Flash Bang (30 page)

Ro woke disoriented. Her head throbbed, and her entire body ached. She surveyed her surroundings in the dim glow of the light and deduced she was flat on her back on a cot in the clinic. A noise to her right had her cautiously turning her head toward the sound. Zach was passed out on the cot next to her.
What the hell is going on? Why am I so damn tired?
Moving her head took so much energy. Ro groaned, and Zach jolted up, as if he’d been sleeping with one eye open. He rolled out of his cot and was at her side.

“Hey, baby. You joining the land of the living again?”

Ro started to respond, but her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. “Water?”

“Just a second.” Zach stood and crossed to the sink, filling a small paper cup and returning to her side. Ro reached for the cup and realized she had an IV attached to the top of her hand.

“What happened?”

Zach sat on the edge of her cot and helped her sit up. She accepted the cup and sipped, as Zach pointed to her bandaged wrists. “Infection—from one of your wrists. It was bad, babe. Beau’s pretty sure it was antibiotic resistant. He had to get creative. We weren’t sure his treatment would work. You’re lucky.”

“I don’t understand ...” When she’d asked what happened, she’d meant what had happened to Graham.

“I’m not going to pretend to have the answers to that. You’d have to ask Beau. I’m just fucking happy you’re finally awake. You scared ten years off my life.”

“But—” He pressed a finger to her lips.

“Important things first: how do you feel?”

“Tired. Achy. Like I got hit by a bus.”

“I should get Beau.” He started to rise.

“No, wait.” She was almost afraid to ask. “Is Graham okay?”

Zach gave her a small smile. “Yeah, babe. He’s going to be okay.”

“Going to be?” Ro frowned. That didn’t sound good at all.

“He’s moving a little slow, but he’s damn lucky that bullet just grazed him. Another inch, and he’d have been missing a chunk of his side.”

Ro shivered at the thought, and then wondered why he wasn’t in the clinic with her.
Probably would’ve needed to sedate him to get him within ten feet of me
. She mentally cringed when she remembered the barely-leashed rage in his grip when he’d pushed her up against the wall. She was still confused about what had set him off. All she knew for sure was that it had something to do with the man sitting next to her.

“What happened? He avoided me for days, and then he was furious and spoiling for a fight. I just … don’t get it.”

“That’s my fault. Not yours.”

Maybe her head was still too fuzzy to follow logical reasoning, but Ro wasn’t getting it. “I’m missing something here.”

Zach started to respond, but the door to the clinic creaked open, and her dad stuck his head inside. “She awake yet?”

“Yes, sir. I’ll give you two some privacy. And, I’m already late for fire watch.” Zach kissed her forehead. “We still have a lot to talk about. Soon. I’ll let Beau know you’re up so he can fill you in.”

Ro didn’t have a chance to answer before he stood and headed for the door. He exchanged nods with her dad and exited.

“Well, girl, you scared the life out of me.”

“Now you know how I felt.”

“How about we don’t do that again.”

“That’s a deal.”

“How’re you feeling?”

“Not too bad.”

“Truth, Ro.”

“A little bit like I wandered into oncoming traffic. But it’s nothing I can’t handle. I’m ready to go whenever you are.”

“I have a feeling that boy of yours isn’t going to want to leave until you’re back to full steam.”

Ro started to reply, but stopped when she replayed his words in her head. “You mean
let me leave
.”

Her dad tilted his head and smiled slyly. “He didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?” Ro asked, again doubting her capacity to follow a rational conversation.

Her dad jerked his head toward the door. “That man of yours told me, bold as brass balls on a bull, that you weren’t leaving this place without him, and if I didn’t like it, that was too damn bad.”

Ro’s jaw slackened. “What?”

“Good thing the bunker is big enough to fit at least a dozen comfortably, because our party just grew by one.”

