The Fey (8 page)

“
Erin?”

“
I’m in here,” Erin called
from the bedroom area.

Alex let out a low whistle. Colin and Max
moved to stand next to John.

“
Your work?” Colin laughed
at John.

Threading her way through broken furniture
and glass, Alex heard Max tell Marcos that he needed to stay where
he was. There was scuffling in the hall but Alex was too taken
aback by Erin’s appearrance to care what was happening somewhere
else.

Erin sat on the bed in her panties. Her
torso, arms and legs were covered with new and aging bruises. Alex
gasped when Erin turned to look at her. Her nose was broken, her
eyes blackened, her lips were swollen and at least one tooth was
broken. Her beautiful green eyes pled with Alex for understanding.
Erin tried to stand. Dropping back to the bed, she returned to
staring in front of her.

“
Get dressed,” Alex
said.

“
I … He’ll…” Erin
said.

“
I’ll find you some
clothes. Get dressed,” Alex said.

Alex kept her voice and manner stern. Any
empathy would cause Erin to break down. She had to get Erin out of
this loft. Alex found sweat pants in a pile of broken furniture and
clothing on the floor. She helped Erin put them on, then found a
T-shirt.

“
Can you
stand?”

“
He’ll kill me,” Erin
said.

“
Not today,” Alex said.
She whistled twice. Then held Erin upright.

“
What the fuck is he doing
here?” Marcos yelled from the entryway.

Matthew scooped Erin into an embrace that
lifted her off the ground. Pulling back, he searched her eyes.

“
Oh God Erin,” he
whispered. Erin’s thin control over her emotions dissolved and she
wept into his shoulder. Alex put her hand on Erin’s back. “Come
on.”

Erin pulled back from Matthew for a moment,
then nodded. Matthew lifted her into his arms. As they turned the
corner, Marcos screamed and lunged for them. Colin blocked Marcos’s
movement and Max let loose a swift punch to his throat. Wheezing,
Marcos dropped to his knees. Matthew stepped over Marcos and
carried Erin out of the apartment.

“
Hi scumbag,” Troy said
walking into the apartment. “I’m Troy. This is Trece and this is
the White Boy. We’re here to subdue you.”

The White Boy closed the door.

FFF

Six hours later

February 9 – 6:34 A.M.
St. Joseph’s Hospital, Denver, Colorado

Alex sat in a chair near the wall of the
Intensive Care Unit.

Matthew carried Erin to the car before he
realized she was in serious trouble. Somehow, he made it to the
emergency room before her spleen ruptured. The doctors hoped that a
series of medications would reduce her swelling but, according to
John, Erin needed surgery today.

Erin had been in this emergency room before.
Her file was thick with two years of broken bones, bumps and
bruises. The social worker confided in Alex that she begged Erin to
get help but Erin was terrified of Marcos. So terrified that Marcos
was listed as her medical power of attorney.

Since Marcos was currently detained
elsewhere, they were waiting for Erin to awaken to make
decisions.

Erin’s nose and cheekbone were broken. Her
jaw was cracked. Her liver had lacerations. Her spleen was… Alex
couldn’t keep the list in her head without wishing she had put a
bullet into Marcos’s brain.

Nodding to herself, she was a little
relieved that the Military Police had taken her handgun. They would
keep her gun until they finished their inquiry into last night’s
shooting. If Colonel Howard hadn’t intervened, she would still be
at Fort Carson.

Marcos would have killed her sister.

Less than ten minutes into their interaction
with Marcos, Matthew called from the emergency room begging Alex to
come. She had to turn Marcos over to Homeland Security before any
real justice was served. But Marcos was on his way to Guantanamo
Bay where Fey friendly US Army soldiers guarded the nasties. Alex
smiled at the thought.

