"Gwen, you've dried out and warmed up, as well as covered up since yesterday," observed Ms. Walker when Gwen entered homeroom. "I have to tell you that I've never seen anything close to being as remarkable as that rescue yesterday. I still get chills when I think about it. Dave Kite has some amazing video posted, but with the news channels playing it so much, he hasn't had as many views as I'd expect. Our 'Lady in Red' is becoming a national treasure, rather than just a Spartan gem. Your interviews, both at the hospital and again this morning on national TV, were perfect."Saturday morning found Laura, Kate, Paula, and Gwen traveling together in Paula's SUV. The conversation had been light until Gwen asked, "Laura, would you be able to prescribe birth control pills for me. I'm just asking if you would, not if you will, yet."Laura looked back at Gwen and picked her words carefully. "Has Steve been pressuring you? I can prescribe birth control. I have many times, but I always interview
Steve turned to his teammates as the defense prepared to take the field and yelled, "Guys, you've got to hold 'em and get the ball back! We can win this! Get the ball back in our hands!"The players stopped to stare at Steve as blood blotted out most of the number 12 on his jersey. Steve was waving his helmet and urging his teammates on."Holy shit!" muttered Will Stevens, the captain of the defense. "That guy's giving his blood for this team. Maybe we better stop these bastards and get that ball back!"Dr. Laura Masters had made her way to the coach's side and was engaged in a very animated conversation with him. The Sparta fans found it almost as interesting as the game. They couldn't hear what was being said, but could tell that it was emotional, and quite frank."Get your head out of your ass, Coach!" yelled the young M.D. "He has lots of blood. It always looks worse than it is. I positively guarantee that he'll easily be able to finish the game. Think of the damage you're doing t
Steve had been sitting still, eyes closed and relaxing as much as possible as Laura and Gwen worked on removing his bandages. He never realized that Amber O'Leary was in the room until he heard her speak to Gwen. His eyes popped open and he began to rise until Laura placed her hand on his chest and gently pushed him back. He saw Gwen step in front of Amber in an obvious attempt to keep her away from him. What a time and place for Gwen and Amber to meet!"You're an amazing woman, Gwen," laughed Amber as she stepped forward and wrapped Gwen in a tight embrace. Steve felt some relief that Amber was working to defuse the situation, but wondered if it would be good for him in the long term. How would Gwen react to Amber's stories of their meeting over a year ago?"You must realize that I can't steal that guy from you," whispered Amber into Gwen's ear. "I already have a great guy and he'll probably propose to me at Christmas. I want to be your best friend, or at least one of them. Steve is
"Hello to you, too," laughed Amber. "You must be one of the beautiful Anderson sisters, probably Lisa. Steve told me that you and Kate were drop dead gorgeous, but I thought he was probably exaggerating a little. I can see now that he was right. He did neglect to tell me just how tight your family is, however. You're ready to fight for your sister, and she was ready to fight for Steve."Lisa was flummoxed. She had verbally attacked the girl and insulted her eye to eye. She expected yelling, cursing, maybe even a catfight, but not laughter and compliments. Suddenly Kate was at Lisa's side."Steve said I was drop dead gorgeous? Did he really say that? I'm Kate, Gwen's other beautiful sister. Did Steve tell you about us the night Gwen saw you having dinner with him at Dominick's? I knew he wasn't running around on Gwen. Are you Steve's cousin or something?" finished an exuberant Kate.By the time Kate finished her rant, all the women, including Lisa, were laughing. "Everyone, I want you
"In my defense, I did ask the state department if it would be safe and I was assured that it would be. Several other Congressmen also brought some family members. We landed in Kabul on a Tuesday afternoon and were scheduled to tour north of the city the next day. The state department advised that it wouldn't be wise to take any of our family on that trip, as it was an 'unsettled' area."To demonstrate how well the Afghan forces were doing in their training, a couple dozen were assigned to protect our families while we were touring the northern area. It happened that we ran into Bill and Steve Hammer while we were there. Bill was a Navy Seal Commander and Steve was his son. They had just returned to Kabul on a flight from Germany. Janice, Amber and I had the great pleasure of dining with them the evening we all had arrived."Kate had gasped when she heard that Steve's father was a Navy Seal. The rest of the group managed to keep their reaction under check. Steve had told them that his
"Gwen, you mentioned the hospital in your town," interrupted Amber's father. "As governor, I plan on making health care and all that goes with it a priority. I can't promise anything, but the state may be able to offer incentives, grants, low interest loans; things of that nature. We'll look into every angle and possibility to help your hospital expand.""Sir, we'll hold you to that," asserted Laura. "Our hospital is small but we service a lot of people over a wide area. We're way too light on supplies like blood and plasma, as well as staff and equipment. We're fine for the occasional car accident, but a major incident, like a bus crash, would probably overtax our resources. Gwen's class has hit on a very real need in our area. I'll be coming up with Gwen and Steve to shake the trees for funds for the hospital every chance I get."As dinner was winding down, Amber broached a new subject. "I haven't mentioned it, but after getting my undergraduate degree in marketing, I studied at a f
It was after eleven when the Andersons pulled into their driveway. Laura had been dropped off at her car in the hospital parking lot, and Steve had agreed to spend another night in Gwen's bed, without the pleasure of Gwen's presence. Steve had just nicely crawled into bed when he felt someone sit on the mattress near his head."Gwen? Is something wrong? Your dad wouldn't like you being in here. What is it?" asked Steve with concern."You're my boyfriend and I don't know anything about you. I just learned that you were in Afghanistan, and in a shootout with Taliban. I never dreamed you could've been in anything like that. I need you to tell me everything about your life. Will you be totally honest with me from now on?" asked Gwen quietly."Yes, I will. I realize that I've kept things to myself. It's a habit I've gotten into the past year or so. I've been alone a lot. I didn't know how you'd feel about that war story and kept putting off telling you, replied Steve. "I don't think this i
Steve quickly wiped his cheeks with the back of his hands and moved to go back and stand beside Gwen. Gwen rushed into his arms and hugged him as the crowd once again cheered loudly. More than a few players on the stage found their eyes watering. Most of the ladies in the crowd and more than a few of the men had to blow their noses and dab at their eyes."That pretty well concludes our festivities here today," announce Coach Watkins once the din had lessened. "I'm proud of these kids and this school. No one thought we had a chance to even win the league, but we went all the way! Thanks everyone for all of the support throughout the season, and especially in the championship game. You're the reason we were able to do it! Thanks, and as you leave, check out the trophy case in the lobby!"As the crowd began to leave and the players climbed down from the small stage, Steve approached his coach. "I have it from some pretty reliable sources that the single, and very attractive, Dr. Laura Ma