Part 9 (2/2)

”Danny,” she said, but Dan didn't hear her.

He was furious, and happy to take it out on his father, pus.h.i.+ng himself so that he was sitting up. ”Yeah, that's way more familiar, Dad. Go on and backhand a man in a hospital bed, that's just your speed. And since I'm not twelve anymore, it's the only way you'll come even remotely remotely close to achieving contact.” But then he turned to Izzy. ”What the h.e.l.l, Zanella?” he said again. ”Did you seriously think I'd have some kind of sixth-grade problem with-” close to achieving contact.” But then he turned to Izzy. ”What the h.e.l.l, Zanella?” he said again. ”Did you seriously think I'd have some kind of sixth-grade problem with-”

”I didn't have a vote,” Izzy protested. ”I was kind of unconscious when the decision was made.” But Jenn spoke over him, and he was happy to yield the floor to her.

”Okay,” she said loudly. ”This is definitely counterproductive. Danny, don't you dare get out of that bed. Your father is leaving.” She motioned to Gillman the elder. ”Come on, Master Sergeant. If you spoke to the doctor, then you know that what Dan needs right now is rest, not stress.”

”I'm sorry, you're right, I didn't mean to...” Dan's father had already begun to retreat, but then he stopped. ”I'm sorry, ma'am,” he said, stiffly, politely, ”but I was hoping to get a chance to meet Dan's girlfriend. I was wondering if you could-”

He cut himself off, no doubt because he'd finally taken the time to focus on Jenn and he saw that she wasn't in uniform.

”Oh,” he said. ”I'm sorry, I thought you were the nurse. Are you you...?” Try as he might, he couldn't keep his incredulity from his voice or his face.

”Oh, good,” Danny growled. ”Insult my girlfriend.”

”I didn't mean-” Dan senior started, even as Jenn quietly said, ”Danny, it's all right.”

”No, it's not not all right,” Danny said. ”What does he think, he can just walk in here and pretend he gives a s.h.i.+t, and then turn around and look at you like that?” He turned to his father. ”You met my girlfriend, now go.” all right,” Danny said. ”What does he think, he can just walk in here and pretend he gives a s.h.i.+t, and then turn around and look at you like that?” He turned to his father. ”You met my girlfriend, now go.”

”Call your family,” Dan senior ground out. ”They're worried about you.”

”Danny,” Jenn was saying, over his father's words, ”please sit back. They're not going to let you go home if you...” sit back. They're not going to let you go home if you...”

Izzy didn't hear the rest of her sentence, because he'd already nodded at Jenk, silently asking him to a.s.sist in clearing the room, even as he took Master Sergeant Gillman by the arm and led him out into the hallway and over to the elevators.

”I don't think we've officially met,” Izzy said even as Gillman muttered, ”Jesus, I f.u.c.ked that up. What is wrong with me?”

”Besides twenty-five years of being an alcoholic?” Izzy asked. ”Or...now I'm thinking you probably meant that as more of a rhetorical question, so I'll just stick to what I know.” He held out his hand. ”I'm Irving Zanella, petty officer first cla.s.s, U.S. Navy SEALs. I'm a teammate of Dan's. I'm also your daughter Eden's husband. Dad.”

”You're the a.s.shole who knocked her up?” the a.s.shole who knocked her up?”

”No,” Izzy said, taking several hasty steps back, because it sure looked as if Dan-the-senior was going to follow the time-honored Gillman tradition of punching Izzy's face before getting the whole story. ”I'm the guy who married her when she needed help, because some other other guy knocked her up. Which makes me more of a loser than an a.s.shole. At least according to, um, guy knocked her up. Which makes me more of a loser than an a.s.shole. At least according to, um, my my definition...” definition...”

His father-in-law was looking at him like he was s.h.i.+t on a stick, so Izzy took a deep breath and asked the question he'd vowed he wouldn't ask ever again. ”Have you heard from her lately? Eden? Is she doing okay?”

Dan was silent as Jenkins escorted Private S. Anderson and her little black dress out of his part of this hospital room, as Jenn pulled the curtain all the way over to the wall, giving them at least the illusion of privacy.

”For the record,” she said as she sat in the chair down by the end of his bed instead of the one within arm's reach, which made his heart sink, ”it was Jay Lopez's idea-to tell you that the blood was Jenk's.”

”Lopez,” Dan repeated.

”He was sure you were going to lose your leg, Danny, and he thought if you had any chance at all, it would be hindered, not helped, by the idea that you'd received such a huge transfusion from Izzy. Who, by the way, was the only one whose faith in you never wavered.” She paused. ”Besides me.”

”It's sobering,” he said quietly. ”To see myself through that lens. I mean, it's crazy to think that Lopez was right, but...Lopez was probably right. f.u.c.kin' Zanella. He makes me...” He laughed his self-disgust. ”And then I go and double down on the crazy by being unable to keep from turning back into a twelve-year-old when my father comes to visit.” He shook his head, wis.h.i.+ng he could rewind and take a do-over, ashamed not just because she'd witnessed his childish behavior, but also because he hadn't pushed aside the stupidity and focused on what was important-not allowing his freaking girlfriend to get emotionally stomped by his a.s.shole father. Forget about Sheila, and what Jenn must've thought by seeing her there, dressed up like that. ”I'm so sorry, Jenni.”

