Chapter 6
Kane was soglad to be outside and even happier that Saje was right beside him. He was beginning to have serious feelings for the woman. When he first met her, he primarily felt protectiveness, but there was also a stirring that had lain dormant for several years.
His marriage had been rocky from the beginning. His ex had chosen to stay in Dallas rather than accompany him to Virginia Beach after he’d finally finished over a year of SEAL training. She’d claimed that since he got deployed so often that she needed the support system of home. In truth, she never bothered to get to know the other SEAL wives or seek their support when the team was gone. But she’d certainly appreciated their joint banking account…until he’d returned to their home, medically discharged from the Navy, suffering forever forward from type I diabetes. After months in bad-guy country where his whole team had contracted an unnamed virus which had settled in his pancreas causing his new medical condition, he’d come home to a not so loving wife. She’d refused him sex blaming his illness. When she finally walked out on him, he’d learned she was getting all the sex she needed elsewhere. His needs had died slowly under growing debt thanks to the VA’s inability to determine the percentage he deserved and to get his disability pay started.
When he’d first met Saje, she’d spouted off nonstop about wonderful programs the VA had for veterans. That was the same Veterans Administration that hadn’t done shit for him except drag their feet until he’d lost everything, forcing him out of his home and into his tent.
Now that he was in a better place physically and mentally, he realized he had sabotaged himself. Thanks to the help of an excellent psychologist, he saw weekly at the VA, he could look back at himself in those early days and see his depression at losing the goal of retiring after a long successful career in the Navy and his despair of the future. He was crippled for the rest of his life by a disease that could easily kill him if he ate or drank the wrong thing, or if he didn’t eat or drink in time. But his handicap was hidden from anyone who would look at him. During an intense session with his psychologist, she admitted that she was actually jealous of those veterans who had lost an arm or leg. Their defect could be seen by everyone, and they could expect to live a full life. What he’d brought home from the war could rear its ugly head and kill him in his sleep…if it wasn’t controlled at all times.
Thanks to Alex Wolf, and the men at the Guardian Security Dallas Center, both his diabetes and his life were under control. Perhaps it was because he worked with so many single men, with women and sex a frequent topic, his libido was finding new life. Or it might have been because of all the time he was spending with Saje. The reason why didn’t actually matter to Kane.
His interest in her as a person, as a woman, was why he’d insisted upon accompanying her to the homeless encampments.
After an intense make-out session when she’d brought him home from the hospital, he knew they both wanted more. They’d planned on visiting a few camps that day, grabbing supper somewhere other than a taco truck, then going to her apartment to watch TV. He hoped that was girl-code for get naked together.
It had seemed like forever since their first kiss in the hospital. He’d spent several more days there than anticipated, thanks to a fever and a second operation to remove a hidden piece of the bullet.
Any injury to his body fucked with his glucose levels. Thankfully, Emma had caught it early when he skyrocketed to over five-hundred and the wound felt very hot. It took another few days to get him balanced once again.
Mr. Wolf and Mr. Barrister stopped by every day to check on him, which he appreciated, but he liked to see Damnit even more. Kane had always loved big dogs, especially the pit bull he’d had before his ex and given away his dog you months he came home permanently and dependent on insulin shots.
When he’d lost everything, he’d run into Gwen Shaw, now O’Neil, an Army nurse he’d known from the forward operating base in Afghanistan. She’d been handing out leftover food when they recognized each other. Their chance meeting had truly been a sign from God. She stored his needles and insulin at the restaurant she managed and in exchange he mopped the floors every night. Through her, he’d been offered the job at Guardian Security.
If it hadn’t been for Mikey and his big heart, showing him the ropes of living on the street, he would surely have died in a place very much like the one he was escorting Saje through.
Kane started to breathe in deeply, needing to get back the euphoria he’d felt when they first started their journey that morning. Instead, the smell of rotting food and body odor aggravated him.
As they walked through the third homeless camp that day, Saje stopped to talk to several men. He’d heard the questions a hundred times and didn’t bother to listen anymore. Either they were veterans, or they weren’t. If they were, that meant she had to take even more time with each man.
Kane rubbed his fingers, irritated by multiple sticks so he could test his blood levels. He hated having to do that, but the pump company had asked him to test a new device. Of course, it wasn’t ready yet. He’d get it in about a week. In the meantime, he was back to finger pricks and old-fashioned testing.
Pulling out a handkerchief, something he learned to carry when first diagnosed, he wiped his sweating brow. He fucking hated Dallas summers. He pulled a bottle of water from his backpack and drank the whole thing in one go. Then he had to piss so bad he could hardly hold it.
“Saje, sweetie, are you going to be okay if I leave you here for a few minutes? I’m going to walk to the far end.” Kane had instructed her when they first got started about in-camp bathroom protocol.
