Part 7...
0245 EDT
Bethesda Naval Hospital
Room 212...
Austin had drifted into a light doze with her head resting against the back of
the chair a nurse had brought in for her when Victor woke up.
He groaned softly pressing his hands against his eyes as he did most mornings
when he awoke only to hiss sharply when the heels of his
palms pressed into the swollen skin. Victor shifted in the bed
uncomfortably aware of his new bruises. He turned his head blinking in the dim
light to see Austin.
"Aus-AH!" Victor's soft call ended in a groan of pain as he tried to
lean closer to her making his cracked ribs shift painfully.
"Victor?" Austin flew to consciousness with a swiftness that was
impressive to see. She'd gone from sleeping to awake and ready to do what
needed to be done in the space of a few heartbeats.
"Mmm-hmm," Victor groaned panting softly against the pain.
"You shouldn't be trying to move around so much silly," Austin
whispered moving her chair closer to his bed before getting back in and running
her fingers through his hair.
"You should be home," Victor scolded softly lifting a hand to brush
his fingers over her cheek.
"You wanted me to spend the night with you," Austin teased turning
her head a little to kiss his fingertips. "I had thought it might be a
little more romantic than this, but I'm flexible."
Victor grinned briefly shifting again. "Help me up."
"Up? Where are you planning on going?" Austin asked noting the
pinched, embarrassed look on his face. Recognition dawned and she stood from
her chair. "Are you supposed to be on your feet?"
"Guess it's okay," Victor shrugged easing gingerly out of the bed
putting his arm around Austin's shoulder before he stood on his feet.
"We'll take it slow Vic, no rush," Austin cooed as he took one
shuffling step, wincing and sucking in his breath.
They crossed the floor to the bathroom, one slow step at a time. When they
reached the door Austin looked up into Victor's face seeing his weariness and
discomfort.
"I'll leave you on your own to handle things."
"Don't go far...I'm sure as hell not going to make it back to the bed
without your help," Victor grumbled in frustration as he shuffled into the
bathroom closing the door behind him. With the door closed and no one able to
see him, Victor leaned heavily against the sink, not too proud to admit how
much his body hurt and how awful he truly felt.
He studied his face in the mirror
sighing at the two shiners he was now sporting and his swollen nose. Then, of
course, there were the bruises on his chin and jawline and his split lip.
He could see his chest too, thanks to Austin asking the nurse for a pair of
scrubs for him to wear and the bruises there were developing nicely against his
dark skin. He half-turned to see what his back looked like frowning at the
deep red over his kidneys.
"Bastards," he spat in a flat tone of voice before shuffling the few
steps to the commode.
Austin paced in front of the closed door hoping Victor was okay inside. She
hadn't heard any loud crashes she thought, trying to console herself with that
until the door eased open and Victor shuffled a few steps before leaning
heavily on the door frame.
"Victor?"
"Bed," He moaned shortly lacking the energy to say anything more than
that.
"Okay, let's go Marine,"
Austin coaxed putting an arm carefully around his waist murmuring softly
as they moved slowly back toward the bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
0300 EDT
Georgetown Alley...
"Real tourist spot here Clay," Harm commented raising his eyebrows as
he looked around the dank, smelly alley.
"I go for the best," Webb muttered. "Will you just look for some
clues or something?"
"Webb, we know what happened. Gunny was assaulted by guys who run the
mugging scam on the Beltway."
"Yeah, well tell me why the CIA is so interested in muggings then. That
was the case I was going to use Galindez on. Damned convenient he ended up a
victim."
"The CIA is interested in muggings now?" Harm asked.
"Apparently. I want to know why."
"Don't blame you...but maybe the best place to start is with talking to
the guys who assaulted Gunny."
"You think they'll give us a straight answer?" Webb snorted.
"No, but we're wasting our time looking around here."
"Shows what you know Rabb," Webb answered with a self-satisfied grin
as he pulled a wallet out of a pile of trash. "Now...why don't you go
home and catch a few hours of sleep. I'll call you later on and let you know
what I need you for."
"I don't like being brushed off Webb," Harm warned in a low voice.
"And I know that...but I don't think the Admiral would like it much if you
were with me for what I'm going to do next. Last time I checked Breaking and
Entering was still illegal," Webb grinned wolfishly.
"Don't tell me anymore...I'll talk to you later."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
0730 EDT
Roberts' Apartment...
"Honey, what are you
doing?" Bud asked curiously as he watched his wife placing muffins into a
large wicker basket.
"Making a sunshine basket for Gunny," Harriet answered in an
exasperated tone as she began rummaging through the cupboards for the tea she
wanted to put in.
"Oh...and you'll bring it in and everyone will contribute, right?"
"Well, maybe not everyone..." Harriet grumbled thinking of Lieutenant
Singer.
"That's a sweet idea honey," Bud smiled kissing his wife's forehead
gently. He loved how thoughtful she was. "Austin and Gunny will really appreciate
it."
"I hope so...I wonder how Gunny's feeling this morning?"
"Sore probably and groggy from the meds. Austin is there with him though,
he's in good hands."
"They're a nice couple, aren't they Bud?" Harriet asked with a smile
as she put her arms around him looking at the dry rose she kept attached to the
refrigerator door from the bouquet Gunny and Austin had sent her about a month
ago.
"Sure are honey and they have you to thank for meeting each other. We
really should get going...we have to drop AJ off and we'll be late if we don't
go now."
Harriet hefted the huge basket handing it to Bud. "You take this...I'll go
get little AJ."
**************************************************************