Chapter 74 – 11.7 Seconds

Ajay pried her eyes open and lifted her head up just a bit. She looked around for a moment to find the clock. It had only been two hours. Octavio's arm was still wrapped tightly around her. She didn't want to move and disturb him. Her lips met his chest before she placed her head back on it. Her finger tips rubbed his arm while her ear listened to his steady heartbeat as it carried her back to sleep.

Ajay heard a single vibration from her phone as she stepped out of the shower. She grabbed her phone and turned on the screen to find 11 missed phone calls from Octavio. She knew that something had to be wrong. He never called her and it had been months since she had last spoken to him. Her hands shook as she clicked on his number to call him back and pressed the phone to her ear. She exhaled a sigh of relief when he answered.

"Hey Che." Octavio's voice was playful but low.

"Silva?" She didn't really know what to say.

He coughed and then laughed a bit, "I beat the record Che. 11.7 seconds Che."

She sighed once more in relief, "Damn Silva. Ya a speed demon for sure." There was a lot of silence and then some familiar beeping noises. "Silva. Are ya in the hospital?" She began feel worry sink into her stomach.

"Si." Octavio's voice was low and calm.

Ajay's voice was getting panicked, "Silva what happened?" She began rushing to her bedroom. She forced her clothing onto her lower body while he sat on the other end or the line in silence. She managed to get her bra and shirt on in record time. "Silva?"

His voice was no longer playful as he spoke. It was full of sorrow, "I fucked up Che."

She waited for him to continue but that was all he said. Her heart was pounding against her chest like it was trying to escape, "What do ya mean ya fucked up?" She was surprised that her voice was even and calm.

Again he was silent for a long time. "Can you just come and see me? I will text you the address."

Ajay nodded and then realized that he couldn't see her. "Yah Silva." She grabbed her backpack and began to shove clothing into it.

Octavio sent her the address before they hung up and made sure that she got it. "Thanks Che."

Ajay kept looking at the address on her phone. It was a hospital on the planet Harmony. As she sat in the transport ship all she could do was worry. She tried to think about the last time she was on Harmony. The planet itself was peaceful and calm. It was filled with stone and wood architecture. It was primarily and agricultural planet.

The first time she landed on Harmony she met Captain Tai Lastimosa. He was highly regarded in the Special Recon Squadron, or SRS, force within the Militia. He helped Ajay train with numerous weapons so that way if trouble ever found her it wouldn't find a way out. She also trained with Jack Cooper, one hell of a rifleman and Captain Lastimosa's protégé.

Ajay's flight from Typhon to Harmony felt as though it took forever. The drive to the local hospital was even longer and filled with anticipation and anxiety. The hospital was small and housed only 30 patients at capacity. It didn't take her long to find Octavio. She looked over his battered body through the doorway before she entered the room. The smell of burnt flesh filled her lungs as she stepped closed to him. Blood and dirt stained his skin as she peered over him. She frown at the sight of him. "Silva?" She whispered his name as she reached for him, almost afraid to touch his fragile body.

Octavio's swollen eyes opened to her beautiful voice, "Che. You made it." He wanted to get up and hug her but it hurt to even breathe. He began to adjust himself in the bed and winced in pain. Ajay rushed to his side. "You don gotta get up for me." She helped him settle back into the bed. He was happy to have her touch him. Her hands felt like magic and he didn't want her to stop touching.

After he settled into bed he looked into her eyes with his dim emerald eyes. She forced a smile, "What happened?" He titled his head back into his pillow and sighed, "I beat the record Che. 11.7 seconds!" Ajay stood there silent and waited for him to explain himself. Octavio knew that she was waiting for more of an explanation. "I may have used a grenade to boost myself across the finish line faster." He was afraid to look at her so he kept his eyes closed as he smirked.

Ajay swallowed hard, "So ya blew ya self across the finish line with a grenade?" At least it wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be. He opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling, "Well Chica." He paused. She fucking hated being called 'chica.' He called all of his little fan girls chica and she was not his little fan girl, she was his best friend. "I'm not ya fan club Silva. Don't call me chica." He smiled because he knew it would get a rise out of her, "Whoa, calm down Che. I blew off my own legs and this how you treat me?"

The room was silent except for the hum of the machines. Octavio waited for her to lash out at him but she didn't. He finally looked at her. He watched her as she sat in the chair beside his bed. She clutched her head in hands with her elbows resting on her knees. He watched her as her tears hit the floor below. It wasn't the first time he had seen Ajay cry, they had been best friends since the beginning of time, but this was first time he had seen her cry over him. His heart sank into his chest. "Che?" His voice was no long playful as he reached for her. She sat there and cried. She couldn't bring her gaze to his. "What did the doctor say?"

Octavio pulled his hand away and looked away from her, "I can never walk again." He closed his eyes, "I can't live like this Che. I have to do stunts. I have to run." He was almost in tears, "I don't want a desk job at Silva Pharmaceuticals." He felt her hand on his. "I'll fix this Silva. I promise." He opened his eyes and looked up at her, "How are you going to fix this Che?" Her hand felt so soft in his. He loved it when she touched him. He pulled her hand to his chest.

She moved closer to him. Ajay's tears were now streaming down her face and onto his neck chest, "I will make ya some legs." He smiled and rubbed her hand, "I knew you'd come through Che. Thank you." Ajay pressed her forehead to his, it was something that they always did, "Don be stupid." She smiled through her tears.

