“You suffered a severe concussion, two cracked ribs on the left side, and a fractured ulna in your left arm.” The doc turned the tablet toward Boone and pointed out the various breaks.
Only then did he notice the cast on his arm. He’d had a minor concussion before, but it was nothing compared to what he felt now. He’d broken his other arm once, too, when he was nine years old and going through a Superman phase. Like a typical dumbass kid, he thought it would be a good idea to jump from the hayloft. Turned out it wasn’t such a good idea after all.
“You’ve got some pretty colorful bruises and ended up with eighteen stitches in your right thigh, where a sharp piece of shrapnel managed to breach your pantleg. Thanks to your physical conditioning, you seem to be healing pretty quickly. But I’d like to keep you one more night for observation, and then you should be able to go home tomorrow afternoon. Do you have any questions for me?”
“Will I ever get the memory of those missing days back?” Boone took Luna’s hand in his and stroked his thumb over her knuckles. “Because I gotta tell ya, I’m not crazy about having a week of my life just gone.”
“Understandable, but you need to give your brain some time to heal. The explosion knocked it around pretty good, even with your helmet on. That said, there is a slight possibility you maynever get those memories back.” Mike filled him in on how long he would have to be in a cast, what meds to take and avoid, and he rattled off a list of what Boone could and could not do after his release and until he got checked out again.
Luna grabbed her phone and started making notes.
“Don’t worry about keeping track of all of that. I’ll make sure it’s all on his discharge papers.” The doctor slid the tablet into his coat pocket and crossed his arms.
“Oh, okay.” She set her phone on the table next to the bed.
“Boone, I’d like to see you in my office in two weeks. If all looks good, you should be able to return to light duty at work.” He added, “I know how you guys are, so let me be clear what I mean bylight duty. No heavy weights, no obstacle course, no hand-to-hand combat training, and definitely no going on ops until after eight weeks. At that time, we’ll remove your cast and you can return to working with your team.”
“I’ll make sure he takes it easy.” She rubbed her hand up and down Boone’s arm.
“What about sex, doc?” The idea of him and Lunataking it easyin bed appealed to him a great deal. And there was no fucking way he could keep his hands off her for six weeks.
“Boone!” She gently swatted his arm at the audacity of his question.
Cole coughed and rubbed his hand over his mouth to hide a smile.
“Those broken ribs might be a problem for you.” Mike chuckled. “But just to play it safe, if at all possible, I’d prefer you hold off at least until after your follow-up appointment.”
Boone lifted Luna’s hand and kissed her palm. “I’ll try, but I’m not making any promises.”
A sly, knowing smile spread across her face, along with that beautiful rosy color he loved so much.
“Thanks, Mike.” Boone couldn’t wait to get the hell out of this hospital.
“Thanks, doc.” Cole shook his hand, and the doctor left the room.
Boone waited until the door closed behind him. “Mike knows about what we do?”
“Yeah. He and Burke go way back to when they served together in the Marine Corps. Mike also took care of Burke’s little girl after we got her out of that embassy.” Cole leaned his butt against the nearby windowsill and crossed his arms. “He helps us out whenever one of our people gets sick or injured.”
“Dawn almost flew out here to take care of you herself, but Caleb talked her out of it,” Luna said. “He assured her that Mike was more than capable of handling the job.”
“Was Caleb in the ops center with you when this whole thing went down?” God, he hoped she wasn’t alone, having to deal with what happened.
“Not at first, but he came in later.” Luna exchanged a quick look with Cole. “I’m so glad you’re awake.”
“How did I end up here?” Boone started to check out the room but stopped when he began to feel nauseous.
“You were airlifted to the hospital at Ramstein Air Base. They stitched you up, set your arm and wrapped your rib cage. They kept you there for a few days until they felt you were well enough to travel. After that, you were flown to Joint BaseLangley-Eustis, transferred to our helo, and since they have a helipad on the roof, Lucas and Calliope brought you here.” Cole rubbed the back of his neck. “Speaking of your sister, you might want to touch base with her. She’s tried not to show it, but she’s been really worried about you. You know how protective she is of the people she cares about.”
“She’s been here to check on you every day.” Luna stroked her fingers carefully through Boone’s hair. “If you’re up to it, we can call her after you’ve eaten something.”
“Yeah, that sounds good.” He dragged his gaze from Luna to look at Cole. “Did you get him?”
There was no need to explain who he meant.
“No, but it looks like he never made it out.” He pushed off the windowsill. “The team flew out with you, but some locals went in to search for him. Apparently, the explosion generated a ripple effect, and large sections of the tunnels collapsed and became inaccessible.”
“You think he’s dead?” Boone asked.