The smile she gave him should have warmed his heart, but instead, it seemed like simple agreement. “No problem. I’m sure former Marine Sergeant Kincaid will defend me.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The man looked to be in his fifties, but Kane knew that he was probably late thirties. Street life wasn’t easy. “You don’t have to worry none about her, Mr. Kane. I won’t let nothin’ happen to her.”
Without a second thought for Saje’s safety, Kane wandered to the farthest, and smelliest, part of the encampment where the dirt was soaked with urine.
When Kane was five feet away, he snapped at Saje “Aren’t you finished yet? This asshole doesn’t deserve any more of your attention.”
Round green eyes flashed at him. “You know this part of the interview takes about fifteen minutes. I have to record as much information as possible to verify his enlistment.” She sighed and turned her attention back to the fucking jarhead.
In that ever-so-sweet tone, she apologized. “I’m terribly sorry, Sergeant Kincaid. I have twelve more questions if you can just bear with me.”
“No problem, pretty lady.” His smile looked as though he hadn’t brushed his teeth in years. “I appreciate you tryin’ to help me.” His glare shot daggers at Kane. “Not many people care anymore, least of all about people like me.”
“We’re going to do what we can to help you get back on your feet.” She asked the man the next question as Kane shook his head and paced away.
Kane was over this whole ordeal. With the damp handkerchief, he once again wiped the sweat off his face and the back of his neck. The fucking heat was getting to him, so he downed another bottle of water.
He was done baking in the sun.
Striding over to Saje, he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up from the makeshift stool the supposed sergeant gave her. “Time to go,” he announced.
She spun around and put her hands on her hips. “If you want to go, go ahead and leave. You don’t have to be here. I do. This is my job.”
He squeezed her shoulders. “Don’t get all bitchy on me. I’m here on my own time to protect you.”
She jerked out of his grasp. “If you’re going to be like this, I don’t need you here insulting my clients.”
His hand dropped to his side and onto a soft head. Damnit whimpered and nuzzled him. He automatically petted the dog, but when the animal head-butted his knee, Kane yelled, “What the fuck is with you?”
“Looks like we arrived just in time to relieve you from guard duty,” Quin said as he stepped next to Kane.
Alex looked the man up and down. “Are you feeling all right, Kane? You’re sweating. Are you feverish?”
“No. It’s just fucking hot today.” Kane knew he’d snapped the reply. Changing his tone, he added, “I’m sorry, sir. After an episode in the hospital, all my systems are off for a while.”
“Saje, would you mind if Alex and I accompanied you for the rest of your day?” Quin offered.
The GQ surfer boy’s proposal pissed Kane off even more. He didn’t like the idea of such a good-looking unattached man guarding Saje for the next several hours.
Alex put his hand on Kane’s shoulder. “I don’t want you to overextend yourself.” He pointed to the bandage on Kane’s bicep. “You’ve only been out of the hospital a few days. We don’t want you to have a relapse. We’ve got this.”
Damnit nudged Kane’s knee again. Something deep inside him wanted to smack the dog away. What the hell was wrong with the mutt?
Not wanting to argue with the boss and the boss’s boss, he knew what was good for him. “Thank you, sir. Take good care of my girl.”
At that term of endearment, the woman he considered his scowled at him with such contempt. He was glad that he was leaving.
“I think it’s a good idea that you go home.” There was none of the usual warmth in her tone. “And don’t bother coming over or calling me tonight.” She turned her back on him and continued the interview.
As he walked toward his truck, Damnit continued to nudge his knee. Even when Alex called the dog back, the large mutt followed him all the way to his truck. Kane fumbled getting the keys from his pocket. His fingertips had started to go numb.
Turning the key over and listening to the engine start, Kane decided to sit there in the air conditioning and cool off for a few minutes with his eyes closed. When he opened them, everything seemed blurry.
Fuck. His glucose levels were dropping.
He quickly grabbed a bottle of warm juice from the pack he always carried in his truck and gulped it down. He finally got his finger pricked.
His sight was so blurry he could barely read the meter. But since he could only see two digits, he knew he was in trouble. By rote, he found his injector and gave himself a shot. Leaning his head against the window, he closed his eyes. It wouldn’t take long to be effective.
Ten minutes later, feeling a hundred times better but still a little woozy, Kane looked around. He’d driven there with Saje, but she wasn’t in the seat next to him. They were going to the homeless encampment a block away.
That’s when he remembered feeling aggravated with her. He remembered grabbing her by the shoulders.
Oh, Christ. Had he hurt her? His words had been harsh, he remembered, but had he injured her? Fuck, he hated this part of his ailment.
He had to go find her. She was alone. Unprotected.
