Her Loyal Seal (25 page)

“Can you describe Simon to me?”

John opened his sunken black eyes and stared at him. “I can do better. Do you trust me?”

“Absolutely.”

“Come here.” John held out both hands and Dakota came closer. John pressed them against Dakota’s temples, and pulled him forward so their foreheads touched. Like a bolt of lightning, an image of Simon was now in Dakota’s mind. He was so clear and vivid. Dakota now understood exactly what John meant about the man having a sense of grace about him. The man was exceptional.

Dakota shook his head, trying to clear it. He sat down in the hard backed hospice chair with a thud. He glanced at his oldest friend who looked like he aged another ten years, and his nose was bleeding profusely.

“John!” Stella yelled from the doorway, her purse and the bag of food dropping to the floor as she rushed to her son in the hospital bed.

“Mom,” he murmured softly. “I love you so much.” Dakota watched as he tried to lift his arms but it was too much for him.

“I love you, my son.” She brushed a kiss against his temple, and he smiled as he closed his eyes for the last time. He was gone. She slumped over the body of her son, sobbing. Dakota stroked her back, slowly easing her away and into his arms.

“He’s in a better place.” He held onto this woman who had been a mother to him during his childhood, hoping he was doing something to help her in this time of grief. When her hold finally loosened, he helped her to sit down.

“You’re a good man, Dakota Blackthorne.”

He crouched in front of her and looked into her eyes. She was calm now. It was apparent she knew this day was coming.

“I should have been here sooner, Stella.”

“You were here when you needed to be.” She stroked his cheek. “Anyway, it wouldn’t have mattered, he wouldn’t have recognized you.” Dakota looked at the still body of his friend, then back at John’s mother, debating whether or not to tell her of their conversation.

“I have to call Paul. Thank you again for being here, Dakota. I’m sure your presence helped bring peace to our son’s spirit.”

Dakota wasn’t sure about that, but he definitely planned to bring justice to the man he had been.

Excerpt from A Soldier’s Gift

Beyond Valor, Book 1

By Lynne St. James

Prologue

Beth checked her phone again. “Damn him. Can’t he ever get her back on time?” A sharp crack of thunder and strobe-like flash of lightning flooded the living room at the same time her phone vibrated. Figuring it was Doug, ex-husband, ex-army sergeant, and all around asshole, she didn’t bother to look at the screen. “You were supposed to have Dani home a half hour ago. Where are you?” Silence. Then crackle over the phone as another flash of lightning and rumble of thunder rolled through.

“Mrs. Fraser? Mrs. Elizabeth Fraser?”

“Yes. This is Elizabeth Fraser. I’m sorry I thought you were someone else.”

“No problem, ma’am. I’m Officer Reynolds from the Willow Haven Police Department. There’s been an accident…”

“Oh my God.” All the blood rushed to Beth’s head and the room spun. He was still speaking but all she heard was buzzing in her ears.

“I’m sorry. Can you say that again please?”

“Your husband and daughter have been in an accident. They’ve been brought to the hospital.”

“Is Dani going to be okay?”

“She and your husband have been burned badly and both are in ICU. Your husband was brought to the military hospital in Persimmon, and your daughter was brought to Willow Haven Hospital because they have better pediatric facilities. I’d suggest you get there as soon as possible.”

“I…umm…I’ll be right there.” She disconnected the phone without knowing if he was done talking or not. Her baby was in ICU. Shit. A chill washed over her as she looked at the phone as if seeing it for the first time. Accident.

Bo, their standard poodle, jumped on the couch and nuzzled her arm with his nose. “Sorry boy, I need to go see our Dani. She’s hurt.” Grabbing her purse and keys, she ran outside and got into her car. Soaked through to her underwear, she didn’t even notice as she drove through the pouring rain. Her little girl in ICU was the only thing that mattered.

“Hang on, Mac. Don’t you fuckin’ give up!”

Tom MacDonald, aka Mac, tried to sit up but he couldn’t. Tag was still in the Humvee, he had to get him out. Why was it so dark? He couldn’t see a fuckin’ thing, couldn’t move. Horrible pain racked his body as he struggled to get up and go back to the Humvee. Then nothingness as he passed out.

The whoosh of the chopper blades woke him up and blocked out all other sounds. He couldn’t move, couldn’t see. Was he dead?

“Lieutenant? Hang on, we’ll be at the field hospital soon.”

The helicopter landed and he was rushed into triage. He was still alive, at least he hoped. More voices but none of them sounded familiar. Were they talking about him?

“Head injury, doc.”

“What’s his name, soldier?”

“Lt. Tom MacDonald.”

“What happened?”

“Their Humvee was hit. He pulled three guys out before he was hit.”

“We need to get him into surgery now. If we’re lucky we’ll save his life, if he’s lucky he won’t have permanent brain damage.”

Brain damage?
They should have left me to die…

Chapter One

“Lieutenant, how are you feeling today?”

“I’d be better if I could see, and my head feels like it’s being split in two.”

“I can up your pain meds. Your brain is still healing and it may take a while for the pain to go away. I wanted to talk to you about something else. Do you remember when we discussed a cornea transplant once the swelling and pressure went down?”

