Infection Runs Deep

CHAPTER SIX: REMINDER

The rest of the day passed without much consequence. I sutured up his injuries, handed him a bag of ice and some anti-inflammatories, and sent him on his way. All the action before 8 am left a bit of a lazy afternoon.

Anna left sometime around two, leaving me with Elise who came in around nine. Marge sat at the big chair at the desk while I sat on top of it, mindlessly chatting as I filled out a makeshift chart and an incident report that went to the Colonel. Nothing big really happened here, but I was still worried about what would happen if the Colonel found my report to be lackluster.

I was still tweaking the report when someone breezed into the waiting room later that afternoon. Luke.

"Hey," I said, waving from where I sat on top of the desk. "Nice outfit."

Luke was wearing fatigues with a pretty intimidating gun strapped to his back and another at his hip. I had only seen him in street clothes. "I could say the same about you."

I hopped off the desk and struck a pose in my scrubs, tugging my hair from its messy ponytail and shaking my head. "Think that I'll be on the cover of Vogue?"

He shrugged, the edges of his lips tugging upwards. "Front page, darlin'." He cleared his throat. "I'm actually here to pick up a report. About a friendly fire incident this morning."

"Oh." My smile dropped, but I handed Luke my report. "It's not that entertaining."

He skimmed the report. "This is perfect. Pretty routine. Friendly fire is the worst, but it happens."

"How did he even get shot? It was barely dawn."

Luke shook his head. "People screw around when they need to pay attention. We had a big drill group today at the range and someone disregarded the cease fire."

"That's a pretty bad thing to disregard. I'm surprised no one else got hurt."

"You're telling me." Luke ran a hand against his head. "Everyone on base has to log a certain number of hours at the range. You said you didn't know how to shoot. That true?"

I frowned. "I didn't lie about that."

Luke held his hands up placatingly. "I never said you did. I was going to offer to take you shooting."

I blushed. "After the friendly fire?" Luke just raised his eyebrows in response. "Sorry. I didn't mean to get all snappy. That would be really nice."

He waved me off. "It happens. You've had quite a morning. Quite a few days actually."

"This is actually less than I normally experience in a few hours. I've been on my ER rotation at the hospital, so I've gotten to see a lot more trauma recently." I pulled my hair back up into a ponytail. "Usually I don't have a minute to sit or even eat."

"How about today? Did you find a minute to explore what the mess has to offer for lunch?"

I shook my head, waving at the papers in Luke's hands. "Haven't had a chance with that stupid report. Besides, my babysitter is missing and I don't think I'm supposed to go anywhere without him."

Luke smiled devilishly. "Luckily for you, I know where the mess is. Care for a stroll?"

I hesitated. "I don't really think I'm supposed to leave. I'm working."

"Elise and I can handle it, doll. We'll radio you if we need you." Marge smiled innocently. A facilitator of all things. One that wasn't always subtle. Little did she know, I was already covered on the relationship front.

"Fine," I said, tugging on my ring that hung at my throat and hiding my smile. "Let's go."

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