Pete Walter, sitting at the foot of her bed, smiled and cleared his throat. “General, Troy, someone wants to say good morning.” Pete hit the monitor button.
Troy clasped her hand but remained seated to allow the general time to see her. “Princess, are you done scaring your old man?”
She groaned and nodded, then signaled for a pad and pen.Hurts to talk. What does doctor say?
Both men looked at Pete. “The swelling to your eyes and cheek will go down with time. You have a hairline crack to your right lower jaw. A mild concussion. A flesh wound to your right thigh. A bullet entered on the left below your spleen and somehow managed to nest in a fold of your intestine, missing everything.”
Gwen groaned, “Pussy shots.”
Pete smirked and exhaled. “You lost about two pints of blood, which we replaced. We’re holding you at least until Thursday to see how you do.”
Gwen nodded again. She scrawled,Kip. Okay?
“Sleeping down the hall.” Troy lifted her hand to his lips. “He told me you saved his life. You’re incredible. Your dad is too. He shared a Pave Hawk with us to bring you home.”
Glenn North smiled. “Gwendolen, tell Troy it’s time to focus on him. Did you know he ran the operation, including repelling from and climbing into a helo?”
Gwen pulled the icepack off her eye, and both eyes opened wide. She wroteCRAZY. But I love you. “Love you,” she mumbled.
“I love you too.”
* * *
Thursday,June 8th
Troy walked beside Gwen’s wheelchair, her dad on the other side. Her brother, Scott, pushed her as they headed to the executive floor. Gwen refused to go home, insisting on staying until Troy was admitted.
Gwen waved her hand in front of her office door, unlocking it. Verna scooted around her desk to hug her and meet her father and brother. When Troy pushed the door open, Gwen’s breath caught. Every surface was filled with flowers. “Oh, my goodness. I’ve never seen this many flowers.”
Troy leaned down and kissed her. “Good, you can give me a report on all the different kinds. You spend time with your family. I need to get some work done. General, Scott, I’m next door if you need me.”
Troy walked into his office and closed the door. He grabbed a bottle of clear Gatorade and sat at his desk, pulling out a legal yellow pad. On the top, he wroteFish Care, then detailed the necessary steps to feed and tend to his fish. Next, he grabbed a piece of stationery.
He started it with,My beauty, the fairest Gwendolen. In the letter he detailed from the first moment he met her to the moment a little bit earlier. Ending, he wrote,Please don’t be sad. Know I will always watch over you. All my love, TB.
Verna buzzed, “Mr. Kip is here to see you.”
“Send him in.”
Kip walked in carrying another bottle of Gatorade. “Hey. I wanted to run through some things with you.”
“Shoot,” Troy said.
“I reviewed the Eagle’s Talon assignments. They’re discharging O’Mara to rehab. I’m sending Zulu Team as an escort. I’m concerned about Tango Team. With Billings involved, I asked Zach to do a review. The same reasoning for Lima Team.”
“What has you worried?” Troy opened his palms.
“Caleb found out that our HR application center was hacked. That’s how Billings’ college records were not accurate. Four Cal Tech students fooling around. They didn’t get further, and once we were looking, we caught them.”
“I want our records backed up every eight hours, each segment to a different server. Run every person working at the health center again from maintenance to physician staffing. Put Bravo Team on me and Gwen. Have Papa Team continue family babysitting; 3-Romeo Team can babysit the floor. Lock down my estate. Let Oscar Team run relief. 3-Romeo and 3-Quebec can do door-to-door on the OR and recovery room.” Troy sighed. “Good?”
Kip looked down. “We cleared your phone to forward your calls to me while you’re post-op. You received three more mystery calls to your cell. All stopping just before the rescue.” Kip’s lips formed a tight slash. “This morning, one came into your office voicemail. Listen.”
Kip opened his phone and played the message. “Tell me, Bremen. How do you do it? See beyond what others see. Why did you have to see me? Couldn’t you have ruined someone else’s life? How do you measure a lifetime?” The mystery caller hung up.
Troy blew out a breath. “I can’t run, Kip. I assume you briefed Martin?”
“Yeah. Zach is running security on you. And I promise, I’ll keep your family, and Gwen and her family safe,” Kip swore.
