Sunday Snippet: Healing the Wound

Well, it's been a wild and bumpy week. My husband ended up with the flu in the middle of a pandemic. Not a lot of fun for him. The rest of us are trying to take any and all precautions so we don't end up with it also. Bleh.

Finished up a work project and had a little downtime before my next one begins. I'm actually kind of thrilled to have a bit of a break. I normally work every day of the week and having a couple of days off is lovely.

A so-so week of television. I finished up season four of Silent Witness and started on season five.

I also caught another arc of Classic Who. I'm on the second season of Four's tenure. Finishing out the "Terror of the Zygons."

Other than that, I mainly caught some Mystery Alley marathons on Ovation. I needed some background noise while I did a ton of shredding.

Other than that, I'm hoping to finish up Picard this week and maybe get back to Riverdale and Roswell, New Mexico.

That's pretty much it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Healing the Wound, a novella that got a start with a writing community prompt.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Jenna Creed loses the love of her life and blames Thorp Waggoner. She needs to stop living in the past and Thorp wants to be the man she moves forward with, which means Jenna has a very big problem.

And a sneaky peek…

Thorp's back hit the wall. "Oomph." He'd called the need for backup.

Handler had a keen desire to punch Thorp's ticket. Twice, so far, Jenna stopped the brutality of Mick's advanced maneuvers. Thorp didn't know how much longer she'd be able to use the strategic stalling.

"Handler, what the hell? Did we not just talk about using diversionary tactics?" She planted her hands on her hips.

Mick huffed out a breath. "Putting him out of commission is faster."

Jenna rolled her eyes. "Are you trying to miss the point? Your score is lower when you don't use your brain." She marched forward and showed Handler the panel with their tallies. "If you don't cut the aggression out, you'll be off the shit list and actually in the steaming pile." Her voice left no doubt it would totally be his fault, too.

He growled. "Fine. What can I do to bump that mess up?"

Jenna handed him a mock-up of several improvised explosive devices. "Study this for ten minutes then defuse the five bombs. You get extra points if you don't rush." She jabbed her finger toward the work table.

Thorp pushed away from the wall. "Thanks. Not sure why you're acting as the buffer, but it's appreciated." If only he could appreciate her more … like off campus and maybe in a bed somewhere.

Too bad it won't happen anytime soon. No matter how hot Jenna Creed might be, Thorp wouldn't make a move. He'd promised his old man he wouldn't get down with any of his classmates, hence the reason he hooked up with any other available female.

Jenna shrugged. "Mick's gonna make a damned good soldier if he gets out of his own way." She shot Thorp a sideways glance. "He has to work harder than most."

Most meaning Thorp. He pretty much sailed through classes. Didn't hurt he'd been raised on bases all over the galaxy and could probably recite every class's texts in his sleep. Handler came from some rural backwater that had more farm equipment than military machinery. The guy had a gift with anything mechanical though. He struggled with discipline but followed orders without issue. The only thing Handler truly lacked? A military pedigree.

And that became Handler's biggest problem. The guy had a chip on his shoulder. He'd taken one look at Thorp's last name and decided to hate him. No skin off Thorp's hide. Frankly, Thorp didn't care about his last name, other than the doors it opened for him.

Under any other circumstances, Thorp could have been great friends with Mick. Probably still could be if the guy ever realized Thorp didn't have it out for anyone, and didn't use his privilege to rub anyone's face in the dirt. He tried to help people with it instead.

Mick threw his hands up and gave a shout. "Done! Peer review time." He swept his arm over the explosive devices.

Jenna fell into step beside Thorp. They moved to the work table and examined the defused devices. Every single one had been rendered safe and Mick hadn't triggered any of the alerts.

Jenna shook her head. "Geez, Mick. I think you found your calling." She ran the panel over the units, racking up his score.

Thorp slapped him on the back. "Damned good job. I've never seen anyone get a perfect score on every one." He stuck his palm out. "Congratulations."

Mick gave a shrug but clasped Thorp's palm. "Uh, thanks." He shot Jenna a wide grin. "Did I go slow enough for your satisfaction?"

She chuckled. "Yep." Coming around the table, she nudged him with her shoulder. "See … I told you taking your time can have good results." Her eyebrows waggled.

Mick laughed. "That you did." He hugged her. "Let me take you to dinner tonight. As a thank-you."

Thorp gritted his teeth but stayed silent. He had absolutely no claim on Jenna.

She gazed up at Handler. "I'd like that." She flicked her gaze toward Thorp.

He backed away, giving them some privacy to make plans. Jealousy churned in his gut, but he'd needed the reminder. Jenna Creed is off limits until the end of the semester.

Grabbing his gear, he started for the exit. "She'll probably be in love with Handler by then."

I'm excited to get a little more written on this story. I love the dynamic of this trio and I like the turn things are going to take.

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye