Casualties of Love by Denise Riley

not being able to come back, though. Can’t imagine not being on the team.”
    “I hear you, brother,” Marcus said.
    “What about you, Cap? They gonna let you back after this one?”
    Collins gestured to Tyson’s leg injury.
    “Probably,” Tyson answered with a shrug. “They say I should be able to get back to normal. Or as close to normal as we are after seeing and doing this shit for so long. Nothing’s broken. The artery wasn’t nicked like they thought. Just a lot of flesh to heal because it was kind of deep. And hopefully the headaches will stop…hopefully. At this point, I’m wondering how many more lucky breaks I’m gonna get. Three tours and injuries that get worse each time. Maybe I’m running out of luck. Maybe I ought to hope that I don’t get put back.”
    “Yeah, but what the hell would we do if we didn’t do this?” Marcus asked. “I don’t know how to do anything else.”
    “I’ll let you know, Jones. Looks like I’ll be figuring it out.”
    “The team won’t be the same without you, Collins,” Marcus said sincerely.
    “Course not. Who’s gonna be the pretty one?” Collins tired voice said in a superior tone.
    “Fuck you, man. I’m the pretty one,” Marcus argued with an exaggerated expression.
    “You’re both nuts. I’m the pretty one. Hell, if for no other reason than I’m the boss!” Tyson said.
    “His ass is always pulling rank,” Marcus said jerking a thumb toward Tyson. “You know he’s thinking he can just order us to say it’s true.”
    They all laughed and it felt good. It felt like a release. They had lost a buddy, but they all knew they were blessed to be alive.
    “You pretty boys need to keep it down and get some rest.”
    They all turned heads to see Jessica standing in the doorway with small smile on her face. Clearly she’d heard their exchange. Her naturally sultry voice had moved over Tyson like a soft breeze - one that was blowing right over his crotch. Tyson’s eyes ate up the vision of her. Her hair was pulled back, accentuating her features. She was fresh-faced, completely void of make-up, and in uniform, but she still managed to stun him. 
    Collins let out a soft wolf whistle.
    “I’ll do anything for you darlin’,” Collins said to Jessica with a teasing wink.
    “Really? And, what would we tell your wife, sugar?” she teased back as she walked into the room. Collins gave her a sheepish grin. “But since you said anything, you need to rest,” she said talking to Collins. He held his hands up in surrender. She checked his leg and asked him if he was in any pain. Collins assured her he was fine as she looked over his charts.
    “ You shouldn’t be out of bed at all.” Jessica was looking across Collins’s bed at Tyson with that statement. “I worked hard to keep you alive until you made it to surgery. Don’t screw up my handiwork.” Tyson’s expression had to have shown his surprise. He hadn’t known that she had worked on him in the field. “And you, Lt. Jones, need to stay off that ankle and stop stirring up trouble. I hear you’ve been flirting with the female PAs.” Marcus gave Jessica a “who me” gesture at which she rolled her eyes.
    “Come on, I’m rolling you back, Cpt. Kidd. Lt. Jones, please follow in your own vehicle,” she said pointing to his wheelchair.
                  “Yes, ma’am,” Jones said.
                  “Don’t ma’am me, sir,” she said as she started to wheel Tyson out of Collins’ room.
    Jones just laughed. He followed them until he saw one of their other teammates. He broke off the path to their room, despite Jessica’s protest, promising her that he wouldn’t make trouble. He did so with a wink, so Tyson hoped she didn’t believe what Marcus had said. She wheeled him back to the room and managed to help him get into the bed. He was surprised she succeeded because he wasn’t that much help, but apparently she had a lot of practice with that kind of