Chapter 3
Rob reached out and caught June before she crumpled to the dirty alley ground. He looked her over in the limited lighting. She didn’t appear injured; perhaps the trauma had caught up with her. She wasn’t the first victim of shock he’d seen in his career.
It was a good thing he had heard her scream out when he did, before her assailant could hurt her. Too many times his team had found them too late. Not that the fear of what could have happened hadn’t affected her and caused her to faint.
He didn’t know much about June other than he had seen her in Dr. Shane’s office several times over the years. They’d said hello in passing, but nothing more than that. He only knew her name because it was on her badge, and Dr. Shane had mentioned her a few times.
Jack, of course, had noticed her. Only a blind man wouldn’t. June was a beautiful woman with a bright smile, big expressive blue eyes, and long blonde hair.
Rob just had no interest in pursuing a relationship. He had been given a second chance to serve in the military as part of a secret group stationed here in Vegas.
Colonel Weber had orchestrated their group when he’d realized the potential of medically discharged soldiers still serving their country, just on a different battlefield.
They did covert operations that weren’t sanctioned by the government.
He and his team were disposable if they were ever caught.
It was a risk he and his teammates all willingly took to serve their country again.
They had been doing it for about five years now.
All had been approached and recruited by Nick Weber himself.
All of his teammates were from different branches: Army, Navy, Marines.
They’d all had different combat experiences, yet they all got along.
For the most part. There was still ribbing about which branch was better.
But they all came together with the same goal. Serving their country and proving they still could even with a few missing limbs. Except for him and their leader, Luke. He had lost vision in his eye and partial hearing in his ear. Everyone else was missing arms or legs.
“June,” Rob whispered, shaking her lightly.
He tried not to notice the sweet floral scent coming from her hair. It smelled like jasmine. Something he wouldn’t have noticed a year ago, but two of his teammates had women in their lives and wore perfume or tried feminizing their workspace with female scents.
All the guys hated it, yet no one said anything to their faces. He was convinced the women did it just to torture them.
“June, come on. Wake up.” He tapped her cheek softly.
Her eyes fluttered behind her eyelids before opening. He braced himself for screaming or any kind of hysterics, but her eyes just looked around before settling on him. “What happened?”
“You fainted,” he explained.
“Oh,” she said looking crestfallen. “Well, that’s not very dignifying, is it?
” She braced her hands on his arms as she pulled herself up to standing.
She stepped back, and Rob reluctantly let go of her.
His arms tingled from where she’d held him.
He barely resisted the urge to touch where she had touched him.
“Are you alright?” he asked, focusing on the matter at hand.
“I am, thanks to you.” Rob had been thanked many times over the years, so he wasn’t a stranger to it.
“I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come along.
Well, I had an idea of punching him in his—” June’s eyes widened in shock at what she almost said.
“Um…private area, but you came before that could happen.”
Rob’s lip twitched in humor. “Glad I could be there to prevent that.” He would have paid to watch her do it, but seeing her pinned like that, he had reacted before thinking.
June looked toward the street, her hands wringing in nervousness. Was he making her nervous? Shit, he should have thought about that after what just happened.
He instantly took a step back, so she didn’t feel crowded.
“Well, I should get going. Thank you again.” June moved to walk by him.
“Do you want me to walk you?” he blurted out.
She opened her mouth to answer and just stood there like that for a moment. He could practically hear her mind at work.
“Just to make sure you get to your destination. I doubt you’ll see that guy again, but just to be safe,” he offered so she didn’t think it was for any other reason than to protect her.
June smiled, and Rob felt his insides flip. “I’d appreciate that.”
He waved toward the alley opening, his other hand behind his back. “Where are we headed?” he asked, following behind her until they could walk side by side on the sidewalk.
“The parking garage. It’s just a block up.” She pointed ahead of them.
“Where were you coming from?”
“Sandy’s, it’s a bar a block behind us. My friends and I meet up there after work every Friday.”
“What do they do for work?”
“What is this, an interrogation?” She didn’t sound irritated, only curious.
“I’m just curious to know more about you.” He had seen her many times but didn’t know anything about her other than she worked as a physical therapist, and also that she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen.
“After five years of seeing each other in the hallway and only saying hi, now you want to know about me?”
Well, when she put it that way…
“I have a question,” she said instead of waiting for him to answer.
