Trent woke to his phone vibrating. He muted the notification and rolled back over to her. She seemed to be sleeping peacefully tucked beside him. The buzzing of his phone again was nothing but a frustration as he rolled over to grab it from his nightstand.
Serena shifted as he crawled from the bed. "What time is it?"
"It's seven. Sorry I woke you. I have to go to base." Trent was sitting stiffly on the edge of the bed.
"When will you be back? Do you know?" She sat up.
"No later than dinner. We were called in for the AAR." Trent grabbed jeans from his dresser. "They need to have everything in order to authorize any action."
"So you are all going?" She pulled the blankets higher.
"Well Clay will be here. Unless you want to come to base, then you both come." Trent watched for nonverbal ques that she didn't feel safe.
"No reason to drag him along, he needs to rest. We'll be fine here." Serena relaxed against the pillows.
"Okay." Trent dressed quickly and grabbed a sweatshirt before rounding the bed to say goodbye.
Leaning down he kissed her lips with his hand on her neck, his thumb on her cheek. Serena instinctively deepened the kiss as her arms wrapped around his neck. Trent didn't pull away instead putting his free hand down on the mattress hovering above her.
Trent knew he had to leave, knew that Brock was sitting in his couch ready to leave, knew that Sonny was in the guest bathroom and almost ready to leave, but everything in him told him to stay.
Serena tipped her head back as he broke the kiss and his mouth went to her neck kissing downward to her collarbone. Her hips rose into him as she savored the feeling. Trent reached for her breast and cupped it gently.
"God you feel good." He whispered it in her ear as his tongue began sucking her jaw line.
"We need to stop." Serena fought against her urges as she pushed against his chest.
Trent pulled away and breathlessly spoke. "You're right. Work." He stood completely. "Just as soon as I calm down." He gestured to his bulging jeans.
Serena laughed. "Trent I haven't taken my birth control pill since... You need to buy condoms before."
"I didn't think." Trent turned as he thought of a future with her that included little red haired children jumping into his bed too early in the morning. He was surprised by the joy he was suddenly overwhelmed with at the thought and wondered if motherhood was something she even wanted. "Can we talk about this more later?"
"Yeah we can, but Trent get condoms." She smiled at him with lust in her eyes.
Serena got out of bed an hour after he left for base. Restlessness overwhelmed her so despite her throbbing leg and dull headache she folded the blankets in the living room and straightened up the kitchen. Moving slower than normal she didn't realize an hour had passed until her stomach growled and she looked at the clock.
It was quiet in the house. Maybe a bit too quiet. She moved to turn on the radio and pulled leftover Chinese food from the fridge.
Limping to the guest room she gently knocked. The lack of an answer immediately raised alarm in her. If Clay were anything like Trent the smallest nose even that of a camera clicking should wake him. Cracking the door slightly she knocked again. And again silence was the response.
Serena pushed the door fully open and took a step into the darkened room before switching the light on. Clay was laying directly in the middle of the bed under a pile of blankets that almost completely concealed him. She walked to the bed and reached out to him, gripping his right shoulder gently.
The first thing Serena knew when she touched the man was that he was burning up. The second was that she had made a mistake. She tried to pull away as Clay rapidly grabbed her wrist and twisted it.
"Clay!" She yelled his name and although his eyes were open he didn't appear to actually see her.
"Tr'nt?" Clay slurred and tried to move but seemed unable as he released his grip on her wrist. His face was a mixture of fear and confusion.
"Hey, Clay, do you remember me? It's Serena." She held her wrist to her chest as she spoke. "Clay I know you aren't feeling good right now. I'm going to call Trent but I need to know what to tell him. I'll be right back okay?"
"Back wit Tr'nt." He mumbled the words as she went back to the master bedroom.
She scrolled to Trent's name in her contacts as she dragged the medkit from under the bed where she had seen Trent store it after her haircut the night before. The call went straight to voicemail. "Trent, call me now." She tried to keep the pain from her voice as she cradled her swelling wrist.
"Clay." She moved slowly into the room. Cautiously approached the bed. "Clay. You with me?"
"Wit you." He shifted and grimaced. "Tr'nt?"
"He will be home soon. Asked me to take your temperature and get you to drink some water." Serena lied.
"He comin'?" Clay's head rolled toward her.
"Yeah he is." She opened the kit and removed the thermometer.
At the beep she glanced at the reading. She moved to the end of the bed before taking hold of the comforter and pulling it off of Clay. Clay groaned and trembled while reaching for his shoulder.
