AllFreeNovel
Share Us
After his brain had realized that he was in no danger from water anymore, the showers got easier and more enjoyable. Deeper water took a little more time to get used to, but he had spent the last month utilizing the pool at the military hospital under instructions from his doctors, and now he was pretty much back to normal. Besides, if he put down his feet in this pool, the water barely covered his hips.
Chris Roberts was hanging around just outside the room and Jamie shook his head with a smile. He had definitely developed a liking for the man, despite his distrust at first. That hadn’t so much been Roberts’s fault as it had Jamie’s past experience. He had been more than thrilled to discover that Chris had been in his old unit; the soldiers in the 85th were the most solid that Jamie had ever experienced, and from the second he had known, he had made the decision to trust Chris Roberts with his life. The man was a legend.
They had nicknamed him Captain America over in Afghanistan and he had been essential in taking down a lot of insurgent bases. It had been a joke based on his name, but Chris’s reputation had been almost as honorable as that of the fictional character. Jamie Barratt had had big boots to fill, but he had managed to do alright. Until his patrol team had been ambushed and taken captive. Thankfully, none of his boys had suffered anywhere near the same extent of interrogation as Jamie had. None of them had been the son of the President of the United States of America.
Pushing his wet hair back from his face, Jamie floated into the middle of the pool, searching for the figure of his Secret Serviceman.
“Chris?”
Roberts was through the doorway immediately. “Sir?”
Jamie grinned at him. “Well, first, you havegotto stop calling me sir. It feels very weird, and honestly, you’re not a subordinate, so stop. Secondly, I have an enormous hankering to play water polo. Get in the pool.”
Chris raised his eyebrows and looked down at his suit. “Get in the pool? Are you serious?”
“Please,” Jamie added as an afterthought, flashing a toothy smile.
Chris laughed and shook his head. “I’m supposed to be your security, you know. How am I supposed to do my job when I’m practically naked and playing water polo?”
“Oh, my God, Roberts! Who the hell do you think is going to try and kill me in a tiny pool surrounded by reinforced walls and six inches of missile-proof glass?”
Chris shrugged and looked around helplessly.
“I won’t tell if you don’t,” Jamie said.
“I don’t have any trunks…”
Jamie laughed and leaned back in the pool, treading water for a second. Then he reached beneath the surface, shed his own trunks, and threw them to the side of the pool, the fabric landing with a wet slap against the ridged floor. “Neither do I,” he replied triumphantly. “Now, are you going to get in, or do I have to come and get you?”
Chris Roberts laughed and threw up his hands in defeat before beginning to strip. Jamie grinned and swam to the side to find the water polo net, then strung it across as Chris laid aside his clothes, his earpiece, and his service pistol before slipping into the pool.
Jamie tossed the white ball over the net and the game began. It was fun—they laughed, they called each other out on illegal moves, they threw good-natured insults. Jamie was thoroughly enjoying himself for the first time in months when his foot slipped on the smooth tiled bottom of the pool, and he went backwards under the water.
He panicked.
The sensation of his head being completely enclosed in water was too familiar, too chillingly terrifying, and his body remembered what usually came next. Jamie thrashed pathetically, unable to regain a foothold, and it made him panic further. His blood was pounding in his ears, his heart beating so hard, he thought it would split his ribcage, and his lungs were about to burst with the desire for oxygen.
Suddenly, he felt a strong arm around his chest, and he was hauled upright, clear of the water. Jamie gasped in his much-needed breath and clung tight to his savior, fingers digging into shoulder muscles as he finally managed to get both feet flat on the floor and looked up into the very concerned face of Chris Roberts. Their faces were so close that Jamie could almost count the pale freckles that covered the man’s nose.
“Are you alright?”
Chris was still firmly holding Jamie and close enough that he could feel the agent’s heart hammering, too. A smile flittered across Chris’s face to disappear as soon as it had appeared.
“Yeah…” Jamie tried very hard to breathe and bring down his heart rate. He forced himself to laugh. “That was a close call.”
Chris raised his eyebrows, and slowly they disentangled from each other. “You really scared me for a second there,” he said.
“I really scared myself!” Jamie admitted, taking a few steps back. “I should probably take that as my cue to get out of the pool.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Roberts’s brow was still furrowed in deep concern.
Jamie gave his easiest smile. “Yeah. I mean…yeah, it’s all good. Just lost my footing. Thank you for setting me right.” He turned and hauled himself out of the pool, dripping water as he made his way to the door, where he took one of the fluffy white bath towels that hung waiting and wrapped it around his waist. “I’ll be in the shower,” he called over his shoulder.
Five minutes later, Jamie found himself huddled on the floor of the shower in his en suite, knees drawn up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them like a child. He inhaled deep, shuddering breaths as the water ran over his scalp and face, and he tried to calm himself.
Just like the nightmares, it was obviously going to take him a long time to feel okay with going under.
Chapter 4
