Take My Breath Away

"Wesley," Blair said.

"Yeah?" Wesley was texting someone. When he heard her, he put away his phone and walked over to her. "What's the matter? You in pain?" he asked.

Blair shook her head. "No, not anymore. I'm fine now. Why don't you go to work?"

"I'm out on leave. Are you thirsty?" asked Wesley. Blair nodded. Wesley held the water glass for her, tipping it to her lips. Blair sipped at it. After a bit she cupped the water glass and told him she'd had her fill.

Blair was upset. As time went by, guilt and anxiety gnawed at her heart. Wesley was doing everything he could for her. He even asked for leave so he could stay at the hospital. All this because he was told that she was sick and dying. And he believed it. It was really a ruse to get her and Wesley together. What if he got behind at work? What if he was needed on base? Blair felt really bad. Soldiering was his life. She had to try and persuade him somehow. "How about this? I'll call if I need you."

Wesley put the glass on the table and announced, "I'm not going anywhere. Get some rest."

His tone had a finality to it. There was no room for argument.

After helping her lie down, he sat on the edge of the bed. The anxious look on her face aroused his suspicion.

'Something is off, ' he said to himself. Blair was too nervous to look him in the eye.

The next morning, Orion came by. It had been only a few days since his last visit. When he got to the ward, Wesley had gone to buy breakfast for Blair.

The soldier came back with a bag of takeout just as Orion walked out of the restroom. The latter had a basin of warm water with a towel draped over his shoulder.

The look in Wesley's eyes was coated with gloom. The two men exchanged perfunctory greetings, and Orion immediately turned to Blair. "Don't worry. I'm just cleaning your face. You're not supposed to get your bandages wet—doctor's orders. So I'll do it for you," he persuaded.

Wesley fumed. He used to be the one who helped Blair with these things. Now another guy took his place. There was no way he would stand for that.

Orion dipped the towel in the water without waiting for an answer.

Blair looked at Wesley's stony face, feeling embarrassed she couldn't turn Orion down.

The blond man had the towel mere millimeters from her face when Wesley grabbed Orion's arm. "I'll do it," Wesley said.

The two men's eyes met. It was a silent war between the two, a war of wills, with angry looks being their only weapons. "I can do it," Orion responded, trying to wrench free of Wesley's grip.

Wesley's face darkened. "I'm her boyfriend. I should do it," he declared.

'Her boyfriend?' 'My boyfriend?' Both Orion and Blair were astonished to hear it.

Well, to Blair, it was a delightful surprise, of course. Wesley hadn't answered her when she asked him out before.

Orion turned to her. Dejection was written all over his face. "Blair, is that true? He's your boyfriend?"

Blair looked at him, not sure how to respond to that. Wesley had never made it clear.

Orion's feelings were the last thing Wesley cared about. He snatched the towel from Orion's hand, put it back into the water and began rubbing it. "Blair has just agreed to be my girlfriend. She's too shy to tell anyone. I've seen every part of her body. I'm her boyfriend, and you're her boss. I should be the one to bathe her," he emphasized.

Orion patted his own cheeks. He must be dreaming.

Wesley was trying to spark a confrontation, but Orion was more level-headed than that. If he asked Blair out, he didn't care if she had sex with Wesley or not. The past was the past. As long as it didn't happen again. But now Wesley claimed to be her boyfriend. The news hit him hard. He asked Blair again, "Okay. When did this happen? When did you become lovers? Why didn't you tell me?"

Blair was stumped for words. How could she possibly tell him anything about it when Wesley said nothing to her?

"It's simple. We just figured things out now," Wesley informed him, wringing the towel. Then he looked at Blair and told her, "You asked me if I would be your boyfriend, my answer is yes. You're my woman from now on."

Both Blair and Orion were agape.

Since Orion was a foreigner, to make sure he got his point, Wesley said that in English.

And Orion was sure he didn't miss a thing—Wesley just said Blair was his woman.

Wesley was pretty talkative today. While gently cleaning Blair's face with the towel, he continued, "No matter what, I won't leave you."

After that, he turned to a dumbstruck Orion. "Blair never saw you as boyfriend material. She thinks of you as a friend. That's all. She wanted to let you down easy. Get one thing straight: Blair's friends are my friends. There's a saying, 'Never mess around with a friend's wife.' Stay away from her."

Once he finished, Wesley continued mopping her face. Afterwards, he squeezed some toothpaste on her toothbrush and brought her a smaller basin for her to spit into while he brushed her teeth.

Then, he put the brush in her mouth, and started with the upper teeth.

He was so careful and tender, it was as if she were made of porcelain.

'Never mess around with a friend's wife.'

What Wesley said rang in Orion's head. He felt wounded—deeply. His heart ached, and he was afraid that if he said anything, the lump in this throat would choke him up.

Wesley waited for him to leave, but Orion showed no sign of doing so. He frowned and said to Orion, "I don't believe I stuttered. Blair's my woman. No other man can have her. If you try, I'll hurt you. A delicate man like you wouldn't live through it."

This statement stunned Blair again. This didn't sound like Wesley at all. He had never said anything like this before.

Belittled, Orion got agitated and stood in a fighting stance as he moved his arms, trying to make a point. "Mr. Li, if it's a whooping you're wanting, I can dish it out. Come get some!"

Wesley looked up while brushing Blair's teeth. "Gladly!" he replied with a wicked smile. That was exactly what he wanted.

He had even beaten up his own brother for getting too close to Blair. Of course he wouldn't mind kicking the sorry ass of someone he barely knew.

Blair realized what was going on. 'A fight? Orion versus Wesley? This is bad!' She rinsed her mouth and said hurriedly, "No, no! Orion, stop! You can't beat him. No one can!" Niles told her that Wesley never lost a battle and he had almost never met his match.

Orion was a boxer, Golden Gloves champ and all that. But Blair was sure he would lose to Wesley.

Her cries only made him more determined to fight Wesley. He took off his suit jacket, tossed it onto the sofa, and started warming up, doing a quick stretch of his limbs, throwing punches into the air, and jumping around.

Wesley calmly took Blair's toothbrush, the cup, the towel and the basins to the bathroom, arranged them in order and then returned.

But still, he wasn't in a rush to start the fight yet. He placed the breakfast in front of Blair and helped her hold a chicken pancake with her injured hands.

"Eat the pancake first. I'll get you some congee in a minute," he assured her. 'In a minute? Is he actually going to fight Orion?'

"Wesley, Orion was joking. Don't hurt him," Blair said, looking at him anxiously.