Outbreak: Better Days by Robert Van Dusen Page A

minor shock when the woman stood up and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.
    It took a couple moments to get Frays back over to what he assumed was her cot. It occurred to him that this was the first time he had actually been in her quarters. Adam rubbed her back and held her, waiting for her to calm down. He unbuckled her LCS and helped her shrug out of the vest…
    He took off his own armor and nudged it under her cot to rest with Amy’s gear. A little thrill went through him as Amy snuggled against his chest. “It’s alright, Frays.” Lacey whispered in her ear as he squeezed her tight. “I gotcha. It’s alright…shh…” After a few moments Adam gently leaned against her getting Amy to lie down next to him on the cot.
    Amy rolled onto her other side, putting her face to face with Lacey. She smiled shyly. “I’m sorry Frannie woke you.” Frays whispered. Conflicting emotions ran through her as she lay there in this man’s arms. Anger at Frannie. Shame. Rage…and…she had to admit it she was getting a little hot in here…
    “It’s okay, Am…Frays…” he shifted a little, slipping an arm very carefully under the woman’s neck. “Rodriguez is going to watch the kids for me.” Adam brushed a couple locks of hair away from the woman’s face and maneuvered just ever so slightly closer to her. He noticed the flush in her cheeks, the heat of her breath on his face…
    He kissed her and tensed up, remembering the last time he had slipped up like this but not being able to help himself. The woman went stiff in his arms then relaxed, kissed him back with a fierceness that surprised him. He pulled her shirt off and stared up at her as she pushed him onto his back. Amy kissed him again, his hands moving down her sides caressing the lump where her child grew in her womb…
    He lay awake after they had finishe d feeling strange and listening to Frays snore like a Harley Davidson with its muffler missing. The loss of his wife still gnawed at him like biting insects in his mind and somehow he could not help thinking that he had betrayed Laura. The hurt in her eyes when Mister Frays had accused him of doing what he had just done… He realized that Laura was dead and she would want him to find someone else…but…still… Adam propped himself up slightly on an elbow and looked down at Amy’s face as she slept.
    God, she’s beautiful… he thought and gently caressed her cheek. The woman stirred and pressed her back up against him, a slight smile flitting across her drowsing face. Guilt boiled to the surface. As much as he did not want to think of it that way he could not help but think he had taken advantage of her. Then again, Frays had proven in the past she was more than capable of letting him know if she was not interested in him…
    It was late. Adam looked around in the gloom, trying to figure out a way to extract himself from the situation. He would almost certainly wake Frays trying to get up and he did not want to do that. She seemed so peaceful despite the noise rumbling out of her chest that it seemed a shame to wake her. Still, he had to get back to his kids and if anybody caught him coming out of her room in the morning it would raise all kinds of questions…
    He bit the bullet and as gently as possible tugged his arm out from under Frays’ head. She stirred and rolled onto her back as he sat up. “Sorry.” he said quietly and smiled down at her in the reddish haze of the emergency lights. “I gotta get back. The kids will be worried if I’m not there in the morning.”
    Amy yawned and stretched, vaguely reminding him of a cat. “Alright, Adam.” she mumbled her voice still thick with sleep. To his surprise the woman rose up on her elbows her face mere centimeters from his. She gave him a quick peck on the lips and smiled. He kissed her back then almost started in again before stopping himself.
    Adam threw on his gear and slipped out into the hall in a haze. It was