"Clay where is your phone?" Serena began looking in the pockets of the jeans he had been wearing the night before. "Just want to call someone, Trent's phone is dying. I could try Sonnybor Brock with your phone."
"Dunno." He moved his head side to side as if that would help him think.
"Okay that's okay. Can you take some Tylenol for me?" She removed the cap from the pills and tentatively stepped closer holding the pills out to him in her left hand.
Clay looked at the pills through one eye as the other stayed closed before relenting and dry swallowing them. Serena used her teeth to open a bottle water before repeating the handoff to Clay. She then slowly backed away.
Hitting the send button on her phone she sighed as again Trent's phone went straight to voicemail. "Trent why is your phone off? Call me." Serena sat in the recliner waiting as long as she could make herself before going back to Clay.
"Clay." She moved slowly forward. "Clay it's me again. I need to recheck your temperature."
"Tr'nt said?" He mumbled to her in a way that reminded her of a child asking for their parent's permission.
"Yeah. Trent said to take your temperature again." She reached out to him. "Clay I'm going to move your hair away." His forehead was wet with sweat as she brushed his hair back and pointed the thermometer at it. It had been about 15 minutes since she had taken it last. "Clay can you tell me what's going on?"
"Tell Tr'nt." Clay closed his eyes.
Serena moved to the living room pacing back and forth before deciding she had no choice. Pulling out her phone she once again called Trent. "You need to answer your phone. Call me back." She ended the call and hit the 'emergency call button.'
"911 what is the location of your emergency?" The operator immediately asked.
"Umm I don't know. Hold on." She moved across the room to the empty pizza boxes still sitting on the table. The order form with the delivery address was taped to the top box. She gave the information and moved back into the living room to stand near the open guest room door.
"Ma'am what is the nature of your emergency?" The calm voice repeated the question.
"My uh my friend is sick. He was in he had an accident and I think he has an infection. His temperature is 103.4°, it was 102.7° twenty minutes ago and he doesn't seem to know who I am." Serena had no idea how to explain that he had a gunshot wound or who he was to her. Nor did she know how to explain her possibly broken wrist. Frustration and anger at Trent for not answering her calls filled her.
A short time later Serena walked in to the emergency department waiting room that the triage nurse had pointed out to her. She hadn't mentioned her wrist to the woman and as she pulled Trent's sweatshirt over her whole hand she didn't plan to disclose the injury. Her wrist hurt but not saying her name to strangers felt safer.
After twenty minutes of sitting in the waiting room a short dark haired woman walked toward her. "You came in with Clay?" The nurse used only his first name which confused her. Last names were much more common in both the medical field and the military.
Serena nodded feeling like she was underwater and her reactions delayed. "Sorry, yeah I did."
The woman smiled at her before speaking again. "I didn't know he was seeing anyone." Her smile was kind but Serena was becoming increasingly confused. "But it's good you got him here when you did. Unfortunately he is very sick."
"Seeing. No it's not like that." Serena stood up and walked toward the exit.
"Hey." The woman called after her following. "I'm sorry I should have introduced myself. I'm Ray's wife Naima."
Serena stopped and turned back. "Oh. I uh well I guess I'm Trent's... it's complicated?"
"Well it's nice to meet you...?" Naima was surprised by the fact that the woman brought Clay in but was dating Trent and confused by the lack of a name given.
"Yeah sorry. I'm Serena." Naima held out her hand and without thinking Serena took it to shake hands.
Her knees hit the floor before the scream finished leaving her lips. The woman she now knew was Ray's wife was yelling to someone. Her stomach rolled and just before the vomit rose she wondered if it was the pain or the concussion that was making her dizzy.
She was moved in a wheelchair that seemed to materialize magically into an exam room. Another nurse started asking her questions as Naima stepped from the room. Everything seemed to blur together as either the chair or the room spun, she wasn't entirely sure which.
Naima tried Ray first as an instinct, when the call immediately went to voicemail she tried Trent with the same result.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
"So this will be an issue. How big of one I'm not sure yet." Blackburn spoke of Trent's inclusion on a mission that was personal.
"I'm sorry to interupt." The young sailor who entered passed a note to Blackburn before exiting the DEV group team room.
Blackburn unfolded the paper and looked down at it. The note was simple and lacking in details. 'Clay Spenser has been readmitted. Serena too. Check your damn phones. -Naima.'
"Gentleman, we're done here." Blackburn was rapidly walking to the door. "Naima called. Check your phones."