Our communication was only one way, I could hear him but he couldn’t hear me. My heart sank when I realized he was being shot at with a long range rifle, and I could hear the gunshots echo through the desert. I tried to call in for backup, when I received a message from my boss that the US Marshals had been deployed, and they were only moments behind me.

Knowing that I’d have backup at any time, I took off on foot to help Davidson. I could tell there had been a crash, and he said he was ok, but whoever was shooting wasn’t going to just stand down. They obviously wanted the drugs he was carrying. As I silently made my way around the back of the crash, I thanked God that it was so dark in the desert. My eyes had adjusted, and I could see light from the vehicles that were approaching the scene.

Once I realized that there were only four people in the approaching vehicles, I scanned the area, looking for Davidson. Looking at the wreckage of the truck, I knew he had to be hurt, and I needed to help him. My heart raced, and my breath became quick as I continued to search, watching the cars stop. As they began looking for Davidson as well, the other men were unloading the crashed truck, when I spotted Davidson being held at gunpoint not fifteen yards from me. I couldn’t believe I didn’t find him first.

My training took over, and I repositioned myself to where I could get a good shot. The man in a suit asked Davidson some questions, then instructed his accomplice to kill him. That’s when I made my move, stepping out of the shadows, and I shot him clean, taking him down with that one shot. I quickly turned my aim on the man in the suit, who clearly called the shots when the standoff began. While there were three of them and two of us, the man in the suit didn’t even move.

I met Davidson’s glance briefly, never taking my gun off the man, when I picked up the sound of cars behind me. I knew it was the US Marshals, but I had no way of telling him without warning the guys we were taking down. As they screeched to a halt behind me, the foolish low lifes scrambled, thinking they could get away, when the chaos began. They fired their guns at Davidson and me, when I jumped away into the brush to regain the protection of darkness.

“US Marshals! Freeze!” they yelled, as several more shots were fired before there was silence. I hadn’t seen what transpired; it happened too quickly.

“Agent Jennings? Is that you?” An agent in a vest indicating he was with the Marshals reached down to give me a hand getting up.

“Yes, thank you,” I took his offered hand and brushed the dirt off myself after holstering my gun. “Where’s Agent Davidson?” I asked, worried.

“Over here! We need a medic, he’s been shot!” another Marshal yelled out from where Davidson had been standing.

“Oh my God, no!” I yelled and ran over, where he was unconscious, and bleeding from his torso. My heart sank, and I dropped to my knees, trying to get him to come to. “Davidson, wake up. Wake up! It’s me! You got him. Wake up!”

Within moments, we were in the back of a government vehicle, making our way to the hospital. There was so much blood, and he still wasn’t responding, but he had a pulse. Losing him before he was ever really mine became my greatest fear, and as we raced to the hospital back in town, the tears started to fall.

They took him away as soon as we arrived, and the Marshal that had accompanied us sat with me in the waiting room for what seemed like hours before we got any news. I’d been questioned and had talked to my boss in the meantime, maintaining as much professionalism as I could muster. After all, he was technically just my partner for a day. But we’d formed a bond, and I couldn’t lose him. On the inside, a tornado of emotions spun through me, shaking everything I kept inside loose, bringing me to the edge of a breakdown, when a nurse came out to the waiting room, calling my name.

“Portia? Portia Kelso?” she asked.

“It’s Jennings, actually. Portia Jennings,” I corrected her.

“Well, Mr. Kelso is asking for you.” She shrugged her shoulders and took a step back, looking for me to follow her.

I scurried behind her down the long hallway to a curtained off area, where she waved her hand. “He’s in a lot of pain, but he’ll recover just fine. That husband of yours is quite the trooper.”

“Oh, he’s not… nevermind.” I decided not to correct her, and I stepped quietly behind the curtain. He was shirtless, his rippled abs covered with a large bandage that had been wrapped around his midsection, and he had bruises and scrapes all over his face.

I stood silently, looking him over before he realized I was there, then he flashed me a huge grin. “There you are.” He waved me closer.

“Are you alright? The nurse said you’re going to recover,” I said.

“You saved my life tonight, Portia,” he said, reaching for my hand.

“I did my job, Davidson.”

“You did more than your job, beautiful.” He brought my hand to his lips, tenderly kissing it.

“Why did you tell them I was your wife?” I asked. He didn’t need to do that for me to be allowed back to see him.

“Because you were borrowing my last name. And I like the sound of it. Maybe it’ll be yours for real someday,” he smiled, melting my heart. I felt tears well up again, but this time, happy tears. Somehow, in all the junk, we’d found each other. What the future would hold, who knew, but we’d formed a bond in those two days together that joined us together. “I have a question for you, Portia,” he said softly.

Nervous, I said, “You’re not going to ask me to marry you, right? Because we just met yesterday, and you almost died today. I think it’s too soon.” I giggled, making him chuckle, then wince a bit in pain.

“No, not yet. But would you go to dinner with me, and meet my sisters?” I knew they were special to him, and that made them special to me. While we were still just getting to know each other, I knew that we’d shared something we both felt, and this was only the beginning for us.

“I would love to meet your sisters.”

THE END