Friday, March 29, 2013

Weekly Review: Maverick's Mate by Lynn Hagen

Maverick's Mate (Brac Pack, #1)Maverick's Mate by Lynn Hagen
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Story Description: Maverick Brac has formed a pack of his own, naming them the Brac Pack. With fourteen men under him, they all have one thing in common, the preference for men.

Cecil Walter was living a life no one would wish on their enemy in an abusive relationship with his partner with no way out.

Getting away from pack problems and a migraine, Maverick indulges in his one secret love, Chai tea. While in the coffee shop trying to forget the world outside exists for five minutes, Maverick has found what he never thought to have, his mate, his very human mate. Rescuing Cecil from his abusive boyfriend to finding out who in his pack is trying to take Cecil’s life, Maverick has his work cut out for him, but the largest challenge is getting Cecil to come out of his shell and be the man he once was.


My Review: I read this story, then 4 more in the Brac Pac series. I felt like, as the first book in the series, Maverick's Mate laid down some groundwork, but it wasn't a great story in and of itself. There were typos first off, which wacked off a star right off the top. I also felt that it was formulaic, however, I happen to like that formula type of story and enjoy watching where various authors take it. This could have been a bit more original, because the main aspect of that is how the supernatural world is organized. This story doesn't really impart any new type of werewolf mythos.

I also felt some of the characterizations were a bit off. Maverick was an over the top alpha, Cecil was a bit too roll over and bare his throat submissive for his later characterizations in the series, and the villian... well let's just say I saw him coming a mile off. The drama during the climactic scene was well done, with all the fear and anger portrayed well. I would have liked to see more of that sort of writing in the whole eBook, to be truthful.

The sex ... that's tripped up a lot of people. I don't think it was abusive, or rape, in the fantasy characters/world that Hagen came up with. I think it would be in real life-of course. It can be hard to separate the two for some readers. It wasn't realistic, but it at least fit in the character's personalities as written.

All in in all, this was an okay book in an okay series. I haven't read past book 5 though, cause they didn't work for me and the plotting didn't vary enough to keep my interest. If you like this forumla style of storyline, this might work for you, but for me, it was an okay read.

I wouldn't recommend it as a purchase though, unless you got a steep discount.

View all my reviews

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Wednesday Briefs: One Night Part 13



It's that day of the week again! Prompt stories, 500-1k, posted every week by yours truly and a mix of great authors with all different kinds of genres and types! Check out this week's update and then read on to see other Briefer's stories.

This week's prompts were Easter themed, but I didn't incorporate that since I wanted to keep going with my story. The prompts were: "... has arisen..." or use: lamb, soul, redemption or use ham in an interesting way or "You have no faith to lose and you know it..." (my nod to Bob Dylan) or use: chocolate or use a church in some way or "Family values? Your family wouldn't know family values if..." 

I chose to use 'church' but it's a pretty weak inclusion. Sorry, but hey, I'm hoping you guys will like this anyway!

One Night Part 13

“There is a key hidden behind the left edge of the door, brick with the white edge.” Bear’s words were slurred a little as he spoke through a fat lip. He’d tried to help Kameron when the large man had been hauled roughly to his feet and then started to fall.
 
Bear had been jerked away by his hair and backhand by Choika, a ring on his finger tearing at Bear’s cheek. His cry and Kameron’s coming at the same time as Kameron hit the floor with a heavy thud.
Blood had filled Bear’s mouth, so he spit it on the floor, then on the sidewalk outside the door they were dragged through.

Choika had sadistically taunted Bear the entire way, cutting open Kameron’s shirt and then shoving  the tip of his knife into the skin of Kameron’s chest and stomach and wiggling it.

“This is where I will cut out his heart, if you do not find me my drugs,” Choika warned them. He dug the knife in farther, blood welling up and running down Kameron’s body to soak into his pants.

