Page 6 of Consuming Logan

“That’s me.”

“No such thing within the male species,” she grinned, flipping the cover page to thumb through the files he’d delivered. “I noticed the Tyson Adventis proposal was missing from your last vendor comparison list.”

“I’ve checked them out,” he interrupted.

“Before our next meeting with the Commanding Officer,” Ava closed the folder, marching forward to her point for raising the issue. “I want to review their numbers. Hands down, their 24/7-customer support is a great selling point, plus their maintenance plan—”

“Several of the competitors beat their price.”

Maybe she needed to clarify with Ash that she would make her own decisions. The old Ava would have accepted someone she trusted taking the choice out of her hands, but those days were gone. Logan had helped her trust in her own judgment. “So, there’s not a problem with me looking at the numbers and reaching the same conclusion?”

Ash’s cheeks reddened. “Touché, LT Walters.”

Mindful of maintaining a healthy working relationship, Ava offered an olive branch. “Instead of keeping score, let collaboration and communication serve as our benchmark, okay?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, chagrinned by his strong-arm tactics.

“Sorry, Ava.”

Ash used her first name, which she didn’t mind as long as they were in her office. Even dressed in the working khaki uniform of the day with her curls gelled to within an inch of their tensile strength, Ava looked younger than the other officers of the same rank. Like any other male-dominated profession, allowing the staff to use her first name rather than defer to her rank would diminish her positional authority. As a civilian, Ash wouldn’t be privy to all the nuances of the chain of command, but Ava was a fast learner. Avoiding the perception of familiarity would serve her well.

Beep Beep. The phone on her desk signaled an incoming call.Beep Beep. She recognized the number. Lieutenant Isabeth Quinones managed the laboratory on the clinic’s first floor. Ava had asked for a heads up if her lab results were of concern. The blonde-haired, blue-eyed medical service corps officer had shared her stateroom during deployment. Sharing an eight by eight-foot metal box for six months lent itself to lasting bonds across cultural and ethnic lines.

“Apology accepted, but no more decisions without me.” Ash was one of the good ones, so she tried not to beat him up too bad over the slip.

With a thumbs up, he said. “Got it.”

Placing her hand on the receiver, she stated, “I have to take this call.”

“Sure thing,” he smiled, coming to his feet. “Review my notes and we can talk over lunch.”

Without looking at her calendar, she nodded, accustomed to working through lunch in order to stay on top of fine details.

“Isabeth,” she beamed, adding a calm to her voice she didn’t feel. Why was she calling already? Her blood had been drawn less than 20 minutes ago. Had Ava contracted one of those rare infections Logan warned her about?

“You’re pregnant and you didn’t tell me, my sista from another mister?” Isabeth blurted out.

There was a pause. If a patient had overheard the sista comment, they both would be repeating sensitivity training, but that wasn’t the reason for Ava’s current catatonic state. Nope. The word pregnant definitely grabbed and held her attention.

“Ah… I beg your pardon,” Ava stammered. How did a measles case get cross-threaded with a pregnancy test?

“You’ve had morning sickness for weeks. Why are you playing the secrecy game?” Isabeth demanded.

Playing? Ava didn’t have a game plan for this news. A doctor and a nurse, both competent, living under the same roof, yet they’d missed…this. Ava stared at her mid-section.

Ava swallowed. “Sorry, Isabeth. I have—,”

“You should be. Thank God you weren’t hurt wrestling with that contractor high on Galaxy a few weeks back.”

Ava recalled how quickly the temporary worker had slammed his muscled forearm into her neck. The delirium she experienced as her air supply diminished, as screams of chaos erupted. The instinct to fight; to aim for his eyes, which had freed her. The sale of the illicit street drug and the associated violence amongst rival distributors had infiltrated Shell Cove and Ava’s South Georgia-based military clinic. The arrest and conviction of Bluton “Sky” Faraday, a respected local businessman and Galaxy kingpin, hadn’t slowed the devastation. It was rumored a woman known as the Barren Mother was the true mastermind behind the entire eastern seaboard distribution chain.

“Thank God. You’re so right.” Pregnant with a baby. How was this possible? She needed to be more careful. Once she informed Logan, the world will have to contend with a grizzly bear for nine-wait, how many months was she?

“I know that,” Isabeth continued. “You need to schedule your OB appointment, pronto.”

She’d been home four weeks. Shouldering the phone, Ava fumbled with the giant calendar covering the surface of her desk. Flipping the page, she started counting the days since her last cycle.

“Ugh,” Ava groaned. “Singapore.”