Learning to Stand (14 page)

Under the warmth of his gray eyes, she felt
the ice thaw from her heart.

“
I don’t know how to do it.”
The words burst from her. “I don’t know how to be the Fey and a
leader and me and a friend and a soldier and … I sit in my stupid
office longing for Charlie or for some sign from Charlie. I’m
supposed to have all this near-psychic ability… or that Fey guy is
supposed to be eerie psychic… and… Charlie’s not
talking.”

“
Everyone expects a lot from
you,” Raz said. “When we were in Paris? Dominic told me you were
more fragile than you looked. I know he’s right but in the day to
day knowing and working with you, I forget.”

Alex nodded.

“
Forgive me?”

“
Why are you here?” She
didn’t want to give in too easily.

“
To make up with you,” he
said.

“
Oh...”

She yawned.

“
Really? ‘Cuz I don’t feel
very good and...”

Pressing the call button for a nurse, Raz
held out a bowl. Alex threw up. Taking away the bowl, he gave her a
clean hand towel. A nurse fluttered in the room, saw Raz, blushed,
batted her eyes at him, and then finally took the vomit from the
room.

“
Every time,” she
said.

“
Every time,” he said. “It’s
my pleasure to ass-ist you.”

Alex laughed.

FFFFFF

Half hour later

Wednesday evening

March
26
–
4:00 P.M. MDT

Denver Health, Denver, CO

John and Troy ran ten miles along the Platte
River. After showering at home, they stopped for sandwiches at the
Spicy Pickle. They were paying when John received the call they had
been waiting for – Alex was out of surgery. She had been moved to
recovery. Raz was guarding her through the transition to ICU.
Matthew had already settled in the ICU. While their status remained
critical, they expect to downgrade their status by nightfall.

Driving down Eighth Avenue, they saw a hoard
of press surrounding the building. The viral video of Alex fighting
the Boy Scout brought out the most aggressive paparazzi. In
response, Fort Carson dispatched a battalion to guard Alex and
Matthew. The soldiers and paparazzi held an uneasy standoff around
the hospital.

John and Troy avoided the photographers and
soldiers by parking in the doctors parking. Using John’s badge,
they made their way through the employee entrances to ICU where
they were directed to a private waiting room. Standing in the
doorway, John groaned when Rebecca Hargreaves flew at him. Her
hazel eyes shot bullets of anger.

“
I’m told
you
are the reason I
am not allowed to see my daughter.”

“
That’s correct,” John
said.

“
Who do you think you are?
She is MY daughter.”

“
I wanted to have a word
with you first.”

“
About what?”

“
If you mention even one
word about Alex not being able to have children, so help me God, I
will make certain you never see her again.”

John and Rebecca stared at each other in
angry silence.

“
What are you talking
about?” Rebecca spit out.

“
When you told my wife of
twelve hours that moving in with her twin guaranteed she would die
alone, I stayed out of it.” John’s voice became dangerous, low and
rage-filled. “When you insisted that my gorgeous wife would never
find love as a Green Beret, I stayed out of it. When you harangued
her over being too old to have children, I stayed out if it. When
you created this hideous blonde headed blue eyed fakery, I stayed
out of it.

“
Not this time.”

Rebecca’s hazel eyes blinked at his angry,
staccato words.

“
Why… why are you saying
this?”

“
Because my wonderful,
beautiful, amazing wife is convinced I will divorce her now that we
cannot have our own children.”

Stunned, Rebecca took a step backward. She
stared at John. Slowly, her head moved up and down.

“
If you decide to ignore
this warning, you do not know who you are dealing with. I will not
allow my wife to be scolded about provincial bullshit. No more. Not
ever again. Do you understand me?”

“
Yes, I do.” Rebecca was
silent for a moment while they locked eyes. “I deserve it. And… I
am sorry. You are right. I have been provincial. I…”

“
What?” Unable to understand
her words, John shook his head.