Bear had gagged, his heart in his throat and his stomach rebelling as he was forced to watch Kameron suffer. If he closed his eyes Choika would dig the knife in deeper. If Kameron didn’t cry out, Choika did it harder.

The drive had taken far too long, and sweat ran down Kameron’s face by the time they’d arrived. Bear had cried the whole time, unable to stop the tears from falling down his face. They’d duct taped his hands together in front of him but a heavy set man sat next to him the whole time with his meaty hand circling Bear’s bicep, squeezing and bruising his pale skin.

They made Bear dig out the brick and grab the key, opening the door.  Choika pushed him in ahead of him. “Security system?”

Bear shook his head. “Do you see one? This is just a small bar man.” The short white walls of the hall had two doors; one to a store room and the other to Loren’s small office.  The other side of the hall had a swinging door separating it from the open area of the bar. It was silent as a church.

Choika grunted. “Go check it out. Don’t forget the basement!” He waved his two men forward. The driver of the car, a really tall man who was going bald and had a bit of a gut on him, kept a hold of Kameron.

Waiting was driving Bear crazy. His breath was coming short. “I know where the drugs were. There’s a shelf, in the store room, where the box was if Loren didn’t move it. We could get them, right now, then you can let us go.”

The gang leader smirked at him. “So eager to help now.”

Bear let himself sniffle. “I don’t want you to hurt him anymore.”

“Fine. Let’s go.” Choika looked at the driver. “Stay here with him, but be prepared.”

Bear did not like the sound of that. Sweat slid down his spine. He works at the tape on his wrists, pulling them as far apart as he could.

Choika shoved him into the store room, making Bear cry out as he slammed his ribs against the door frame.  He fell to his knees, fumbling with his arms against the rough edge as he tried to catch his balance.

“Get up!” Choika dragged him up by his hair. Bear cried out again as his ribs protested. It felt like he’d broken at least one. He gasped for air, the pain making him dizzy.

Focus. He had to focus. He didn’t have much time.

Bear held his wrists close together and pointed up at a shelf above his head.  “It was up there, in the back.” Not even Choika was tall enough to reach it. Licking his lips, Bear made sure he didn’t glance back at the door where his step stool hung on the wall behind it.

“Fuck!”

Bear reeled from another blow. He stumbled against the rack, catching himself before he could ram into it with his damaged ribs. He reached, fumbling, trying to hide his actions with a loud sob.

The bottle of Jim Beam he grabbed had a thick bottom. He gripped the neck with one hand and held on tight to the shelf with the other. The tattered edges of the tape hung from his wrists where he’d hurriedly cut it against a sharp piece of metal sticking out of the bottom of the door jamb when he’d fallen to his knees.

Choika grabbed his hair, again. Bear had been waiting for that. He yanked his head forward out of the big man’s grip and then swung his whole body backward as hard as he could, his hand wrapped white-knuckled around the side of the shelf.

His aim was unerring as he swung up and slammed the bottle into Choika’s temple. The gang leader collapsed instantly, falling backward.

Bear panted hard, but he didn’t have time to waste. He shoved the bottle in his waistband under his shirt and stuck his wrists back together like they were still taped up. He stumbled out into the hall.

“He wants you to go get the box. It’s on a top shelf.”

The driver cursed and dragged Kameron toward Bear. Bear pointed at the floor, catching Kameron’s eyes. The large man instantly sank down, like he had passed out, just as they started to move past Bear. Grabbing the bottle from under his shirt, Bear swung it down on the man’s head as he bent toward Kameron.

It struck with a meaty thud, like it had on Choika’s head. The driver collapsed on top of Kameron.
Bear tried to drag him off, but the pain in his ribs was growing. “Get up, hurry.”

They staggered off, holding each other up. They had to get out before the other guys came back and the police showed up.

TBC

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Friday, March 22, 2013

Weekly Review: Fragile Bond by Rhi Etzweiler

Fragile BondFragile Bond by Rhi Etzweiler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read Fragile Bond last night and wanted to write the review while it was fresh in my mind. I read, A LOT, but this book caught my eye and went on to my wishlist when it came out. I finally got a chance to read it, uninterrupted, and it kept me interested start to finish.

