Chapter 9: Lexa
When I finally fall asleep, I start to dream about the firefight in the valley. I am watching everything unfold from above, and I know what will happen before it does, but I can't do anything to change the outcome. Then I hear someone knocking on the door, I think, but it sounds so far away I guess I'm still dreaming, so I ignore it. That is until I hear Ash saying, "okay, okay, we are getting up," right before I feel her lips on my forehead. At this, I open my eyes and see that our faces are only inches apart.
She smiles and says, "Good morning, sunshine."
I reply with a grunt. I feel like I have been hit by a train. My entire body aches and Ash looks happy. Am I still dreaming? I must still be dreaming because no one can be this happy to wake up after a day/night like yesterday. I must have closed my eyes because all of a sudden, I felt her lips on mine. Suddenly, I was wide awake! I just stare into her eyes for a second before my brain catches up, and I realize that she just kissed me on the lips. Of course, I begin to stutter and say, "Good…good morning."
Before I can say or do anything else, someone is pounding on the door. I yell, "I swear to God if you bang on that door one more time, I will shoot you through it."
Omar says, "Someone is grumpy this morning. I brought you some clean clothes and breakfast."
"Fine, just leave it on the floor there, and I will get it in a minute." I hear him put the stuff down and walk away. Slowly I make my way to a sitting position, then ask her how she is feeling. She smiled and said, "sore but not bad, how about you?"
"I feel like I have been hit by a train and then drug down the track for hundreds of miles," I say as I get up and retrieve the food, pain pills, and clothes. I throw the clothes down and take the food back to the bed, where I take a couple pills while we eat in silence. When I finish, I get up and get dressed but pull the pants over the shorts I'm wearing. For some reason, I just don't want to take them off. Maybe it's because she gave them to me or maybe in my crazy head. I think they are lucky because we survived yesterday. Whatever the reason, they stayed on.
Once dressed, I move to the bed to help Ash with her clothes. My head is pounding, and I feel like I could blackout at any moment. But, instead, I have to concentrate. I have to keep it together long enough to get her to Abby. Then I can sleep. I had just finished tying one boot when I heard the doorknob turning. I grab the gun from the bedside table and spin around the gun aimed just as the door opens and Omar walks in. "What the fuck, Omar. Don't you know how to knock? You are lucky I didn't shoot you."
He laughs, "Someone is in a mood. I just came to give you the keys and tell you the jeep is ready when you all are."
Ash cuts me off before I can say anything else by saying, "Thanks. Lex, why don't you take the keys and make sure our bags from the van are in the jeep and that we have everything we need while I have a chat with Omar."
I am about to say, no fucking way, but she must be able to read my mind because she gives me a look and tells me she will be fine. She says to check the jeep and then come back to help her get to the jeep. That is when I realize I don't know who is going to be driving. I don't know how, and she doesn't need to with her ankle. Again, it's like she reads my mind, and she said she is fine to drive that she doesn't use her left foot to drive an automatic. I just shake my head and do as she told me.
When I return to the room, Omar is gone. I look at her and ask if she is ready? When Ash nods, I pick her up and head to the jeep. She says, "You are going to bust your stitches carrying me. You could just help me hop to the jeep instead."
"Nope, I'm fine."
She shakes her head and just wraps her arms around my neck, and lets me carry her to the jeep. I place her in the driver's seat and put her seatbelt on before heading around the back of the jeep to walk to the passenger's side. As I open my door, Omar walks up and says, "I always knew you were trouble, no matter what Ahmed saw in you. Look what you got us into. You said there wouldn't be any trouble on this run, and look what happened. You almost got your new girlfriend killed!"
Before I knew what I was doing, I had punched him square in the nose and heard it crunch. He yelled and threw a right hook that I ducked and followed with a sweeping kick that landed him back. Before he could get up, I was on top of him, throwing punches. I could hear Ash screaming for me to stop, but I couldn't make myself stop. The monster was coming out of the darkness, and it wanted revenge. I could only think about all of those times that he beat me. I was going to show him how it felt. I got in a few more punches before being dragged off of him by two of his men. I struggled to get out of their grasp so I could finish him, but I can't. Then Omar tells them to hold me.
Ash yells at Omar from the jeep, "Leave her alone and just let us leave!"
