Take My Breath Away

Wesley's attack sent Liam flying into the bookshelf, knocking it over.

Moving to protect Blair, Wesley snaked an arm around her waist and guided her away from the falling books.

Two of Wesley's men jumped on Liam, pinning him to the floor.

Soon, the police came, and Liam was cuffed and stuffed.

Wesley helped Blair walk to a seat to rest. Supporting her head with one arm, she closed her eyes to steady herself, still dizzy from the impact of the bump.

After Blair was seated by the table, Wesley gave his statement to the police. As soon as he left, his men trotted over to Blair and asked with concern, "You all right? We can take you to the infirmary if you want."

Blair opened her eyes to find that she was surrounded by a crowd of young men wearing silly grins. Startled, she sat up immediately and replied, "I'm fine. I'll go later."

Talbot Yun, Wesley's right-hand man, squeezed to the front of the throng and sat on his haunches. He said, "You were so calm back there. You gotta be the bravest girl I've ever seen."

Wesley turned around occasionally to make sure his men were behaving. That was when he saw that they were crowding around Blair, talking and laughing.

There was a blood streak on her neck, a bruise on her forehead. Besieged with concerned questions from the young officers, she looked nervous.

Wesley strode over and demanded, "What's going on? She's hurt and doesn't need you guys bugging her. Talbot, Bowman, send Bl...er... her to the infirmary."

"Yes, sir!" the brothers, Talbot Yun and Bowman Yun answered, standing to attention and saluting when they got Wesley's orders.

The rest of the crowd lined up and marched towards the playground.

Back on the playground the young soldiers were talking amongst themselves. Concentrating on the training? Forget it. "I think Chief knows her. I heard him almost call her by name. I don't think he wants us to know," a man said.

"I heard it too. And? Knowing her name doesn't mean anything. Anyway, we got to train these guys,"

a second man retorted, turning to walk away. Yet another man grabbed him and said seriously, "We only knew about Megan. Now this girl? Chief's holding out on us."

"Right. Talbot and Bowman say he doesn't get out much. When he's not visiting his hometown, he's in his apartment. A date? Never!" He laughed.

"Ten-hut!"

a cold, stern voice came from behind them. Their hearts sank. They were supposed to be training the students, not gossiping about their superior's private life. "Oh God. We're doomed!" they cried.

"It's all your fault. I tried to get you to stay on task," one of them complained.

"One hundred leapfrogs, each of you," Wesley announced solemnly.

"Noooooooooo, " they screamed inside, too afraid of Wesley to defy him. So the 12 military instructors ended up doing 100 leapfrogs each in front of the college freshmen.

In the infirmary

Talbot Yun and Bowman Yun offered to escort Blair to the infirmary, but she turned them down. "I'm good. I can get there on my own. Thanks, though," she told them.

Bowman Yun said with a grin, "Okay then, but if you feel dizzy again, let us know. We'll carry you there."

"Got it. Bye," Blair agreed with a nod, feeling that the brothers were way too friendly with her.

Their eagerness to please her outstripped her desire to get Wesley to notice her.

In the infirmary, a doctor applied some cortisone cream to Blair's neck and forehead. "The laceration to your neck will heal soon, but I don't like that lump on your forehead. You need a CAT scan and a proper exam to have that checked out."

"Set that up for me, okay? Thanks, doc."

She knew Talbot Yun and Bowman Yun were busy with training, so Blair went to the hospital on her own.

She had a CAT scan to determine whether she had a concussion, and she got a clean bill of health. Relieved, she went home to take a nap.

But before long, she was jarred awake by her ringtone. It was her uncle Adalson. "How are you feeling? Did you go to the hospital?" he asked.

Blair sat up, blinking to clear her head. She yawned. "Sorry, Uncle. You woke me up. I saw a doctor and everything's fine."

"Okay. Come home when you have time. Or your aunt can come over and look after you."

"Uncle, I'm good, really. If it makes you feel better, I'll be by in a couple days." Blair was touched by her uncle's concern, but she felt he was making mountains out of molehills.

"You don't have to. I'll let you go. Bye." Adalson ended the phone call in a hurry.

Blair stared at her phone. 'That was weird, ' she thought. 'Well, maybe there was an emergency, ' she told herself. Then she went back to sleep.

She dropped into a deep slumber. The hours passed. She opened her eyes again, and it took her a little bit to realize someone was ringing her doorbell.

Only her uncle and aunt and Joslyn knew she lived here.

Her uncle lived in in another city and it couldn't be her aunt, so it must be Joslyn.

Still in her pajamas, Blair went to the door with bleary eyes. She opened the door, and said with her eyes half closed, "Joslyn, why did you... Huh? Wesley?"

Her eyes were wide open when she saw the man standing at the door. Wesley was still wearing his camo fatigues. He must have just gotten back. "Uncle Adalson asked me to come and check on you. You all right?" he asked with a serious look on his face.

He called Adalson "Uncle Adalson" in private.

'Couldn't hrle just say he wanted to check on me? Even though it's a lie, I'd still be happy. He can't see I'm crushing on him hard,' she thought.

Blair nooded. Then soon she shook her head. "Not really."

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm hungery," she answered, blinking. It was after 8 p.m. She hadn't eaten anything since lunch.

Wesley glanced at her and decided to pretend he didn't realize what she was getting at. "So are you hurt?"

"Yes."

"What is it? Do you need to go to the hospital?"

"No, my belly's hurting. I need a restaurant," she said innocently.

Wesley felt defeated. Just as he was about to refuse, Blair cut in, "My treat. It's the least I can do. You saved me."

"I'm a soldier. It was my duty." Wesley wanted to leave.

Blair added, "My Uncle asked you to check on me. I'm starving. Are you really going to just walk away?"

"Is that a threat?" Wesley hated being threatened.

Blair shook her head like a rattle. "No, no. It's okay if you don't want to have dinner with me. Tell you what--go home, shower, change. I have enough here in the house. I'll cook dinner. Come over, make sure I'm fine, and then you can take off again. What do you say?"

Wesley gave her a long look and turned around without a word to go back to his apartment.

"Hey, yes or no? You haven't given me an answer yet." if he agreed, she would go to the kitchen and start cooking now.

Wesley opened his door and turned around impatiently. "we'll see."

'He is as cold as an iceberg,' Blair thought.

The next time someone opened her apartment door, Blair was I the kitchen, ready to saute some vegetables and meat.