No Quarter Given. Lindsay McKenna

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       Chapter Two

      “Dana! What happened to you?” Molly stepped forward between the stacks of boxes that had yet to be unpacked in their airy three-bedroom apartment. Dana stood at the doorway, her face puffy and bruised.

      Gratefully, Dana allowed Molly to take her luggage. She shut the screen door. “I had a run-in with a jerk at the airport who wanted to steal an old lady’s purse.” Tenderly she touched her swollen cheek that ached like fire. “I tackled him.”

      Molly’s eyes widened and she put the luggage down, going back to Dana. “Come and sit down. You look awful! Let me get a cold washcloth and some ice. Come on.”

      Ordinarily, Dana refused any kind of mothering, but right now, Molly’s warmth and care were exactly what she needed. “Okay,” she agreed. Crossing to the peach-colored couch, she slowly sat down, holding a hand to her head.

      “No. Lie down,” Molly told her as she removed two small boxes and placed them on the floor. “It’s a good thing Maggie isn’t here. She’d hit the roof! You know how she feels about the elderly in this country, always saying they aren’t properly taken care of, and all.”

      A bit of a laugh escaped Dana as she lay down. The couch felt heavenly. “That’s one thing we happen to agree on. Knowing Maggie, she’d go hunt down that bastard and clobber him all over again for the old woman and me.” Maggie was fiercely loyal to those she loved and cared for.

      “She would,” Molly agreed. Worriedly she watched Dana for a moment. “You really look terrible.”

      “Thanks, Mol. You’re a fountain of good news.”

      “Back to your black humor again, I see.”

      “It’s saved my tail every time.”

      “Stay put. I’ll get the ice pack.”

      Wearily, Dana placed her arm across her forehead, still seeing Molly’s blond hair framing her oval face and soft features, her hazel eyes filled with worry. Molly had always been the “mother” of their group, caring for Dana and Maggie when they were down-and-out—which wasn’t often. She watched her friend, dressed in a pair of pale green cotton shorts and a white blouse, disappear into another room.

      Looking around the quiet apartment, Dana thought how beautiful it was compared to the dorm they’d lived in at Annapolis. They had sent Molly ahead to choose something for the three of them. It was the first time Dana had seen it. The walls were an ivory color to match the carpet. Molly had brought her furniture from Boston and it was bamboo with cushions in pastel peaches, plums and pale greens. Soft, quiet colors, Dana thought, like warmhearted, serene Molly.

      Closing her eyes, she released a long, ragged sigh. It felt good to relax, to know she was safe again. In a way, Dana really was glad Maggie wasn’t here. The Irishwoman’s red hair and quick temper would have created instant passion and emotion—two things she’d had plenty of in the past couple of hours. No, she needed Molly’s more tranquil personality.

      “Here you go.” Molly came back and sat down facing Dana. Gently she placed the ice pack over Dana’s eye. “Gosh, that looks awful, Dana. Maybe we ought to get you over to the dispensary of Whiting Field and have a doctor look at it.”

      Grimacing, Dana held the pack firmly against her eye. “No way, Mol. It’s going to be tough enough going there tomorrow with this black eye. If I can’t get this swelling down enough, the doc might ground me. I don’t want to be grounded for a week waiting for this thing to heal. I’d be a week behind my class. That wouldn’t bode well for me or my chances of getting my wings.”

      “You poor dear.” Molly pushed strands of black hair away from Dana’s forehead.

      “You got any old recipes from your grandma Inez for black eyes?” Molly was close with her rich and influential Boston family, particularly her twin brother, Scott, who was confined to a wheelchair for life. Molly loved to cook, and had used old-time remedies from her beloved granny to help the three of them through the cold-and-flu seasons at Annapolis every year.

      “Let’s see…” Molly glanced around at the stacks of boxes. The room was filled with them. “Grandma Inez put all her remedies in one book. Where did I pack it?”

      “Didn’t you number your boxes and what was in them?” Dana smiled to herself, loving Molly fiercely. In some ways, she felt Molly was too soft to have graduated from Annapolis, but she had. Did she have the toughness it would take to get her wings?

      Her finger on her chin, Molly scowled. “No…”

      “Don’t worry about it,” Dana whispered. “Look, you go ahead and keep unpacking. I’m just going to lie here and regroup, okay?”

      “Are you sure? At least let me clean up that arm of yours. It’s awful looking.”

      Dana grinned, though it hurt to do it. “Is everything about me ‘awful,’ Mol?”

      Laughing, Molly stood. “Of course not! How many times have you come in looking beat-up like this?”

      “Never,” Dana agreed. Not since she’d left home at eighteen for Annapolis, she thought, where her father couldn’t reach her.

      “I’m allowed to be concerned, then. I just unpacked the bathroom stuff. At least we can clean and bandage your arm.”

      It felt good simply to rest and let Molly take care of her. Dana knew she trusted very few people to do that, but Molly had earned her trust over four long, harsh years at the academy. Besides, wasn’t this what the Sisterhood was all about? Hell of a way to test it out, Dana decided wryly.

      As she drifted off, almost asleep, Griff’s face suddenly appeared before her. Startled, she woke with a jerk.

      Molly turned toward her quickly. “Dana? What’s wrong?”

      Scowling, Dana relaxed back into the cushions. “Uh…nothing.”

      “You jumped as if someone were attacking you,” Molly chided, sitting back down beside Dana. She arranged the gauze, tape and antiseptic on the floor next to the couch.

      “It was nothing. I’m just jumpy after that guy hit me at the airport.” It wasn’t a lie. Dana didn’t like evading her friends, but it simply hurt too much to delve into the reasons behind her defensive, wary nature. They’d accepted her without questions, and she was grateful.

      As gently as possible, Molly cleaned the long bloody scrapes on Dana’s arm. “You’ve got to be feeling sore and bruised all over. How about if I draw you a hot bath? I think all you can stand right now is bed and rest. Maggie’s out doing the shopping for us. We can continue unpacking tonight without you, Dana. You really need to rest.”

      Tears jammed behind Dana’s closed eyes. “Did anyone ever tell you that you’re Florence Nightingale in this incarnation?”

      Molly laughed softly, daubing the stinging antiseptic across Dana’s arm. “Same old Dana: teasing even if you feel rotten.”

      “Humor is the only thing that’s saved me,” she told Molly СКАЧАТЬ