"Trent, you okay buddy" Ray asked concerned as he hunched down to assess Trent who'd just gone down after loosing his footing on their South American jungle trek, Bravo had been tasked to surveil a remote compound for a HVT the CIA wanted eliminated via drone strike, the mission had been successful and now they were on their way back to the rendezvous point
"Ankle sprain, damn it" Trent muttered, he hadn't felt anything break when he went down, not that it still couldn't have had a small fracture in it, but he knew he was most likely dealing with a sprain, his boot was already feeling tight from the swelling, it would be black and blue when he finally got to take it of back at the plane, he didn't want to do it before he reached the plane unless he started to loose sensation in his foot, so far it was just tightness
"You need to watch where you're going next time, can you walk" Jason asked halting the exfil, they were stuck on foot for at least another 3 hours judging by his calculations, there was no way a medevac could get through the jungle canopy to airlift them out
"Think so" Trent said trying to sound confident, it hurt like hell
"You're going to need to get that x-rayed as soon as we touch back down in Vah Beach" Jason said as he and Ray both helped Trent to his feet so they could continue the exfil
"Damn it, hurts like hell" Trent said going back down again as he tried to put weight on his injured ankle due to the severe pain shooting up his leg
"Okay, you're going to need to lean on someone for support, get the weight of that ankle, we'll call the medevac as soon as it's in range, you start to feel dizzy or you loose sensation in the foot, you tell us and we'll rest for a bit"
"Got it Jase" Trent said confirming that he'd speak up if it got worse
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"Trent, what happened to you" Jay asked surprised as he saw Trent hobble onto the hospital ward sporting a black neoprene, velcro and plastic ankle boot that started from just below his knee to his toes, and a single crutch was being used to help take some of the weight of the injured leg why he walked
"Ankle sprain, we were only home for a few hours and the rest of the team got sent back out again, Aubree came and picked me up and brought me up here, you don't mind sharing a hotel room Jay" Trent said giving Jay a brief rundown of what had happened, Trent didn't want to be stuck in Virginia Beach while the team was out of country, and Jess was in Bethesda, and seeing as he couldn't go with the team with his ankle like it was, Bethesda was his only other option
"Definitely not, be good to have some company, as long as you don't mind Jess and I talking shop occasionally, I've got some contacts to review with her" Jay said assuring Trent it was fine for him to be there
"Might pick up a few tips in the investment game" Trent said smiling
"You're not struggling financially are you Trent, cause if you are I'm happy to" Jay said suddenly concerned that Trent might have been in some sort of financial difficulty
"It's fine Jay, I've just been thinking about the future, maybe a bit of extra income could be handy, but it's how to go about getting it, can't jump out of planes forever" Trent said admitting to Jay the cause for his concern
"Be nice if we could, you probably want stocks to start with, Kahleed knows that game better than me, you won't see any real return however for 10 years at least, people make the mistake of buying and selling to quickly, slow and steady is the way to go, next time I'm speaking to him, I'll get him to keep his ears open for any new prospects, then there's the possibility of coming into partnership with me if you're interested, you're smart and have good ideas on what's needed out there, bring them to me to prototype them, if they can be gotten to market you'll get a royalty of the items sold" Jay said outlining the possibilities that he saw for Trent to gain some extra income for his post retirement
"That sounds an interesting proposition, but if you're a military supplier, wouldn't that be illegal" Trent asked suddenly intrigued at the prospect of being involved with the design of new equipment, outside of what he'd helped Jay with previously for Jess, a way to put his experience to good use long after he hung up his wetsuit
"There's a few ways around it, best way would probably be for it to go into a trust fund, you don't get it till you retire, or I don't open the sales to the government's straight away, we run the item away from the tactical part of my business, and technically it's only the US government you can't receive payments from in that matter, and you're not involved in the contract negotiations, so there's options as I said, something to think about anyway" Jay said assuring Trent there were ways around the issue
"Is that how you get away with paying Jess, no doubt you have a similar deal with her" asked Trent now curious as to how Jay and Jess got around things like this
"I keep those items outside of the WST Tactical brand, technically anything she sells is not military contract, it's sold on an individual basis, as long as what the US government is purchasing from me Jess receives zero financial gain on, they don't care" Jay said explaining how the situation worked, as long as the US government wasn't signing the cheque so to speak, what she earned from commission didn't matter
"So what if the US military does purchase something, how do you get around that"
"Honestly, I've got heaps of investments around the world, I'd let the total accumulate for a bit then transfer something to her portfolio of similar value, usually it's property, stocks, or some minor investment that doesn't require much commitment on my behalf, silent investor stuff" Jay said explaining how he and Jess worked things out when it came to payments for military contracts
