Chapter Five
A week later
Naval Medical Center, San Diego
Karia had pulled up in front of the ER entrance to the Naval Medical Center which, coincidentally, wasn’t far from her house. She drove by it almost daily. But she’d never been here.
Truthfully, she wasn’t sure why she was here now only that her sergeant had told her that the medical center had called and asked her to come over to see a Dr. Ryan in the Emergency Room. The call hadn’t gone through dispatch but rather straight to the watch commander and Corporal Karia Bayne had been asked for, by name. Her sergeant was just as curious about it as she was, so here she was.
Not strangely, thoughts of Kerk Lesander were filling her brain. After waking up, alone and naked, on her couch those weeks ago after mind-blowing sex with the man, she’d found his card on the kitchen counter and had immediately called him, but the call had gone to voice mail. He didn’t return her call, not that day or the next, so she’d called him twice more over the next week before deciding she probably shouldn’t call him again. Either he was away with his Team doing whatever Teams do or he simply didn’t want to talk to her in spite of his message on his card. Therefore, she never called him again. If he wanted to talk to her, then he had her number.
But now, she had been summoned to the Naval Medical Center and she really couldn’t think of any other reason for such a summons other than Kerk. She speculated that he had been injured and had asked his doctor to call her, which didn’t make a lot of sense to her considering the fact that they hardly knew each other. Surely he hadn’t listed her as next of kin.
Or maybe he had.
There was only one way to find out, so she nervously made her way into the emergency room. She hadn’t seen the man in over a month, so there was some awkwardness in the situation as well as excitement. Would he still feel the same way about her? Would he want to pursue a relationship with her the way she wanted to pursue a relationship with him? She sincerely hoped so. But the truth was that they had a problem on their hands.
A positive pregnancy test had made sure of that.
A pregnancy had been the result of that passionate afternoon but she wasn’t going to let that be the first thing out of her mouth. No one knew about it and, for the time being, she was going to keep it that way until she decided what she wanted to do. She had her entire life and career ahead of her and she wasn’t sure she was strong enough to do that as a single mother, but she really didn’t want to dump it into Kerk’s lap. Nothing like one date and a drunken afternoon to change someone’s life. But there was also that small matter that she was pretty sure she was in love with the guy.
Oh… she was so very foolish. And stupid. She’d known the man all of a day before she’d decided that she couldn’t live without him. It wasn’t just the sex but more a variety of things. Karia wasn’t flighty or given to fits of impulse, at least not usually. But Kerk had been heavy on her mind since that night at the public golf course. The way he looked at her, the way he spoke to her, his gentleness, his humor, his sense of duty… she loved all of it. Never mind that the guy was smoking hot. What Karia felt for him, she felt in her heart as strongly as she’d ever felt anything in her life. The past four weeks had been very difficult for her, trying to ignore the feelings or, at the very least, pretend she was indifferent to them.
But she wasn’t. She was in love with the guy.
Idiot!
Bracing herself for what was to come, she headed to the nurse’s station to ask for Dr. Ryan. As an older nurse summoned the doctor, Karia stepped away from the counter to patiently wait although her palms were sweating and she ended up shifting around nervously. She didn’t have a belly yet, as it was way too early in the pregnancy, but she’d noticed that her duty belt sometimes sat funny on her hips, pressing on her uterus. She tried to shift the belt to a more comfortable position as she waited for Dr. Ryan to make an appearance.
Fortunately, her wait wasn’t long. An older man with thick glasses and a military haircut entered the ER, noticed her, and headed in her direction. He extended his hand to her in greeting.
“Corporal Bayne?” he asked as she took his hand. “I’m Dr. Ryan. Thank you for coming.”
Karia shook the man’s hand. “Of course,” she said. “My sergeant said you needed to speak with me?”
Dr. Ryan nodded, motioning her to follow him. Karia pursued. “I do,” he said quietly. “I have been asked to contact you by a Navy man who came in here last night. Do you know Sr. Chief Petty Officer Kerk Lesander?”
Karia felt her stomach lurch. “Yes, I do,” she said. “But I haven’t talked to him in a while.”
Dr. Ryan glanced at her. “How well do you know him?”
He’s the father of my unborn child, she thought. But, hell… that didn’t mean anything. Pregnancy, in this case, wasn’t a litmus test as to how well she knew him. She didn’t really know him well at all but she didn’t want to admit that.
“Well enough, I suppose,” she said. “Why?”
