Chapter 2: Remington

I stood still for a single moment as I heard more than I saw Kat vomit on my hardwood floor. She started to slur out an apology but I ignored her as I finished examining the bandaging job that she’d done. As always, despite the horrific circumstances that she was dealing with, the job looked efficient and precise. Pride swelled up in me at how well she did. I tried to catch Kat’s eyes but she had them closed. “Hey that’s a great job you did. I can’t see any blood coming up so we can leave it alone for now unless you need me to clean out the wound.” Kat finally opened her eyes back up and tilted her head back to look at me through the tight, springy coils of her reddish-brown hair. Her normally sepia colored skin had taken on a grey tint and her gold and green eyes were surrounded by dark, bruised skin. She smiled hazily up at me and my heart constricted in my chest as she slurred out “You ... grew out your hair. It looks so soft” she then shook her head and swallowed before croaking out “I had saline in my bag.”

I smiled and patted her non-injured leg. “You would have made the best boy scout.” I pulled my hand away as the urge to rub her thigh made the muscles in my arm twitch. I just wanted to keep touching her, to assure myself that she was here and alive. Instead, I stood up and took a step back.

“I’ll go get- woah shit” I leaned forward and caught her by the shoulder as she swayed and almost fell out of the chair. “Ok so let’s get you moved to the couch. Are you all right with me picking you up?” she blinked and nodded then her eyes flooded with tears.

“They fucking shot me.” Her voice warbled and then it hitched and she let out a sob that she was clearly trying to hold back. Her unfocused gaze finally sharpened as she looked up at me. She reached up and her hands clasped at my shirt “ They tried to kill me Remmie. They tried to kill me.”

Seeing her so freaked out had me wanting to comfort her and protect her from any more harm but most of all, I wanted to heal her wounds. I reached passed her, turned off the porch light, and flipped the locks on the door “It’s ok.” I crouched down next to her and stroked her cheek softly, wiping away some of her tears. “You’re safe now. I will protect you.” She seemed not to hear me as she sobbed harder and hunched over. I wrapped my arm around her back then shifted to the side and put my other arm under her legs and slowly and carefully lifted her and maneuvered us both to the couch.

Rather than lay her down, I just sat with her in my lap as I began rubbing her back. I worried that I had crossed the line because she went tense in my arms. “ Is, this ok Kat? Do you want me to put you down?” It took a couple of seconds but then she let out a slow breath and lowered her injured thigh hesitantly in a way that made me guess her reaction had actually been of pain. “No, No this is ok. I’m just not used to it”

I wasn’t sure if she meant she hadn’t gotten used to the wound and how to move to keep it from hurting as bad or if she meant that she wasn’t used to being held. Neither answer would have shocked me. I had never seen her be in a relationship but she and I had talked a lot about them. She gave me the impression that the guys she had been with in the past were more for consensual stress release than anything else.

I could have sighed with relief when she relaxed against me. Her arms slowly came up and around my neck and she then buried her face just beneath my jaw. The press of her body felt so wonderful and I would have fully relished in it if I wasn’t worried about sinking in and forgetting myself.

Instead, I grabbed the blanket off of the back of the couch and wrapped it around her and continued rubbing her back slowly. When she relaxed further and pressed into me, I began murmuring praise into her hair, telling her how strong she was. How brave she had been. How she was safe, here, with me.

What I didn’t say was just how glad I was to see her and how wretchedly I missed her after we moved apart. I didn’t mention how often I had thought about her when in my bed, sleepless and alone. Instead, I just touched her gently, trying to soothe her with my touch, until I could feel her starting to fall asleep in my arms.

Once she was fully out, my senses started coming back to me. The smell of the vomit was hitting me as the immediate feeling of peace ran off. Now it was truly hitting me. There are armed gunmen somewhere in MY woods. They shot MY FRIEND. They could be anywhere around us. Lastly, I needed to call for help.

I got up and laid Kat down on the couch then tucked the blanket securely around her before unholstering my service weapon. I started by doing a methodical check of all the windows and doors, making sure they were locked up tight. As I went along, I cleared every room just in case. The pounding of the rain on the roof could have hidden the sounds of someone breaking in, though I doubted it seeing as even through the sound, I had heard Kat coming up the porch steps.

Once every room was clear, I grabbed my sat phone off the charger and began a call to my friend Bruce, a cop with the local department.

Bruce picked up so fast that you would think I had called 911. “Hey Rem! Long time no...” I cut him off.

