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“I did have an episode, just about a week ago now, but since then, I’ve been pretty good.”
“How’s your eating and sleeping?”
Sally laughed at the same time. She was sitting on the other side of the table.
“What’s so funny about eating and sleeping?” the doctor asked.
“Because we’ve not done much of either. I mean, we had a big beautiful dinner, and then ever since that, it’s been biting nails and staying up all night catching catnaps whenever we could. It’s been a pretty stressful time, right?” she asked Sally.
“Every minute of it. But we loved it. Lydia and I are on the team for good,” Sally continued.
“Well, I’m just gonna take a blood test anyway. I would feel better, and I understand you think you’re feeling fine, but I am hearing a rapid heartbeat, and I’m seeing the lack of color to your skin, even with all that you’ve been through recently. We’ll get some blood, and then we’ll go from there. That doesn’t mean you can’t go home, and I know you have some wonderful family to get back to, so I won’t keep you long.”
She didn’t have time to object. The doctor left, and a lab technician took blood from both of them.
“I feel like we’re a couple of old soldiers here in the medic tent, and they’re writing up something for us, patching us up so we can run out to the battle again. I’ve never done anything like this before, Lydia. Do you suppose in a past life I was some kind of an Amazon warrior priestess or something?”
“I can see you being that, Sally. You don’t back down. You’re stubborn. That’s a good thing, and a lot of people don’t appreciate that.”
“Well, when you’re fighting for things you believe in, you get that way. Sometimes, you ruffle feathers you shouldn’t, and then you know what they say.”
In unison, both of them said, “Better to ask for forgiveness than permission.”
They both laughed.
Sally began, “I can see what they like about the life. And I understand how coming home and gardening and tending the dog and fixing plumbing and roofing and working on the car and paving the driveway and all that stuff—I can understand how that wouldn’t be as exciting as what they get to do every day.”
“But, at the same time, when you get to be older—”
“Watch it there, girly. I am old enough to be your mother, you know. But I’m not done. Just like Harper. He’s not done either.”
“Oh, I know that, Sally. Trust me, I will never forget that.”
The next fewdays morphed together as teams came in and packed up and stored all the equipment, labeling them so they could use them on future ops. Patterson himself flew out and surveyed the house where all this activity took place. He met Sally, and Lydia watched how easily he could be a charmer. Even Sally was blushing.
Then he turned to Harper. “Next time, I’m going to veto your idea about setting up home base at your house. It just puts you and the whole family into much harder circumstance. I know you thought a lot about this, and this time it worked out. Next time, you’d probably need to relocate everybody. You want to do this away from Lydia and all the things that you hold there.”
“Sir, I would love to, but I don’t think she would’ve let me,” he answered.
“You’re darn right. I’m part of this now. Besides, I wouldn’t trust anybody but him for my safety.”
“I appreciate that, Lydia,” said Patterson. “And you are an asset to this team. It’s a matter of training, and we can’t be putting civilians in harm’s way. Now I don’t want you to sign up for the military or sign up for Silver Team. If you can just keep this guy in line, keep his head straight, and keep him thinking, you’re going to do more for this team than anything else you could do. And I mean that sincerely. The support staff of a warrior is almost as important as all his training and the guys he fights with. So don’t think you’re being demoted here. You’re needed, it’s just in a different capacity.”
Lydia scowled, and Harper put his arm around her. He looked up at Patterson. “We’ll talk about it. Trust me, we’ll talk about it,” he said with a wink.
“Did you find out what happened at the airport?”
“You mean, who landed in Lipori’s place? Turns out the Italians were on Lipori’s payroll. They stopped the car before it made it to the airport. The guards were tranquilized and left in a rental car, replaced with new guards with fake credentials, and the guy they escorted to Rome had thought he was just playing a part for a fiancé to propose to his lovely lady at the airport. He was part of the play. Surprised when he was taken into custody.”
“That’s a story he’ll tell his grandchildren.”
“Can you imagine how someone would agree to go on a free vacation in handcuffs?”
Venom was excitedto be able to run through the garden by himself again. They did a careful sweep of all the access paths. The whole front yard near the gate was scraped and replanted with new soil just in case they’d missed some of the poison. The backyard had grown weeds, and there was vegetable bounty they hadn’t picked for several days. After a back-breaking day pulling weeds, they took a time out and sat on the back porch watching Venom forage, looking for something to be interested in on his way to taking a pee.
“I never thought I’d share my bed with not only a beautiful woman but a hundred-pound dog who loves to cuddle. Can you believe that, Lydia?”
“I think it sounds perfectly normal. Why, what did you think you would be doing at this point in your life?”
