Take My Breath Away

When he heard what Wesley said, Damon pulled up a chair and sat beside his bed. "Bro, you and Blair have been living together forever. Why haven't you put the moves on her yet?"

Wesley looked at Damon and said seriously, "Cut it out. We live under the same roof, but we're in different bedrooms."

There was disdain in Damon's eyes, like he thought the bedridden guy was an idiot. "You kidding me? You haven't gotten laid? What's wrong with you?"

"I'm living with her so I can always protect her," Wesley said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Curtis chuckled and teased him, "You can't be serious. This is a joke, right?"

Carlos, on the other hand, thought of his wife, who was now in England. "My wife is mad at me over this. What about your girlfriend? She mad, too?" he asked. He assumed Blair was mad at Wesley too, just like Debbie was. She should be here, taking care of Wesley, right?

Wesley didn't bother saying anything more about his relationship, and just said "Mmm hmm" in response.

To be honest, Wesley still didn't understand why Blair was mad. Just because he got injured protecting Megan? Couldn't be! Although Blair would fight with him from time to time, she was still a kind-hearted girl. She was pretty level-headed, to boot.

Damon leaned forward and looked at Wesley conspiratorially. "Dude, be honest with me. Ever see a girl and think 'I really want to bang her?' Seriously."

Wesley looked at him, expressionless. The contempt was obvious in his eyes. "Why do you ask?"

"Just asking. Can a girl crack that cold exterior? Do you know how it feels? I'm dying to know."

'How it feels?' Wesley didn't think he needed to hide anything from one of his best friends, so he nodded, "Of course. It feels like being shot in the head by a Kar98k." He only felt like that when he was with Blair.

The other three didn't know what to say.

'No wonder he's still single. He made a sexy moment seem like a murder.'

Damon was really curious what a tough, cold man like Wesley would be like around a woman he loved. So he asked, "People always talk about 'the look of love.' Your eyes should be full of tenderness when you're around your girlfriend. Does that happen when you're around Blair?"

Wesley's lips twitched as he simply spat, "Get out!" 'I don't love her. Why would I have the look of love? Fine! I admit I like her, but we can't be together.'

Damon rolled his eyes, thinking that Wesley was really hopeless. "You're too much, dude. You'll regret it if she finds another guy. Just the other day, I saw Blair and another guy at a restaurant. Nice-looking, too—blonde hair, green eyes. You can't tell me you're not jealous."

'Blonde hair and green eyes? Orion?' Wesley thought bitterly. Angry and red-faced, he snapped at Damon, "Fuck off!"

Damon's jaw dropped at his sudden outburst.

Carlos kicked Damon's chair and said, "Hey. Don't forget why we're here."

"Oh right. I almost forgot. It's about our last mission..." Damon put on a serious face and began to discuss the matter with Wesley.

That evening, another two came to visit Wesley—Hartwell and Joslyn.

When she caught sight of them, Cecelia came over and held Joslyn's arm. There was evident admiration in her eyes when she looked at Joslyn's belly. "Wow, you'll be a dad soon, Hartwell. And your mom will be a grandma. Jealous! I don't even have a daughter-in-law!"

Hartwell cast a casual glance at the man in the bed. "I'm pretty sure that you'll have one, if Wesley wants to."

Of course, Cecelia got his point. But changing Wesley's mind proved to be impossible. "Have a seat, Joslyn. I'll wash some fruit for you." She changed the subject.

"Don't put yourself out. We won't be around long." Blair had told Joslyn that Cecelia was very welcoming. And now Joslyn knew it was true.

"No trouble at all. Besides, I'm sure Wesley will be grateful for the company. I'll be right back." After saying that, Cecelia took some fruit from the fridge and went to the bathroom.

After she was out of sight, Wesley looked at Joslyn and asked, "Where is she?" Of course, he was referring to none other than Blair.

He sent her a message last night, asking, "You asleep now?" But he hadn't gotten a reply back.

The smile on Joslyn's face was replaced by a scornful look. "Blair? I think she's holed up with a guy in some hotel. See? She's popular, huh?" Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Wesley couldn't believe his ears.

Even her husband was stunned for a while. 'We drove Blair home before we came here, ' he thought. Then he realized what Joslyn was doing.

So he pretended to sigh helplessly. "She's really something else."

Joslyn sighed as well and said, "She's an adult now. It's her body, she can do what she wants. You guys don't take it seriously, anyway."

Both men were again at a loss for words.

Wesley was uncomfortable because of what Joslyn said. After the couple left, he urged his mom to leave. When he was alone, he called Talbot over and struggled to leave the ward.

He limped to the parking garage and eased into Talbot's car. After he was settled in the passenger seat, beads of sweat trickled down his face. His leg wasn't fully healed yet.

Talbot was confused. "Chief, what happened? Why do you wanna leave so bad?"

Wesley scrunched up his eyes, suffering from the intense pain. Instead of answering his question, he simply said, "Take me to the Eastern Coastal Apartments."

"What? All right."

About a half hour later, the two men stood in front of the door to the apartment. Wesley gestured for Talbot to stay put, and he entered the apartment alone.

He pushed the door open and was greeted by darkness.

'Is she really not here?' Wesley's heart sank.

He quietly opened the door to her bedroom, and when he saw the bedside lamp was on, he secretly heaved a sigh of relief.

He tiptoed to Blair's bedside. It was one o'clock in the morning; she was fast asleep, and had no clue there was a man standing beside her bed, looking at her. If she woke up now, she would be scared out of her wits.

Finally Wesley left the apartment. Talbot was waiting for him, restless as an ant on a hot pan. Seeing Wesley, he jogged over and asked, "Chief, you feeling all right?"

Wesley's face was as pale as a sheet. "I'm good. Well, back to the hospital," he said.

"Sure, Chief." Talbot looked at the closed apartment door in confusion before helping Wesley to the elevator.

Spring sprung. Blair hadn't visited Wesley for eleven days.

Neither Blair nor Wesley seemed to care, but Cecelia was anxious!

Even though Wesley wasn't fully recovered, she flew back home, leaving her injured son behind. Before boarding the plane, she called Blair and told her she had urgent things to deal with and asked her to take care of him.

Left with no choice, Blair came to the hospital after work.

When she arrived at his ward, he was having supper. He greeted her calmly and asked, "You eaten yet?"

"Not yet. I'm going to a party tonight. I just came by to make sure you were eating. I got to go now." She turned around and left. She hadn't even stayed in the ward for two minutes.

What made her angry was that Wesley didn't even try to stop her.

Blair wasn't lying. She had an office party that evening. By the time it was over, it was more than ten o'clock at night. Orion insisted on driving her home. After saying goodbye to him at the gate, she strolled towards the apartment building, pondering her relationship with Wesley.