She gazed back at him, and he knew she absolutely hadn't forgotten about Sheila-who was she, why had she come to visit him? The questions were in her eyes. But she didn't ask, and Dan knew she wouldn't. She was too much of a cla.s.s act. She would just bury her doubts, but they'd always be back there, eating away at her. He knew that, too.

So he broached the topic. Just flat out. ”Private S. Anderson,” he said. ”I didn't get a chance to properly introduce you, but frankly, I didn't even know her name was Sheila until today. I met her pulling civilians out of a bus, after the car bomb exploded.” He gave her the full story, including the fact that Private Anderson had been a little flirty when they'd first met, including the fact that he hadn't quite known how to respond, and that, yes, he'd been flattered. He told her that the flirting had stopped, though, when Anderson-he purposely called her by her last name-had been up to her elbows in his blood, applying pressure to his wound as Izzy went to get aid.

Jenn sat and listened and nodded. ”Thank G.o.d she was there.” And then she said, ”I ran into your doctor while I was getting coffee. Your latest blood test came back clear.”

That was great news. Almost as good as the fact that Jenn apparently considered Sheila a nonproblem, not worthy of further discussion. was great news. Almost as good as the fact that Jenn apparently considered Sheila a nonproblem, not worthy of further discussion.

”They're willing to think about sending you home,” Jenn continued, ”as long as you stick to the no-exertion rule and don't overdo it.” She smiled ruefully. ”I was, like, You You do do know he's a SEAL... know he's a SEAL... ? The captain actually laughed-I think we may have finally bonded.” ? The captain actually laughed-I think we may have finally bonded.”

Jenn's opinion of the doctor's humorless bedside manner was pretty low, but he spent most of his days in surgery, performing amputations on soldiers and servicemen and -women who hadn't been as lucky as Dan.

Lucky-to have a teammate like Zanella. Jesus, Dan still couldn't wrap his brain around that.

”But he agreed that it would be a good idea to release you, if if you had somewhere to stay,” Jenn went on with a caveat, ”with someone who made sure you got the rest you need...?” She cleared her throat. ”It occurred to me that, well, Mark Jenkins and his wife have a spare room. I know she's pregnant-Lindsey. But she's still working, and since Mark's got a cast on, that first week he's home might...Well, I thought it would be worth asking them if you could...” you had somewhere to stay,” Jenn went on with a caveat, ”with someone who made sure you got the rest you need...?” She cleared her throat. ”It occurred to me that, well, Mark Jenkins and his wife have a spare room. I know she's pregnant-Lindsey. But she's still working, and since Mark's got a cast on, that first week he's home might...Well, I thought it would be worth asking them if you could...”

”Oh,” Dan said, then cleared his throat, too. ”I thought, I don't know, I guess I just a.s.sumed we'd...go back to New York? Together?”

And yes, he was definitely feeling much, much better, because the hard-on that he'd awakened to find after his nap was back with a vengeance at the mere idea idea of being alone with Jenn in a place that had solid walls and a door that locked. It had been a long time, but he still knew exactly, precisely what it felt like to be inside of her. And he desperately wanted some of that. ASAP. of being alone with Jenn in a place that had solid walls and a door that locked. It had been a long time, but he still knew exactly, precisely what it felt like to be inside of her. And he desperately wanted some of that. ASAP.

”I didn't want to a.s.sume,” she said quietly.

Seriously?

”May I come stay with you in New York?” he asked. ”Please say yes, and then go run run and get your buddy Captain Chan to release me tonight.” and get your buddy Captain Chan to release me tonight.”

Jenn's smile was a little sad. She didn't speak, didn't move. She just looked at him.

But she'd come all the way from New York City to sit beside his bed, and Danny knew that he'd won whatever battle they'd been fighting over their relations.h.i.+p. h.e.l.l, he'd won the freaking war. He'd scored the telling victory over two weeks ago when he'd opened his eyes to see her standing there. She loved him, too. She could no longer deny it.

And Jesus, he liked winning, despite the fact that the responsibility scared the s.h.i.+t out of him.

He held out his hand for her now, and she came over and took it.

”I need you, Jenn,” he admitted, even though it was harder than h.e.l.l for him to put voice to those words. Fighting the rush of emotions that threatened to clog his throat, he asked her again, ”May I stay with you in New York for a while?”

This time she nodded. ”Of course.”

Eden was in Las Vegas, which was the last place on earth Izzy would've thought to look for her.

As he input the cell number and address that her father gave him directly into his phone, he was aware of Jenkins hovering at his elbow, the shorter SEAL's trepidation nearly palpable.

”It's probably better if you don't tell her you gave this to me,” Izzy told the senior Gillman as he double-checked his entry for Zanella, Eden Zanella, Eden, with the info that the man had scribbled on a piece of c.o.c.ktail napkin, no doubt when his daughter had called him.

”Just pa.s.s it along to Dan and tell him to call her,” the older Dan said as he got into an elevator going down to the lobby. To the lobby and then out into the parking lot, into his car and off the base, over to town, to the nearest bar...Did any of them really have any serious doubt about his destination? ”And I'll have done far more than I promised her I'd do.”

The elevator doors closed behind him and Izzy waited a few seconds before pressing the down b.u.t.ton himself.

”Zanella,” Jenk said. They'd been friends a long time-ever since Izzy saved his life. Gee, maybe Jenkins and Gillman should start a club. Lopez could join, too, along with Tony V., after that incident in Thailand. ”I'm not going to tell you what to do.”

”Good,” Izzy said. ”Don't.”

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