Chapter 9

She was all business at the hospital, and even Bob couldn't tell she'd been having orgasms on the way there. They were again denied access to ICU, this time by a different nurse.

"Your father will be moved to a regular room today. We're getting him ready to go now. You'll have to wait until he's in his new room to see him," she said. "Your mother is still in a coma and will remain that way for at least another day. She's doing better, though. You'll have to be satisfied with that. I can't let you in there because of the risk of infection. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is."

She was unbending, a bureaucrat doing her job, and not even Bob could sway her. Instead of trying to argue, Bob pulled Jennifer away from the doors to ICU and went in search of someone who could authorize her to sit and read to her mother. His argument was simple. She was willing to gown up or do whatever anyone wanted her to do in the name of infection control. She wasn't sick herself. Medical journals suggested that some patients in a coma could still hear, and being spoken to by a loved one was believed to be helpful sometimes. She just wanted to sit and read to her mother.

He spent two hours asking to speak to one supervisor after another until they got high enough in the food chain to find somebody who had the authority to approve her request. In the end all she had to do was put on scrubs and a mask.

By then, though, Don had been installed in a semi-private room, and Jennifer didn't know whether to go see him or stay with her mother.

"We fought hard to get you in there," Bob said. "Spend some time with your mother. Get them used to the idea that it's okay for you to be here. Then you can tell them you have to go, but you'll be back. Don't get in the way and don't bother the nurses, okay? I'll go see your dad. He'll understand why you're not there yet.

She let herself be swayed by his argument and he left her there, taking her jacket and helmet and leaving her with only the book. Then he went in search of room 362A.

When he got there he was politely informed that visiting hours were between six and eight in the evening and that the patient he had requested to see had just arrived on the floor and needed his rest.

Patiently, or at least in a voice Bob thought was patient, he explained the circumstances and that Don needed to know some things that, quite likely, nobody was telling him. Finally he explained that the man's daughter had been authorized to visit her mother in ICU and that, if they wanted him to, he'd be happy to return to the same administrator and get an authorization for them to visit Don, too.

Had the nurse been honest, she would have admitted that she just didn't like Bob's appearance. She wasn't honest, though, so she stood on a policy that, truth be told, wasn't really enforced all that stringently. It was easier to cave than fight, so she caved.

Don was awake and alert when Bob entered the room. The breathing tube had been removed and Don was breathing on his own, albeit somewhat shallowly.

"Didn't know if I was dreaming or not," he whispered.

"Thought you were having a nightmare?" Bob smiled, but his heart wasn't in it.

"Is Jen really here?"

"She's with Susan," said Bob. He explained everything he knew about her condition and treatment, and what Jennifer was doing.

"She's gonna be okay?" Don's voice rasped.

"She's better today than she was yesterday," said Bob. "She's a tough old girl. She has to be to have survived living with you this long."

He got a weak smile, followed by a grimace. "Hurts to breathe," Don said.

"You fucked yourself up pretty good," said Bob. Then he told Don everything he knew about his condition.

"Glad they could save the leg," said Don softly. "This is fucked up, though." He closed his eyes for a few seconds and then opened them again. "Thanks for taking care of Jen."

Bob felt his inner conflict flare up. He had no secrets from this man, and he didn't want any. He wanted to tell Don what was happening to his daughter, but this wasn't the right time. The man had enough on his plate without having to worry about his little girl.

"I'm trying," he said, feeling like he was lying through his teeth.

"She's a handful," said Don. "But you'll do okay. You've had to go up against much worse." He smiled then and kept it on his face. "Damn I'm glad you're here."

"No problem," said Bob. Then, to change the subject and entertain his brother in arms, Bob told him about what had happened to Matt, and who had answered the call, and finally what Bob had done about it.

Don reacted like a SEAL. "Have you checked in with him since you left?"

Bob nodded. "Once, but that's all. Had other things on my mind. Ripper said he'd hang around for a while. I gave the ear to Matt. I should have kept it so I could show it to you." His grin was wolfish.

Don shook his head. "Thanks, but no thanks."

Bob shrugged. "In all the years we were SEALs we never did that shit. I have to admit, though, it felt pretty good at the time and Matt had a shit eating grin on his face when I handed it to him. If nothing happens I'm sure he'll toss it."

Bob was still sitting there, slouched in a chair with his booted feet stretched out and crossed in front of him when Jennifer bounced into the room.

"Daddy!" she sighed, as he turned his head to look at her. She started toward the bed.

"Don't hug me!" said Don in an almost normal voice. She stopped, confusion on her face. "Ribs hurt," he added. She advanced and picked up his hand instead.

"You l-l-look b-b-better," she said.

"Baby, you have no idea how much I've wanted to hear your voice," said Don. "How's your mother?"

Jennifer slumped. "They s-s-say sh-sh-she's doing b-b-better, b-b-but she j-j-just lays th-th-there."

"Bob said you're reading to her." Jennifer nodded. "Want to read to me, too?" he asked.

She nodded, smiling. "Sh-sh-shure!" She held up the book.

Don squinted at it. "Ahhhh, your mother's favorite author. How weird is this one?"

"P-p-pretty w-w-weird," said Jennifer, smiling.

"Well then your mother will love it," said Don. "And I'll try to love it, too. Having you read it to me will make things better, I'm sure."

