonderful on his leg. It was still very sore so Jamie gave him some more acetaminophen after dinner. He didn't want to give him anything stronger until he checked him out for himself.

The admiral went to bed and fell asleep. Lee also went to bed and dozed for about an hour then he got up.

He planned to sneak back to the hospital. He needed to talk to Janet privately before they left for home. He wanted to tell her about Melina.

He went into the bathroom and got dressed. He quietly opened the door and was walking out.

"Don't get caught," the admiral told him before he left the room.

"No sir, I won't," Lee replied smiling as he closed the door.

He went to the front desk where the clerk on duty got him a cab.

((()))

Lee got to the hospital and entered through the emergency room. The place was very busy so he managed to get by the desk without being noticed. He took the elevator to the floor Janet was on. Her room was right by the elevator so he didn't have to go past the nurse's station. The door to Chip's and Janet's room was closed.

He pushed the door open and the room was dark.

"I don't need anything to sleep," Janet said quietly.

"I'm not here to give you anything to sleep," Lee replied softly.

"Lee what are you doing here," Janet asked surprised to see him as she turned on the soft light over her bed.

He walked over to her and gave her a passionate kiss which she returned. She hugged him as hard as she could.

"You're going to be in trouble," Janet grinned.

"I don't care. I missed you more than you will ever know," Lee grinned back. "I need to talk to you before we leave. I need to tell you what happened in Vadvostok," he told as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I have something to tell you too but you go first."

"I didn't get out of the country before the airport was blown up. I was shot in a cab on my way to the port. I stopped at a house where a woman took me in. She was a doctor, a very pretty doctor. I passed out as soon as she answered the door. She took the bullet out of my leg but it was infected and I had a fever. When I woke the next morning she was in bed with me. She told me I was shivering so badly she hoped her body heat would warm me up." Lee explained.

"Don't they have blankets there?" Janet replied jealously.

"Sweetie, I had on four blankets."

"I'm sorry. I know how you get when you have a fever. Nothing will warm you up."

"She also kissed me and I returned the kiss," he told her guiltily. "I'm so sorry."

"Did you sleep with her," Janet whispered afraid of his answer.

"No sweetheart. I would never hurt you like that even if my life depended on it. Do you believe me?"

"Yes Lee I believe you and I trust you had a good reason to return her kiss but I don't want to know what it is."

She gave him a kiss and a hug. He was relieved she wasn't mad at him. He also realized how lucky he was to have her in his life more now than ever.

"I heard Jason was here? Why was he here?"

"He came to take the intel back to Admiral Johnson so I didn't have to leave you. Johnson demanded I get it to him as soon as possible. I told him I wasn't going to Washington until I knew you and Chip were alive. He's not real pleased with me right now. I actually could be in trouble," Lee told her rubbing his forehead.

"I know how to solve that problem," Janet said with a gleam in her eye.

"That's not a solution right now," Lee told her knowing what she was getting at.

He hoped no one would come in the room as he climbed on the bed lying next to her.

"What do you have to tell me?" he asked as he rubbed her arm.

"Did the admiral tell you why Chip and I were on are way back from Washington?"

"Yes, something about your parent's will."

"Please hand me my purse. It's on the cabinet."

Lee grabbed her purse and gave it to her. She opened it up and pulled out an envelope.

"I need you to read this."

She handed him the letter from her parents. He read the letter and was surprised at what it contained.

"I'm sorry they chose ONI over you. I'm guilty of doing the same thing, aren't I?"

"Yes but you haven't deserted me yet. I couldn't deal with it if you would ever go to ONI full time basis. Please don't even consider it."

"No I promise you I will never be a full time agent. I love you to much and Seaview to give it up."

"Lee, I need something else from you," she told him as he looked longingly at her. "No not that, your promise that you will quit ONI when we have children."

"Are we?" he questioned with a smile.

"Sorry no," she answered back softly.

"Yes, I promise I will quit ONI when we have children. I won't leave them like your parents left you."

"Thank you," she said with relief rubbing her hand on his chest. "There is one other issue."

She pulled out the receipt for the five hundred thousand dollar check and handed it to him.

"Whoa, is this for real? Sweetie that's a lot of money, what are you going to do with it?" he said shocked at the amount.

"Yes, the lawyer is putting the check in our account in Santa Barbara. What are we going to do with it? What's mine is yours. I don't want it but if you want to spend it on something it's fine with me. Chip suggested we buy a house in the woods or on a lake for vacations."

"Vacations? When do we get one of those?" Lee said laughing.

"That's what I told him," she laughed too. "Seriously Lee I really don't the money. I would rather give it to the admiral to give to the charities NIMR sponsors. Anonymously of course."

"Whatever you want to do is fine with me," he said putting his arm around her, holding her close and kissed her forehead.

They both fell asleep until 6:00 when he heard someone in the hall and scrambled out of the bed. He didn't want to get caught in the bed with her.

A nurse came in to check on Janet and found Lee sitting in the chair.

"How long have you been here," she asked surprised to see him.

"Just got here," he lied and winked at Janet who could hardly contain a grin.

"Visiting hours don't start until 8:00 but as long as you're here you can stay," she told Lee with a smile as she looked him over.

"Thank you."

((()))

The rest of the men from Seaview met in the lobby of the hotel and checked out. They were going to breakfast when Jamie noticed Lee was not there.

"Where's Lee," Jamie asked suspiciously.

"He left early this morning to check on Janet and Chip," the admiral replied with a grin.

"I bet," Jamie said shaking his head.

The admiral and Jamie would drop off Sharkey and Kowalski at the ranger station. Terry was going to drive them out to FS-1 so they could try and repair her. Terry was very curious about the little machine.

The admiral and Jamie would go to the hospital to see how Chip and Janet were doing and find out when they could be released.

((()))

Sharkey, Kowalski and Terry got to FS-1 and were working on getting it repaired. Terry was fascinated by the little sub and had some questions. Unfortunately Sharkey couldn't answer most of his questions because the information was classified. He understood and was still impressed with her. They rewired the engine panel and radio. Kowalski sat down in the pilot's seat and flipped the switches to turn on the engine which started with no problems. Now they had to figure out how to get it out of the forest. It was decided that Kowalski would fly her to the airport. Sharkey and Terry would meet him there. Terry made arrangements to have it land near where the helicopter was parked.

"I'm going to give her full power and try a short take-off," Kowalski said. "I should be able to get high enough to clear the trees."

"Okay Ski," Sharkey said, "Be careful."

Kowalski gave FS-1 full power and took off just clearing the trees.

"Whew that was close," Terry said as he watched FS-1 take off.

"Yes, a little too close," Sharkey said wiping the sweat off his brow.

Sharkey and Terry hopped into the truck and would meet him at the airport.

Kowalski found the airport, was cleared by the tower to land near the helicopter. They would finish checking her out before they flew her home.