Kane jumped out of the truck and ran back to the encampment. A quick look around and he found her curly red hair.
What was Mr. Barrister doing with her?
Damnit came running up to him and licked his hand. “Hey boy. Good to see you.” He kneeled so his face was level with the dog’s. “Where’s your master?”
“Right here.” Alex looked him up and down as Kane stood.
“Nice to see you, Mr. Wolf.” He held out his hand and Alex just stared at it.
“Kane, we talked thirty minutes ago. Don’t you remember?”
Kane’s shoulders dropped. “No, sir. I don’t.” He slowly shook his head side to side, then quickly added, “That happens when my glucose level drops.”
“So, you don’t remember anything you said to either me or Quin?”
All the blood drained from Kane’s face. “No, sir. I’m so sorry if I said something inappropriate or offensive.”
Mr. Wolf grinned. “Not to me, but I think you have a lot of explaining to do to that little woman over there. That is, if she’ll let you within ten feet of her.”
Oh, fuck. Kane pulled his hand over his now dry face. “Please tell me I didn’t fuck things up too bad with her.”
Alex gave him a satirical grin. “I’m glad it’s you and not me who has to beg forgiveness. Katlin would have my balls if I’d talked to her that way.”
Kane had to make amends, right then. “Mr. Wolf, sir, if you’ll excuse me, please. I believe I have some groveling to do.”
Kane started the apology ten feet away. “Saje, sweetie, I am so sorry for whatever I said. My glucose levels were dropping, and I can become an angry monster. I say things that I don’t mean. The worst part is, I don’t remember much about it. Can you please forgive me? I can’t promise you it’ll never happen again, and I understand if you don’t want to be around someone like me.”
Saje said something quietly to the man she was talking to then stepped away, but not toward him. “Do you mean I’m going to see this Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde transition again?”
He wasn’t going to lie to her. She meant too much to him. “Probably. If you decide to stick around.”
After staring at him for several long minutes, he saw the forgiveness in her eyes. “Besides going from a kind, wonderful man to raging asshole, what else do I need to look for?”
“Things will be better once I get a pump again,” he reassured her.
She tilted her head slightly to the side. “Do you have difficulty with your memory afterward?”
“I usually don’t remember what I did or said during the time my glucose levels were dropping.” He hoped that answered her question.
“I mean, like, now. Do you have a problem keeping up with the conversation?” She said the words slower, and she moved a fraction of an inch closer.
“After I start to recover, my head can be a little fuzzy for a few hours.” Did he need to go into detail explaining this to her? Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mr. Wolf and Mr. Quinn. Perhaps a complete explanation was needed. Maybe then he wouldn’t be in such big trouble.
“Your body runs on sugar and knows when it needs more. When I have a pump, it constantly tests and feeds my body insulin as needed.” Glancing around, he was pleased that he had their attention. “In times like this, without a pump, sometimes I don’t realize what’s happening. My body doesn’t tell me that it’s hungry because it’s already started shutting down certain mental functions, trying to preserve enough sugar to keep my heart and lungs running. The biggest problem with diabetes type I is that there’s no pain. I don’t feel hungry, yet I’m literally starving to death.”
“If you don’t get insulin soon enough…can it…can it kill you?” Her voice broke on the last words.
“Oh, yes.” Kane watched for her reaction.
Saje ran toward him and threw her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. “You can’t die on me. I just found you.”
“I think we’ve had enough for today,” Alex announced. “Kane was right, it’s hot as hell out here.”
“Kane, how about if I drive your truck back to Guardian’s garage?” Quin looked at them, still wrapped in each other’s arms. “What if the two of you ride back with Alex in the company SUV?”
Kane tilted his head downward and kissed Saje’s temple. “You okay with that, sweetie?”
“As long as I can be with you.” She looked up at him and whispered. “Forever.” She went up on tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss. “I just wish there was some warning sign, like the beep my phone makes when I have a new text.”
“As far as I know, nobody’s invented that yet.” Kane stepped back but immediately took Saje’s hand.
Damnit trotted over and licked their joined hands. Kane ran his free hand all the way down his back. “Come on, boy. I hope you don’t mind sharing the backseat with us.”
“He can sit in the far back.” Alex opened the back of the vehicle and commanded, “Damnit, load.”
Just as Kane and Saje got settled, Damnit stuck his head over the seat.
“How do you feel about dogs?” Kane wanted one badly. He’d talk to Quin about that possibility. Damnit had free range of the Guardian facilities. Maybe it could be a Dallas Guardian dog. Or maybe he could keep one at Saje’s place.
She smiled as she petted the huge head hanging between them. “I’ve been thinking about getting one. I need a guard dog.”
Their kiss sealed the deal. They were going to get a dog.