Chapter 29
He was certain it looked much worse than it felt. At least the pounding headache was starting to subside, to some extent. Wyatt gingerly pressed a careful finger to his brow and hissed at the resulting flare of pain. Ow, okay, maybe the gash above his eye was a little tender to the touch, but he guessed that was to be expected when you took into account the stitches, all ten of them, under the butterfly bandage he was wearing. Sitting at a small table near the back of the bustling Starbucks, he looked down at himself, and scowled at the dried spots of blood speckled here and there on his tee shirt. It dawned on Wyatt that maybe he should have changed his clothes before meeting Lucy because she was probably going to be pretty upset when she saw him. Well, hell, too late for that now because she just walked in and was looking around. Wyatt waved at her, and the shy smile on Lucy's face when she saw him was a balm to his soul.
When she got within a few feet of the table, however, her smile disappeared in a hurry. Slowly getting to his feet to greet Lucy, Wyatt cringed inwardly at the look of dismay on her face when she noticed the bandage over his eyebrow. "Wyatt, you're hurt," she exclaimed, dark eyes widening in consternation, involuntarily reaching toward him even as her worried gaze was thoroughly scanning his appearance from head to toe, and she definitely didn't overlook his blood-flecked tee shirt.
"I'm fine, just a bump on the head," he tried to reassure her, taking her hand in his. Frowning, Lucy lifted her other hand and ever so gently brushed her fingertips across the bandage. Wyatt briefly closed his eyes at her delicate touch, soothed by her obvious concern.
"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be home resting?" she murmured anxiously. When he opened his eyes, Lucy was standing so close, he could smell her perfume. And it instantly occurred to him that if he leaned down just slightly, Wyatt could almost feel her soft lips against his. She must have read his mind, though, because a faint blush bloomed in her cheeks as she scolded only half seriously, "Behave yourself, Master Sergeant."
Emboldened by her nearness, he gazed intently at her and asked innocently, "What? You've never heard of how 'a kiss will make it better'?" Lucy shook her head in fond exasperation even as she rose on tiptoe and tenderly pressed her lips to his forehead before stepping back.
"Here, you need to sit down right this second," she admonished and grabbed for his elbow when Wyatt wobbled just a little and helped him into the chair. He winced against a brief flash of pain and bowed his head for a moment until it passed. Lucy crouched down beside him and putting her hand on his arm, observed quietly, "You should probably stay put for a few minutes. Will you be alright here by yourself while I get us some hot tea? I doubt you're allowed to have caffeine in this condition." Wyatt started to nod and thinking the better of it, touched Lucy's hand and gave her a pained smile. In what seemed like no time at all, mere moments after he had closed his eyes with his head in his hands, she was back, setting two steaming cups on the table.
Taking a seat across from him, Lucy fixed her worried gaze on Wyatt and unleashed a storm of questions. "Okay, let's hear it. Every detail. What happened? Was there an accident? What did the doctor say? Did you have to get stitches? Do you have a concussion? How bad does the other guy look?" The panic clearly evident in her voice warmed Wyatt's heart, and reaching for her hand, he tried to reassure her.
"Easy, there, Lucy, I'm fine," and at her immediate snort of disbelief, amended his response. "Well, okay, I will be fine, promise. It was just a stupid accident..."
Flashback
As the day wore on, Wyatt had finally shrugged off his faint apprehension from earlier as just nerves about meeting Lucy for coffee later. It had been a grueling, long-ass day, though, starting with a ten-mile run before all the platoons even got to the obstacle course. As the recruits approached the course to begin their final exercises of the day, Wyatt, Bam, and the other T.I.'s were standing off to the side here and there to evaluate, and if necessary, assist their people.
Standing beside him, Bam started grumbling under his breath, "Damn, Wy, we always get the awkward ones. The hell? Did we piss off someone in the C.O.'s office?" Wyatt, as usual, ignored him, although he was possibly a little concerned for a couple of their guys. The young men in question were smart, hard working, and unfortunately, as Bam had already noticed, not very well coordinated. "Aw, man, did you see that?" he griped, a little louder this time, and Wyatt frowned.
