Chapter 124
735 Words
Chris was quiet as he thought about that statement. It was indeed true that while they were in Afghanistan, Chris had been the one man in their unit who had been called in to talk to local women who had been raped or brutalized, but who knew information helpful to the Americans. None of these women had been willing or able to let a man near her – let alone a huge, fierce Ranger – but Chris had always been able to get into the room with the women, and get them to relax enough to tell him what they knew.
He had no idea what it was, but something about him was soothing, calming. He’d learned how to talk to terrified women, how to make himself non-threatening. Jim was right, he realized; of the four of them, he did have the most experience with women who had no reason at all to trust men. He just wasn’t sure that applied in this case.
“Yeah, but I didn’t touch those women,” Chris said. “And I certainly didn’t get into bed with them. Big difference, man.”
Dean shrugged. “It all starts with trust, Chris. Without that, nothing goes anywhere. Jenny trusts you, and she doesn’t trust anyone else. I’d say that’s a pretty damn good point of departure, huh?”
Chris shook his head. “I still don’t know.”
“Look, talk to Emma,” Dean said. “If she’s already in the loop, and she’s worked with s*x surrogates before, then she knows what may happen better than you do. I know before she got sick, she worked with lots of women who’d been raped or sexually abused. She can tell you what to expect, I bet.”
“Yeah, OK,” Chris said. “I’ll talk to Emma. Is she feeling up to a visitor?”
Dean nodded. “She had her last round of chemo almost two weeks ago, and she isn’t scheduled for another one until the New Year, after we get back from California. She’s good.”
“She’s really doing better since the stem cell transplant?” Jim asked, wondering not for the first time if Dean was holding out on them about that.
“Oh, yeah.” Dean smiled. “Way better. She’s stronger, and her recovery time from the chemo since the transplant was much faster. I’ll take her in for some tests in early March, see how she’s responding to chemo now. With a bit of luck…”
His voice trailed off, but the other men knew what he was thinking. The hope was that the transplant Emma had received almost two months earlier would push her leukemia into remission. It was still a long shot, but all four of them believed in beating the odds.
They’d done it over and over again by surviving their time overseas, and God knows Emma had done it too, by fighting an aggressive form of cancer.
“Glad to hear it,” Dallas said. “That woman deserves a f*****g break, man.”
“And Liv?” Dean asked. “How’s she doing now?”
Dallas looked down. “Still reeling.”
“She hasn’t shown you her scars?” Chris asked softly.
Dallas shook his head. “No. She isn’t ready yet.”
They were quiet again, remembering how many times she’d been cut up. They’d witnessed the whole thing via hidden camera, and the sight of Olivia being pinned down under her stalker as he'd sliced her with a knife had haunted them since.
“Well, she trusts you,” Chris said. “She’ll show you when she’s ready.”
“Yeah.” Dallas drank some more beer. “And Jenny trusts you… if you can get past your own fears, Chris, I think you’d be able to help her.”
Chris looked at the others, saw that they were nodding.
“In fact,” Dallas said. “I think you may well be the only person who can help her.”
“Yeah,” Chris said. “Yeah. I know. I just want to make sure I would actually help her… I need to know just what the hell I’d be getting into.”
“Ask Emma,” Dean said gently. “Go away for Christmas, think it all through. Then decide.”
Chris sighed. “OK. That’s what I’ll do."
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