Just doing my Job

He awoke from a dead sleep with a jerk. Cool sweat coated his body in a light sheen. For a moment, he couldn’t figure out where he was. The bed he currently occupied was a bit softer than he was used to and the air was cooler. Taking in his surroundings, he noticed the clock that read five a.m. Vaguely he remembered a beautiful female agent and a robotic voice asking him his preferences. Pushing back the down comforter, his bare feet hit the cool wooden floor. As they did, the lights came on. The door swung open gently.

He padded down the hallway and heard a fight. He heard blows landing and loud grunting. His pace quickened and he found only one open door. The agent was locked in a fight to what looked like the death. He darted in the door only to be held back by massive arms. “Stop it! You’re going to kill her!” Her head jerked around to face him. “Good morning. I’m not gonna die. He’s one of my team members and we spar like this quite often. Its good training. When we train like this, we know to hold nothing back. We fight dirty because everyone else will. Train like you mean it.” She was coated in sweat. Her shoulder length hair was held back by a ball cap.

The massive arms let him go and he walked up to her. The small cut on her right cheek was practically non-existent but it stood out against her fair skin. He wiped the trickle of blood away with his thumb. “Will I learn this?” “This and so much more. Come on, let’s get some breakfast. Or do you want to go for a run?” His eyes lit up. He darted to his room and dug through the duffle bags for his trainers. He grabbed his earbuds, shed his shirt and darted back to the kitchen to wait for the agent.

She came back to him stretching out. She took in his shirtless form. These young guys were getting hotter and making her job harder. She cleared her throat and he looked up from his awkward position. “I’m rather competitive. Just so you know.” “How about a bet then? First one to three miles gets to choose the meals for the next three days. You ok with three miles?” He snorted. “That’s my normal route. Just make sure you can keep up. I’ll be lost in my music.”
She opened the kitchen door and he took off. She laughed, “This is going to be fun.” She paused for a second, letting him think he had a good lead. The earbuds that graced her ears had blaring hard rock to guide her to a win. She set off at an easy pace taking in the sunrise. A few minutes in she realized, she hadn’t told him which route to go. Though the grounds were protected from outside prying eyes, it didn’t mean that someone wouldn’t try to get in. Putting on a burst of speed, she worked on catching up to him.

He felt free for a moment. The beauty of the landscape, the rising of the sun and the crispness of the air gave him a sense of peace. He slowed down to take it all in. Between the songs on his playlist, he thought he heard the brush rustling. ‘It’s an animal’ he thought and he carried on. Rounding the corner, he stopped dead in his tracks. A dark shadow loomed over the barely lit path. He squinted his eyes to take in the large mass. What he saw stopped him dead in his tracks.

She heard a scream echo through the grounds. Instantly, she sprang into action, grabbing the knife hidden in her waistband. Holding the weighted hilt carefully, she eased forward trying to get a better view on the situation. He stood there frozen in fear. Calmly and quietly she spoke, “Niall, don’t move.” He muttered, “Trust me, I’m not.” The coyote before them was baring its teeth and a low-pitched growl could be heard.

She worked her way between the scared kid and the huge predator. Through clenched teeth she rasped, “When I say run, run. And don’t stop. Go straight back to the house. I’ll be along shortly.” “What about you?” “Just listen to me.” He huffed. “Three. Two. One. Now, run!” She lunged to the animal and he hesitated. “Dammit, I thought I told you to run. I’ll stab you if I have to. Go.” He turned and high-tailed it back to the compound.

Again, she lunged to the coyote and stabbed at the rabid creature. His razor sharp teeth tore into her shoulder, making her grit her teeth and hiss. Several attempts later, she managed to slice into his neck. While trying to avoid the snapping teeth, she trained the knife into the same spot as before and this time, she drug it across its neck as hard as she could. With a pained cry, it let out a huff and allowed its body to slam down violently, trapping her against the ground. The warm, coppery substance coated her entire body rather quickly.

Panting and spitting the blood from her mouth, she pushed with all her might and managed to get the violent creature off her. She pulled her cell from its hiding spot and shot off a text to Jenson who was supposed to already be on his way. She lay there, trying to catch her breath. Her pulse was finally beginning to slow down. Cautiously, she got to her feet and took a few unsteady steps. Blood was flowing freely from her wounded shoulder. She squinted her eyes and tried to focus on just making it back to the house. With each step, she became dizzier. What should have been a two minute walk quickly turned into a fifteen minute journey. Nearly ten feet from the door, the blackness in her vision was beginning to take over. She managed to call out rather weakly before falling to the ground. Just before she passed out, she felt firm hands ease her to the sidewalk and cradle her head.

She heard the Irish lilt say, “Its ok. I’ve got you. Your partner just got here.” With that, she was out. The young man was worried about her. He tried to move the strap of her tank but the fabric was stuck in the wound. Jenson walked out the door and started barking orders. Niall picked her up bridal style and followed the skilled man to a new room he had yet to see. It looked just like an examination room one would see in a doctor’s office. The cabinets were full of supplies and the coolers against the back wall held a few pints of blood. The older man began to tear open cabinets and gathering supplies. “What can I do?” he asked. Jenson looked to him and said, “Just make sure she doesn’t move. We haven’t resupplied the pain meds and she’s going to come up swinging.”

He blanched at those words. The bite mark looked like it was painful and he could only imagine how much more badly it was going to get. “But…” “But nothing. We could be doing a hell of a lot more had she not fought it off. Man up kid. She’s going to be fine.” It started with removing the fabric from the bite. Leslie began to stir. Then the cleaning started and her eyelids began to flutter. “Hold her down.” Niall moved to her good shoulder and pressed down. He finally settled on putting his other hand on her sternum. Her eyes snapped open and she began to cry out. “What happened? What the hell are you doing? Get off me”. The young man shook his head no and kept his eyes on hers. “Breath with me”. “I’m not giving birth, stop it.” Jenson smacked her on the arm. “I’m trying to sew you up, calm down”.

She bit her lip. She balled her fists. She did everything she could think of to take her mind off the pain. “Wow, I never noticed just how blue your eyes are. They’re gorgeous”. He laughs, “Just keep your baby blues up here and this will be all over soon.” She began to get drowsy. “Hey, stay with me.” “But I’m so tired.” “Uh, should I let her go to sleep?” Jenson responded, “Yeah, might as well. This is her body’s way of taking care of her. It’s ok.” “Just hold my hand, ok?” she asked. He nodded as her grip loosened more and more. She noticed a smirk on both of their faces before slumber took over.

Notes

I picture Jenson as Eric Bana. He has that gruffness that I'm trying to convey. I'm new to this site so I haven't quite figured out how to attach pictures. Any help is appreciated.