Wounded Love

CHAPTER 2 – 2003 – WASHINGTON STATE

“If it is your time love will track you down like a cruise missile. If you say ‘I don’t want it right’, t’, that’s when you will get it for sure”
- Linda Barry”

Catherine sat back in her chair and rubbed her eyes. She had been staring at her computer all night and her eyes were starting to punish her for it. She looked wearily at the clock on the wall above. 0645, fifteen more minutes and she could go home and collapse onto her bed. Just the thought made her put a smile on as some of the day workers started to slowly meander into work. Some seemed happy it was Friday, but most just looked like they needed a good strong cup of coffee.

“My, my Wakefield, you look positively wasted.” Carol, Catherine’s friend, said.

“Angry work centers, mad squadrons, and ex-boyfriends calling all night can to do that to you”. Catherine responded.

“I thought you wanted to hear from Ryan”. Carol asked setting her bag and sat down at her desk.

“Not when he’s groveling and begging for me to take him back. He was just so pathetic it made me sick”. Catherine said yawning. “Besides, cheating on me once is forgivable, twice is just moronic”.

“You’ve got a point there. Go home, you look beat”. Carol said loggin to to her computer.

Catherine grabbed her bag, thanked Carol and headed for her car.

Catherine almost nodded off twice on her way home. That was positively the longest night she had ever spent at work. But then again most of her nights were long. As a storekeeper in the navy, her job wasn’t exactly edge-of-your-seat-action all night. But serving over twenty different commands could be stressful, sometimes making her exhausted beyond belief. She had been in the Navy for 4 years now and she couldn’t believe she had just re-enlisted for another 2. What had made her stay in? Pride? Lack of any better options? Whatever it was, she was stuck for another 2 years whether she liked it or not.

She sighed as she pulled into the parking lot of her Oak Harbor apartment complex. Swinging her 2003 Nissan Altima (her baby) into her parking spot, she turned off the lights and decided not to put the car cover on, she was just too tired to do it this morning. People often made fun of her for covering her car so often but the way she figured it, anything worth having was worth taking care of, especially when that something cost her almost 400 dollars a month. Grabbing her bag and jacket she closed the door and pushed the button on heychaychain causing the car to lock, honk its horn and flash its lights. She loved the way it did that. Yawning, she walked up the stairs to her apartment.


*~~~~*


When William awakened a few hours later he was not in the same place as when he fell asleep. The surface beneath him was soft and warm, a bed perhaps, and it was quiet except for an odd noise emanating from somewhere. He would surely investigate that when the time came. His vision was still not clear but he was at least able to push himself to a sitting position. Wincing at the pain, he brought his hand to his throat. He could feel the ragged edge of the wound and almost passed out when he brought his hand in front of his eyes. He could see and feel something dark and warm covering his hand. Bracing himself for the pain, he attempted to swing his legs over the side of the bed to stand. As soon as he tried to support his weight his legs buckled out from beneath him and he fell to the ground. He let out a stream of words that would make any woman swoon and lay back down. Breathing hard from the exertion, he closed his eyes and fought back the urge to cry. How had he come to this? He didn’t pretend to know but by God he would find out, and he was a man who always got what he wanted.

Just as he was about to try and get up again, a bright light came on above him. Shielding his eyes with his hand, he groaned at the headache that the light was giving him.

“What the hell!”

William wasn’t sure who had said that but it was distinctly female. What lady in her right mind would curse like that? He asked himself as he took his hand away from his eyes. His vision was still blurred somewhat but even through the haze he could see a women glaring down at him. She looked confused, like she was trying to decide whether to be scared or mad.

“Madame, I assure you I am in no condition to hurt you, you have nothing to fear”. William said, trying to put her at ease.

“What the hell are you doing in my apartment?” the woman asked, obviously him to still be a threat.

“I don’t rightly know ma’am”. William responded trying to sit up. He winced as the pain ripped through his body.

The woman backed up a step and reached into the bag she had. “I have mace in here, tell me who you are and why you’re here or you will get a face full.”

William just stared at her a moment before responding. “I’m afraid I don’t know what mace is, but it sounds painful. My name is Colonel William James Tavington; I am the commander of His Majesties Green Dragoons. I mean you know harm. I was wounded at the battle of Cowpens and I’m afraid I’m a bit lost”.

The woman stared at him, confused. She seemed to believe the “mean no harm” part because she had taken her hand out of her bag, thankfully without the mace in it.