With a gasp and a scream, Erin rose from the
bed. Alex jumped from her seat and Matthew held Erin in his arms.
The nurse came to check Erin’s vitals. Matthew, kneeling down so
his face was inches from hers, held Erin’s eyes while the nurse
worked. They whispered back and forth. Alex sat down on the other
side of the bed when the nurse finished.

“
Hi,” Alex
said.

“
Oh Alex. I’m so sorry. I
had no idea that he…”

“
Shh,” Alex said. “It
doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re safe. John will be here
in a minute to talk to you about your options.”

“
Before… I mean…” Erin
pressed her hand against her heart. She looked at Matthew then
Alex. “I have to know…”

“
Erin, we can talk about
this when you’re feeling better,” Matthew said.

“
I have to
know.”

“
Know what?” Alex asked.
She looked at Matthew who was shaking his head. “Erin, what do you
need to know?”

“
I need to know about you
and Matt.”

“
What about me and Matt?”
Alex asked.

“
She thinks we’re lovers
because I was with you when you were injured. It’s why we broke up…
what we argued about at lunch.”

“
You broke up because
Matthew stayed with me when I was unconscious?” Alex shook her head
at the idea.

“
He comes from God knows
where, filthy, AWOL, to sleep in your bed then tells me that you
aren’t lovers. I… It’s crazy but I have to know. I just need the
truth. I need something to count on… something real.”

Erin wept into her hands. When Matthew tried
to comfort her, she shook him off.

Alex closed her eyes and sighed. Opening her
eyes, she caught Matthew’s eyes. He nodded slightly.

“
OK, OK, Erin, it’s okay,”
Alex said.

“
You won’t tell me.”
Erin’s emotions rose into hysteria. “Even now, you won’t tell
me.”

“
I don’t tell you because
knowing will hurt you,” Alex said.

“
Because you are lovers…
That’s it. Isn’t it? No matter how much I love Matt, no matter how
much John loves you, Alex, you and Matt come first.”

“
Erin,” Alex said. “We
will tell you but you must calm down. Your body is broken and
you’re making it worse.”

Alex looked up when John walked into the
area.

“
Erin wants to know about
Matt and me,” Alex said.

“
Erin, you don’t want to
know,” John said.

“
So it’s all right with
you that they are lovers?”

“
It looks like that
but…”

“
It’s all right, John,”
Matthew said. He pulled his jacket off. “Erin, I’d do anything for
you and anything to protect you. I’d even lose you to protect you.
If you must know, and knowing will help you…”

“
I’ll start,” Alex said.
“Erin, you met Mattie just before he left for
Afghanistan.”

“
Show her the marks,” John
said. Alex looked at him then nodded.

“
You know that no one
wanted me to be a Green Beret. I had to be better than everyone
else.”

“
Alex was the best student
in the history of Special Forces,” Matthew said. “A lot better than
me.”

“
Anyway, the last part of
training is called S.E.R.E. The training is designed to teach you
about torture.”

“
They torture the soldiers
so that they will know how to handle it. Sometimes, they push well
past the breaking point,” John said. He pulled up Alex’s sleeve to
show the scars on her wrists. “She has these marks on her wrists
and ankles.”

“
I was in the hospital for
a week after we were done,” Alex said. “It was their last chance to
deny my Special Forces tab. They were brutal. But I was ready. You
remember Dad and I practiced when I was in high school. But Matthew
and Jesse… They went after them because they were my friends. I had
to watch.”

John lifted Alex’s shirt to show a series of
deep scars on her back. “Matt,” he said.

Matthew pulled the back of his shirt up
around his neck showing the same scarring.

“
We were friends,” Matthew
said wagging his head. “You know buddies, sparring partners,
whatever, until they locked us in that cold room. Your sister saved
me… and then…”

“
Show her,” Alex
said.

Matthew pointed to a black Vivaldi “F” then
another in the armband tattoo on his right arm.

“
He’s branded with your
mark!”

“
It means…” John started.
Alex put a hand on his arm to stop him from finishing.