“What’s that?”
“How did you know my name? Like I said, all we’ve ever said was hello.”
Out of all the questions she could have asked him, that wasn’t it. “It’s on your name badge, and Dr. Shane has mentioned you.”
“She talks about me to you?” June looked baffled by that.
“She’s mentioned you in passing. How did you know my name?”
“Oh…um…” June stared straight ahead avoiding his gaze. He noted a tinge of pink on her cheeks. Was she embarrassed to tell him? “Dr. Shane mentioned you,” she finally responded.
Rob knew she was lying, but he didn’t call her out on it. Maybe one day he’d get the truth from her. “So, are you going to tell me what your friends do?”
“They’re physical therapists as well.”
“At Dr. Shane’s office?” He didn’t know how many worked at the office.
He’d never paid much attention. He only ever saw June in passing; Dr. Shane was the only person he really knew there.
She’d helped him with implants to help with his hearing loss since an IED explosion had taken it several years ago.
He didn’t have full hearing back in his left ear, but he had gained some back.
“No, different clinics.” The continued walking. “I’m sorry if I delayed you from seeing your friends,” June commented when they reached her car. She had unlocked it and had her hand on the door.
“You weren’t,” he assured her. “I wasn’t meeting anyone.” He had been in the area to scope someone out, but he couldn’t tell her that.
“Good.” June opened her car door and sat down in the seat but left the door open.
“Are you okay?” he asked when he noticed June’s face grimacing in pain as she sat down. Her hand went to her leg before she retracted it and placed it on the steering wheel.
“Yeah, it’s my…it’s nothing. I’m good.” She plastered on a smile.
Rob didn’t question her further about it; he had an idea what the problem was. Having friends with prosthetics, he knew the aches and pains that came with them after wearing them for too long. “Alright, well, have a good night.”
“You too, and don’t be a stranger and forget to say hi next time you’re in the office.” She smiled widely, and it took him back to the moment he’d first noticed her.
He had just left Dr. Shane’s office after she had made some modifications to his ear.
June had been walking with a patient down the hallway.
Her long blonde hair was braided and draped over the front of her shoulder.
She was wearing a light blue shirt and khaki pants.
He saw both of her legs were made of titanium.
She had one hand on the patient’s arm as she encouraged them as they took steps on their prosthetic leg. By the way they clung to her, Rob could tell they were still new to walking with it.
As if sensing he was looking at her, June glanced up at him. At first, her eyes widened in shock as if she hadn’t been expecting someone else to be walking the halls, and then her gaze softened, and a wide grin spit her face.
It was like a physical punch, and he felt himself stumbling from its impact. “Hello,” she greeted softly.
“Hi,” he replied, not knowing what else to say, and kept going. He shook off the experience as if nothing had happened. It could have been a lack of sleep or something. A trick of the brain.
He had asked Dr. Shane about her the next time he was in, and she’d told him about June. The first double amputee physical therapist in the building. She went on to praise how much everyone loved working with her and what an inspiration she was.
Rob could see that. She seemed pleasant and upbeat, and seeing someone with that kind of disability overcome it and make a career to showcase it was incredible.
“I won’t.” Rob stepped back so she could close the door, then she backed out of her spot and left.
He stood there a moment, shaking his head.
This night had certainly been interesting.
One thing was for sure though. He planned on making a stop at Dr. Shane’s on Monday.
Just to make sure June was alright, he told himself.
Shock could creep in when you least expected it.
Rob pulled out his phone when it started ringing. It was Drew, their newest recruit. He had been a POW in the Congo until an old teammate of his and their new team had come upon him and rescued him.
Drew had come here to help regain use of his hands, and Dr. Shane had suggested him for their team. She was the only civilian who knew of them and so helped equip them with prosthetics and upgrades to aid them in the field.
“Hey.”
“I’m here watching the target. Where are you?
” Drew snapped. He wasn’t the friendliest guy or the most patient, but given his history, Rob couldn’t blame him.
He wasn’t just an injured veteran who had been recruited; Drew had gone through unspeakable tortures for years that no one should ever have to go through, so they were all willing to give him a break on his attitude.
Besides his trauma, he was still a hell of a soldier.
“A situation arose. I’m on my way now.” Rob looked down at his phone when he didn’t hear a response. Drew had already hung up.