Her tray was extremely full, and she moved very slowly, heading toward the medical center. She had to pull off to the side, when several people passed, because she was worried about dumping her load. Eventually she made it back to the medical center and pushed open the doors. When she walked in, the doctor took one look and said, “Oh, good, you’ll stay and eat with him.”
“Not likely,” she muttered under her breath.
But, as she headed toward Ryland, he was sitting up, looking like he was in a slightly less-painful position. She smiled. “What did he do, give you a shot in the butt for the pain?”
He grinned. “I wish that’s all he’d done.” Then he took one look at the plates and the tray in her hands and said, “Wow, you know how to follow orders.”
“At your command,” she said.
He reached out and moved the little hospital table across his lap, and she placed her very heavy load down.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t think about how heavy that would be for you.”
“I’m the one who said I could make a second trip, but then I got stubborn and put it all on one tray,” she said with a laugh.
“How about you get your breakfast,” he said, “and come back and join me? Another hospital table is over there. We can bring it here, so you can sit and eat too.”
“I’ll do that,” she said, with a smile.
As she turned to leave, and the doctor walked in, he took one look at the two plates before Ryland and said, “I thought she was here to have breakfast with you.”
He grinned. “Nope, this is all mine, and I’ll be a while, eating it,” he admitted.
“Back in five,” she said.
She hoped nobody noticed, as she walked in with another plate on a tray, but nobody said anything, if they did. She quickly loaded up about half the mountain of food that he had, but she was terribly hungry too. With her full load and another cup of coffee, she walked back again, realizing just how many miles she was getting on this ship. By the time she walked in and sat down, she said, “I’m tired now.”
“It’s a lot to get used to, when aboard a navy ship, isn’t it?”
“It is,” she said, as she adjusted the tray table height, so that she could sit down and have it in front of her. She then picked up a sausage and bit into it. “What is there about a hot breakfast?” she wondered.
“Something very soothing to the soul,” he said, “about any hot meal. But, when you’re stressed and tired, it’s the best.”
“And I love breakfast anyway,” she said. “So there’s that.”
Only silence came for a time, as the two of them worked their way through the breakfast. Just when she was finished, and he was two-thirds of the way through his, the doctor walked back in and said, “Good, you’re almost done.”
“Is our ride here?” Ryland asked, lifting his gaze.
The doctor frowned, nodded, and said, “I’m not sure how you managed it, but your ride will be here in twenty.”
She immediately stood and said, “That’s my signal to go grab my stuff.”
“Meet right back here,” the doctor said. “The three of you are leaving from here.”
“Be back as soon as I can,” she said, leaving her dishes behind.
*
Ryland watched her go, appreciating her trim figure, as she bolted out of here. He understood how tired she was with her two trips to the mess hall. Life aboard a naval ship was something to get used to—the size of a ship like this and how many miles you actually log as you traverse it, from one end to the other. And she’d been doing the stairs a lot too.
The doctor motioned at Ryland’s two plates and said, “I figured one of those plates was for her.”
“Nope, both for me,” he said, as he worked away on the pancakes, thoroughly enjoying getting tanked back up again.
“How did you manage the ride?”
“Pulled a few favors,” he said. The doctor’s manner was a little stiff, and Ryland wondered if he’d stepped on his toes. “Sorry,” he said. “We’ve got emergencies happening all around, so I’m needed out of here. Not for lack of good care by any means,” he said hurriedly.
The doctor relaxed a little bit and said, “I’d feel better if Garret were in a place more suited to his injuries. We’ve got state-of-the-art equipment, but that head injury concerns me.”
At the mention of Garret, he was wheeled in on a hospital bed to join Ryland in his room.
Ryland looked at his friend, ever silent, and nodded. “That’ll be the first thing we run tests on.”
Chapter 5
As soon as Tabi got back with her bag, she found Ryland already on his feet and dressed, with the gurney moving Garret to the upper deck. Ryland stood at the doorway waiting for her. He motioned at the gurney and said, “Come on. We’re behind him.”
She slowed her pace to get behind him, until he glared at her. She shrugged and moved forward. “Don’t be so touchy,” she said. “I’m not the one with stitches in my ass and everywhere else that could be slowing things down.”
“Ha,” he said. “My butt is just fine.”
“It’s more than fine,” she said, laughing, but she deliberately didn’t hold open the doors he went through either. Didn’t want to set off his touchy ego again.
He just glared at her. “You could at least help,” he said, in that mocking aggrieved voice.
“And get dirty looks? Nope, you’re one of those big tough guys.” She smiled. “You’ll make do on your own.”
By the time they got to where they were going, which was up on deck, a huge military helicopter waited for them.
She just stared at it in surprise and looked at him. “Is this your ride, Ryland?”
“Yep, and yours too,” he said, as he grabbed her hand. “Come on.” And, together, the two of them walked closer.
“I’ve never flown in anything like this,” she said nervously.
He looked at her, squeezed her fingers, and said, “Stick by me, and I’ll get you there safe.”
“You’re the one who was just blown out of the sky,” she said.
He burst out laughing. “True enough,” he said, “but that wasn’t our fault.”
“Says you,” she replied.
But still, she followed his lead, and, by the time she was up in the helicopter and sitting down, he was working hard to buckle her in. Then she caught that slight grimace on his face as he pulled on muscles that had been stitched together.
“Sit down,” she scolded. “I can do up my own buckles.”
He sat down beside her and said, “Touchy, touchy.”
“Not so touchy,” she said.
“It’s all good,” he said, and he settled back with a smile.
She looked over, and her gaze caught on his strapped-down friend. “No change in Garret’s condition, huh?”
Ryland’s face was grim, as he shook his head. “No, none.”
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“It is what it is for now,” he said. “This is a wait-and-see deal.”