“Yeah. But you said it would take a while. Although, I’d say two months qualifies. Don’t you, doc?”

Chuckling, the doctor agreed. “Well your wait may be over. Your last scan was much improved. We can go ahead with the transplant and you should be able to see again. Of course there are no guarantees.”

“Shit, really? Uh sorry, doc. And yeah I know it’s still possible I won’t see.”

“We believe you will. Your corneas were burned and the transplant should take care of your blindness now that the pressure on the optic nerve is gone.”

“I hope you’re right. I know I should be thankful it’s the only thing wrong with me, but…”

“I know. You’d rather see. Who wouldn’t? You really were lucky. If the field surgeon hadn’t done such a good job you’d probably have permanent brain damage.”

“When can I have the surgery?”

“We’re waiting on the corneas. It’s possible it could happen tomorrow but we won’t know for sure.”

“Tomorrow? You have spare corneas waiting around?”

“Unfortunately there was a bad accident a few months ago and the patient has been on life support with no improvement. The patient is an organ donor and the family could decide at any time to say goodbye. When they do we’ll do the surgery.”

“Damn. Who are they?”

“I’m afraid donors are kept anonymous.”

“Is there any way I can thank them?”

“Well you can write them a letter when you get your sight back and we can pass it on to them. As soon as we get notice we’ll come and prep you for the surgery. In the meantime, you’re off food until after the procedure.”

“No problem. Thanks, doc, I appreciate all you’ve done for me.”

“It’s our pleasure, soldier, it’s the least we can do for the sacrifices you all make. I’ll be back as soon as I know something.”

“Hi, honey, sorry I’m late,” Beth said with an exhausted smile for her best friend and co-owner of the bookstore, Treasured Tales.

Julie looked up from the book she’d been reading and smiled at Beth. “You look like shit. Damn. Have you slept at all?”

Rolling her eyes, she shrugged. “What do you think?”

“That’d be a no. Shit, you’re going to be no good to Dani or anyone else if you drop dead or run your car into a telephone pole.”

“Yeah, yeah. What am I supposed to do?”

“Not spend every night in the hospital with her. She’s twelve, not five. She would understand. She loves you.”

“I’m not so sure about that. She’s miserable, in pain, and I think permanently hormonal.”

Julie laughed as she slid a cup of coffee across the counter to her friend. “Again, she’s twelve, what do you expect. She’s also been through hell. But she’s still your daughter, beautiful and tough as nails.”

Beth took a sip of the steaming coffee before answering. The hot liquid weaved a trail of heat through her frozen body. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept more than an hour or so while dozing in the recliner in Dani’s hospital room.”

“What would I do without you?”

“You’d be lost of course.”

Beth laughed, and hugged her.
It’s true, I would be lost
. The last three months were hell. Most of her time was spent with Dani at Willow Haven Hospital, and at least once she’d swing by to check on Doug at the military hospital. Going between the VA hospital to see Doug and Willow Haven to see Dani, She’d hardly been at the bookstore and Julie picked up the slack.

“Thank you. It’s not enough but I don’t know what else to say.”

“Stop. How long have we known each other? Geesh, woman. Get over it. I stopped by to see Dani this morning and dropped off some new books for her. I must have missed you.”

“Probably when I went home to shower and feed Bo. Poor dog doesn’t know what the hell is going on. He looks almost as sad as I feel.”

“He’ll be fine. You need to stop worrying about everything. I know it’s hard, but Dani is getting better, she’ll be home soon and you need to get back to living again.”

“I know. It’s just she’s my baby, and stubborn as hell. She’s still saying she won’t go back to school. She doesn’t want to see anyone. She thinks she’s ugly.”

“Stubborn? Damn you think? Wonder where she got that from? You need to remind her how lucky she is. It could have been so much worse.”

“Yeah, but like you keep reminding me—she’s twelve. Everything is about looks. Even though her face is almost healed. Hell, I can hardly see the scarring anymore, but her right arm, leg, and half her back will never be like they were before.”

“How is she with her friends?”

“She won’t see them. Even Hannah stopped coming to visit, not that I blame her. I’m hoping Dani will be better when she gets home.”

“What if she doesn’t?”

“I don’t know. Her doctor says she needs more than physical therapy. He recommended someone—a therapist—but I haven’t talked to her about it yet. She was in a good mood last night and I didn’t want to ruin it.”

Biography

Lynne St. James lives in the mostly sunny state of Florida with her husband, two dogs and two cats. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, taking pictures and sometimes cooking, which makes her hubby really happy.

Traveling is a passion of Lynne’s and if she had her way she’d travel all the time and write wherever she visited. Maybe someday…

A coffee addiction keeps her Keurig on constant standby as she weaves her stories. Her addiction has fueled a “Coffee” Pinterest board. If you’re looking for coffee recipes, funnies, or just snark it’s the place to go.

Lynne loves to hear from her readers, and you can contact her here:

Email:
[email protected]

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/authorLynneStJames

Website:
http://lynnestjames.com

Excerpt from Forget Me Knot

Crawley Creek Series

By Lori King