“
I’ll do it,” Alex said.
“Matthew has been held hostage twice. I extracted him about six
years ago and then again a couple months…”

“
Seven,” Matthew
said.

“
Seven months before I was
shot.”

“
What are you saying?”
Erin’s hands flew to her face in horror. “You were a
hostage?”

“
The last time was bad,
Erin, really bad. Mattie wasn’t…”

“
Sane. I lost
it.”

“
The CIA put everyone in
this super secret hospital in Costa Rica. Jesse and I went with the
guys. There were six of them.”

“
I couldn’t sleep,”
Matthew said. He pulled his shirt down and looked at the wall.
“Fuck.”

“
Jesse stayed with him
during the day and I stayed with him at night. At first I sat in a
chair but in the dark, his mind… went. I started sleeping with him
in his bed. Just having me there was enough that he could sleep…
recover. We slept next to each other most of training. It wasn’t
much different.”

“
Erin, your sister saved
my life three times, then saved my mind. When I found out she was
injured, I had to be there, right there, with her. You have to
believe that I’ve never been Alex’s lover. Even before they were
married, before I knew you, we weren’t lovers. But you’re right. We
are a lot closer than friends.”

“
Does that help?” Alex
asked.

“
I don’t know what’s real…
Everything is upside down. I…”

“
How can we
help?”

“
Marcos told me that…”
Erin wept into her hands. “I… Oh God…”

Matthew lifted her from the bed to his lap
and into his arms, “Shhh… Shhh… This is what it was like for me.
Just what you’re going through.” He rocked her gently. Petite Erin
sobbed into his chest.

“
I’m sorry Erin but we
have to make some decisions,” Alex said. “Matthew has to get back
to base. He wanted to be here to help you decide.”

Erin nodded. Sticking her bruised chin out,
she shifted her shoulders back to bravely deal with the issues at
hand. Her eyes casually shifted to Matthew and she softened. He
winked at her and they entwined hands.

“
What should I do, John?”
Erin asked.

“
We need to operate on
your spleen and check your liver. We’ve arranged for a plastic
surgeon to fix your nose, cheekbone and jaw this afternoon. Then
we’d like to move you to our home since we’re set up for injured
people. We can take you to your appointments and make sure you’re
cared for. We think you’ll recover there faster than in the
hospital or alone. Plus, it’s easier for Matthew to get away to see
the Major than to come see you.”

“
What major?” Erin
asked.

“
I’m a Major,” Alex said.
“What about Mom? Would you like.. uh… Colin to call
her?”

Erin smiled at Alex’s joke. “When I’m
settled. You’re sure about me…”

“
Of course,” Alex said.
“It will be fun to have you around.”

“
Will you stay with me in
the operations, John?” Erin asked. “I know you have to work but…
I’d feel a lot better if you were there.”

“
Of course,” John said.
“It’s already arranged. If you’re ready, we can start straight
away.”

“
Can I…” Erin looked at
Matthew.

Alex bent to kiss her cheek.

“
We’ll see you when you
wake up,” she said. “Come on doc.”

Holding hands, she and John walked out into
the hall. John wrapped her in his arms.

“
You’re filthy,” he
said.

“
Rolling around in the
dirt,” she said. She kissed him. “I killed someone last night in
the simulation. Oh God. John…”

“
You need to get some
surgery yourself,” he said.

“
But not today,” she said.
“Today, I want to cry my eyes out.”

“
Good plan. She’ll be out
for the rest of the day. Just come back around five.”

“
I have to take Mattie
back to the Fort and the MPs want to see me. I don’t know how long
that will take.”

“
After you see Jesse,”
John said.

Alex held John’s eyes for a moment, then
looked down.

“
It’s all right, love.
Hey,” he pushed her chin up so he could look in her eyes. “I miss
him too.”

“
Wanna make out?” she
asked raising an eyebrow.

“
I want more than that.”
He pressed her against him so that she could feel his rising
interest.

She laughed.