Chapter 18 #2
“Trigger came in, and I told him what was going on. He started asking questions about when and if I’d ever remember, and the doctor said he just didn’t know. That the possibility of me getting that part of my memory back was sixty-forty. I…didn’t handle it well.”
Aspen snorted. “You think?”
Kane didn’t smile, he just continued to stare at her.
“And now? Have you remembered?”
“Some,” Kane admitted. “Words pop into my head here and there. It’s a little disconcerting, actually, to be talking to someone and the word for ‘red’ or ‘shirt’ or even ‘asshole’ just comes to me.”
“So that’s why you’re here? Because you’re getting your memory back and you can be the ‘brain’ once more?” Aspen asked, a little harsher than she’d intended.
“No,” Kane said immediately. “I knew from almost the second you left the hospital that I’d made a mistake. When you left, it was as if you took all the air from the room. Trigger and the rest of the guys also made no bones about the fact that I’d fucked up. I’ve missed you, chérie.”
Aspen reached toward the end table, picked up her phone and studied it for a second, then looked back at him. “Funny, I haven’t gotten any messages from you. You forget my number?”
“No. I was afraid you’d block me. Or just not answer. I did have Doc drive me by your apartment the other day. Your car was here, but when I knocked, you didn’t answer. I figured you were avoiding me.”
“When?” Aspen asked.
“Three days ago.”
“I wasn’t here,” she told him. “Apparently, I picked up some nasty infection from sitting in the floodwaters for hours. I cut my hand on something, and all the creepy-crawlies got in that way…that’s what the doctors think, at least. I was really sick a day or so after I got back, and I called Devyn.
She came over and drove me to the post doctor.
They made me stay the night at the hospital on post before letting me go home.
I wasn’t here when you came by, Kane. I would have answered the door if I’d’ve been here. ”
Kane looked alarmed. “Are you all right now? Should you have been out and about today? I should go and let you get some sleep.”
Aspen reached out and touched Kane’s arm, feeling the same electricity shoot through her hand as she had the first time she’d touched him. “I’m okay,” she said.
“Fuck,” he swore, grabbing hold of her hand and holding it tightly in both of his. “I had so many antibiotics being pumped into me in the Houston hospital, I guess that helped stave off any major infection I might’ve gotten through the gash on my head.”
Aspen nodded. “Yeah, I thought about that too. Your head still hurts though?”
“Now and then, yes. I’ve been wearing the sunglasses to help with that. Every day it’s better, and the doctors say they think now that I’ve started to remember some of the languages I lost, they’ll all come back when the swelling in my brain goes down completely.”
“I’m glad.”
“I was surprised you went to Derek’s service,” Kane asked.
Aspen let him change the topic. “I sat down with my major and told him everything that happened that night. From your hesitation to get into the boat in the first place, how I’d turned when I felt the boat rocking and saw Derek standing there with the oar in his hand, my decision to bail out of the boat after you instead of waiting around to see what Derek would do to me, the way he gunned it out of there, leaving us to our fates.
It wasn’t easy, and I was scared he wouldn’t believe me, but he did.
“He told me that Derek had received a reprimand for his actions in Afghanistan. I hadn’t known about that; no one did, apparently.
But it was enough to push Derek over the edge, I guess.
He lived and breathed the Army. And somehow, he ended up blaming me for all his own actions.
The major said he’d make sure everything that happened was noted.
I don’t know where, or who will ever see it, but I felt better knowing the major believed me.
“Anyway…the bottom line is that Derek paid for his sins. He was a jerk, and discriminatory toward women in general, but for trying to kill you, he paid. Big time. Karma took care of him. I could’ve insisted the major do an investigation, get the Army’s criminal investigation unit involved, but honestly, he can’t be punished any more than he already has been.
And there’s little honor in dragging a dead man’s name through the mud.
“If he was alive? You can bet your ass that I’d be screaming from the rooftops about what he did to you. But now? I’m just tired of it all. Karma did her thing, and I’m taking that as a hint to get on with my life.”
“So why’d you attend today? It pissed me way the hell off to hear the chaplain going on about what a great person and soldier he was,” Kane said.
Aspen nodded. “Yeah, that was hard to take. But I wanted to be a better person than Derek was. And I genuinely feel bad for his family. I also hoped it would give me closure on everything that happened.”