They stared at one another for a long time. Octavio reach up with his free hand and gently brushed tears her cheek. He cupped her cheek in his hand and stared at her lips. For years he dreamed of kissing her again; tasting her again. She closed her eyes and leaned her face into his hand. He always felt like home to her. She missed his touch and him.

He began to lean up to meet her lips with his own. "Mr. Silva." Ajay promptly stood up with a tint of red across her cheeks. Octavio looked over to see his nurse standing in the doorway with wash cloths and dressing supplies. "Wrong fucking time chica." The nurse looked a little confused, "Is now a good time to get you cleaned up?" Octavio gave the nurse a blank stare. "Obviously this is not a good fucking time to get cleaned up!"

Ajay couldn't look at the nurse but she answered for Octavio, "If ya leave everythin here I can get him cleaned up. I don mind at all. I can change his dressins too. I'm a combat medic for the Frontier Corporation. I'm well trained. My name is Ajay…" The nurse interrupted her, "Che. I know exactly who you are. You are more than qualified and come highly recommended by Captain Lastimosa." The nurse smiled, "I will leave you to it."

The nurse promptly left Ajay and Octavio alone. Octavio began to sweat as he watched Ajay get everything ready, "We don't need to do that now Che." She shook her head at him, "We do. Ya have been sitting like this for a day or so in blood and dirt. Ya gonna get an infection." Octavio swallowed hard, "Maybe cold water would be best Che." She gave him a puzzled look, "Don be stupid Silva. Warm water will work better." She pulled the sheets back a bit but he held them with a death grip, "I'm a little cold. Just keep the rest of me covered." He said this as he held the sheets over the lower half of his body.

"Just for now Silva." She began to gently massage his blood, dirt stained skin, "But I have ta clean everythin." He shuddered and closed his eyes as the warm water hit him. Her magical touch put him at ease. He was so relaxed that he didn't feel her pull the rest of the sheets back. Ajay stood there for a moment and looked at his erect cock. She blushed and pulled the sheets back up. Her panties felt wet as she thought about how big he was.

She gently cleaned his chest. "Silva. We need ta clean the rest of ya." Octavio nodded and adjusted himself under the blanket. "Come on Silva. It's not like I haven't seen ya naked before." He flipped the sheets back in frustration, "Fine Che!" She looked down at his semi hard cock and sighed. He closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to look at her face.

Her gaze drifted to what was left of his legs. The dressings were soaked in blood. Ajay cleaned his lower body, maybe teasing his cock just a little. She covered him back up, leaving his legs exposed so she could change his dressings. Octavio didn't know whether she was teasing him or not but by the end of her cleaning session he was hard again. He whispered her name at some point but she must not have heard him. He felt her unwrap his dressings and begin to clean his wounds. "Well the docs did a good job patchin ya up Silva." She poured saline over his wounds and used gauze to clean and dry them. She wrapped them up snuggly and cleaned up her mess.

"Okay Silva. We need ta change the sheets." Octavio groaned, "Come on Che." She shook her head at him, "I can do it with ya in the bed or I can get ya to the chair. Ya choice." He looked up at her, "Don't I have more choices than that?" She began. Laying a fresh sheet over the chair next to the bed, "Nah. If ya don't decide then I will make the decision for ya."

He sighed, "Fine, the chair. You weren't going to give me a choice anyway." She smiled and nodded, "I guess ya right about that." She pulled down the side rail closest to the chair and helped him to sit on the side of the bed, "Okay Che. I got this." He began to reach for the chair but she Ajay was in the way. She stood in front of him with her face level with his, "Just hold ta me." She turned her back to him and kneeled down a bit.

Octavio wrapped his arms around her neck and leaned into her. His hands gripped her chest as her arms came up behind her, just under his ass to support him. She stood up and it was very apparent that his cock was hard as it pushed into her back. Her nipples grew hard underneath her bra as he played with her breasts. She maneuvered him over to the chair to sit. He was a little disappointed when he body broke from his. He shivered in the chair; he hadn't realized how cold he really was. She turned around and frowned as she watched him shiver.

Ajay pulled her hoodie off and helped him into it. He relaxed into her hoodie. The sweet smell of her sent his mind to other places. She covered him up with a clean blanket and began to strip the dirty sheets off the bed. He watched her long, dark red hair sway with her movements. A smiled found his lips. Octavio had only seen her hair down a few times. He knew when she lived with her parents that she had to maintain a certain appearance. He hadn't realized how long it had gotten and now he wanted to touch it. His eyes ventured down to her left arm and he noticed that she had gotten a tattoo. He was a bit surprised as it was no 'Che-like' to get a tattoo.

"When did you get the new ink Che?" Ajay was tense for a moment because she really didn't want to get into too much detail about the tattoo. She tried to relax as she spoke, "A few months after I joined the Frontier Corps." He had his own tattoos and never thought that she would get one. "Do you have more?" She shook her head, "Nah, just this one." He smiled, "So for your first tattoo you decided to get a big one?" She nodded, "Yah." She continued to make the bed. "What if you didn't like it Che? Or what if it hurt?" She was getting a little annoyed with his questions, "I got it, didn't I?" He laughed. He enjoyed the idea of her having a tattoo, he thought it was sexy. Although, everything about her was sexy to him.

His emerald eyes trailed down to her ass as she leaned over the bed. He was dizzy in the thoughts of things that he wanted do to her; all of the naughty things that he wanted to do to her. The time apart and the distance between them had only made his feelings for her grow immensely stronger. His cock was hard underneath the blanket. He managed to keep his hands in the pocket the hoodie she was letting him use.