Sweet Affliction [Sweet Awakenings 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) (9 page)

AJ raced up the stairs. Conflicting thoughts flooded her mind. Her father was near the end. She knew this to be true. Every time she checked on him she wondered if it would be the last time they would be able to speak. She knew their time was limited when they came here to the island. His oncologist had even advised against traveling. It was important to him though. He wanted so desperately to live out his final days in the place where he had met and fallen in love with his wife Callie.

She smiled at the memory of her mother, taken from her when she needed a mother most at the tender age of thirteen all because someone didn’t know well enough to not get behind the wheel of a car after a night of binge drinking. Her parents had loved each other very much. Despite her encouragement her father had never truly moved on from the death of his wife. Even setting him up on a few blind dates over the past few years when she’d become truly concerned that he would spend his life alone, all he’d done was compare each of the women to his Callie.

Entering the bedroom where her father slept, she repeated what she’d done so many times in the past few days. She leaned over and studied his chest to assure herself it was still rising and falling with his breaths. He looked so peaceful while he slept. So much so that he barely moved. That scared her the most. She feared when the time would come that she would lean over and not see him inhaling and exhaling. Breathing a sigh of relief when she realized this was not that time, she walked over to the small chest of drawers and found a T-shirt and pair of sweatpants.

She closed the drawer and took a glance back at her father before she headed back downstairs. How she wished he would flutter his eyelashes as though in deep sleep while dreaming, but he just lay there so still.

She first stopped in the bathroom to grab him some toothpaste, figuring he could use his finger until she could get him a toothbrush. Then she went into the kitchen to grab another bottle of water from the refrigerator. Their patient downstairs was clearly thirsty, judging from the way he guzzled down the last bottle she’d brought him. Not that she could blame him. First he was shot, and then he had nothing to drink for nearly three days. He was a large man. It wouldn’t take a genius to figure that he ate and drank lots more than she did.

Walking into the small makeshift exam room, she was surprised to see him peeking underneath his bandage.

“What are you doing? You don’t want to get that infected. The last thing I need is for your temp to skyrocket again. That scared the crap out of me!”

He eyed her quizzically and replaced the bandage back against his skin. “Skyrocket you say? How high was it?”

She wished she hadn’t said anything. He took the news of everything else so well she felt like any further bombshells would just be pressing her luck.

“AJ?”

Wincing, she answered. “Well, you may have had a slight infection.”

Leaning against the side of the bed, he crossed his arms and raised a brow. “I may have? Or I did?”

She set the clothes on the bed next to him and sighed. “Okay, you did have an infection. You and I were talking yesterday morning, and you started acting really strangely. Then you seemed like you were in a trance or something. I can’t really explain it. You were burning up, and I didn’t know what to do. I had to get my father. He found some penicillin in one of these old cabinets and gave you some. By the afternoon your fever had gone down, but we gave you another dose, and for good measure I gave you one this morning.”

“You gave me one? As in you gave me an injection? Are you qualified to do that?”

“No.” What could she say? She wasn’t going to lie to him.

“I see.”

“It’s not like that. He showed me how yesterday afternoon. Besides, I watched him give you other shots, and it wasn’t that hard. Really.”

She wondered why he was staring at her like that. Something was on his mind, and the way his eyes never left her made her nervous. Hell, everything about the man made her nervous. He was close to a foot taller than her. His shoulders looked like he should be a linebacker for the San Diego Chargers and not in the navy. Even wounded and donning bandages, he seemed to be a formidable presence looming over her.

“What else did he give me?”

Whew.
She was strangely relieved. That was an easy question to answer.

“Morphine. For the pain.”

Again he was staring at her.
Why?
It was driving her mad. She could swear she all but saw the wheels turning in his head.

“What aren’t you telling me, AJ?”

She was thoroughly freaked out. Why on earth would he assume there was something she omitted from her answer? She was leaving something out, sure, but he didn’t know that.

“I’m sorry?”

“No offense, sweetheart, but you are a horrible liar. Don’t ever play poker.”

Was that an insult or a compliment? She wasn’t a good liar? Who wanted to be good at lying anyway? Still it was a cheap shot.

“I beg your pardon. I don’t know what you mean.”

He threw his head back in laughter and quickly held his side. “Look, AJ. We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

“What’s the difference?”

He merely shrugged. “No difference. They both end up with the same result.”

“And that would be?”

“You telling me whatever it is you’re not telling me now.”

Good Lord, but the man was tenacious for just being shot a few days previous. She had a feeling he wasn’t bluffing. One way or another she would tell him whether she wanted to or not. Any attempt to play dumb would be pointless.

“My father may have accidentally given you too much morphine. The first night you were here after he removed your bullet and stitched you up. It was…touch and go for an hour or so.”

She winced at his expression. He was shocked, surprised even, but for some reason she didn’t see anger in him.

“Wait, let me see if I understand this. Your father saves my life twice. Then he injects me with a near-fatal dose of painkillers?”

He said it so calmly she was wondering if it was all a ruse and he was actually going to blow at any moment. She lifted her shoulders and took a deep breath.

“Yes. That’s about right.”

He shook his head at her. She would understand him being upset, even outraged because they could have killed him when he should’ve in fact been taken to a hospital. Yet she saw a smirk on his face. Damn, he was perplexing.

“Anything else I need to know?”

“Isn’t that enough?” she asked, exasperated by his question.