“Whoever you are you’re making a mess with all this blood. Shit you look like you need an ambulance”. She said as she walked away.

As she stepped away from him and dropped her bag on the floor he laid back and tried to figure her out. She was by far the oddest woman he had ever encountered. She had unusually short hair for a female; it didn’t even reach her shoulders and her mouth would have made Lord Cornwallis blush. Just what the bloody hell was an ambulance? Damn, it wasn’t his fault that he was bleeding all over the place. He had been shot and stabbed for God sake. Had the any compassion at all?


*~~~*


Catherine put the phone down and walked back over to the man who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. All the doors and windows were locked and intact, she couldn’t figure out how he got in. The police had been just as confused, stupidly assuming she had let him in. She didn’t have the slightest clue who this stranger was. William Tavington, he had said, a colonel in His Majesties army. He mentioned a battle of some sort. She wondered if he was one of those war re-enactors, but then what was he doing in Washington? The last time the U.S. was at war with England was the Revolutionary War, and the re-enactments took place mainly on the east coast. He was a strange man indeed. The dispatch lady from the police station told her it would be about 10 min until a unit would be there to pick him up. She took this time to study.

He had passed out but was still breathing. His uniform looked authentic right down to the gold buttons on his crimson and green jacket. His black breeches were dirty and torn in some places, making her wonder just how extensive his injuries were. She assumed he was Calvary judging by his black riding boots. Her gaze traveled to his face. His long auburn hair was pulled back into an odd sort looking pony tail wrapped in some sort of cloth. He was exceptionally handsome; his face was sculpted and rough looking, with just a hint of stubble on his jaw. His lips were full and inviting making her wonder what his kiss would feel like. Where had that thought come from? She wondered as she reached out to brush some dirt from his face. She was still trying to figure it out when his eyes fluttered open. Her hand froze on his face as his lips curved into a slow, lazy smile. She couldn’t speak. His eyes held hers as he reached up and covered her hand with his own. His eyes never strayed from hers as he brought her hand to his lips and kissed her palm. She felt like she could see right into his soul. Pain, betrayal, and something very unnerving made her nervously pull her hand away. His eyes held so many different emotions she was at a loss for words. The sensation of his soft lips on her palm had her head spinning, adding to her confusion.

“Could you hide my weapons please? I don’t want to lose them to whoever may come to get me”. He asked with genuine concern.

Catherine was confused for a moment and then she saw what he was talking about. Lying next to him were an old looking flint-lock pistols and a long saber in a scabbard. Gathering the archaic weapons together, she got up and made her way to the closet.

“Thank you very much. Those were a gift from my mother when I joined the army”. He said trying again in vain to sit up.

Catherine was about to tell him to lie back down when she heard a knock at the door. Making her way to the door, she opened it to find two paramedics and a police officer. She let them in and the paramedics immediately got to work on the bruised and bloodied William. She could hear his moans and groans as the man loaded him on to the stretcher.

“What happened here?” The police officer asked.

Catherine looked at the officer. He was in his mid to late 30’s and looked like he was tired as hell.

“I don’t know. I came home from work and he was here on the floor by my bed”. She replied.
“You have no idea how he got in?” He asked

Catherine took a quick look at his nametag. “No officer Barrent. All the doors and windows were locked with no sign of forced entry. I honestly have no idea as to how he got in”.

Officer Barrent made some quick notes on his notepad and looked back up at her. “Do you know the man at all?”

Catherine sighed and said “No, I have never seen this man before”.

Barrent looked at her quizzically before responding. “Well in that case, would you like to press charges?”

Catherine thought about it for a moment. He hadn’t been hostile towards her and besides the bloody mess he had left on her floor, which was hardwood anyway, he hadn’t caused any damage.

“No I don’t think so”. She answered.

Putting his notebook back in his pocket, he looked around one last time before putting his hat back on. “We’ll be taking him to the naval hospital if you wanted to know”. He said before leaving.

Catherine sighed as she looked at the blood on the floor. So much for getting some sleep. She thought as she went to the closet to grab the mop and bucket.


*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*


Authors Note:

Thank you all that reviewed. The wound on his throat did not sever his trachea so it hurts him to talk but he can talk normally.

I will update as often as I can and hope to update soon.

A big thanks to Julie my wonderful Beta.

Peace out!!
\Casandra (aka OrganizedChaos)