Sunday Snippet: Explosive Situation

Happy Father's Day to all the dads, father figures, mentors, and fur dads out there. And if this is a hard day, please find peace where you can.

It's so mild in Ohio right now and I'll take the comfortable temperatures. We're supposed to have a soggy week, but the rain is welcome. Hopefully without flooding.

Busy work week with multiple projects crossing my desk. I have a potential new project with a new author starting possibly soon. Finished up a proofread and got that one invoiced. Continued work on a memoir developmental edit, pulling several files together into a single document. Also finished a copy edit and returned it for review. Started a new one that's on the long side, close to one hundred thousand words. A jammed week ahead.

Had a pretty good viewing week. I made it through my regular stable of shows and started one of my back-burner ones. I didn't end up making it all the way through but I'll finish it up this week. I hope.

Started with a Foyle's War behind the scenes interview with one of the guest stars. Very interesting.

Watched another episode of Tales from Irish Castles. Truly a fun series to watch. So many castles in Ireland.

Caught another episode of Death in Paradise and kind of loved the bit of a cliffhanger. I also kind of like how Mervin is settling in with the other officers. Very cool to see the new sarge completely supported by the commissioner also.

Also enjoyed another episode of Poirot. Very interesting case with an unexpected ending. So many colorful characters.

Elementary ended up being a little mind-blowing. I'm really interested in how the whole Shinwell situation will be resolved.

Caught another episode of Young Justice and I'm rather enjoying seeing how the team is coming together.

Also watched another episode of Star Trek Lower Decks and I'm really amazed by how much I love this show. Started out being pretty iffy on whether I'd like it or not and I'm totally in if I haven't mentioned it before.

Started an episode of Peak Practice and made it about halfway through. There's a lot going on in this one and I didn't want to miss anything. I'll finish up this week. Maybe.

That's it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Explosive Situation, a novella that plays on the title and brings a couple together.

Here's the miniblurb:

Hadley and Tab are the go-to people for explosive situations. They work in tandem and haven't lost anyone, or each other, yet. When Tab gets caught in the crossfire on their latest mission, Hadley digs deep to save him and finally faces her feelings for the man she calls partner.

And a sneaky peek…

Hadley helped get Tab loaded and followed along to the med bay. "You better make sure he's okay." The realization she could've lost him hit hard.

While she got checked over, everything settled on her, and the weight felt … heavy. Searching for him in the smoke and debris … finding him … dragging him to safety … nothing else mattered at that moment. Not the loss of four other team members or the hostage taker. The after-action debrief would be a shitshow.

"Open." The med tech held a nebulizer in front of Hadley's face. "Breathe this in until the vial is empty. This will treat your lungs." He placed the small unit in her hands.

Hadley nodded and stuck the end between her lips.

The other med tech rolled up the sleeve on Hadley's free arm. "Gonna treat these burns. You got lucky and don't have any second or third degree. But they're gonna be a little painful for a day or two." A cool wash dispersed over the skin of her forearm.

Once the breathing treatment ended, they got the rest of her uniform off and directed the cool burn relief to spots on her neck, her back, the other arm, and her hands. Then they made her get settled on a gurney and hooked up an IV.

The first med tech slipped the needle in. "We're gonna replenish your fluids and use a broad-spectrum antibiotic to ward off any possible infection from contaminated debris." He injected a large syringe of fluid into the IV bag. "This will take about thirty minutes."

The half hour gave her time to think about what she wanted.

When she finally got the all clear, she went to find Tab.

The med tech gave her an update. "He's conscious but sedated. His burns have been treated. The bump on his head is concerning, so we're keeping a day or two for observation."

Hadley grabbed a chair. "I'm not leaving him." She sat and grasped his hand. "At least not until I talk to him."

The tech shrugged. "Might be a while, but you can stay."

Damn right.

Having a good time with this one. Hadley and Tab are a cool couple to write and giving them a big conflict is fun.

 

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

ML Skye