"Sounds a bit devious" Trent said sceptical about how Jay just admitted he done things at times
"Maybe not entirely ethical, but certainly not illegal by any means as we regularly trade investments between us and Salvatore, he's wanting to take on a more silent investor role, sit back and enjoy his money" Jay said confirming that what happened wasn't illegal and happened on a regular basis
"Must be nice, hey Jess" Trent said hobbling into Jess's hospital room
"Hey, what happened to your ankle" Jess said surprised to see Trent there and noticing the brace on his ankle and crutch he was using for added support to keep extra weight of the leg
"Sprained, of duty for the next 2 weeks and a nice course of anti inflammatory medication to go with it" Trent said smiling as he sat down on the plastic chair Jay indicated for him to use, he quickly left the room once Trent was settled to grab another of the chairs so Trent could use it to elevate his leg
"Damn, gotta suck big time" Jess said admiring the bulky brace
"How did Zah go at the competition" Trent asked eager to change the subject, Bravo had been sent out the night before the competition so we're unable to attend
"Good, we had to pull her out early however, CVS episode, she was disappointed not to do all the races, but she medaled in each event she competed, so she was happy about that, they've settled in at the rescue" Jess said explaining the outcome of the competition
"So how many horses is Laura bringing home" Jay asked walking back into the room with a pillow and extra chair so Trent could have some padding under his leg on the chair before settling into the other chair to talk
"She's got her eye on about 15, can't make up her mind, all mostly unstarted, a few need starting again because it was a shoddy job first time around" Jess said filling her dad in on the conversation that was held earlier that day
"Knowing Laura she'll find a way to bring home all 15 to" Jay said laughing at the thought of Laura being unable to choose between the horses
"She can only officially adopt 2 at a time, they're talking about Brad being allowed to bring them back to Vah Beach however for his intensive training program, the students he'll have coming out will work on getting them started under saddle, put the necessary miles on them and start the liberty training over a few months, then they'll be returned to the rescue and placed for adoption, if they don't officially adopt them" said Jess, if they could get permission to bring the horses that Laura was interested in back to Virginia Beach, Laura could proceed with the adoptions as she was given the chance to see how they would perform
"It's not a bad idea actually, I doubt these places have the ability to commit to training these horses every day" said Jay, even though his experience wasn't with horses, he knew the benefit of regular training, and that training needed people to run it, if they were struggling to get horses assessed under saddle, there was little chance that they would have time to commit to doing regular training
"That was Brad's thinking as well, and the starting process will be supervised, give his students a chance to practice with a variety of" Jess said before suddenly being interrupted by a sudden urge to violently empty the contents of her stomach as soon as possible
"Nausea kicking in" Trent asked as Jay grabbed the bag Jess had just finished using to dispose of it
"Nothing I can't handle" Jess said as she rinsed her mouth out
"You order anything to eat yet" Jay asked as he started to rub Jess's back, she would often be sore after being sick if it was violent enough
"Not yet, don't know what to try" Jess said, food was the last thing on her mind at the moment as she felt some familiar pains in her abdomen as she quickly kicked her blankets, unfortunately it was to late and there was a brown liquid mess on her pyjamas and in the bed, her colostomy had unfortunately leaked due to diarrhoea
"You haven't been trying the bags doctor Masterson brought in" Trent asked noticing the mess
"They're a little uncomfortable while I'm trying to sleep, they're pretty solid" Jess said sounding flustered over the accident, Trent was a little annoyed with the fact that Jess hadn't been using them, they were designed to prevent this type of accident and was about to tell her so but Jay put his hand up to remind Trent that this wasn't the time and to let him handle it
"It was an accident okay, go and shower quickly and change your pyjamas, I'll order some food for us and get the nurses to come and change your bedding while you're doing it" Jay said calmly, it was a side effect from the chemotherapy, something that was out of Jess's control and she had been using the bags throughout the day, she just needed that extra push to use it full time, hopefully this would give it to her
"Dad" Jess said protesting at the thought of being forced to eat something
"You're going to try and eat, you're booked for that procedure tomorrow afternoon, so you can try and eat tonight before you have to fast, don't argue with me baby girl, I know what I'm talking about" Jay said comforting his daughter, he wasn't going to force her to eat a lot, she just had to try
"What type of procedure is she having done Jay" Trent asked as soon as Jess was in the bathroom and they heard the shower turned on
"Nerve ablation, where the blocks were put in place, they'll go back in and use radio frequency ablation to destroy the nerves at the same location so she won't need to keep having the nerve blocks performed" Jay said without hesitation as he pulled out the room service menu to select something suitable for Jess to try and eat
