Page 4
The TV. monitor began to beep. Brent collapsed into his chair, sighed deeply, and pressed the receive button. Whitney appeared on the small screen. She appeared upset.
�I need to speak to my father,� she announced firmly with a quiver in her voice.
Brent gave Hawk a concerned look then pushed himself away from the monitor. Hawk ran to the inside of the desk and looked at his daughter's face.
�Baby, what is it? What's wrong?� Hawk asked.
�Daddy, I'm in trouble,� she sniffed. �I've been wounded.�
�Where are you?� he asked with a look of concern.
�I'm at home,� she said softly.
�I'll be right there.�
As soon as the monitor shut off, Brent jumped from his seat. �We'll take the back stairs. It's faster,� Brent informed him.
They both ran from the room.
Whitney sat on the edge of the bathtub while holding a cloth to the wound on her leg. She looked around the bathroom floor and walls. She had blood everywhere. The pain was very intense, so intense she didn't know how she ever made it home. Only moments after she made the tele-connection, her father stormed into the bathroom. He stopped momentarily to stare at the blood trail leading to his daughter, then ran to her and hugged her. She threw her arms around his neck.
�Who did this to you, Honey?� he demanded and pulled away. �I'll kill the son-of-a-bitch who did this!�
�It's okay, Daddy, I'm fine--�
�Fine? They hurt my little girl!� He looked around the room and stared at the blood. Brent stood in the doorway and watched Hawk. Hawk appeared ill. �Oh-- I'm going to be sick!� He ran from the room.
Brent entered the bathroom carrying an emergency kit. Whitney stared at him with wide eyes. Anger replaced her pain.
�What do you want?� she snapped hotly.
He kneeled before her, opened the kit, and then reached for the rag she held over her leg. Whitney pushed his hand away.
�Don't you touch me,� she exclaimed.
Brent glared at her. �We can do this the easy way or the hard way, but we're going to do it.�
She stared into his eyes a long moment. �Lucky for you I'm in no condition to fight.�
�I'll remind you to kick my ass later,� he scoffed lowly. He removed the cloth from the bullet gash. �That's pretty bad. I'll need to laser mend it. Want some pain killer?�
�No,� she scoffed harshly.
He removed the pocket laser from the bag and turned it on. Whitney cringed and looked away. Brent began to mend the wound with the laser. Whitney clung to the edge of the tub. �What happened?� he asked.
She inhaled deeply and endured the pain. �I had a falling out with an old friend.�
�Pretty serious falling out--if he tried to kill you,� Brent remarked and finished the mending. He set the laser mender aside.
�Yeah--it was,� she replied softly with a sad expression.
�So where is he now?� Brent asked.
Whitney looked down but didn't respond. Brent brushed the hair from her face.
�You had to kill him, didn't you?� he asked softly.
Whitney placed her hand to her eyes and began to tremble. Brent moved closer and pulled her head to his shoulder. She immediately placed her arms around his neck and began to cry. Brent stroked her hair.
�It�s okay,� he said softly. �It wasn�t your fault.�
Hawk stood in the bathroom doorway and stared as Whitney cried on Brent�s shoulder.
Whitney sat on the porch of her father's house with her leg propped on the rail. She studied the red marks on her thigh and poked at them. There wasn�t much pain just stiffness and marks. Nadine approached the porch and smiled warmly.
�Hey-- How are you feeling?� Nadine asked gently.
�Better,� Whitney replied. �What about tonight?�
�We're going ahead as scheduled,� Nadine replied. �You'll have to sit this one out.�
�I�m having difficulty walking. I don�t think I�d be much use to the group right now anyway.�
Nadine sat on the railing near Whitney�s foot. �Parson deserved it,� Nadine announced simply. �What happened? Denny was a little fuzzy on the details. He hadn�t even known you�d been shot.�
Whitney sighed. �When Denny knocked on the door, Parson was distracted enough for me to grab my knife. I barely had time to think about what I was doing. I just threw the knife.�
Nadine shook her head. �It�s a good thing you have good throwing aim.�
�I hadn�t even realized I�d been shot until Denny and I parted ways through the back. There was no time to even think about it. We didn�t want those aliens investigating.�
�Parson lived next door to me all of my life,� Nadine remarked. �I can�t imagine what would�ve happened if the situation would�ve been reversed.�
�I think you would�ve done the same thing,� Whitney said. �It wasn�t as if he gave me much choice.�
�That must have been traumatic,� Nadine whispered.
�You're telling me,� Whitney scoffed. �I cried on Brent Valdemar's shoulder for fifteen minutes. Talk about chills.�
Nadine laughed then studied her a moment with a tiny smile. �Frazer said he'd stop by before noon tomorrow to check on you.� Nadine looked at her watch. �I should go. I�ll give you a report tomorrow.�
�Be careful,� Whitney said gently.
Nadine smiled slyly. �I always am.�
