Page 5 of Handling Haven

Frisco’s mind kept flashing back to the moment when he’d realized Haven had been begging him to leave her to die. What had been going through her brain, at that very moment, to be filled with so much despair she’d given up hope in less time than most people decided what was for dinner, he didn’t know. Leaving her hadn’t been an option, whether she’d been dead already or just suffering from a hangnail. But the look of resignation in her eyes as she’d pleaded with him would haunt him to his dying day.

Multiple footsteps approaching had Frisco glancing toward the entrance to the mess hall. Ghost, Fletch, and a couple he didn’t know walked in. The commanding officer of the ship had dispatched a chopper to retrieve them at Sawyer’s request. Apparently, the retired SEAL had a lot of pull in the Navy—either that or he had friends in high places. Like the six that’d been onboard Kearsarge for several hours, the new arrivals had found somewhere to shower and change into comfortable civilian clothing. It was common to arrange for a safe house somewhere near the mission target in case things went to shit like they’d done earlier in the evening.

Hollywood instantly awoke and stood, scrubbing the sleep from his face, while Sawyer remained in his seat and held out a hand. “Ghost, I wish I could say it was nice to see you again.”

The Delta Team leader snorted as he shook the other man’s hand. “Same here, Sawyer. We sent your teams back with ours; they should be over the Atlantic by now. Your brothers said to say, and I quote, ‘fuck you’ for sending your jet to meet you in Bahrain. They’re sitting in the back of a cargo plane and not too happy about it.”

The other man scoffed. “Too fucking bad. Nick’s name isn’t on the letterhead, yet, and until it is, he’s shit out of luck. And Dev’s been getting too soft withhis wife and kid. The trip will toughen him up again.”

“Ian, how’s Haven?” The exotic-looking woman’s voice drew Frisco’s attention. Her features had him thinking she was of South American descent, but he couldn’t zero in on a specific country. With long, black hair pulled back into a ponytail, she stood about five foot eight on two-inch-heeled western boots. Her jean-clad legs seemed to go on for miles while her torso was covered by a long-sleeved, baby blue, V-neck T-shirt. She was physically fit, and Frisco had a feeling she wasn’t a woman to be underestimated. Her companion, who had his arm possessively around her waist, was a tall, muscular but lean man, with dirty blond hair that fell unrestrained just below his shoulders. He was similarly dressed in jeans, a casual tee, and black biker boots and had that deadly aura about him those not in the special ops community might easily miss. This was a man not to be fucked with.

Sawyer shook his head. “Don’t know. She’s been unconscious since we loaded her onto the bird. She got hit in the middle of her back, really close to her spine. One of the nurses came out about twenty minutes ago and said they were wrapping things up. The surgeon’s supposed to come outsoon to talk to us. By the way, Taint-waffle, this is Jackass and Sweetheart. Hollywood has already had the pleasure.”

Frisco rolled his eyes as he held out his hand. “Everyone else calls me Frisco.”

The woman smiled as she shook his hand. “Everyone else calls me Jordyn, and this is Carter.”

“Nice to meet you. Wish it was under better circumstances.”

As Carter also gave him a handshake, Jordyn strode over to where the others were still watching the news. Reardon’s attention had been so focused on the TV, he hadn’t even noticed when she and the others had come in. When Jordyn put her hand on his arm, he startled, then stood and walked into her embrace. It was then the man finally broke down, having remained stoic all this time. His shoulders shook as he silently cried on her shoulder. From what Frisco had figured out earlier, Reardon was very protective of both female spies, like they were his older sisters or something. He’d spoken of both of them fondly over the past few hours to Babs, who’d tried to keep him engaged in conversation while they waited for news.

Giving the other two some privacy, Skipper and Babs walked over and joined the rest of them. Afterwatching Jordyn and Reardon for a few moments, Sawyer stood and stretched. “Any news on the buyer?”

Carter crossed his arms over his sculpted chest. “No. We’ve narrowed him down to five possibles—one of whom is dead in the rubble. He was the one who shot Haven from the window of the library. Reverend took him out and, thankfully, didn’t make it a head shot, so I was able to get a few photos from different angles before the authorities arrived and gained control of the place. We’re running his face through the recognition program. No hits yet, but it could be hours before we get one.”

Footsteps sounded again and, this time, a harried-looking man in scrubs strode in. He eyed the newcomers as Jordyn and Reardon hurried over.

“It’s okay, Doc, they’re family,” Sawyer reassured him.

