Page 71 of Operation K-9 Brothers
Chapter Twenty
“Jack didn’t show up this morning and he hasn’t called,” Mark said when Nichole walked into the kitchen, heading for the coffeepot.
He was probably too hungover.“Have you called him?”
“Yeah, but he’s not answering.I left a message but haven’t heard back.”He frowned.“We’re supposed to be at the dog place.It’s not like him to blow that off.”
She sighed as she poured a cup of much needed coffee.Sleep had been elusive as her mind had bounced all night from never seeing Jack again because it was the best thing for her to that would mean...well, never seeing him again.When she’d tried to imagine her life without him in it, she’d buried her face in her pillow and cried.
She should be standing by him, helping him get through this, but...his team mattered more than she did.That was the kicker, what she couldn’t get past.She understood why he’d gone straight from the doctor to getting drunk, although she would have preferred for him to come to her.Getting drunk didn’t solve anything.But apparently, she wasn’t important enough for him to come to when his life took a turn he hadn’t foreseen or wanted.That was why she was doubting they had a future.
Rachel was right.Lane had messed with her mind, but she’d also come away from her time with him resolved to only be in a healthy relationship with a man.She’d thought she’d found that with Jack.Now she wasn’t sure.
She didn’t know what to do.
“Will you call him?”Mark said.
“No.”She needed to be honest with him because Jack could hurt her brother as much as he was hurting her.Maybe not as much, but too close for her liking.
Mark frowned at her.“Why not?”
“Sit.”She took her coffee to the kitchen table and sat across from him.
Jack had performed a miracle with her brother, and she didn’t want to damage their relationship, or the strides forward on Mark’s part.But she couldn’t pretend things were still great between her and Jack.
“What’s going on?”Mark said.“He’s not sick, is he?”
“Not in the way I implied last night, but I do think he has some serious issues he needs to deal with.He found out yesterday that his shoulder’s permanently damaged.That means—”
“He won’t be able to be a SEAL?”
“I don’t think so.”She stared into her coffee, knowing what that meant to Jack, her heart breaking for him.She lifted her gaze to her brother.“He’s not taking it well.”
“No shit.”
“Language, Mark.”
Her brother snorted.“I’m not twelve anymore, Nic.You don’t get to reprimand me.”He stood and took her coffee cup away.“Let’s go.He needs us.”
“You go to him.I don’t know if he’s the best thing for me.”
“You’re wrong, but I’ll let you figure that out.”
That was easy for him to say.He hadn’t seen how Jack had treated her, hadn’t heard what Jack had said.When she was alone, she grabbed her earbuds, clipped the leash on Rambo, and took a long walk, hoping the exercise and fresh air would calm the battle going on between her brain and aching heart.
When Rambo flopped down on the grass, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth, she glanced around, realizing she’d walked much farther than she’d planned.“Come on, you lazy thing.I’m not carrying you home.”
Mark was pacing in her driveway when she returned.
“Did you talk to Jack?”
“He wasn’t there.I guess he went to the dog place without me.”
Or he was nursing a hangover, maybe still too drunk to answer the door.
“But that’s not important right now.”He bounced on the balls of his feet.“Lane’s in the hospital.A friend called, said he’s in a coma.”
“Did he wreck his bike?”That wouldn’t be surprising considering the way he drove it sometimes.