"Jesus, Bam, keep it down. We're supposed to be motivating them, not bitching about their athletic ability." His buddy huffed in annoyance, but obediently lowered his voice.
Without warning, loud shouts were heard as several recruits got tangled up and fell backwards off the climbing wall in a heap. Wyatt, Bam, and another T.I., Wilson, quickly waded into the pile of flailing limbs as the men fought to get to their feet while wearing bulky, heavy full gear. Angry curses filled the air as the T.I.'s attempted to pull the soldiers apart long enough to stand when a couple guys started shoving each other. He was reaching forward to retrieve some gear when one recruit jerked away from another abruptly and the edge of his weapon clipped Wyatt soundly just above his right eye. At the sudden intense pain, he dropped to his knees, holding a hand to his head, feeling the sticky, telltale warmth of blood begin to coat his fingers.
Bam roared furiously at the stumbling recruits while Wilson tried to get to Wyatt. "Logan, are you okay?" the other man asked anxiously as Wyatt struggled to get up. He swallowed thickly against the nausea that choked his throat when his stomach began to roll sickeningly, and dropped back to his knees (God, his head really hurt). Wyatt closed his eyes and fervently prayed he wouldn't lose his lunch in front of the guys. A second later, a white-faced Bam ducked down in front of him. Pulling Wyatt's hand from his forehead, he took the clean red bandana Wilson handed him and carefully wiped away as much blood as he could.
"Bam, how bad?" he croaked as his friend examined the injury, and hissed when Bam pressed the cloth tightly to the wound.
"Well, son, you're gonna need a few stitches, I think," and stared at Wyatt in confusion when his friend got a strange look on his face and began to laugh. "Uh, Wy, are you going into shock or something? 'Cause, even though we have great docs here on base, I'm thinking this will probably leave a scar on that pretty face of yours," and sent Wilson a bewildered glance when Wyatt snorted and laughed even harder (Lucy was going to be so pissed). "Okay, yeah, time to go see the doc," Bam decided, shaking his head, and helped Wyatt stand up. Wilson had used the walkie to call for a ride, and assured them he'd get their platoon back to the barracks in one piece.
A short while later, the doctor was stitching him up as Bam sat in the corner filling out the necessary paperwork on the incident. The entire time he was getting attended to, they argued about disciplinary action for the recruits involved, but Wyatt firmly insisted it was just an accident. Eventually, Bam grudgingly acquiesced and held on to the clipboard long enough for Wyatt to sign off before leaving to turn in the papers.
The doctor carefully placed the last stitch and finished up with a butterfly bandage. "Now, Master Sergeant Logan, you took a fairly serious hit to the head today. The good news is your x-ray was clean, and I don't think you've got a concussion. The bad news is it took ten stitches to close the wound, and I imagine your head is already hurting pretty badly right now." Moving over to the sink, the doctor reviewed his recommendations while washing his hands. "Alright, Master Sergeant, no active duty the rest of the week and pain meds as prescribed. No heavy lifting, and until the stitches come out in about ten days, try to keep them dry when you get in the shower. If your headache persists or the wound starts to bleed, come back in to see me. Oh, and for the next twenty-four hours, make sure you have supervision when you sleep. Just as a precaution, you will need to be woke up every two hours and stay awake for at least five minutes, just as a precaution. Any questions?"
Wyatt endeavored to pay attention to the doc's instructions, but his head was really starting to throb. Spotting a clock on the wall behind the doctor, he was dismayed to notice it was nearly 4:30. If he hurried, he could just make it to Starbucks by 5:00. It didn't even occur to him to text Lucy and try to reschedule their "date." The doctor frowned when Wyatt asked for some ibuprofen instead of taking the proffered pain medication, but handed over the requested pills and a small plastic cup of water. After hastily downing the pain reliever, Wyatt slowly stood and waited for the room to stop spinning, oblivious to the physician's concerned expression. He was relieved when the door opened and Bam came back in.
