Chapter 13
It had been nearly twenty-four hours since she’d eaten and Brandy was starved. Tucker was snoring on his belly. The shower hadn’t entirely gotten rid of the green.
“Lover boy,” she whispered in his ear. One enormous paw grabbed her forearm.
“You’re not getting away yet.”
“I don’t want to get away, but I’m hungry. Haven’t I performed enough to deserve at least a cheese omelet?”
“How about room service?”
“Tucker, not sure if you remember, but this wasn’t exactly the suite at the Hotel Del. The Lamplighter doesn’t have a restaurant. They don’t even have a coffee maker in the room. And I’m starving.”
He let go of her arm, and then pulled himself up. “Oh, I suppose we could take a short break.”
“And you did ask me to set up something so you could see Brawley, remember?”
His eyes were roaming all over her chest again. “I think that was your idea, not mine.”
She hit him with a pillow. “You liar.”
He laughed and feigned being hurt with the soft fluffy material. “Down, woman! Down! Remember, I have injuries.”
“Not to the parts that count.”
“I’m glad you noticed.” His boyish grin made her melt. It would have been easy to just say the heck with it and just play in bed all day. She loved the play, but she was truly hungry. And arranging the visit with Brawley was tricky. In his delicate condition, she didn’t think it was wise to keep him waiting.
“Tucker, we have to be at the clinic at ten. That gives us about an hour for breakfast. I. Need. Food.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She handed him a change of clothes he’d asked for, and they set out in search of an omelet.
At ten, they were waiting for an audience with Brawley’s doctor before seeing him.
Dr. Raj was from India. His handsome face beamed when he saw Tucker. “I heard all about you, Tucker. Going through all the qualifications again. Quite impressive!”
“Thanks, doc.”
“What’s it like doing it again? Harder or easier?”
“I really can’t say. I mean, some parts are harder, some easier.”
The doctor nodded.
“Actually, sir, I’m waiting for the easy part, come to think of it. I’ve got some pretty big chafing holes in my skin under my arms and right here.” He demonstrated the spots at the top of his thighs on the inside.
Dr. Raj made a face. “I’ll bet those wounds are huge, then. I can get you some good antibiotic cream. Best thing is to not move much, and keep it dry, clean and don’t irritate it with clothing. But of course, you can’t walk around naked.”
Even for an Indian doctor, Brandy could see he blushed.
“Oh we’re doing fine on the last part. But not so much on the movement.”
“I understand. Well, I’ll see to it that you get some of that cream before you leave. Now, about Brawley.”
“Yes, we’d like to see him,” Tucker said.
“And I think that would be good. We’re trying to introduce things back into his life that perhaps he forgot. For instance, he doesn’t remember his wife at all.”
“Oh dear,” sobbed Brandy.
“I think he started to disengage before he actually left the team. It is a form of Post Traumatic Stress. Gradually, his brain will let him absorb other people, and then the memories will return. But, he could have a serious gap that won’t return, I’m afraid. We won’t know for some time. Every case is different.”
“Does he know Tucker is going to see him today.”
“He’s been told, yes. Just don’t react if he says or does things you don’t understand. We want to include him in our lives. He can’t do it the other way around.”
As they walked down the softly lit hallway, Tucker whispered a question to Brandy.
“Is this the VA? Not at all the facility I remember.”
She realized she’d forgotten to tell him about the clinic. “Libby Brownlee’s dad arranged this for Brawley. And he’s bankrolling it, too. He’s getting the very best brain injury care in the country, part of Scripps. I’m afraid the VA has a ways to go before we see this kind of service for our Vets.”
“Good for him. I met him a few times before. He’s our unofficial Team doctor, you know.”
She took his hand, lowering her voice again, “Yes, I know. In fact, I know a whole lot more than I did just a couple of weeks ago. I haven’t been sleep deprived and doing boat drills like you have. But I’ve been studying too.”
Tucker squeezed her hand, then drew it to his lips and kissed her. “Thank you, sweetheart.”