At the junction of the corridor, Dr. Ryan came to a halt and faced her. “Because he’s just been through an incredibly traumatic situation,” he said, lowering his voice. “He lost most of his squad in a helicopter crash several days ago. The copter crashed into the sea, killing most on board, but he managed to save four of his men. They were adrift on a raft for three days until they were picked up and brought here, so he’s really had a time of it. When he came in last night, I asked him if there was someone I could call for him and he wouldn’t give me anyone’s name until this morning when I asked him again. He gave me your name but it was like pulling teeth to get it. That’s why I asked how well you knew him.”
Karia wasn’t really sure how to take that. Was he embarrassed to give her name? Was it possible that he wanted to see her just to tell her to fuck off? But that didn’t make any sense. Nothing did right now. Hearing of the hellishness Kerk had to endure over the past week made her want to see him whether he really wanted to see her or not.
“Oh, my God… that’s terrible,” she said. “How badly hurt is he?”
Dr. Ryan lifted his eyebrows. “That’s the funny part,” he said. “Not a scratch. Not even mild dehydration or wind burn due to exposure. He’s fine. But, I’ll tell you the truth… he’s extremely lucky. He and his men. Somehow, they got into a current that took them right to dry land. In the part of the ocean where they were, I heard his commanding officer say that’s some kind of miracle. They could have easily drifted out to sea and never been found.”
Karia stared at him, shocked. “Oh… my,” she breathed as she considered that scenario. “That’s really incredible.”
Dr. Ryan nodded as he began to walk again. “You’re not kidding,” he said. “Not only did your friend survive a chopper crash without injury, but he then survived three days at sea as if nothing in the world was wrong. He’s some kind of ironman.”
Some kind of ironman. Those words rang in Karia’s head. An ironman who could swim a half-mile across the bay in just a few seconds was also the kind of man who survived helicopter crashes and being adrift at sea. It all seemed very strange to Karia and the more she thought about it, the more puzzled she became.
“How is it even possible that he survived a helicopter crash?” she asked the doctor. “That doesn’t even seem realistic.”
The doctor nodded. “I know,” he said. “But the living proof is here. He survived it.”
“How are his men?”
“Banged up and broken bones. They’re a mess, but they’ll survive.”
“And Kerk isn’t broken up?”
They came to a halt right in front of a door. The doctor pointed into the room, a private recovery room of some kind. “See for yourself.”
Startled that they had evidently arrived at their destination, Karia turned to see a small room with a curtain drawn around the bed. There was a big window in the room and the mid-day sun was shining brightly outside. Hesitantly, she entered, making her way around the curtain. The first thing she saw was Kerk’s smiling face.
Sitting in the bed, he looked perfectly healthy. He was a little sunburnt on his face, but nothing to suggest a helicopter crash and days adrift. When Karia came around the corner of the curtain, he stood up.
“Hi, Sunshine,” he said softly.
One look at him and Karia was ready to fold. She didn’t know why she felt so weak or emotional looking at him, but she did. “Hi,” she said, her throat tight with emotion.
Kerk stood there, looking at her, not moving. But that smile, that warm and gentle smile, never left his face.
“You look amazing,” he finally said. “You’re more beautiful than I had remembered.”
Karia was trying very hard not to cry. “And you…,” she said, swallowed hard, and continued. “How are you? The doctor told me what happened with the chopper crash. He said you saved some of your men.”
He nodded. “I did,” he said. “You haven’t met them yet, but you will. Shane, Michael, and Corey are dying to meet you when they’re feeling better.”
She really didn’t care about meeting his men at the moment. She was far more interested in him. “Are you really okay?”
“I’m really okay.”
Karia nodded. Then, she clapped a hand over her mouth to hold back the sobs as the tears came. As her face crumpled, Kerk came to her and wrapped her up in his big arms. He’d been dreaming of this moment and it didn’t disappoint. It was the best, most satisfying embrace he’d ever experienced.
“It’s okay,” he murmured into her hair. “I swear I’m okay.”
Karia gave in to his strength, his power, for a brief moment. It would have been so easy to lose herself in it, forever. All of her senses were screaming for it. But she quickly pulled away, very aware that she was still on-duty and in uniform. Kerk was disappointed that she’d pulled away but he knew why. He grabbed a handful of tissues from the box next to his bed and handed them to her.
“It was probably a dirty trick to have the doctor call you at work, so I’m sorry if that upset you,” he said. “I just had to see you and they’re not going to let me out of here until tomorrow. I couldn’t wait.”