"Well, Master Sergeant, now that your friend is here, I have other patients to attend to. Get some rest and don't overdo it for the next few days," the doctor warned and smiled when Wyatt thanked him. Once the doctor left the room, Wyatt groaned as he swayed in front of his friend.
"Hey, take it easy, cowboy," Bam cautioned. "C'mon, let's get you home. I'll bring you back for your Jeep in a couple days. Doc probably doesn't want you driving anyway, you know, in case you pass out or something behind the wheel," he observed cheerfully.
Wyatt tried to glare at him, but it sort of hurt to frown right at the moment. "Gee, thanks, that's comforting. Bam, I don't want to go home. I need you to take me to Starbucks."
"Are you crazy? What the hell for? Don't you have coffee at your place?" At Bam's confused expression, Wyatt took a deep breath and tried to push the pain down long enough to respond in a reasonable manner in order to convince him.
"Listen, I have plans to meet Lucy there at 5:00, and I don't want to cancel just because I got knocked on the head," he pleaded. "Please, this is really important to me. I know Julie probably told you some about what happened between me and Lucy on Saturday, and I just need to see her, spend a little time with her."
Wyatt gazed hopefully at his friend, who grunted and rolled his eyes, and grudgingly agreed, "Fine, but I wanna go on the record that this is a bad idea. So, how're you planning on getting home?"
"I guess if things go well with Lucy, maybe she will give me a lift. If not, I'll call a cab. Thanks, buddy, I owe you one," and smirked when his disapproving friend retorted, "Damn right you do. You do know my wife is gonna kill me for doing this, right?"
Wyatt wisely limited himself to a non-committal 'uh-huh' and followed Bam out of the exam room. At 4:55 on the dot, he walked into Starbucks, and breathed a sigh of relief when a quick scan of the room revealed no sign of Lucy. Making his way to a small table, he carefully sat down to wait for her.
End Flashback
"And then, two minutes later, you came in and here we are," Wyatt's voice trailed off, and closing his eyes, tried and failed dismally to hide a grimace. Still gripping his hand, Lucy regarded him intently, and didn't like what she saw. Under his usual end-of-the-day stubble, Wyatt's face was nearly colorless, his forehead creased in pain. That was it, she had seen enough. Making a snap decision, Lucy picked up her phone with the other hand and hastily scrolling through her list of contacts, tapped the screen and put the phone to her ear.
"Julie? Yeah, I'm with him right now. Hard to tell because there's a bandage covering it. Uh huh, ten stitches. Hey, we need a favor. I'm going to stay with him tonight. Can you keep Jamie for us until tomorrow morning?" She fixed a stern look at Wyatt when he opened his eyes and tried to offer a weak protest. Shaking her head, Lucy frowned while listening closely to her friend, and replied, "Okay. After I get Wyatt home and settled, I'll bring over his pajamas and some clean clothes for school tomorrow. Um, I think it would be better if I talk to Jamie when I get there. Thanks, you're a lifesaver. What? Okay, I'll tell him later. See you in a little while."
Ending the call, Lucy leaned toward Wyatt and hoping to forestall any argument, put her index finger on his mouth. "Don't you dare even think of arguing with me, Wyatt Logan. I love you, and you need me, so I'm going to take care of you." His eyes widened in surprise at her declaration. "I'm well aware that we are in the middle of some kind of break or timeout, or whatever you want to call it, right now, but this has nothing to do with that, okay? If we have to put a name on it, I suppose you can think of the next couple days as some kind of timeout from our little break."
Wyatt's warm lips quirked in amusement under her finger, and his dark blue eyes shone with emotion as he solemnly gazed across the table at Lucy. "Now, I'm going to remove my finger, and all I want to hear from you is 'yes, Lucy,' got it?" she ordered crisply.