Ro’s thoughts were whirling, rerunning the conversation she’d just had with Zach, and then Graham’s tirade in the mess hall. “
You forced my best friend to choose, and let me tell you, he didn’t fucking choose me.
” It was all starting to come together. Holy shit. Zach was going to leave the ranch—and everyone on it—to be with her.

Her heart clenched when she remembered what else Graham had said. “
Tell me what you said to him, and why the hell didn’t you say it to me? Am I not good enough for you either
?” Graham thought she’d talked Zach into leaving. Thought somehow she’d made a choice and it wasn’t him.
Just like his mother.
Ro started to rub her eyes, but paused when the IV tugged at her hand. What to do now? Could she let Zach follow through? It tore at her to think that she’d come between the two men when the bond of their friendship had seemed wholly unbreakable. They were a team. A unit.
I suppose this is why normal people don’t attempt permanent ménages,
Ro thought absently.
Someone probably always ends up being the odd man, or woman, out.

“Ro? Are you okay?”

Ro slumped against the pillow. “I’m fine. Just tired, I guess,” she said, not wanting to share her realization. “Are you sure you’re okay with that? With him coming, I mean?”

“I don’t think I have a choice; that man loves you, and it’s not my place to stand in the way of that.”

Ro tried to smile, but her happiness at Zach’s decision was tainted by everything he would be giving up. She untangled the IV before pressing the heel of her hand to her forehead.
Why did everything have to be so goddamn complicated?

“You should get some rest, sweetheart. I want to make sure you’re good and healthy before we head out. You still look much too pale for my liking. We’ll get Doc Beau in here to check you out, and when he gives us the all clear, I’d like to get on the road. No real hurry, but the sooner the better.”

Ro’s smile felt forced, but she just nodded and said, “Sounds good.”

He kissed her forehead. “I love you, Ro.”

Tears burned her eyes as she watched him leave. To the empty room she said, “What the hell am I going to do now?”

Beau had returned within minutes after her dad’s departure. He’d explained that he’d prefer she stay in the clinic and on the IV fluids for a few more hours. He wanted her laying low as much as possible and not expending too much energy. And then he’d blindsided her with a question.

“I don’t usually have to ask this, because generally my patients are men, but when was the first day of your last period?”

“Ummm … hell ... let me think.” Ro had switched from the shot to the pill a few months before because she kept missing her three-month appointments due to her insane work schedule. Her doctor had gotten pissed when she’d cancelled her appointment for her IUD twice. The pill had made sense because she could have the prescription mailed directly to her office, and it kept her period like clockwork. Except … when she’d made her mad dash out of her condo she hadn’t grabbed any toiletries … and with everything that had happened, she hadn’t even considered …

Ro stilled.
Oh, fuck
.

“Problem?” Beau asked, and Ro realized she’d spoken aloud.

Ro squeezed her eyes shut and clasped her fingers in front of her face and nodded. “I’m not on anything right now ... I haven’t been since the day I left Chicago.”

“It’s not really any of my business, but have you been …”

“Fucking two different guys repeatedly without protection? That’d be a yes,” Ro quipped. “I’m such an idiot. What the fuck was I thinking? How did I let this happen?” Her face burned. She hadn’t thought about the possibility of pregnancy or STDs. At her age, she should be backhanded for being such a moron.
How do you forget something like that?
Her only excuse, and it was a tenuous one, was that she was still trying to get back into the habit of taking her pill every night. Without the alarm on her phone …
fuck.

“Okay. Don’t panic. Do you remember when your last period started?”

Ro took a few deep breaths, thinking back. She laughed humorlessly. “Yeah. It started and ended not too long before I left the city.” It started the morning after the Evelyn-Charles incident. Ro remembered thinking that if it had started just one day earlier, she wouldn’t have been in that situation.

“Well, I’m going to suggest you take a pregnancy test, just in case, even though it’s probably too early to tell.”

“What about STDs? Do you have any way to test for those, too?”