They were shown the doorway to a pleasant room decorated with pictures and live plants. Tucker saw that Brawley’s family photos were displayed all over the wall, including his wedding pictures. On the space next to the window was a much younger Tucker photo. He was standing next to a younger version of his best friend, in front of some white mountains, their arms locked around one another, smiles as wide as Brandy had ever seen.
“From our first deployment in Afghanistan,” Tucker whispered.
Behind a curtain, they heard the familiar voice. “Tucker, is that you?”
Doctor Raj gave them a thumb’s up, and held ten fingers in the air. Tucker acknowledged with a nod. Brandy slipped into the corner and took a seat as her big hunk pulled back the curtain. Brawley’s eyebrows rose.
“Fuckin’ about time. They said you were on vacation or some shit. Get your ass over hear, and break me outa this place, will you?”
Tucker embraced his buddy, tears streaming down his cheeks. Brawley also began to cry. “You’re back, buddy. You came back.”
“No shit, Sherlock. But hey, I didn’t do the heavy lifting. They could have left me on the beach with all those senoritas, but no, they had to spoil the fun and drag my ass here.” He wiped his face with the back of his hands, and then stopped as he noticed Brandy.
“Well, hello there little lady. When did they sneak you in here?”
“She’s with me, you goofball,” said Tucker, his lips still rubbery with emotion. “This is Brandy, and she’s going to be my wife, so hands off.”
“Sure. Just like you, Tucker. Tell me the prettiest girl is yours. You selfish bastard.”
She approached the bed. “Hey Brawley, nice to see you again. So glad you made it back.” She shook his hand and he grabbed her toward him and gave her a proper hug.
“I’ll be damned. She said again, Tucker. So she’s met me before too. Like the other pretty one.” He glanced around as if looking for permission. “Can you believe it? She claims to be my wife!”
Brandy saw Dr. Raj cover his mouth just outside Brawley’s line of sight.
“I know.” Tucker drew his arm around Brandy’s waist and claimed her back. “You could have done much worse. I’d just sit back and enjoy it. She could have been a horse-faced woman with a beard. It will be like falling in love all over again, my man. You lucky bastard.”
“I intend to do lots of research.”
“Yes, best to take your time and savor every moment.”
Brawley blinked and appeared to lose continuity because his expression changed. “Hey, not sure how long you’re staying, but could you ask that little Indian fellow if he could get us some pizza. I’m fuckin’ starved.”
Dr. Raj appeared on cue. “Brawley, I’ll see to it right away. Unfortunately these two have to cut their time short today.” He handed his patient a photograph from his own wedding. “But they brought this for you. See? This is them at your wedding just a few months ago. See? There’s Tucker, and there’s Brandy.”
He stared down at the picture and then took it gently from Dr. Raj’s fingers. “I remember that dance. That was you!” He pointed directly at Brandy.
“It was. We were showing off, remember?” Brandy said enthusiastically. She was delighted the old Brawley, or some form of him, had reappeared.
Dr. Raj winced and shook his head slightly at the word choice, but he left it to Brawley to react.
“You were sexy as hell. And you got sick. Now, I bet you don’t remember that, do you?”
His grin was a joy to watch. And he was partially right. She’d been so drunk that New Year’s Eve, lots of the reception was a blur.
“That’s where we met, so I owe it all to you,” whispered Tucker.
“How about that?”
Dr. Raj carefully extricated them after the good-byes were exchanged. In the hallway, all three of them breathed a sigh of relief.
“That was about as perfect as I’d hoped,” he said.
“You gotta let the Team come in here. I think he can handle it.”
“You might be right.”
“And they’ll needle the shit out of him, too. Just wait. He’s gonna feel just like I do going through BUD/S. It’s what he’s used to. Been like that his whole life, even as a kid.”
“Thank you.” Now it was Dr. Raj’s turn to develop tears. He was going to say something else, but Brawley’s hoarse voice pierced the sound barrier.
“Hey, where’s my pizza!”