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“Yeah, it’s not exactly pretty,” she muttered, pulling her pants back up. “But it’s fine! I mean, it’s painful, but—”
“Fine? You’ve got a bruise the size of a watermelon, and you’re walking around like a wounded duck,” he snapped, though there was more concern in his voice than anger. “You should’ve mentioned this earlier.”
Gabby shrugged. “I honestly thought it wasn’t that bad. I thought it was one of those things that I could just walk off. And, I’m telling you now.” Gabby flashed him her best innocent smile.
He groaned, shaking his head. “You’re lucky you’re good at your job, or I’d bench you right here and now.
“I mean, it’s just a bruise—”
“It’s a monster of a bruise,” he cut her off, his tone half-amused, half-annoyed. He then stood up, grabbed his keys off his desk, and motioned toward the door. “Let’s go. Hospital. Now!”
Gabby winced again, partly from the pain and partly from guilt. “It’s not that bad, Captain. I think a little ice might help.”
Graham gave her a look. “Gabby, you’re sitting there like a contorted pretzel, and you’ve got a bruise the size of Texas. It’s bad. Trust me. Now let’s go.”
She let out a defeated sigh, realizing she was definitely not winning this argument. “Okay, fine. I might’ve underestimated the situation. But are you really gonna drag me to the hospital over a bruise?” Gabby groaned as she started to move. She felt like a child following after her parent.
“Oh, you bet I am,” Graham replied, giving her a sideways glance. “Because if I don’t and something’s seriously wrong, it’ll be my ass. Plus, it’ll give me something to hold over your head the next time you decide to downplay an injury.”
Gabby couldn’t help but laugh, limping toward the door. “Alright, alright. But don’t tell the guys. They’ll freak out.”
Graham smirked as he opened the door for her. “Oh, I won’t say a word.Whenthey find out, you’re on your own. Aren’t you supposed to meet them for drinks later tonight?”
Gabby laughed, limping out of his office. “Yep. And I’m sure I’ll never hear the end of itwhenthey find out.”
As Gabby hobbled out of the building, she looked at Graham and smiled.
“All joking aside, thank you, Captain,” she told him, and he grinned, shaking his head.
“I swear you eight are going to force me into early retirement.”
“Wouldn’t be nearly as fun without us, though, right? Come on, you love us,” she said, her smile widening.
“No comment,” he said, his lips twitching as he got in the vehicle.
???
About an hour and a half later, Gabby pushed the door to the waiting room open and slowly hobbled toward where Captain Graham was sitting, looking at his phone.
As soon as he saw her, he stood up and hurried over to her.
“What’s the damage?”
“Nothing broken, just a bad contusion. I need to keep icing it and stay off of it for a bit.”
Graham’s shoulders relaxed. “Well, that’s good.” Then he quirked his eyebrow. “I guess it is desk duty for you.”
She groaned. She hated desk duty. But she nodded in defeat. “Two weeks,” she grumbled.
His eyes then widened. “What about Saturday? Do you think you can still compete?” he asked nervously.
Shit! She had completely forgotten about the competition happening on Saturday.
She raised her eyebrows, pinning him with a “Are you kidding” look. There was no way in hell that a bruised hip would keep her from competing in the Annual Armed Forces Sniper Challenge.
“Do you really think a bruise is going to keep me away?”
Graham chuckled. “I didn’t think so, but I had to ask.”