The older man nodded and took off his glasses. “I’m sure I don’t want to know what kind of family it is. I have my orders that this case doesn’t exist.” He took in a deep breath and blew it back out. “She’s being moved to recovery. The bullet nicked the spinal cord at L1 and 2, then lodged in the spleen, which we had to remove. The trauma around the spine has caused swelling and bruising.As a result, she’s got cord shock. She can’t feel anything below the injury right now, but I’m pretty sure it’s temporary. Because of the muscles around the spleen, there may come a point where the pain and paresthesia will be more pronounced on her left side, but, again, that depends on her recovery.”

“So she’s going to be all right?” Reardon asked, hopefully.

The doctor shook his head. “I wish I could say that, but I can’t. We won’t know more until the cord heals to see if she’ll regain full function. Will she be able to run again? I highly doubt it. Will she be able to walk with or without the assistance of crutches and braces? I think that’s up to her and how her recovery goes. I’ve seen people regain full or limited use of their legs and lower abdominal organs, while others have given into depression or guilt or whatever’s holding them back, and they’re in a wheelchair for the rest of their lives. She’s going to need a lot of rehab. It could be two months before she starts to regain feeling in her legs, it could be as long as two years. I wish I could give you more than that, but recovering from this type of injury is different for every patient.”

The group was quiet for a moment while theydigested the diagnosis, as vague as it was, then Jordyn spoke up. “When can we see her, Doctor?”

“Give the nurses a few minutes to get her settled in recovery. I can let two people in to see her for only a moment. After that, you’ll have to wait 'til morning.” He glanced at the clock on the wall. “Actually, since it’s 0200, late morning. We’re going to keep her heavily sedated for the next eighteen to twenty-four hours, until she’s stable enough to be medevaced to Bahrain and board a flight to Landstuhl. They’ll ease her out of the drug-induced coma in Germany. That will ensure she doesn’t move around at all.”

Carter glanced at everyone else to see if they had any more questions, then turned back to the surgeon. “Thanks, Doc. Jordyn and I will be staying with Haven until she can be transported. The officer of the deck said he’s got a couple of bunks for us; I’ll make sure your staff knows where to find us.”

“Good. Get some sleep. If anything changes, we’ll let you know.”

After the doctor left, a tense and remorse-filled silence filled the air, before Carter turned to Sawyer. “I spoke to McDaniel—he’s in Washington, handling the backlash of this clusterfuck. As soon as Haven can handle the trip, we’ll get her back to the States. Do me a favor and take Reardonwith you. Someone from Deimos will meet you in Tampa and escort him back to California.”

“No!”

Frisco wasn’t the only one startled by Reardon’s venomous shout. His face reddened as he continued. “I’m staying with Haven. She’s my responsibility. She was protecting me, and it’s because of me she’s hurt. I’m not leaving.”

Before Carter could answer, Jordyn stepped between the two men, facing the one who was near tears again, this time in anger as well as grief. She placed her hands on his shoulders and made sure she had his attention, before speaking in a calming tone as if she were dealing with a young child. “Kenny, no.” He shook his head, but she persisted. “Listen to me. Listen. I promise you, we’ll take good care of her, but we don’t know who’s looking for ‘Preston Ward’ right now. Your face ended up on several videos that were taken by cell phones. The ones we’ve seen on the internet are blurry, but we can’t take the chance someone knows what you look like. Haven would tell you exactly what I’m telling you—you have to go back to the States in protective custody. Once you’re at headquarters, and Haven’s awake, I’ll get the two of you on the phone so you can talk to her, but you can’t stay with her—it’s notsafe. I swear, as soon as we can, we’ll bring her home.”

Reardon had tried to interrupt several times, but the woman hadn’t let him get a word in. They all saw the moment he surrendered. His shoulders sagged as he, reluctantly, accepted the fact he had to leave. Frisco felt the same way even though he barely knew Haven, and she didn’t even know his name. He wanted to stay with her until she woke up, to see with his own eyes she was okay, but it wasn’t an option.

A few moments later, a surgical nurse came in. Carter gestured for Jordyn and Reardon to go see Haven. Once they were gone, Sawyer picked up the plastic bag his camos were in. Their weapons and equipment they’d had on them were still in the Blackhawk, which was sitting on one of the ship’s helipads. Babs would fly Reardon and the Trident and Delta team members to Bahrain where Sawyer’s luxury jet was apparently waiting for them. For once, Frisco, Ghost, Fletch, and Hollywood would be flying even better than first class.

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Sawyer announced. “Carter, send the dweeb up to the chopper when he’s done and call us if youneed anything.”

“Will do.”

---