He replies, "Oh no, she is going to pay now." Then, he looks at me and says, "Looks like you need a reminder on who's the boss. I think me and my guys are going to 'break you in' again while Ash watches." He then looks back over at Ash and says, "You need to keep your little bitch on a tighter leash." He then throws a hook to the left side of my body, right on the freshly stitched wound. He then follows it with a right hook to the head. I don't know how but the next thing I know, Ash is standing with a gun to Omar's head.
She says, "I suggest that you let her go right now, or I am going to put a bullet in all three of you."
Omar puts his hands in the air and says, "Why don't we all just calm down and talk about this."
She replies, "We are way past talking. Tell them to let her go, or I will shoot you."
He nods to his guys. They let me go but not before they get in a punch. I can barely stand, but I go to Ash's side so I can help her stand. Then, while she continues to point the gun towards Omar, I help her back in the jeep. Once she is in, I take the gun and keep it pointed at him while we drive past him, then for good measure, I shoot the ground by his left foot.
As soon as we drive past Omar, she is yelling, "Lexa, what the fuck was that? Are you okay?"
I just look at her, "I'm fine. Omar accused me of being the cause of the ambush, but it wasn't me or the Americans. I don't know who they were. Then I just didn't like the way he was talking about you. I snapped. I'm sorry!"
She turns to look at me and sees me holding my side, "You are not okay! That body punch probably ripped every stitch lose. Hold on, I'm going to stop and take a look."
"No, just keep going. I'm fine."
"No, you are bleeding, and the last thing I need is you passing out or dying on me." She was already pulling off the road.
"Fine, but I will come around to you. You don't need to be on that ankle." I get out and grab the medkit from the back as I walk around to the driver's side. I stand between her legs while she lifts my shirt and gasps at the sight before her. She's right. I think he did rip all the stitches with that punch, but I know I broke his nose. She applies a pressure bandage and then lowers my shirt.
Before I can move, she grabs my face and forces me to look at her. Then she says, "You can't do that to me. I thought he was going to kill you!" Then, suddenly, she pulls me in for a kiss. I was so surprised I didn't know what to do so I just kissed her back. It was quick, but I liked it.
"Wow, what was that for!" I say. She just laughed and said for me to get back in the car. I started to turn to walk back around the jeep, but then I thought, What the hell? So I turned back to her and grabbed both sides of her face, and pulled her in for a deep, passionate kiss. One the likes I have never experienced before. It was sweet and tender but rough and hungry all at the same time. When I finally pulled away, we were both breathless. I smirk and turn to get back in the jeep. Once I was back inside, she pulled back onto the road, and we were off again.
About two hours later, we needed to stop for gas. Ash pulled up to the pump, and I got out and pumped the gas. When I finished, I went inside to pay and grab some drinks and candy bars. Then we were on our way again.
An hour later, we pulled up in front of the clinic. I got out and retrieved her from the driver's side, and carried her up the steps. I walked in and said to the girl at the front as I walked past her that I needed to see Abby. I didn't wait for a response and just walked on back. I guess I startled the guards on duty because they pulled their guns and pointed them at us.
I looked at them but didn't see Blake. I did, however, see the girl that was usually on duty with him. I think he called her Echo. I said, "Whoa, Echo, it's me. I need to see Abby right away." She seemed to recognize me and lowered her gun, and the other guard followed her lead. Then she motioned me on into the room. I sat Ash on the bed before collapsing next to her. She pulled me up so that I was leaning against her and the wall. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open.
Soon, Abby came flying into the room, took one look at me, and said, "Lexa, what the hell happened to you?"
I responded, "It's a long story, tell you later. Can you fix Ash's ankle, please?"
Ash spoke up, "Griffin, I didn't know you were back on this side of the world again. Don't worry about me. She is the one you need to worry about. I'm sure you have noticed the blood on her shirt. She has a gash on her side, a bullet hole in her left shoulder, and various pieces of shrapnel in her backside. She wouldn't let anyone but you touch her. How do you even know her?"
I looked between the two of them before saying, "Wait, you two know each other? How?"
Ash smiled at me, "It's a long story, babe, but one I will tell you after you are all fixed up, okay."
I was about to speak, but then the blackness came and took me away.