Karia wiped at her eyes. “I don’t mind that the doctor called work,” she said. Then, she eyed him. “I’m just glad that you’re okay. Not hearing from you for the past month… I didn’t know if you were dead or alive.”
He sighed faintly, reaching out to take her by the hand. “Come over here and sit next to the bed,” he said softly. “I need to talk to you.”
She let him pull her over to the chair. “Sorry for the tears.”
He smiled at her as she sat down. “I don’t mind the tears,” he said. “In fact, I like them. It means you care. Right?”
Karia was still wiping at her face a little, refusing to look at him. “I shouldn’t,” she said. “Hell, Kerk, we knew each other for less than a day when we… you know… and then you disappeared on me. Why should I care at all?”
He sat on the edge of his bed, pulling his hospital gown down over his thighs so he wouldn’t flash her. “I didn’t disappear by choice,” he said quietly. “I left because I didn’t want to make it awkward for you when you woke up and found me sitting there, like I was waiting for instant answers from you.”
“What instant answers?”
He shrugged. “Like, what you were feeling, what I was feeling… that kind of thing.” He found himself looking at her lowered head, wishing she’d look him in the eye. “If you’ve called me since then, I’ve been working and haven’t had access to my phone, so I’m sorry if you thought I’d used you and then abandoned you. I would never, ever do that, Karia. I swear that I wouldn’t.”
That made some sense to Karia. In fact, that’s what she suspected had happened. “I didn’t think that you’d abandoned me,” she said. “But I will admit that I called you. When I didn’t hear back right away, I just figured I’d hear back from you when you had time.”
His smile was back. “Then consider this my call-back,” he said. “Look, I don’t want to freak you out, but I haven’t stopped thinking about you since the day we met. I don’t get infatuated with women; it’s not how I operate. So for you to be on my mind like you are, twenty-four/seven, tells me that you’re something special. That day I spent with you was one of the best days of my life and I don’t say that lightly. I’ve had my share of good days. But with you… it was very special.”
His words touched Karia deeply. In fact, she felt a huge amount of relief hearing them. So he thought she was special? She thought he was pretty special, too. If he could admit it, then so could she.
“It was for me, too,” she said, finally daring to look him in the face. “I told you that I keep myself pretty isolated from men in general. It was just easier to put up barriers rather than face disappointment. I don’t date very well, Kerk. I have a hard time with it. I’m kind of an all-in girl, so if you don’t feel like you want to explore something all-in between us, then tell me now so at least I know. I’m not interested in another male friend, so if that’s what you have in mind, I’d appreciate it if you’d tell me.”
Kerk gazed at her for a moment; now, it was the time for total truth. He was nervous as hell but he knew in his heart that this is what he’d been waiting for his entire life. As he sat there and looked at her, he could see flashes of his future passing in front of his eyes – but only if she loved him in return. Was she worth risking his immortality for? He thought she was. He believed that with all of his heart. Because, to be truthful, he couldn’t imagine living his life without her.
But there was something else he needed to consider, something he’d pushed out of his mind until now. He’d never had to face the prospect of having a woman fall in love with him, at least not like this. Not when it was something he wanted so badly. Sure, he could keep his immortality, but she wasn’t immortal… she would grow old and he wouldn’t. He didn’t think he could stand that, watching this beautiful woman grow old while he remained youthful and handsome.
But he did have a choice.
Long ago, back through the mists of his memory, he was told by his father that there was a way for him to surrender his immortality. He could, in fact, become mortal with one swift move – all he had to do was take a razor, or some other sharp object, and run it through the birthmark on his thigh. Destroying that brand, that creation that made him who he was, would mean surrendering his immortality to the gods who still watched over him, and over all mortals. They were still there, lingering in the heavens. They would understand that he was giving up his destiny to choose something more powerful than anything on earth.
The love of a good woman.
Truthfully, he’d never considered something like that, not ever. He was so worried about falling in love with a woman and finding a love that was worthy of his immortality that it never occurred to him that he, too, might want to become mortal simply to spend what was left of his life with her.
But there were things to consider along with that mortality. No more surviving chopper crashes, no more creating a current in the ocean that saw his life raft reach land when it should have drifted out to sea. No more resisting bullets that struck him and no more summoning the sea to save the men from the chopper crash so recently experienced.
Becoming mortal would mean he would lose everything.