“
I’m sorry. That’s all. I’ve
never really known how to apologize to you… for everything. I have
a lot of reasons… excuses, really.” Rebecca made a slight smile.
“Alex hates excuses. The truth is, I have grown… a lot in the last
year. I hope you will allow me the chance to prove myself to you…
to Alex.”

Shocked, John’s eyes went wide and his mouth
fell open. Controlling, dismissive, judgmental Rebecca apologized
to him. Recovering quickly, John wondered if Rebecca was trying to
manipulate him.

“
You’re probably wondering
if this is some kind of ploy,” Rebecca said. She smiled. “It’s not.
Patrick and I have spent a lot of time talking about everything
that’s happened in the last year. He’s helped me understand some
things… about myself mostly.”

Rebecca looked up at John.

“
I never imagined my
daughter, or son for that matter, would find a friend like you. You
have been a good friend to Max and a wonderful husband to
Alexandra.” Rebecca nodded her head.

“
Patrick’s words?” John
asked.

“
How did you know?” Rebecca
wrinkled her nose.

“
Sounds like him.” Using his
breath, John worked to let go of his rage. Calmer, he said, “Thank
you for your apology. It means quite a bit to me. Shall we visit
her together?”

Rebecca nodded. Turning to catch Patrick’s
eye, Rebecca followed John to the ICU. Trece stood guard at Alex’s
bed. When they drew close, Trece rolled his eyes and pulled the
curtain back.

Alex and Max where lying together in the bed
whispering to each other. When Alex saw John and her mother, her
eyes widened and she started laughing. Max looked up to see what
she was laughing at. He whispered something to her. They laughed
their identical laughs.

John could only smile at the identical
laughs from identical smiling faces. Rebecca was smiling as well.
Who wouldn’t?

“
When do...”

Alex started but Max whispered something to
her. She whispered something back to him. They laughed again.

Shaking his head, John walked forward to the
bed. He bent over and kissed Alex’s lips. She smiled then stroked
his face. John dropped to his knees so his face was right next to
hers.

“
For the record,” he said.
“I’m never divorcing you.”

Alex’s hand flew to her mouth and her eyes
filled with tears.

Max punched her shoulder.

“
I told you so.”

Alex glanced at Max then her mother. Rebecca
nodded to Alex.

“
What about babies?” Alex
whispered.

“
I loved you the moment I
saw you.” John leaned closer to her then whispered, “If I get you?
I don’t give a crap about babies.”

Alex nodded.

“
And, we are taking you home
as soon as we can set up transportation. Your team is sorting the
details.”

“
My what?” Alex
asked.

“
Amazing things have
happened while you were getting your beauty rest,” John said. “Nice
cast.”

Alex held up the bright blue fiberglass cast
which now adorned her left forearm. She wiggled her fingers showing
the cast thread around her thumb

“
Blue like my eyes.” She bat
her brown eyes.

Max and Alex laughed in delight of her
joke.

“
Blue like the fairy
tattooed on your arm,” John said. “I need to…”

“
Control everything,” Alex,
Max and John said in unison. The twins laughed.

“
Yes, well, it’s a
challenging job but I’m up for it,” John said. “Actually, I need to
check with your doctors. I will leave you with your family. Shall I
get Patrick?”

Alex nodded.

She caught his hand when he turned to leave.
For a moment their eyes held in silent communication. With a nod of
his head, John left her.

FFFFFF

A half hour later

Wednesday evening

March
26
–
5:10 P.M. MDT

Denver Health, Denver, CO

“
Hi.”

Erin Hargreaves leaned over the bed to kiss
Matthew when he opened his eyes.

His brown eyes took in her sparkling green
eyes. He touched a red curl hanging in her face. Even though he
woke to her face every morning for most of the last year, he still
felt a little disbelief that she was his girlfriend, his love, his
life. His thumb ran along her lips. Erin smiled.

