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“Oh? Your gut is rarely wrong,” Antony said, standing. “I need to get to the hospital to check on Charlie.”
Oliver stood. “Of course.” He opened his mouth, and closed it again, before saying, “I trust you, Ramos. Always have. Give Madden my best.”
Antony stuck out his hand and waited until Oliver grasped it. “Means a lot, man. Really.”
***
Charlie was a small woman, but she looked positively tiny in the hospital bed. Her skin was paler than normal, and her eyes were closed. The weight in Antony’s chest lifted a little at the sight of the heart monitor, which pulsed with a steady beat.
“I ain’t dead.”
Antony smiled and walked into the room. He moved a chair close to the side of Charlie’s bed and sat down. “And I’m glad for that.”
She reached out and grabbed his hand. “I’m glad you were there.” A couple of tears slid down her cheek, and Antony reached up to wipe them away with his thumb.
“Me, too.”
“You get anywhere on the case?”
“No. We have records coming in. Video from the club.” He laid his head down on her leg and looked up at her. “Top sent us home until tomorrow. Not much we can do until we get all the records in.”
Charlie frowned. “What records?”
“Randall said that this shit’s happened before. Couple years back. It’s so easy to get drugs in around here. So, he called it in and they’re gathering up the old cases.”
“I hate to think of all the people this has happened to,” Charlie said. “We’re so transient with all the trainees. There may be countless troops who this happened to and just stayed quiet.”
Antony gripped her hand tighter. “That crossed my mind, too.”
Charlie grinned suddenly. “What was her name?”
Antony smiled and shook his head. “Lesley.”
“Did you at least get her number before shit happened?”
He leaned back in the seat and shook his head. “Nope. But I ran into her today.”
“No shit?”
“No shit. She’s a Soldier. Prosser’s sister, as it turns out. He sends his regards, by the way.”
“Oliver Prosser? Damn.”
A nurse, Belva, by her name tag, walked into the room. “Don’t mind me, I’m just checking in.” She busied herself with the chart she’d grabbed from the door and glanced up at the monitors surrounding the bed.
“Okay,” Charlie said. “How’d you run into her?”
“Food court, of all places. Took her out to lunch.”
Belva touched Charlie on the foot and smiled. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours. If you need anything, you know how to get me.”
“Thank you, Belva. You’ve been so good to me.”
“Tsch. You’ve made it easy, dear.”
After she left, Charlie looked back at Antony. “You looked good together out on the dance floor. I hope you asked her out.”
Antony nodded.