“And did it?” Kane asked.
“Surprisingly…yeah. I can put it behind me and look forward to my new path in life.”
“I’m not sure I can put it behind me so quickly,” Kane admitted.
“That asshole tried to kill me. And as long as assholes like Derek are allowed to hold leadership positions in the Army, things for women will never change. They can’t be allowed free passes simply because the brass doesn’t want to deal with the waves it’ll make if they’re called out on their behavior. ”
Aspen pressed her lips together. Kane’s words meant the world to her. “I know you’re right, but I just want to move on.”
Kane stared at her for a long moment, then sighed. “I don’t like it, and I hate that Spence is getting away with what he did…but for your sake, I’m willing to let this go.”
Aspen started to thank him, but Kane spoke before she could say anything.
“But I am going to have a long talk with the major. I know you already talked to him, but I’m sure you downplayed a lot of the shit Spence gave you.
Probably reasoned that he wasn’t treating you any differently than he was the others on his team.
Which is bullshit. Someone needs to speak up on your behalf, and the behalf of all the women who will come after you, and that someone will be me. ”
“Thank you,” she said quietly. “Because you’re here and safe, I’m over it, but I can’t help but think about little Annie and how enthusiastic she is about wanting to join the Army, possibly even walk in my footsteps.
If having a talk with the major can do even a bit of good for women in the future, I’m okay with it. ”
Kane nodded. Then he looked down at his hands as if he was reluctant to say what he was thinking.
“What is it?” Aspen asked.
“I really am sorry for being a dick,” he told her.
“I know. And I’d already forgiven you a week ago,” she told him honestly.
“You did?” he asked in surprise.
“Yeah. Did you really think I was going to just walk away? Kane, I love you. I’ve loved you almost since that first kiss we shared in that bar.
There was no way I was going to turn my back on everything we have just because you were throwing a hissy fit.
I’d planned on giving you some space, then confronting you when you were well enough to go home.
But then I got sick, and my plans were kind of sidelined. ”
“You love me,” he said. It wasn’t a question.
“Of course I do,” Aspen said.
“I hurt you.”
“You did. I’ve never felt such pain in my life as when you told me you needed space.
But then I got mad. I’m afraid I thought a lot of bad words about you for a while.
And when I finally calmed down enough to think about what happened, I realized that I’d pushed too hard.
I was desperate to see you, and I should’ve listened when Trigger told me that you needed some peace and quiet. ”
Kane shook his head. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong. It was all me. You just wanted to see me. The guys told me how you refused to leave my side while I was unconscious. You didn’t eat, shower, sleep. Then the second I woke, I broke up with you.”
“Tried to break up with me,” Aspen corrected.
“I wasn’t going to let you go without a fight.
I didn’t give up during training, and I didn’t give up when everyone tried to tell me I couldn’t be a combat medic to a Ranger team.
I certainly wasn’t going to give up on you after one little misunderstanding. ”
“I don’t deserve you,” Kane whispered.
“Wrong. We deserve each other,” Aspen told him. Then she turned her head and coughed into her sleeve.
“You’re still sick,” Kane said, sitting up straight. “You need to rest.”
Aspen clutched his hand tighter. “I don’t want you to go.”
He looked surprised. “Oh, I’m not going anywhere,” he assured. “You didn’t leave me when I needed you most, and I’m not leaving this apartment until you’re back to your old self.”
Aspen smiled. “So we’re okay?”
“We’re more than okay,” he told her. “I love you, you love me. You forgave me for being a dick, and I promise it won’t happen again.”
“I’m glad you’re okay,” she told him softly. “You scared the shit out of me.”
Kane leaned forward slowly and kissed her on the forehead.
Then he encouraged her to lie down on the couch, and he tucked in the blanket, making sure she was comfortable.
He leaned over her and said, “I had the best combat medic looking after me, there was no doubt that I’d be all right in the end. Sleep, querida.”
Happier than she’d been in days, Aspen slept.
“Oh, fuck,” Brain gasped as Aspen bounced up and down on his cock.
It had been a month and a half since he’d almost lost her, and their relationship was more solid than ever. All the languages he’d lost had slowly come back, and he’d never been more content.
He had great friends, a job he enjoyed, and a woman who proved time and time again that she not only loved him, but she’d fight for him if necessary.