Everything but Karia.
Therefore, he considered her statement carefully. She was an all-in girl; that was the only kind he would accept, the only kind worthy of who he was. The only kind worth surrendering his immortality over.
“I never wanted to be just your friend,” he finally said. “I’ll be honest; I don’t know what I wanted to be to you, but it was never ‘just’ a friend. I’ve had a lot of time to think over the past few weeks and I’ve come to the conclusion that you’re not going to get rid of me. I don’t care about the sex, Karia – getting into your pants was never my goal. It was something that just happened. But up until that point, I was coming to know the most fascinating woman I’d ever met. You’re bright, beautiful, and your heart is in the right place. I can see that in everything about you. Maybe that’s why I adore you.”
Karia’s eyebrows lifted. “You what?” she said, stunned. “You adore me?”
He smiled at her surprise. “What’s not to adore?”
Karia’s heart was pounding in her ears, her emotions ready to boil over. “But… but what does that mean?” she asked. “You told me that men in your profession don’t get married. You said it’s too hard for the women to handle. So I don’t understand what you mean.”
The smile faded from his lips and he reached over, taking her hand. He brought it to his lips, kissing it sweetly. “I mean that I’m willing to take a chance with something I’ve never taken a chance with before,” he said. “If I don’t, I will hate myself forever. But you have to understand what you’re getting in to with me.”
Karia could hardly believe what she was hearing. Swallowing hard, she held his hands tightly. “I understand the stress of your job,” she said softly. “I’m probably better equipped to understand it than most people. You have to understand the stress of my job, too. Already, we’re starting off handicapped because of what we do for a living.”
He shook his head. “That’s not what I meant,” he said. “Before this goes any further, you need to understand me.”
Karia looked at him oddly. “What about you?” she asked. “Are you a serial murderer?”
“No.”
“Do you beat up old women and steal their money?”
“No.”
“Do you hate kids?”
“No.”
“Then whatever you want to tell me won’t change how I feel about you.”
His breath caught in his throat. “How do you feel about me?”
Karia smiled, embarrassed, and looked at their hands as they intertwined on his lap. “Well,” she said after a moment. “You said you adored me. You were brave enough to say it so I should be brave enough to tell you that I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you.”
Kerk felt as if he’d been hit in the chest. It was difficult to draw in a breath as he realized she was feeling for him exactly what he was feeling for her. Could he tell her now what he needed to tell her? A confession was on the tip of his tongue – that he was nearly as old as the pyramids and the son of a god. But he was terrified that it would change her mind about him, that she would think he was insane. Oh, God… he was terrified that it would change everything.
Was he brave enough to tell her?
Could he?
Maybe it didn’t matter in the long run. Karia had fallen in love with him, thinking that he was mortal, so maybe that’s exactly what he needed to be. A mortal. He’d lived a very long life and he’d done a great deal of good along the way. It wasn’t fair for him to keep his immortality and continue his mission for Mankind when the lure of an unending love was at his fingertips. He’d fulfilled his destiny many times over, always living for the sense of duty that was instilled in him.
Now, it was time to live for himself. It wasn’t that he was tired of helping shape Mankind; now, he wanted to know personal satisfaction and happiness in his own life.
He wanted to know love.
He was certain his father would understand.
“Look at me,” he whispered to Karia, watching her lift her eyes to him. “Look at me and tell me that we will build something so strong and so wonderful that not even death will end it. That is what I want with you, Karia – love without end. A lifetime of loving you and knowing that it was the right thing to do.”
Karia could feel the tears again as she gazed at him, feeling joy and contentment like nothing she’d ever known. None of the relationships she’d experienced to this point could compare to what she was feeling for Kerk. There was so much more there, more than she could ever verbalize. Gazing into his eyes, eyes the color of the sea, she nodded her head.
“I think that would be wonderful,” she murmured.
“Don’t think. Feel. What do you feel?”
She sighed. “Everything. You make me feel everything.”
The smile returned to his face. “Good,” he said quietly. “That’s good. I have faith in you. In us. In what we will become. I hope that doesn’t sound like I’m putting pressure on you, because that’s not how I mean it. I simply mean that I am willing to do everything in my power to make sure that you and I succeed.”
It sounded like the best thing in the world to Karia. Maybe it was foolish to put such faith in the unknown, especially when so much was against them, but it was clear he had utter faith in their future together. There was no way she could look at him and not believe everything he said. She’d never seen such conviction. After a moment, she nodded.