Beau hesitated before replying. “Ro, I’ll be straight with you on that—as far as I know, Graham and Zach have never been with a woman without wrapping their shit up. It’s standard operating procedure for all of us, and quite frankly, I’m pretty fucking surprised they weren’t doing the same with you. It’s not like there’s a shortage of condoms here to be concerned about. We prepared a little … over-zealously on that score. Even so, I hit you pretty hard with broad-spectrum antibiotics, so I’d say you’re probably good. If you notice anything, let me know, and we’ll figure it out.”

Ro laughed maniacally. “How did pregnancy tests make the list of necessary supplies?”

Beau smiled, his eyes sympathetic. “Allison and Jonah were trying to get pregnant before everything happened, so I stocked up just in case.” He stood and headed to the cupboard and pulled out a plain white rectangular box. He nodded toward the tiny bathroom. “I’ll help you move the IV pole.”

“If I’m pregnant, would the infection … hurt the baby?” she asked, starting to freak herself out.

Another sympathetic smile. Which, coming from Beau, just added to her freak out. “It shouldn’t have any effect, especially not this early.”

Ro took the test, trying to ignore the fact that Beau was in the next room. He helped her maneuver the IV pole back to the cot and tried to distract her with funny stories about the team while Ro sweated through the next three minutes.

It was negative.

“That’s what I expected, given the timing we’re talking about, but you should really take another one in a week or so,” Beau said.

“I’m not going to be here in another week,” Ro replied, her words quiet and directed at her lap.

“Zach told me he’s going with you.”

Ro looked up, meeting his blue gaze. “Does everyone know?” How would they react? Would they be pissed? The thoughts only added to her fatigue.

Beau shook his head, one side of his mouth quirking. “I think he was waiting to tell you first.” He rolled his stool to the desk and pulled open the skinny center drawer and held up a deck of cards.

“Would you like to play?”

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

Beau frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“One, you were kind of prick to me before, and two, I’ve done nothing but cause trouble since I got here.”

He grinned, and they both turned as Erica opened the door.

“Hey, sister, how’re you feeling?” Her focus shifted to Beau. “Damn, you
do
know how to smile.” She plopped onto the edge of Ro’s cot. “So, when you going to spring her?”

Rowan had been wondering the same thing.

“Will it matter what I tell you this time? Or are you going to ignore everything I say?”

Ro squirmed. “I’ll take it under advisement. How about that?”

“Good enough, I suppose. I’d like to see you stick around the clinic with the IV for another night, and not head out for at least a few more days, although a week would be better. You need some good home cooking from Allison and a shit ton of rest. You have to take every injury more seriously when you don’t have a trauma center a few minutes away.”

Erica pointed to the deck of cards. “We playing, or what?”

Beau nodded, and Ro settled in as he dealt. Then she proceeded to watch Erica hustle them both at five-card draw.

The next morning she awoke to find a note from Zach crumpled under her face on her pillow. It was a little drool-smeared, but it said he’d slept in the cot next to hers, but had to take a shift in the command post and would be back as soon as he could. Beau had shown up shortly after, removing her IV and unwrapping the gauze from her wrists. He commented that the red streaks that were the telltale sign of infection had already receded, and the wounds were starting to scab over again. He started to apply a new dressing, and all Ro wanted to do was go back to sleep. As he worked, her thoughts wandered. Other than the cot in the clinic and the bunk in Erica and Lia’s cabin, she’d only slept in one other bed at the ranch. And that bed might as well have a giant “Do Not Enter—Trespassers Will Be Shot” sign above it. Even if it didn’t, she wouldn’t be too eager to crawl into it; she hadn’t forgotten how easily Graham had ejected her from it. Her next option: Zach’s bed, which wasn’t a viable choice. Ro couldn’t imagine laying there, knowing that Graham was sleeping a wall away. It would be cruel and unusual punishment. Erica helped her make a decision when she’d brought Ro some freshly laundered clothes.