The synopsis of the book actually sums up the story quite well, in my opinion, without giving too much away. Several of the plot elements have been used in science fiction books I've read before, like the pheromones, mistaken status of non-sentient creatures for sentient beings, and a first contact/military character.

Still, I enjoyed this ebook quite a bit. I felt the tawnies, aka furrs, were amazing characters. We got several glimpses into their society and social structure throughout the story, enough to get a detailed picture of their culture. The sensory perceptions of the world, or Soma as Hamm named the planet, were amazing and it was nearly visible to my mind's eye. Hamm and Marc's bonding was confusing and arousing and not neat and tidily wrapped up in a bow-which I fully appreciated.

However, I did still have a few issues with the story. The human culture made ZIP sense. We didn't get much explanation of the 'Mother Commander', or their ship, or their evolution. I'd have loved it if the author had seen fit to share more of that since to me, the reader, both cultures were foreign, not just the 'aliens'. It was integral part of the story that I felt was missing. I also disliked the rapid head hopping between multiple characters, though that was more the 'style' not any sort of mistake, and while I'm not alone in my aversion to it, it's a style preference more than anything.

Overall, a good story, but one that I had to really focus on to understand-especially at the end with the large cast of characters-to follow and understand. It was an intriguing plot, and I loved the poignancy at the end which really capped off the story well. Even with my quibbles I completely enjoyed this eBook. A definite recommendation with a 4 out of 5 star rating.

View all my reviews

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Wednesday Briefs: One Night Part 12


I hope you enjoy this week's installment of this update as part of the Wednesday Briefer's weekly flash day. Members write, when they can, a 500-1k short story, or update to a short story and post it on their blog along with links to the other participants. We have all sorts of pairings and genres, but we all have the same prompts to choose from.

This week we had: When you wish upon a star" or use: champagne, icon, boulevard or use spring in some way (doesn't have to be the season) or use a nonsense song - such as Mairzy Doats or "Are you crazy? You could have..." or use a photograph in some way or "tripping the light fantastic."  Along with 4 photo prompts. To make it easy on me, since I had so much going on in this chapter I just used a photo in some way.

Enjoy!