“I will, too,” she said. “Now, what were you going to tell me about you?”
He looked at her; really looked at her. The moment was here to tell her the truth, but he found that he couldn’t do it. Maybe someday when they were old and gray, but not now. Not when the world was so new and bright to them, with a future ahead that outshined the sun. No, he wouldn’t tell her the truth now.
But someday, he would.
“You need to understand that… that I’m a career SEAL,” he said. “But I think after this last mission, maybe I’ll see if they can use an instructor at the training base. With all of my experience, I think they’d welcome it. That way, I’m not shipping out for months at a time and I’m not in any danger. I’ll be here, for you. For us.”
Karia sighed, seemingly relieved. “If you believe that will make you happy, then I’m in full support. But only if you’re sure you’ll be happy. I don’t want you regretting having given up something you loved just for me.”
He had to laugh. She had no idea what, exactly, he’d be giving up for her. So much more than she could imagine. But he didn’t think there was any greater reason, ever, than the power of love.
Maybe she’d understand that one day, too.
“I will never regret you,” he murmured, leaning forward to gently kiss her lips. “Now, you are my destiny.”
Those were the sweetest words Karia had ever heard.
Eight months later, a big, healthy baby boy was born to Karia Bayne-Lesander and her husband, Kerk. While the doctors were tending to his wife, Kerk gravitated over to the incubator where his son was being cleaned up and measured. He stood there, hand over his big grin and tears in his eyes as the blonde-haired infant screamed unhappily.
Truthfully, Kerk wanted to see the boy for another reason other than to ensure he was healthy; he wanted to see if his son was born with a hint of the same birthmark that he had. He had many brothers with that birthmark but he’d never heard of a spawn of an immortal being blessed with the same mark, so he was most curious to see if a son of Poseidon had genes that would carry on to the next generation.
But the baby’s body wasn’t marked, at least not from what Kerk could see. He felt no disappointment. In fact, he felt a sense of relief. He’d never had a normal life and was pleased his son would grow up among the mortals, living a full life as a normal child would. But thoughts of the mark were never really far from Kerk’s mind as the years passed; since he’d given up his immortality on the day of the wedding to Karia, Kerk wondered if the mark of the trident would develop on Luc Lesander when the boy became of age.
In that sense, he got more than he bargained for.
Luc was followed in quick succession by brothers Seth and Bo, all of them blonde-haired, well-built sons in the image of their father. When Luc turned thirteen, he noticed an odd mark on his groin, which he embarrassingly pointed out to his father. Upon seeing the trident mark, Kerk realized that his eldest would, indeed, follow in his footsteps, becoming the newest immortal in the legacy of the trident. Seth and Bo, both born after their father had renounced his immortality, never developed the mark. Therefore, it was up to Luc to pick up where his father had left off.
A chip off the old block, as it were.
And that conversation with his wife that he’d been hoping to push off until they were old and gray finally had to be visited one night when Luc discovered the powers of his immortality. It seemed that the young man could shoot lightning from his fingers and he nearly burned the house down. When Kerk sat both his wife and eldest son down to calmly explain to them the nature of Luc’s freakish talent, Luc seemed intimidated. But Karia didn’t seem surprised at all.
There was a reason for her acceptance; well did she remember the night she’d met her husband when he’d swam with unnatural speed to aid a drowning boy, so in a sense, Kerk’s explanation of Luc’s gift and his own personal journey with immortality made perfect sense to her.
At least she had an explanation, wild as it was, and she was relieved to know that she hadn’t been crazy those years ago. Maybe she accepted Kerk’s explanation too easily, but after what she’d seen with Luc, she was willing to go on a little faith. She wasn’t sure anything else could explain the lightning that had come out of her son’s fingers.
The powers of immortality.
Like father, like son.
In watching Kerk explain it all to Luc and gently take the boy under his wing, guiding him in this brave new world of immortality, Karia had never been more proud of her husband. But now that she knew his story and the truth behind his legacy, she came to understand how much he’d given up in order to marry her. He’d surrendered his immortality for love, but his rewards had been so great that it seemed like a small sacrifice in comparison.
Theirs was a true love story, and one for the ages.
Still, the gods had compensated for Kerk’s loss. Through his son, Luc, the greatness and the immortality of The Trident Legacy, under the care of the immortal sons, would live on forever.
* THE END *
NIGHTHAWK, a Medieval novel, is directly related to this book