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Down and
Dirty
SEAL
EXtreme Team Short Story
By: Kimberley
Blurb
Final
request…
SEAL Lieutenant Commander Nick
Talley keeps promises, but taking care of a teammate’s sister is a vow he
should’ve made. How can a man tortured by the past, help a woman fight her
tough future?
Broken
dreams…
Ironman qualifier, Jill Connors,
is counting the days until her brother brings handsome Nick home with him. But
a buried IED takes her brother’s life and a drunk driver steals her competition
hopes. Will Nick want a woman with only one foot?
Love has a way of healing the
wounded…one muddy step at a time.
Buy Links
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Down-
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/
Author Info
Kimberley
Troutte is a Southern California girl, born
and raised. She lives with her amazing hubby, two awesome sons, one old dog, a
wild cat, four very large snakes and various other creatures the man/kids/dog
inevitably drag in.
Win 1 Digital Copy of Coming In Hot - Book 1
Excerpt
Steps. Shit, there had to be a dozen of them
leading up to the hospital entrance. Coming straight from the funeral,
Lieutenant Commander Nick Talley was still in his naval dress uniform. He’d be
damned if anyone caught him using the wheelchair access. As he hoisted himself
up the steps, one grunt at a time, a SEAL motto ran through his brain—The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday.
Today was proving to be a helluva hard day.
Wiping the sweat off his lip, he took a deep
breath and flinched. His ribs were just bruised, but hell, he’d broken bones
that hadn't hurt this badly. Plus, he ached in places no one could see. At the
top of the steps, he steeled himself for what he'd find inside. The glass doors
opened, and the pungent odor of disinfectant hit his nose. He hated hospitals
almost as much as gravesites. Did fate have to keep punching him in the balls?
At the Information Desk, a little old lady
who resembled his Granny Mo—blue hair and all—was head down in her crossword
puzzle. The tag stuck off-kilter to her yellow sweater read: “Hi! I’m Lucille.
Can I help you?”
“Excuse me, ma’am. I’m looking for a woman
they brought in this morning. Car accident.”
“Heavens!” She smiled up at him, pressing
her gnarled fingers to her chest. “Seeing a handsome man in his blues does my
heart good. Real good. My husband was a Navy man too, God rest his soul. Now,
what was the patient’s name?”
“Jill Connor.”
“Let’s see.” Squinting at the computer, she
dragged her arthritic fingers slowly down the list of hospital patients. “Yes.
Here she is. Oh.” Her lower lip
trembled. “Dear.”
A fist strangled his vocal cords. “She
didn’t survive the accident?”
“Now, don’t think the worst. She’s had
surgery, which means her visitors are restricted.” The woman rose and came
around the desk. Taking his arm, she said quietly, “You might not be able to
see her today unless you are an immediate family member. Are you family,
Lieutenant Commander?”
Nick didn’t answer. He knew better than to
lie to his elders.
“I thought not. But she is important to
you?”
Jill Connor was a dying man’s last wish and
a promise Nick shouldn't have made. “She’s the only thing important to me right
now. I have to see her.”
Lucille nodded and gave his arm a gentle
squeeze. “All right then.” She wrote on a visitor’s card and handed it to him.
“Take this to the nurse at the station on the third floor. She’s a bit of a
stickler about visitors, but this note should get you in. Good luck, Lieutenant
Commander. I hope your lady friend gets better fast.”
Once inside the elevator, he glanced at the
visitor’s card. Lucille had scrawled, “Brother of patient.”
Nick’s heart pounded. His hand shook. The
ringing in his ears started up, and his vision began to tunnel. Shit, it was
happening again. The card filled with blood and splattered the linoleum tiles
beneath his feet. “Son of a bitch!”
He dropped the card and ground it under his
heel. Blood soaked up his pant leg as if it were a thick straw. No matter how
hard he stomped, he couldn't stop the flow. He was panting when the elevator
opened on the third floor.
A man got on. “Good afternoon.”
Nick nodded, picked up the card, and
smoothed out the wrinkles on his pants. No blood in sight. Visions attacked him
when he least expected them, and there wasn't a damned thing he could do about
them.
The nurse glanced at the “brother” card and
buzzed him in without question. People saw what they wanted to see, and a
decorated hero usually went where he wanted to go. Nick scrubbed his hands
thoroughly at the washing station and was grateful that no blood circled the
drain. He followed the nurse down a long corridor that reeked of cleaning
supplies, and to him, death.
“This is her room,” the nurse said.
He hung back while the nurse messed around
with the IVs going into tanned, muscular arms. A swimmer’s arms. How many times
had he fantasized about them wrapped around his back?
Nick couldn’t take his eyes off the frail
woman in the bed. Shadows pooled under her closed dark lashes. Brown freckles
sprinkled across her nose stood out as a sharp contrast to her impossibly fair
cheeks. She had random bruises too, most likely collateral damage from the
airbag. The dark hair he’d only seen pulled up in a ponytail fanned out across
the stark white pillow. Damn, she was beautiful, even now. But so small.
The picture he carried in his wallet had
captured a stop-your-heart gorgeous athlete with tanned skin, a wicked glint in
her green eyes, and a first place medal around her neck. The times they’d
spoken by Skype, she’d seemed larger than life. This person in the bed clung to
life.
“Your brother is here,” the nurse said
softly. “Can you open your eyes?”
Jill stirred in her sleep.
The nurse turned to him. “She’s tired. If
she does wake, don’t be surprised if she’s a bit fuzzy-headed. That’s normal.
She’s been through a terrible trauma and might not know about the foot yet.”
Nick’s gaze swept across the off-white
cotton blanket. Near the bottom of the bed, where the pillows had been piled
up, he saw something he’d never wanted to see. Holy hell! Jill’s right foot was
gone.
“Don’t stay long,” the nurse admonished on
her way out. “If she’s thirsty, you can give her a few ice chips.”
Nick was alone with a woman he’d never met
in person.
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