One Night Part 12

Bear groaned.
“Bear?”
He forced his eyes open and waited for the bleary room to come into focus. “What is …?” He winced and tried to reach for his aching jaw but he couldn’t move his hands.
He couldn’t feel his hands!
Blinking rapidly to try and clear out the gunk in his eyes, he started looking around. The first thing he noticed was Kameron sitting in front of him. “Kameron!” He looked like shit, blood all down his front and his nose was crooked. “What happened?” he croaked.
“I fucked up.” Kameron was on the ground too but he was on his side with his arms and legs behind him.
“Where are we?”
Kameron’s head fell back down to rest against the concrete on top of a small bloodstain. One of his cheeks was so swollen that it turned white against the filthy ground. The big man winced and lifted his head up a little again. “Zbrane’s men got us.”
“Jimmy?”
He sighed in relief when Kameron shook his head a little. “I don’t think so.”
Fear made Bear’s heart pound in his head. He swallowed. “Why do they want me so bad? Why take you instead of leaving you behind?” Or killing him, but Bear refused to say that. The chair was icy against the bare skin of his back. He still had the hospital gown on, though he had managed to put on a pair of sweats before he’d been grabbed. His sore shoulder was throbbing worse than his jaw with the way his arms had been duct taped to the chair.
“I overheard them talking. They are missing over a quarter of a million in drugs, Bear. That’s a lot of cash.”
That made no sense. How could Vilem have stashed that much drugs at his place? “You’ve seen my apartment. There’s nowhere to hide drugs there!”
“We already know that.” The voice, guttural with a foreign accent, came from behind him. Bear jerked, wincing as the tape pulled at the hair on his arms. The man came around from behind him. He looked like ordinary, a bit more muscular in his chest and arms but not obscenely so, with a few tattoos of cats on his neck showing over his red t-shirt. No baggy clothing, no bandana, just… a man you could walk past on the street and not give more than a casual second look. “But you must know where else he would have hidden it.”
“No.” Bear swallowed hard, trying to get some moisture in his mouth. “I don’t know,” he said weakly, “I swear.”
“I think you do.”
The man pulled something out of the pocket of his black jeans. “Perhaps you just need the right incentive to think about it. We know Vilem did not tell the cops where the drugs are hidden, which means I can still get my product back. I want it, and you will tell me where to find it. You were dating that dumb suki; he told you something.”
“How do you know we don’t have the drugs?” Kameron asked. “I know you. You’re Choika.”
“Glad to see my reputation is as good as ever.”
Bear’s mind was racing. Shit, Kameron just told the guy he was a cop.
“We have our ways.” He bent over and then Kameron’s legs straightened. He didn’t have a chance to move before the man yanked him up by his shirt. He slammed Kameron into a chair.
“You going to cut me?” Kameron didn’t flinch but Bear’s couldn’t look away from that knife.
One black eyebrow rose. Choika smiled and the dead viciousness of the expression made Bear’s stomach cramp. Kameron had to stop baiting the guy; he wasn’t bluffing. He showed that as his hand darted forward and then back.
“Kameron!”
Kameron shouted and then pressed his lips together, breathing hard through his nose. Blood dripped off the knife at Choika’s side. “Did you like that?” Kameron glared up at him. The sadistic man laughed. “I thought that might shut you up.” He flicked the blood off his knife. “We’re not interested in you,” he turned to Bear, “but we are interested in you.”
Bear cowered as far back as he could into his chair. He was close to hyperventilating and his entire body shook. “I don’t … I … don’t ….”
Choika came close to him, bending down to stare into his eyes. Bear stared at the ropy white scar that had been hidden by the man’s salt and pepper goatee. “You do. Where would Vilem have hidden the drugs? Where did he go when he was with you? Do you have family other than that stinking pig cop brother? A friend?”
Shaking his head fast, Bear said, “N-no. They didn’t like him.” He licked his lips, desperately afraid of the knife now waving in front of his face. “I don’t know.”
“Think harder.” The knife blazed a hot trail down the side of his cheek and neck to his chest. Choika pushed and the tip pierced Bear’s skin. A thin trickle of blood stained the gown he was wearing. “Where could he hide the box? I want my drugs back, so you better figure it out,” he snarled.
A box? Where had he seen … “Do you want a nice scar here?” Choika prodded at him. Bear cried out. “Or do you want me to cut your boyfriend again? I will. I want my box back. It’s plain brown with white writing, like this.” He waved a picture he held in his other hand in front of Bear’s eyes.

Bear gasped.
Choika stood up, pulling the knife back. Bear cringed. “You know. Tell me!”
Kameron was shaking his head behind the man’s back, but Bear ignored him. “No,” he mouthed.
“I think I might know. I’m not sure though! It’s just a possibility!” Bear babbled.
“Where!” Choika thundered.
“Capstone. The bar I work at.”
Choika narrowed his eyes at him. “If it is not there, your boyfriend will pay.”

TBC
 Don't forget to check out the rest of the Briefer's this week!



Friday, March 15, 2013

Weekly Review: Crossing Borders by ZA Maxfield

Crossing Borders (Crossing Borders, #1)Crossing Borders by Z.A. Maxfield
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Honestly, I held off on this book for a while before purchasing it during a 50% rebate day at ARe. It seemed a tad cliché from the title, but really, the plot wasn't the focus for me when I read it. While that sounds silly, it's true.