To her satisfaction, he nodded very slowly, eyes fixed solely on her. Once she took her finger from his mouth, he murmured obediently, "Yes, Lucy. Thank you, Ma'am." and sent her a mischievous smile, the one that always did it for her. Flustered now, Lucy experienced a fleeting second of doubt, but steadfastly ignored it. Wyatt was hurt, and knowing him, probably much worse than he was letting on. He needed her, and that was that. She would deal with the messy emotional stuff later. Mind made up, she stood, and after throwing away their trash, helped Wyatt stand, vaguely alarmed when he blinked and swayed slightly. Holding his hand firmly, Lucy led him out to her car.
Within an hour, he was resting comfortably in his recliner after refusing to get in bed without her, drowsily watching Lucy as she fussed over him. She was in fierce, super-protective mode, something Amy had warned him about when the two of them had gone Christmas shopping. Even though Wyatt's head still throbbed, it was worth it because he had to admit, he enjoyed this take-charge side of Lucy very much. (She was going to be an amazing mother one day.)
And after having sole responsibility for raising his son the past five years, it felt good to let someone else take care of him, even for a day or two. From the second they'd left Starbucks, she had been completely focused on Wyatt. Although he was perfectly capable of getting out of her car and walking into his place unaided, she was right there beside him, her arm around his waist. Once they got inside, after helping him climb the stairs, Lucy had swiftly undressed him down to his boxers and without missing a beat, had Wyatt in a tee shirt and flannel pants before his aching head could think of a single flirty, smart-ass remark.
"Damn, she's good," he thought in admiration. Struggling to stay awake after swallowing one of the pain pills Lucy had requested (politely demanded, actually) that he take before leaving Starbucks, Wyatt clumsily grabbed at her hand, and with an impetuous tug, abruptly pulled her onto his lap. When she squeaked indignantly, he shushed her and began to pet her hair, quite pleased at the affectionate expression on her face. Funny, but his head didn't hurt so much any more, just felt like it was full of cotton balls or something, which was a silly thing to think. Wyatt frowned and tried to focus on her beautiful face in spite of his increasingly fuzzy thought process. Licking his suddenly dry lips, he leaned closer to Lucy, urgently needing her to understand what he was trying to say.
"Hey, Lucy? You know what? Your hair is like a kitten, all soft and pretty. Do you still love me? You always smell nice. I love you so much. But I got mad and I yelled at you and I'm sorry I made you cry." Wyatt paused long enough to yawn, so widely his eyes watered a little. Blinking slowly, he put his hand around Lucy's neck and pulled her forehead to his, his words beginning to slur. "Ow, my head hurts. Did you know I love you? I do, sweetheart, a lot, and it makes me really sad when you leave. I want you to stay forever. Please don't leave me, okay? I'm so sleepy..." His hand dropped from her neck as he drifted off.
Lucy bit her lip and her eyes welled up at Wyatt's innocent, drugged out of his mind confession. "Out of the mouths of babes, and apparently, men on really strong pain meds," she thought wryly. Climbing off his lap, Lucy caressed his scruffy cheek before pressing a tender kiss to his lips. If she hurried, she should be able to take Jamie's things over to Julie and be back in less than an hour. Hopefully, he would sleep right through her short absence.
Snagging a fleecy throw from the back of the sofa, she gently covered Wyatt, who was starting to snore softly. He looked peaceful, younger somehow, in spite of the ugly bandage on his forehead. Even if the wound left an unsightly scar on his forehead, it made no difference to Lucy. Wyatt Logan was still the handsomest man she'd ever known, inside and out. With one last look at him, Lucy sighed and dashed upstairs to pack Jamie's small duffle bag for his unexpected sleepover at the Baumgardners. Minutes later, she was halfway down the stairs when she remembered his pillow and Spiderman plush. Bam and Julie would definitely not appreciate trying to get the little boy in bed without his beloved possessions.
After a quick check on a still sleeping Wyatt, she was out the door and on her way. During the short drive, her phone chimed suddenly with a text from Amy. Damn. Lucy had been so caught up in Wyatt's injury, she had forgotten to let her sister know that she would be staying with him tonight. Cognizant of Amy's attitude toward him at the present time, Lucy decided it might be preferable to stick to texting about her change in plans rather than a phone conversation, if possible.
