Rance smiled.
“I’ll be back later to check on her. You should come eat something.”
“Maybe later.”
“Alright, I’m gonna hold you to it,” Frenzy said, as he opened the door and looked back at Rance.
“Hey, you shook your head when I said you’d be doing the same as me if your female was in the same condition Gwen is in. What does that mean? Did your female get injured?”
Frenzy took a deep breath then released it as he looked out into the hallway, before turning back to Rance. “My female was a reward. We rescued her and brought her back to Alliance. She’s strong, Rance! I mean, like kick you in the balls then yank you up and demand to know why you’re lying on your side strong. I made my intentions known multiple times — I mean, I’m not exactly subtle,” he said with a grin. “I don’t think she’s interested. And I can’t blame her, I don’t think I would be either.”
“Maybe she’ll change her mind.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. It’s alright either way. Maybe I’ll get home and see that she missed me. Stranger things have happened.”
“What did she think about you leaving on another mission? Any reaction at all?” Rance asked.
Frenzy shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t tell her.”
“You just left?” Rance asked.
“Yep. I’ll be back later to check on your woman again. And I’m bringing you food.” Frenzy closed the door and left Rance alone with Gwen.
He sat back in his chair, and thought about what Frenzy had told him. “Hope he gets his woman,” Rance said, shaking his head before he lifted his hands to his eyes and rubbed them tiredly. He leaned his head to the left, then the right, cracking his neck, then stretched his back the same way, leaning it from side to side, then settled in his chair and reached for Gwen’s hand. He sat there holding her hand gently in his, not knowingif she’d allow him to hold her hand after she awoke. And he was fully accepting of that, she had a lot of healing to do before she’d consider Rance as more than just a protector.
As he looked down at her delicate, graceful fingers lying across his palm, they twitched. Rance sat up a little straighter and raised his focus to her face.
Gwen lay there, her eyes fluttering as she tried to open them.
“Hey, there you are!” he said excitedly.
Her eyes fluttered again, before she looked at him for barely a second before they fell closed again.
“Don’t push yourself. If you need to rest some more, rest some more. I’m here watching over you. Your babies are outside with Bonnie and the females from your Pride, and some of ours, too. According to Frenzy, they’re running things out there. They’re fine. Our friends arrived just before you passed out. They’ve got some excellent medics and medical skills for combat. They stepped in immediately and figured out where you were bleeding from. They cauterized the wound, and gave you some fluids and blood, and now you’re in your room and getting better I hope.”
Gwen tried to open her eyes again and succeeded in getting one to stay open long enough to get a good look at the male speaking to her. “Wha…” she whispered a time or two before giving up.
“Are you asking what happened? You were bleeding, passed out, but we got you fixed up. I’m not sure you remember me. I’m Rance. I was at your home once, but didn’t exactly interact.”
Her eyes fluttered again and she forced herself to focus on him as best she could before she closed her eyes again. “Rance,” she repeated on a rush of breath. She seemed to settle again, so much so that Rance stared at her chest to be sure it was moving up and down with each breath she took.
“You’re okay. Your boys are okay. You have nothing to fear. I will not allow you or them to be harmed in any way. I give you my vow; you’ll all be safe and well.”
Her fingers tightened on his hand very briefly before they relaxed again.
“I got you,” Rance said, quietly. “Just sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
Chapter 11
The sliding door to the back patio opened and Frenzy stepped outside, wearing a pair of pink and orange floral printed swim trunks that reached from his hips almost to his knees. They were baggy, they were flashy, and they perfectly matched the bright pink sun hat he wore on top of his flame colored hair and orange sun glasses. “Boys and girls, Uncle Frenzy has arrived. I am here to challenge each and every one of you to a water gun war!” he announced, holding a super soaker in each hand as he squirted them both up into the air over his head. “Come one, come all, children of all ages, I dare you!” he invited, laughing maniacally like some horror movie villain of old.
The kids ran toward him, some of them with water guns of different sizes in their hands, others holding a water balloon in each hand. The assault had begun.
Frenzy dutifully dodged and wove, hiding behind everything from the grills to the structures on the splash pad, and even other adults. The kids shrieked with joy as they attacked him and even got him on the run to the pool itself. He abandoned his super soaker water guns and dove into the pool, swimming under water to the midway point before he popped up shouting. “Time out! Time out!” he yelled, holding up his hands and making a time out signal. “You win! Y’all are too good! I just can’t fight back like y’all can!”
The kids laughed and high-fived each other, confiscated his water guns, then wandered back to the splash pad to reenact the water gun battle amongst themselves over and over.
Frenzy snagged a large inner tube as it floated by and climbed up onto it, floating his way around the pool. As his inner tube made its way up to the front of the pool, nearer the shallowend, he noticed Titus standing off to the side, near the corner of the house. He held his hands up. “Titus, my man!”