The characters made this story. 'Officer Helmet' aka Michael was interesting as seen through the eyes of 'Sparky' aka Tristan. As a fellow redhead, I soooo got Tristan's beef with his nickname. I loved the disparate ages-yet similar desires. It just went to show that opposites can be more alike than most think, and make it work.

Not to say the plot wasn't interesting-if not exactly 'new'. I laughed my ass off as 'Sparky' plotted and planned to find a man at the bookstore coffee shop. The texts back and forth were witty and definitely made the scene even better. I liked that the will they or won't they aspect was resolved pretty quick, which left the actual relationship the focus, imo.

Since the relationship was the focus, and the source of conflict in the end, I felt the plot arc fit, even if it did feel uneven. The author could have predicated that aspect a little better by seeding in small moments here and there earlier in the story. It would have also served to give us a more realistic interaction between Michael and Tristan-even newly together couples generally aren't that perfect.

Still, this story was mostly full of warm and fuzzy feelings, even once the drama hit. As always, ZA Maxfield's writing flowed and I was sucked in start to finish. Definitely a recommend!

View all my reviews

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Wednesday Briefs: One Night Part 11


Here's this week's installment of my flash story! I chose the prompt, "Coffee, tea, or me..." for my inspiration. I hope you enjoy this update.

One Night Part 11

 “You need to leave.”

Bear looked up at Kameron. “No.” He wasn’t moving from Jimmy’s side until his brother woke up. He couldn’t go in often, but he didn’t want to miss a chance to touch Jimmy’s hand and tell him to wake the hell up. His face looked as pale of the pillow under him and he was too still. Jimmy was never still.

He didn’t like it.

Scrubbing at his eyes didn’t relieve their burning. His ass was numb from sitting in the uncomfortable chairs. He yawned. “I just need some coffee.” He remembered his last cup of the slurry he’d gotten. He’d held on to it, but only drank half. “Maybe I’ll have some tea.”

Kameron crouched in front of him and put his hands on his knees. “You’re tired, and you’re still on pain medication—which you haven’t taken.”

Bear shook his head. “And if we leave will we be able to come back? You’re going to drag me off to a safe house again, aren’t you?” He knew Kameron wanted him out of there. The big man had been shadowing him every second they were at the hospital. “Then you won’t let me come back. I have to be here, Kameron. I need to be here when he wakes up.” Bear couldn’t consider that Jimmy wouldn’t wake up.

“I know, Bear. I got us a room in one of the staff areas. We’ll have a guard on the door. You can rest here but when Jimmy wakes up, you have to come to the new safe house with me.” Kameron’s face was deadly serious and he didn’t look away from Bear’s eyes. “These guys are not playing around. We can’t take any risks.”

Exhausted didn’t begin to cover how tired Bear was. They’d been waiting all day but Jimmy was still unconscious. He was restless and his hands felt empty. He was used to working, either at the bar or on the computer. Sitting made him twitchy. “A cup—”

Kameron leaned forward. “You could have me; I’ll let you hold me.” He pushed Bear’s hair back. “Coffee, tea, or me?”
Bear could feel his face heat up. “I … This is a hospital!”

The grin across Kameron’s face lightened something in Bear as the big man tried to cheer him up. “The door locks.” He rolled his eyes when Kameron winked, then winced. His black eyes were multicolored and he looked like he had a disease but the swelling around his nose was down. “You need rest and a change of scenery.”

“Okay.”

Bear let Kameron pull him up by his good arm. He groaned and massaged his shoulder. “Pain pills and sleep,” Kameron said firmly.

***
A light knock on the door woke Kameron up. He was curled around Bear’s small body, holding him close. He winced at the pain in his abraded arm where it had been pressing against Bear’s stomach. He should get his bandages changed.

He rolled over gingerly and went over to the door. He wasn’t on duty, but he was armed anyway. Not knowing what could be on the other side of the door made him cautious. He palmed his handgun and stood to the side when he opened the door. The black uniform of the officer standing outside reassured him.

“Yeah?”