Luckily, she was only about a block away from her destination. As soon as she pulled into the Baumgardners' driveway, Lucy read and returned her sibling's text:
Hey, where are you? Thought you were gonna be here for dinner.
Yeah, about that, I won't be home tonite. Sorry, I meant to text you earlier :(
Why? Where are you going to be? Wyatt's?
Hello? Lucy? Lucy! Kinda soon to be running back to him, isn't it?
Lucy sucked in a startled breath. Well, little sister certainly wasn't pulling any punches.
I'm gonna ignore the nasty tone of your last text since it was impolite of me not to let you know my plans sooner.
Jeez, take the stick out of your butt! I'm sorry if that was kinda bitchy, but you know it's cause I don't want you to get hurt.
I do know that, and that's exactly why we're not having this conversation right now. I'll text you tomorrow.
Ok. Sorry :( Love you...
Love you too
Dropping the phone in her bag, Lucy closed her eyes and leaned her head on the steering wheel. She did love her little sister, very much, and of course, never enjoyed being at odds with her, but dammit, she was thirty years old, and a big girl now. This was her life, and she considered herself fully capable of making her own decisions, for better or worse. And she really didn't have time for this right now. Opening her eyes, Lucy saw three small faces peering out the big front window of the house at her. Dealing with Amy would have to wait-Wyatt and Jamie needed her.
She got out and grabbed Jamie's things from the back seat just as the front door opened, and was amused to see him and the girls bouncing up and down, obviously excited to see her. Julie stood with them, a worried expression on her face. Directing a reassuring smile at her friend, Lucy handed everything over before kneeling down to pry Sadie from her leg even as she listened to Jamie and Annie's happy chatter. Something about pizza for supper and watching Annie's Inside Out DVD afterwards. Hoisting the little girl up on her hip, she was touched when Sadie patted her cheek and whispered, "Miss Lucy, I missed you," before laying her curly blonde head on Lucy's shoulder.
Julie turned and ushered everyone back in the house. "We'll just give you and Jamie a few minutes. Be sure and let me know if you need anything, you hear? C'mon, girls, let's take his stuff upstairs." At the immediate protest from Sadie, Lucy whispered in the toddler's ear, and after nodding vigorously, she slid out of Lucy's arms and took Jamie's pillow from her mother.
"I got this, Mommy," she said, with a determined look in her green eyes, and Lucy hid a grin. Once Julie and the girls disappeared upstairs, Lucy took Jamie's hand and led him to the sofa, where she pulled him onto her lap. He settled trustingly against her with a contented sigh as she wrapped her arms securely around his small body.
"Where's Daddy?" He asked curiously, gazing up at her with big blue eyes so like Wyatt's. Lucy knew that although he loved his honorary aunt and uncle very much and had become quite attached to her, his daddy was the center of Jamie's universe, and she needed to proceed carefully.
Taking a deep breath, Lucy answered, "Well, sweetie, Daddy's at home right now because he got a bump on the head at the base today." The five-year-old's lower lip trembled and his eyes filled as he stared at her.
"Daddy's head got hurt? Is he gonna be okay? Aunt Julie said I can stay for supper and sleep here tonight, but I have to go to school tomorrow and Daddy always takes me to school, but Uncle Bam said he will take me to school. Maybe I better go home. I can watch Annie's movie later. Can you take me home, please, Miss Lucy?" Lucy's heart ached a little as his face crumpled and Jamie began to cry. She pulled him to her, patting his back as she tried in vain to console the distraught child.
She looked up to see Bam standing in the doorway and decided to call in reinforcements. "Jamie, Uncle Bam was with Daddy when he got the bump on the head, and he can tell you that your daddy is going to be just fine, right, Uncle Bam?" Lucy asked, directing an imploring look at him.
He obediently came and knelt down beside them, reaching out to run a large hand soothingly up and down Jamie's back. "Hey there, little man, c'mon now, dry your tears. I was right beside your dad when he got a bump on the head, just like Miss Lucy said."
