Chapter Thirteen
Brody picked at the sandwich that Talia brought him then blew on the coffee.
She’d run to the cafeteria for him. He wasn’t a picky eater but today, even the sandwich was sitting like a rock in his stomach.
He sat next to Drew’s gurney; close enough to reach out and touch Drew.
As he pushed the tray away, Brody heard a commotion outside the trauma bay.
“I have no idea who you are, but you will move out of my way and let me in my nephew’s room.
Am I clear?” The command in Mike’s voice had Brody jumping out of his seat before he even processed moving.
He slid the curtain to the side and saw Jared standing at attention, looking like he was either going to piss himself or fall over.
Hmmm, maybe Brody needed to add some military drills along with PT into the platoon training— Brody cut off that thought and filed it away under ‘things to deal with later’.
“Command Sergeant Major. Mrs. Mullvaney,” Brody said as he walked up to the grouping.
Trish was standing a step behind her husband and the look of determination on her face had Brody one beat from snapping to attention himself.
“I’ve got this, Jared. They are members of Lieutenant Nolan’s family.
Please, follow me.” Brody gestured behind him to the trauma bay.
Mike strode passed him and over to the gurney.
Trish stopped in front of him and pulled him into her arms.
“How are you doing? It couldn’t have been easy to see Drew at the ER,” Trish whispered to him, before she pulled back and slapped his shoulder.
“That’s for not calling us since you’ve been here.
We told you to reach out. That we would help you get settled.
Have you over for dinner. Make sure you weren’t alone for the holidays.
I’m sure you had some messed-up reason in your head for not calling us. That ends now, am I clear?”
Brody started nodding before Trish finished her sentence.
He could see how she complemented her husband in taking care of soldiers.
She was definitely the senior NCO’s spouse at this moment.
When she realized he wasn’t going to argue, she put her arm around his waist and they walked over to Drew’s bedside.
When they got close, Trish stepped away and leaned against her husband.
He didn’t even think that Mike was breathing. He was standing so straight and the look on his face? Oh yeah, he could see where soldiers would’ve jumped to follow this man’s commands. And he definitely would not have wanted to see the steely glare aimed in his direction. No, sir. No way.
“Drew, what did you do to yourself? I don’t know that we were ready to see one of the kids in this position. We thought we’d gotten away with none of us being seriously injured—” Trish cut him off.
“None of you being seriously injured? I can think of two instances off the top of my head where one of you were in a hospital bed,” she said as she ran her hand up and down the man’s arm, as if she was rubbing away the hurt.
Mike cleared his throat. “Bygones, slander. Let’s focus on what we need to do for Drew.
Kevin and Brit won’t get here until tomorrow night, at the earliest. Storms are hitting North Carolina hard today.
” Mike turned to Brody and said, “Okay, sit rep. What’s the overall damage?
What will the surgery entail? Do we need to watch for infection? What kind of rehab will—”
“Uncle Mike, at ease,” Drew mumbled from the bed, causing all three of them to snap their attention to him.
Brody watched as Trish leaned down and placed a kiss on his forehead while Mike patted Drew’s leg.
He wasn’t sure what he should do. Leave?
Stay? As he took a step backward, Drew held out his hand and called his name, “Brody. Why are you way over there?”
§ § § §
Drew was having the most amazing dream. He’d reconnected with Brody and they were dating. He’d fallen asleep watching TV, holding Brody’s hand. As he began to roll onto his side, a sharp pain went through his body, jerking him awake with a gasp.
“What the fuck!” he exclaimed.
“Hey, hey, you need to calm down,” a voice said from his side. Drew turned his head and in the dim light he saw Brody. Was his dream a reality?
“Brody? When did you get here?” Drew asked, searching his memory and coming up blank.
The last clear thought he had was getting ready at the unit to go observe traffic stops.
Wait… a vague scene played out in his mind.
Kali sniffing and then signaling; Lucas shifting the dog to the side so he could get a clearer look in the vehicle after having the occupants step out; the guy reaching for his hip; the sun glinting off something shiny; Drew moving without thinking and then being on the ground.
“Is your memory coming back to you? You know, if you wanted to see me, you could’ve emailed or called. Coming into my ER bleeding is a little overkill,” Brody teased.
Drew looked down at his left side. He was bandaged from the middle of his forearm up to his shoulder and his ribs were killing him. He must have made a noise because Brody reached over Drew’s head and hit the call bell because a disembodied voice came through the speaker, “Can I help you?”
“Please let Lieutenant Nolan’s nurse know that he’s awake and seems to be in pain,” Brody answered.
“I'll let him know,” she said before disconnecting.
“How long have I been out? Wasn’t Uncle Mike here? When can I go home?” Drew was ready to leave now. He didn’t need to stay longer in a hospital bed to have his family worry more.
Brody tapped Drew’s hand and then shifted to sit back down before he answered Drew. “Yes, your uncle and aunt were here. They called your parents—”
“Shit. Did Mom go off on the doctor? They’re not coming here, are they?” Christ, could this be more fucked up?
“If I understood the conversation while you were in surgery, your parents are holding off. They were trying for a flight but weather is nasty in North Carolina currently. Mike and Trish’s phones were going off nonstop.
Your brother and sister called as did all your uncles and cousins.
I thought they were a bit overwhelming at the pinning but trying to follow all the calls today? Yeah, nothing in comparison.”
“They all mean well. They just… since I’m the one that’s always screwing up… they’re used to—”
Brody cut Drew off. “Screwing up? Ummm, you stopped a valuable asset from being lost. Stopped your MWD from being hurt. I’m pretty sure that doesn’t qualify as a screw up.”
A guy in scrubs came into the room. “Nice to see your baby blues, Lieutenant. I’m Evan, your nurse for the night. Doctor Gable left orders for some pain meds if you need them. Scale of one to ten, you know the drill,” Evan said as he checked over the monitors.
“Pain? Um,” Drew didn’t want to answer that question. He had a feeling the longer he was on pain meds, the longer they’d keep him.
“Drew? I will wake up your uncle, which I’m sure would result in your phone blowing up, if you do not answer Evan honestly,” Brody said quietly.
“But I don’t want to stay any longer,” Drew whined. Yes, he wasn’t above a bit of whining.
“I promise taking pain meds right now is not going to keep you here any longer. It’ll actually make it quicker for you to get out.”
Drew frowned at Brody, trying to decide if he was telling him the truth. Brody smiled at him. Okay, he’d be honest.
“Pain is seven, maybe eight. I’m thirsty, too.” Look at him being a good boy. Oooh maybe he’d get a reward from Brody. A guy could hope right?