"So it's not a surgical procedure" Trent asked as Jay handed him the menu so he could select something for himself
"Light sedation in the cath lab, just like when they done the nerve blocks" Jay said reassuring Trent Jess wouldn't be having any anaesthesia, and they already knew where the culprit nerves were from doing the blocks
"What about the numbness issue in her glutes" Trent asked
"She said compared to what she's been dealing with, it's the lesser of two evils and she's willing to live with it, Luca said she's more comfortable in bed with the loss of sensation, even before she was diagnosed, she couldn't handle him pressing his body against her in that area, if she'd been hit in that area and was conscious, you'd have no hope of getting anywhere near her to examine it anyway" Jay said, he had had a discussion with Jess at great lengths the previous day when Doctor Carmichael had came to see her on the ward, and Jess was adamant about proceeding with the radio frequency ablation, the last nearly 3 weeks had been absolute bliss compared to what she had been dealing with, coming in to get the nerve blocks redone every 4-6 weeks wasn't a viable option long term, and the pain of them wearing of didn't help, it needed to be a permanent solution and Doctor Carmichael had time to do it tomorrow, so she went for it
"So she'll need to be careful sitting down, and watch for broken skin" Trent asked looking at Jay, there would be some consequences of the procedure
"She said it's better than the constant pain, worked out what you feel like" Jay said smiling, he'd been worried about how his daughter was coping this time around, no one had expected her cancer to come back so soon, Luca had told him about their discussion about the tattoo, and now choosing to get the ablation procedure done, it told him that Jess was trying to move forward with her life, get comfortable with her body, something that no one else could force her to do, she had to do it in her own time
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"Eric, heard how Trent's doing" Jason asked as he took a seat next to the CO on the C130, they were on their way back from the Philippines after assisting team Delta who had gotten into trouble
"Grade 2 sprain, out for 2 weeks minimum, maybe 3, he went up to the hospital and he's staying with Jay why Jess is having treatment" Eric said filling Jason in on the message he'd received on his phone from Doctor Shah
"Wait, he didn't drive up did he" Jason asked suddenly worried
"No, someone came to pick him up after we left, took him up" Eric said, he'd been worried about the same possibility as Trent had been in a fair amount of pain, driving his truck would have been near impossible, the rest of Bravo now making their way over to join in the conversation
"What are we talking about Blackburn" Ray asked as he grabbed a seat opposite Eric and Jason, Sonny and Clay took seats next to Ray and Brock sat on the other side of Jason
"Trent has a grade 2 ankle sprain, it will take 2-3 weeks to heal up, after we left he got someone to come to the base and pick him up, took him to Bethesda and he's staying with Jay why Jess is having treatment" Eric said so the whole team was aware of the current situation
"You know who it was" Brock asked curiously, trying to think who Trent might have called for a ride, the list was pretty short as the seals kept to themselves, it would have to be someone in the community he reasoned
"Doctor Shah didn't say" Eric responded
"Wonder who it was" Clay asked
"No way to know for certain, but I think he's got a new woman truthfully" Sonny piped up
"You serious, you think because someone gets a ride somewhere that we don't know who gave it to them, that suddenly there's a new woman on the scene" Jason said shocked at the way Sonny's mind worked at times
"He would have told us Sonny, he can't keep having something like that a secret, remember Vanessa, and Catrina we knew straight away, there's been none of the signs" Brock said reminding Sonny of Trent's last two relationships, there had been the constant phone calls and messages Trent would laugh at, he wouldn't socialise with them as much of base, he'd pay more attention to his appearance, nothing had changed lately to indicate that there was a new woman in his life
"Oh yeah, when was the last time he went to the bulkhead with us" Sonny asked looking around the group
"Ah, I think it was a few months ago" Clay said trying to remember
"Exactly, it's been 5 months" Sonny said making his point
"He says he's been busy studying, and we haven't gone that much either" Brock said pointing out that there own visits had dropped off
"But he doesn't tell us what, why wouldn't he tell us what he's studying, I mean shouldn't we all be studying the same thing if it's that important" Sonny protested
"It's probably medic related stuff for Jess, to my knowledge none of you're behind on anything major" Eric said letting the group know his own thoughts on what Trent could have been 'studying'
"Yeah, I'm not so convinced Bookworm's the cause here, besides if she was, wouldn't he be studying with Luca, I mean it makes sense right" Sonny asked looking around the team for their opinion
"If he has been, it hasn't been why I've been around" Brock said starting to think that Sonny might actually be on to something
"Right, so then when we get back Brockoli, you and me are going to do some digging and find out once and for all" Sonny said roping Brock into being his partner in crime
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