“Oh no. That’s plenty. Believe me, but in light of everything I’ve found out and how my past few days have gone I can’t help but wonder that there’s more.”

She saw his point. Everything that she’d told him would be a lot for anyone to take.

“That really is everything. He’s fixes animals, not people. Plus he hasn’t been well.” She shook her head. “I know we should’ve gotten you medical attention, but he was so adamant that we needed to protect you. Kept saying over and over again that he hadn’t felt that feeling in over forty years. I saw his eyes. He believed what he was saying. So I believed what he was saying, too.”

Surprisingly he touched her shoulder. It was a gentle and comforting movement and definitely one she hadn’t expected.

“I understand, AJ. I wasn’t lying when I told you that. If your father felt something that strongly, then I believe he had good reason. Besides…” He gave her a wink. “Despite everything you still didn’t manage to kill me.”

A bitter laugh bubbled up. It really wasn’t funny, but she couldn’t help but be amused at the irony of him trying to cheer her up for them almost killing him.

“There are your clothes. Oh and here’s another bottle of water and some toothpaste. I don’t have a toothbrush for you, but we can see about getting you one. I’ll just wait outside the room here. Can you get dressed on your own?”

Why had she asked that? He better say yes. She could not help him. It was one thing that she had bathed him and was privy to every part of his nakedness, but there was no way she could help him while he was awake. Aside from her whole face turning bright red with embarrassment she would probably be so mortified she wouldn’t be able to look at him ever again. It surprised her that she didn’t want to take that kind of chance. She’d grown used to his face, the curve of his jaw and the way his eyes fluttered when he slept.

“No worries. I got it.”

Thank God. The words nearly fell from her mouth, but she caught herself. “Okay, well I’ll be outside. Just yell for me when you’re all done and I’ll help you to the stairs.”

His hand, which was still resting on her shoulder, rose up, and he brushed his thumb against her chin.

“Thank you, AJ.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll be outside.”

The short walk up the stairs proved to be a bigger challenge than he’d anticipated. Begrudgingly he had allowed AJ to help him up the fourteen steps. Damn if the fourteen hadn’t felt like a hundred.

He was sore, stiff, and every muscle in his body screamed in protest with every foot forward. Lying in bed, while a necessary part of his near-death experiences, didn’t serve his muscles too well. He was going to have to make an effort to loosen up and get well so he could figure out what he was going to do next.

From what AJ had told him he was sure the navy assumed he was dead. While SEALs were known for being elite Special Forces operators he never knew of one to come back from the dead. People would definitely be talking about him for years to come.

He was hit with sadness for his longtime friend Tom Drake. He was by far one of the best men he had ever known. It was a cruel twist of fate that he’d survived all the missions he had only to retire in hopes of finally enjoying life and then being gunned down mere weeks into his new life.

The upstairs of their beach bungalow was nice but not too nice. Everything seemed almost too ordinary. His thoughts went back to the secret underground clinic, and he wondered if whoever had lived here before had been involved in something so illegal that he took every step necessary to not draw attention to himself.

“Dad’s right in there.”

He had his arm around her shoulder, and she was holding him tightly around his waist. Any other time he might have enjoyed it, but now all he could think of was the pain he saw in her eyes when she spoke of her father barely holding on.

They entered the bedroom, and for the first time Nick got a good look at the man who had saved his life. Despite his frail appearance, Nick saw the marine that AJ had described. His hair was still in a traditional jarhead cut. While it was gray, it still had a sense of authority attached to it.

“Dad?”

He watched as AJ gently touched her father’s chest, trying to wake him. He was about to tell her to let him rest, but his eyes opened and he smiled at her.

“I was just dreaming of your mother.”

“Oh, Dad.” She kissed the top of his head.

“How’s the young man?”

AJ moved out of her dad’s path of vision and motioned with her hand in his direction. “See for yourself.”

He walked over to the frail man and offered a hand. “Sir, I heard I owe you a debt of gratitude.”

“AJ, get the poor boy a chair.”

She brought a small chair over to his bedside, and he sat. Seeing the man now, he was having a hard time imagining this man having the strength to tackle anyone, let alone struggle with a gun and win. Adrenaline could be a tricky thing though. This he knew to be true.

“How do you feel, Commander Slater?”

“You saved my life, sir. I think you’ve earned the right to call me Nick.”

“In that case you can call me Liam.”

There was a knowing nod between the two men. Both of them understood the importance of respect and honor.

“Your daughter tells me you were a marine? I must say, being a navy man myself I would normally razz you, but it sounds like you have done more than your fair share to earn my respect. It’s an honor to meet you, Liam.”

“It is I who is honored.”

Barely lifting his head he looked at AJ who was standing at the foot of the bed. “Sweetheart, could you leave us alone, please? I need to talk to Nick about some things.”

“I already filled him in, Dad.”

The look in the old man’s eyes was very telling. He knew it well. Whatever he wanted to talk to him about was something that AJ knew nothing of.

“I don’t doubt you have, dear. I just would like to explain a few things myself. Besides, he’s up and around now. He’s going to be hungry. Maybe you could fix him something to eat. A sandwich or something?”

Wanting to reassure the worried look on her face away, Nick added, “I would love a sandwich. Do you think you could make one for me? My mouth is watering just thinking about it.”

He watched as she hesitantly left the room, but not before she made him promise to yell for her if he needed anything at all. While he knew her concern was for her father and not him he couldn’t help but be touched by her Florence Nightingale persona.