“My friend has been shot. 35-year-old female. Weighs about 150 at a guess. Showing signs of severe blood loss and shock including Vomiting, pale skin, sweating and tachycardia. She stated that three men were chasing her but that she might have managed to shoot one. First aid has been administered but there is a bullet still in her leg and she needs to get surgery before the bullet shifts too much. We need a medical evac asap “ My voice came out rougher than I had meant it to, more of an order than a request. I then gave my coordinates as a matter of course though I was pretty sure that Bruce had them written down nearby or even memorized. Meanwhile, I grabbed a small plastic basin from my room and filled it with warm water and soap.

When Bruce responded, he was no longer jovial. “The storm is getting bad. If worse comes to worse, think you can keep her stable until help can arrive?”

“I will do what I can. I need to get to that. Please call me with updates on the back-up’s status. Thank you, Bruce.” With a sign off, we both hung up and I turned around and grabbed one of the med kits that I kept around. Her leg looked to be in a good spot but her hands had slashes across them that needed to be cleaned as well. I had noticed the blood on my shirt where she gripped it earlier. Seeing the bandages was bad enough but seeing her blood had me feeling a bit on edge so I needed to get those cleaned up.

Logically I knew that this made no sense because the wound under the bandages was so much worse but at the same time, a wound like that, one that was as stable as could be expected right now, left me with no recourse. I had to put that one out of my mind unless the state of it changes.

When I reached Kat again, she was shivering despite the blanket. It was too warm outside to light a fire in the hearth so I grabbed a blanket from the chair and laid that over her as well. She seemed to be well and truly out, and I didn’t want to bother her, but I needed to at least try to get permission to treat her.

I placed my hand on her shoulder and stroked it. Her face twitched but she did not actually wake at all. I chose instead to lean close and whisper to her, half hoping she would stay asleep and half hoping she would open her eyes and capture me with her gaze like she used to do during missions and meetings at the base. “Kat, can you please wake up? I need to clean your hands.” She gave no indication that she heard me. I switched to rubbing her back but she still didn’t stir.

I did not like working on patients that couldn’t alert me to issues as they arise during treatment but needs be what they must. I sighed and pulled out what I needed before getting to work, removing the bits of gravel from her palm. I would glance up at her face to see if I was disturbing her but, other than a small facial twitch, she stayed fully under. I then got the small washcloth out of the wash basin and began cleaning her wounds with great care. Now she did make a pained noise at the back of her throat but did not wake up.

As I tended to her, even just being able to touch her hand and to see her face had me a wreck. All of the old urges that I got when we worked together, her as my superior, snapping out orders to me reared their head. I wanted to follow her lead. She was the most powerful woman that I know. A warrior goddess come down to save or punish as required.

When I had her hands all clean and bandaged, I got up and cleaned the throw up off of my floor with towels and wood cleaner then dumped the bundle into the wash and started the load. My house already smelled better.

I finally sat down next to the couch and tried to read but I kept finding myself glancing over at Kat to watch her breathing. Eventually I got frustrated and just put down the book. Looking at her face, the memory of our first meeting hitting me hard enough to leave me dizzy.

I threw my cards down on the table in front of me. “Royal flush” my pronouncement made a few groans rise up from the people at the table. As I was racking over my new cash stack a voice cut through the din.

“Not sure why you all are surprised you lost. Every single one of you has a shit poker face except for newbie over there.” There in the doorway, standing next to their highest-ranking supervisor, was an African American woman, her curly hair tied back from her face and corded muscle being shown off by her skin-tight, long sleeved henley.

At the sight of her, a cheer came up from the group around me. Calls of “you’re back!” “Katerina, hey!”

I watched, transfixed as she sauntered into the room and took a seat at the table. Her face became a mask of disapproval.

“I am shocked, Shocked! to find that gambling in going on in here!” Deciding to play along, I grabbed the deck and dealt her a hand.

“Your cards ma’am” She looked over at me directly and laughed as she accepted the cards. The older people around the table laughed but the young ones just looked confused. From beside me I heard Cassius mumble “classic” Then she stands back up, as if remembering something, and held out her hand to me.

“Hi, I’m Katerina. I’m the Wilderness Unit Leader.” I stood up too and took her hand in mine and we both shook firmly. It wasn’t a show of strength on her part. She wasn’t trying to squeeze the life out of my hand, as I’d had other leaders and comrades alike have done in the past. She just did it as a matter of course.

“Remmington, wilderness unit technician” so she was my new boss. Neat. Over the course of the next hour, she positively wiped the floor with all of us. No matter what hand she had, she just smiled a sly little smile, like she had a secret. For the life of me, I couldn’t see her tell.

“So, Kat, I started about a month ago and I haven’t seen you. Where have you been since I got here...” I paused as her gaze locked on mine, sharp and with censure. “If you don’t mind me asking that is?”