“Jimmy’s starting to wake up,” Loren said. “They just came out to say he opened his eyes.”

“Jimmy?” Bear was sitting up. The small man was rumpled, his hair standing up and his face covered with stubble as he yawned. He stood up and walked over to the door. “Is he okay?” he asked urgently.

“They don’t know. All they know is that he’s sleeping now and no longer unconscious.”

Bear wiped at the crust in his eyes. “Okay. We’ll be right up.”

Kameron was glad Bear said we. Maybe he was beginning to accept that Kameron was not going to leave him alone. He suggested Bear wash up and then asked Ted, the officer at the door, to go grab them some coffee. Kameron was pulling his shoes back on when there was another knock at the door.

“That was fast,” he said as he unlocked opened it, his coat in one hand. The door shoved into him and he was unable to move out of the way in time. The edge slammed into his nose with a nauseating crunch and then, as he stumbled back, it hit him again. Kameron fell to the ground, tears spilling alongside the blood streaming down his face from his nose. Blood splattered all over the floor when he tried to call out to Bear to hide.

Cops did not wear shoes like the ones in front of his face.

Pain shattered him as the foot slammed into his cheek.



***
Bear had no chance as the man grabbed him by his sore shoulder, spun him around, and punched him in the jaw. He was groaning, unable to stand up. He collapsed into the man’s arms. He stank of garlic and something bitter.

“What are you …?”

“Boss wants to talk to you.”

The sudden spin as he was slung down from the man’s shoulder and into a wheelchair made the room swirl. Bear thought he was going to vomit and he gagged. The man held a cloth over his face. “Nighty night now.”

TBC

Check out the other great updates by the other Briefers!

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Check it out! New eBook: Heated Blood

Hi readers! I know I've been disappointing in the updates lately, but I worked hard all day today to polish up Heated Blood and create a cover. Not only that, but I converted it into 3 formats and posted it on GayAuthors as well as Amazon.

Here's the thing... cash is nice, right? I'd like a little myself but I also want to make sure my readers are covered. You guys had the story here free and you can get free copies on GA (you must be a member), but if you have 99 cents, or you want to do a direct buy for your Kindle, you can purchase the story on Amazon.

If you absolutely cannot afford it, or join GA for privacy reasons, shoot me an email at anordwell(@)live.com. I'll help you out. The eBook is available now on GA and the Amazon copy should be up within the next 12 hours.


Synopsis:
Old world legends walk again and new legends are created when the world changed in a single flash of light. When the infants born in that moment begin to grow up, they're beset by danger. When the weak can't make it on their own, they do what they must to survive. But when survival isn't enough anymore ... things change again.

Links:
GayAuthors eBook Page
Amazon



Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Wednesday Briefs: One Night Part 10


It's that time of week again. Promise you guys will get more than this soon; I've just had a lot of family stuff going on. I don't want to get into it all, since I'm a bit of an emotional mess. I think it comes out a bit in this chapter though.

This week we had assorted prompts, including:

Use: “As thick as London fog …” or “Like oil and water …” or “She ran in …”
Use: Pizza, peanut butter and kool-aid or Lightning, blue sky and a chair
Use: The image of a dead tree
I chose 'Like oil and water'. I hope you enjoy!