Jamie lifted his head from Lucy's chest and peered at his uncle with tear-soaked eyes. "Really, Uncle Bam?" rubbing at his tears with a small fist. "Did Daddy cry?"
"No way, buddy, your dad is a soldier and soldiers are tough, right?" The five-year-old sniffed and nodded solemnly. "Here's the thing, though, the bump gave Daddy a big headache, and the doc said he needs lots of sleep so he can be good as new. Now, if he's sleeping a whole bunch, he can't take care of you, so me and Aunt Julie said, 'hey, here's a good idea–we can take care of Jamie so his Daddy can sleep' and so here you are."
Lucy practically held her breath while the little boy gave serious consideration to his uncle's explanation before responding, "Okay, Uncle Bam, I guess I can stay. What about Miss Lucy?"
At Bam's nod of encouragement, Lucy replied, "Well, I'm going to take care of your daddy until he's all better, if that's okay with you."
She was relieved when he grinned at her and said, "Okay. Can I see Daddy tomorrow?"
"Of course you can, after school," Lucy promised.
That seemed to satisfy Jamie, who looked at Bam and said, "I'm hungry. Can we have pizza now?" and both adults smiled.
"Sure thing, pal, and hey, how'd you like to go with me to get the pizza, just us guys?" Bam asked, as Jamie agreed happily. "Alright, then, why don't you tell Miss Lucy goodbye and then go ask Aunt Julie to call the pizza place."
Once he threw his chubby arms around Lucy's neck and gave her a smacking kiss on the cheek, the little boy tore out of the room in search of the girls and his Aunt Julie. Lucy sighed in relief. "Thank you, Bam, I was in a little over my head there for a minute."
His face reddened as he tried to brush aside Lucy's thanks. "No problem. Don't worry about it. You weren't doing that bad. Now you probably better get back to Wy. I'm afraid you're both in for a long night. Julie wanted me to tell you to bring him over in the morning and he can hang out here all day while you and Jamie are at school. And Lucy, thanks for taking care of my best friend, even though I know it's been a rough couple of days for the two of you."
She blushed at his unexpected compliment, and decided to leave while the little ones were occupied in the kitchen with Julie. "Please tell Julie we said thanks, and that goes for you, too," and made her way to the front door accompanied by Bam.
"Call if you need anything, alright?" he requested, and she squeezed his arm and nodded gratefully before taking her leave. Eager to get back to Wyatt, Lucy drove straight to his apartment, glad that she still had some clothes and toiletries there and wouldn't need to stop at her place for anything. Plus, she really didn't have the time or the inclination to deal with Amy right now. And, she acknowledged, Bam was right about one thing–with having to wake Wyatt every two hours, it was definitely going to be a long night.
Letting herself in, she dropped her bag and keys on the hall table and hurried into the front room to find him still asleep. She headed for the kitchen for a fresh glass of water and one of his pain pills. Crouching down beside his recliner, Lucy put her hand on his cheek, and murmured, "Wyatt? You need to wake up now, love, you've been asleep for nearly two hours."
She watched carefully as Wyatt began to stir, blinking his eyes slowly as he surfaced from a medicated slumber. He gazed at her in pleased wonder, "Lucy, you came back." Her heart ached at the faint surprise in his voice. "I thought maybe I was dreaming when you said you would, that maybe it was the pain meds. But you're really here," and when she impulsively leaned in to kiss him, Wyatt smiled against her lips. And Lucy knew without a doubt this was exactly where she needed to be.
A/N: So I'm guessing maybe this wasn't the "date" at Starbucks that everyone was expecting, lol? Full disclosure: everything I know about military training exercises, I learned from the movies, especially Stripes (with Bill Murray) and Private Benjamin (with Goldie Hawn), two classic favorite movies of mine. Thanks bunches to all of you who are still hanging in there with this story. I swear it will end (eventually). Your reviews, favorites, and follows are very much appreciated :))