“
You had us very worried,
Mr. Mac Clenaghan,” Erin said. “We’re thinking you might be safer
in rural Afghanistan. But you insist on playing with your friend
Alex. You’ll have to learn to be more careful.”

Matthew attempted a laugh and groaned
instead. He tried to say something.

“
What?” Erin leaned her ear
close to his mouth to catch his words.

“
Captain,” Matthew said.
“Captain Mac Clenaghan, US Army.”

Erin laughed and mock hit him. He smiled at
his joke.

“
Before you ask, Alex is all
right. She’s out of surgery. They are getting ready to move her
home. They want to move you to their house. I... I said it was all
right. I stayed there when...”

“
It’s fine,” Matthew said.
“Better than the hospital and too much for you alone at the loft.
Will you... You’ll be there with me. Right?”

“
Of course.”

Erin gave a relieved smile. This was the
first time she’d been asked to make decisions for him. She didn’t
want to do the wrong thing.

Matthew tried to speak but his dry mouth
only manage a croak.

“
Ice chip?” Erin reached the
side table for a cup of ice chips then sat on the edge of his bed.
“Just a few.”

She placed two ice chips in his mouth.

“
You’re getting revenge for
your surgeries,” Matthew said.

Erin beamed at him.

“
Not too much ice.” She
imitated his voice. “You don’t want to choke.”

He grabbed her hand and pulled her to him
for a kiss.

“
Be careful, Matt. You don’t
want to tear your stitches.”

Even though she gave her warning, petite
Erin made no effort to move off his chest. She was tiny against his
broad shoulders.

Matthew thought she was perfect.

“
I have something to say to
you,” Matthew said. “…before anything else happens.”

Erin squinted her eyes. Since the beginning
of the year, he had been on and on about getting married. She loved
him. She wanted to spend her life with him. She just didn’t want to
get married. Stiffening, she sat up in preparation for another
onslaught.

“
Wait,” Matthew said. “Come
back.”

He held his arms out to her. With a sigh,
she tucked her head against his shoulder.

“
I had a conversation
with...”

He was going to say Jesse, but he realized
Erin might think he was weird.

“
I had a conversation with a
friend and I realized by trying to make you marry me, I was acting
like Marcos.”

Erin gasped and her eyes filled with tears.
Sitting up on her elbows, she looked into his face.

“
I don’t really care if we
get married. I want to spend every single day of my life with you.
If you don’t want to get married… that’s all right with
me.”

“
What about…” Erin started
then stopped when Matthew put his fingers over her
mouth.

“
I want it all – children, a
real home, careers, a life we build together. I want that with you,
Erin… always… only with you.”

Matthew strength waned.

“
Me too,” Erin said. “I’ve
wanted that since I was sixteen years old.”

Matthew smiled.

“
I have to get this out
before I run out of steam.” Matthew looked up to see Jesse
encouraging him to get on with it.

“
I’m very sorry for being
disrespectful… impatient… not listening to what you
needed.”

He sucked in air.

“
I promise I won’t try to
force you to do anything you don’t want to do. That’s my…” he
gasped. “My vow of commitment to… to you. To love you all my life…
to support you… trust you...”

Through her tears, Erin watched him slip
into unconsciousness again. She kissed his forehead then wiped her
face. Sitting with her feet dangling on the edge of the bed, she
reviewed everything in her mind. She nodded her head.

“
Thanks Jesse,” Erin
whispered.

F

CHAPTER TWELVE

An hour later

Wednesday evening

March
26
–
6:20 P.M. MDT

Lobby of Denver Health, Denver, CO

Against doctors’ orders, and any kind of
reason, Alex agreed to walk the two hundred yards between the ICU
and the exit. Of course she was laying down when she made that
agreement. Raz rolled her out in a wheelchair to the edge of the
hospital atrium. They argued back and forth about her walking
until, frustrated, she stood up ready to walk.