One Night Part 10
“Please let him be okay.” Bear apparently was not above praying to whatever nameless force might feel it in their best interest to save his brother. Kameron looked down at him. “I just need to hold his hand and tell him how much I love him; I need to know he knows that. I was so mad at him ….”
“You called him earlier and made up for that. He knows you’re not mad at him anymore.”
Bear shrugged. “I still need to tell him. What if he doesn’t make it, Kameron? I need him. He’s the only person that knows my favorite cartoon from when I was a kid, or how I need him to take me to the dentist twice a year or I won’t go. How could this happen to him?”
Kameron put a hand on Bear’s back and pulled him in close. “It’s his job and a risk we all take, but if anyone can survive, it’ll be Jimmy. I haven’t known your brother for long; I transferred into his unit about six months ago. He’s all about the job though, wanting to make sure people are safe and he makes it personal. For you, he’d move heaven and earth to keep you safe, you know that. You think he’s going to let me take care of you on my own? Not likely.”
Bear let a small smile curved his lips up. “Yeah, he’d probably be over every other night to make sure you’re not letting me eat too much junk food or spend so much time in front of the monitors that my eyes go rectangular.”
“You have a junk food addiction, do you?” His eyes traveled down Bear’s body. “I’d never know.”
Bear shrugged. “Nervous energy eats up a lot of it. Plus bartending is more active than most people think.”
Kameron kept the conversation light, but enjoyed having more time to get to know the small, lithe man. He’s had to be so careful in their conversations before Bear found out who he really was, so it was nice not to have to worry about that.
And it kept Bear distracted from watching the clock and the doors to the surgical hall so much.
The doctor that opened up the doors paused until his eyes fell on the row of chairs taken up with the revolving group of uniformed and plain clothed officers surrounding Kameron and Bear.
“Mr. Orveng?”
Kameron stood behind Bear when he stood up, putting his hands on his shoulders and squeezing firmly.  “Look at his face, not the blood on his shoes.”
Bear looked up. The doctor looked serious but he was smiling.
“I’m Bear Orveng.”
Loren, Paolo, John, and the other officers ringed them, even their captain. The man was dedicated to his officers, and he’d already spoken to Bear and promised they’d find the thugs that’d shot Jimmy.
“Officer Orveng made it through surgery. He was shot in the head and right femoral artery.”
Bear sagged against Kameron. Loren collapsed into John’s arms; his quiet gaps the only sound in the room.
“The head shot bounced off his skull; the angle was incredibly lucky and resulted in a flesh wound for the most part. We are watching him for swelling and keeping him sedated for now. Our initial concern was repairing that femoral artery and getting the blood on board that he needed.”
“He’s going to be okay?” Kameron asked for Bear, knowing he needed to know but he was trembling too hard to pull it together to ask.
“We are cautiously optimistic, but he’s not anywhere close to out of the woods yet.” He resettled his stethoscope around his neck. “The next forty-eight hours will be pretty touch and go. You can see him if you,” Bear was already nodding, “want, but only for a few minutes. He needs to rest undisturbed.
Bear was still nodding.
“A nurse will be out in a few minutes to guide you to his room.”
The doctor walked away and Kameron pulled Bear into his arms. He rubbed his back, feeling Bear’s trembling become full out shivers. “It’ll be okay.”
John and Loren came up and Kameron let Loren hug Bear from behind but he didn’t let Bear go with his good arm. He wouldn’t until he had to.
Loren whispered, “You always yell about how hard headed Jimmy is. He’ll be fine; he’ll probably wake up and be ordering us all around by tonight.”
Bear nodded, his head still buried in Kameron’s chest.
“Mr. Orveng?”
Kameron reluctantly let Bear go. He watched as he disappeared behind the surgery ICU doors.
The captain’s hand fell on his shoulder. “You guys have had a rough few days.”
“The Zbrane have really stepped up the war on the task force.” Paolo rubbed a hand over his short brown hair. He wasn’t as small as Bear but he was a lot smaller than Kameron. At first they’d gotten along like oil and water, but once Kameron lost his defensiveness and Paolo realized he was young, but not stupid, they’d worked it out and become good partners.
Paolo had quite a bit more experience than him, though, and Kameron hoped to be able to learn everything he could from Paolo. “We’re close, though, that’s why they’re so threatened.”
“We’re going to get them and take the gang down,” Kameron said. For Bear, for Jimmy, and for all the innocent people he’d promised to protect.
TBC
Whew. How worried were you? Are you relieved, still wondering if I'll spin Jimmy's injury to the worst? You'll just have to wait til next week! In the meantime, enjoy lots of other great stories from the other briefers!
Elyzabeth VaLey