Bob stood up. "I'm going to go for a walk," he said. "I don't want them to have any excuse to say that you're getting too many people in here."

Jennifer looked at Bob for the first time since entering the room.

"C-c-come get m-m-me for l-l-lunch?"

"Sure thing, sweet cheeks," said Bob automatically. He felt his face begin to flush as what had been a common nickname for her took on new meaning. He hurried out, leaving her jacket and both helmets there.

Don watched Jennifer get comfortable in the same chair Bob had been using. He felt such enormous relief that she was there, and that she hadn't had to come to recover bodies to bury. He knew her stutter would disappear completely when she was reading, and he was pretty sure he could go to sleep, lulled that way by her voice. He watched as her foot hit a helmet and she leaned down to move it.

"How was it, riding a motorcycle here?" he asked her. "You're not used to that."

"It w-w-was f-f-fine," she said, opening the book. "It h-hurt m-m-my b-b-butt the f-f-first day, b-b-but it's b-b-better n-n-now."

"Which bike did he bring?" asked Don, just out of curiosity.

"It's b-b-black," she said, turning another page. "H-h-he c-c-calls it th-th-th B-b-babe B-b-bike."

Don's eyes widened. "Did you say the Babe Bike?" he asked. He knew all about the Babe Bike. Bob had told him all about it one night while they were having a beer together. Don had complained that he never got to do something like that and wondered if Bob would let him borrow it to ride Susan around, just for fun. Bob had agreed, of course, but he'd never brought the Babe Bike when he came to see them.

"Uh huh," said Jennifer, turning one more page. Then she sat back with her finger on the first sentence in the book. Something in his voice alerted her that this was interesting to him. "Why?"

Don thought about it. He knew Bob came straight from helping Matt, so it must have been pure coincidence that he had that bike when he picked Jennifer up. Had his little girl been exposed to what that thing did? She had to have, unless Bob rigged it not to, somehow.

"Nothing," he said softly. "I've never seen that one, I don't think."

Jennifer tossed her hair out of her eyes. "B-b-bob said s-s-something b-b-broke on it, b-b-but it g-g-got us here f-f-fine."

Don didn't know whether to smile or cry. He knew his daughter was all grown up, but he still felt very protective of her. He usually tried to hide that, because she needed to learn how to survive on her own. She couldn't stay home with her mommy and daddy forever, as much as Don wished she could. He wasn't about to ask her what it had felt like riding on a seat specifically designed to get a woman going. And for so long! Bob had to have done something to lessen the sensations. Don decided he was going to ask him, the next time he saw him. That much was certain.

Then Jennifer started reading, and he let the soothing sounds of her voice wash over him. He was right. Within twenty minutes his eyes were drooping and he was perfectly comfortable with taking a little nap.

When Bob returned to the room to collect Jennifer, both the girl and her father were dozing. He touched her shoulder and she woke up. She smiled up at him, closed the book that was lying in her lap, and stood up. She held one finger up to her lips, telling him not to wake her father. Then a nurse came in as they were leaving and woke Don up to take his vital signs.

"I'll b-b-be b-b-back," Jennifer said, going back to kiss him on the cheek.

"Okay," he said. "I'll be here."

It wasn't until they were gone that he remembered what he was going to ask Bob about.

Bob looked at her as they approached the bike.

"Why didn't you bring the pillow?" he asked.

"D-d-don't n-n-need it," she said simply.

"About last night," Bob said. On his walk around the hospital grounds he'd decided that they needed to confront things. Now that she knew her parents were going to be all right, and wasn't so worried, he just wanted to get it out of the way.

She reached for his hand.

"L-l-let's g-g-get some l-l-lunch," she said.

"We have to talk about it sometime," he said patiently.

"N-n-no we d-d-don't," she said, pulling him along when he tried to stop. "Unless y-y-you w-w-want to d-d-do it ag-g-gain r-r-right now."

"No!" he yelped.

"I'm h-h-hungry anyw-w-way," she said, letting go of his hand and putting on her helmet. She waited for him to get on the bike. When he didn't, she pointed, authoritatively. When he was seated, she climbed on behind him and wrapped her arms around him, putting her hands inside his open jacket.

He only drove them two blocks, to where he remembered a Mexican restaurant being. When he cut the bike off, she pinched his stomach.

"N-n-no fair!" she complained.

"What's not fair is what you're doing to me," he groused.

She laughed. "Am I m-m-making y-y-you h-h-horny?" She wasn't embarrassed at all when he looked at her and was staring right at his face.

He didn't answer. Her brow furrowed and she very carefully said: "Chicken!"

"We're not done talking about this," he said heavily.

"G-g-good," she said calmly. "B-b-because y-y-you're m-m-making m-m-me horny."

Bob threw up his hands and followed her inside. She was still giggling.

She didn't pick at her food, but she took her time. It was two o'clock by the time they left to return to the hospital. They wouldn't let Bob on the ICU ward. He wasn't authorized, but they welcomed Jennifer back like she was a sister. So he went down to sit with Don while Jennifer spent another two hours reading to her unresponsive mother. How he got through that afternoon, Bob would never be able to say.

It wasn't bad at first. Don wanted him to call Matt and make sure everything was okay with him. That ended up taking half an hour, as Don then wanted to talk to his old teammate. After that they watched TV, making fun of the daytime programs and talking about this or that during commercials. Bob had been there two hours when Don remembered to ask about the bike.