by Susan Stoker
The situation wasn’t ideal, to say the least. The sun was rising, which meant the residents would be waking up. While this part of the country wasn’t as openly hostile toward Western soldiers, no one wanted to push their luck. Hence the reluctance to return to the town.
“Has anyone notified my physician that I’m here?” Dagmar asked as the chopper lowered toward the ground.
Midas frowned slightly. The man had remained awake throughout the flight, talking about what he’d endured in the desert. Not once had he asked about Lexie. Or if anyone had been hurt in the extraction.
He wasn’t overly impressed with Dagmar so far, sick or not.
“We’ll do that when we land,” Slate reassured him in a curt tone.
It seemed as if his teammates shared Midas’s thoughts on the man.
“She okay?” Jag asked, motioning to Lexie with his head. She was deadweight against Midas, which didn’t bother him in the least. He wondered when she’d last had a good night’s sleep. He bet it was before she was taken.
Midas nodded, not wanting to say much through the headphones with everyone listening.
It wasn’t until the chopper jolted as it landed that Lexie stirred. She lifted her head and looked around in confusion. Midas helped her remove the headphones after he and everyone else did the same.
He watched as she recalled where she was and what had happened. She turned and met his gaze, wrinkled her nose in apology. “Sorry I fell asleep on you,” she said in a low, husky voice.
A strand of her hair had become tangled in the webbing of his vest, and Midas reached up to free it at the same time Lexie did. Their fingers brushed against each other…and what felt like a jolt of electricity shot up Midas’s arm.
It was obvious she’d felt something similar, as her eyes widened and she immediately dropped her hand. “Sorry,” she said again.
“Nothing to be sorry about,” he told her. “I seem to remember your hair having a mind of its own in school too.”
She huffed out a laugh. “I’ve seriously thought about cutting it all off a time or two. It’s a pain in my ass.”
Midas looked at her in horror.
She rolled her eyes at his reaction. “It’s just hair. It would grow back. Besides, right now, it’s gross. If I’d had the chance, I would’ve chopped it off out in the desert.”
Midas knew that probably would’ve made her feel better physically, and maybe mentally too, but he couldn’t help but be relieved she hadn’t done it.
“Stay alert,” Aleck warned everyone as he and Pid jumped out of the chopper. “We haven’t had a chance to take the temperature of the town. We’ll be back as soon as possible.”
“Take the temperature?” Lexie asked as she looked at Midas.
“See how the citizens feel about Westerners,” Jag answered.
Lexie glanced his way and nodded. “I think, like in a lot of places, there are those who hate all things American and Western, but for the most part, I’ve found people here are gracious and welcoming.”
Midas smiled, as did his friends. They might be gracious and welcoming to someone like her, someone who was there to provide assistance and who was as nonthreatening as she was. But it was a whole different thing when it came to soldiers.
“Let’s hope that’s true,” Mustang muttered.
“You don’t believe me,” Lexie responded, sitting up straighter.
“It’s not that we don’t believe you,” Mustang said. “But you were kidnapped here. Those rose-colored glasses of yours might make it difficult for you to see the people who aren’t pleased to have Westerners in their town.”
“I’m not an idiot,” Lexie said in a controlled tone, while still somehow conveying her irritation. “There are assholes everywhere. All you have to do is look at the news to see that. Back home, people are also killing each other. Abusing children. Holding people for ransom. Somalia, and Africa in general, isn’t any more dangerous than walking down the street in some of the neighborhoods where I grew up.”
Midas couldn’t help but agree. She had a point. A damn good one.
Mustang nodded. “Right.”
“Seriously,” she insisted. “I’ve met some of the most generous people here. Families who have nothing, but still offer to share the last scoop of beans in their pantry. They’re a proud people, and I think all they want is to be treated with respect and to live a comfortable life. Not an extravagant one, but a life where they aren’t constantly worried about where their next meal is coming from.”
Midas remembered Lexie as being a bit submissive. She’d always been quiet, never really said much. But listening to her defend the people she’d met in Galkayo made him see her in another light. She was clearly passionate, and she stood up for what she thought was right. She’d definitely found something that she loved to do, and it showed.
She reminded him of a mama bear defending her cubs. It was impressive.
“Easy, I wasn’t trying to offend you or the Somali people,” Mustang said with a smile.
Midas felt her muscles relax. “Sorry,” she said with another adorable scrunch of her nose. “I’m protective of the people I work with. Just because someone doesn’t have much money doesn’t make them less worthy or a threat.”
“We’re trained to see everyone as a threat,” Jag commented.
Lexie faced him. “That’s kind of sad,” she said quietly.
It was. But it had kept them alive, so Midas didn’t mind. He knew he was somewhat jaded. He didn’t trust easily, except for the men on his team. He tended to see trouble around every corner. In contrast, Lexie was the opposite. She trusted first, and probably found out the hard way when someone wasn’t as genuine as they appeared.
It made him want to protect her from all the assholes in the world.
Which was ridiculous, as she was a mission. Nothing more.
Sure, things had worked out for Mustang and Elodie—a woman his teammate had fallen for on a previous mission—but that had been a fluke. A miracle. Once Dagmar saw his physician and they made it to the Navy ship safely, he’d never see Lexie again. She intrigued him, but in a few hours, she’d be just a memory once again.
The wait for Aleck, Pid, and the Jaeger Corps members seemed to take forever. By the time they returned, the sun was creeping higher in the sky and the heat was starting to make the inside of the chopper uncomfortable.
The fact that they’d been rescued seemed to finally be sinking in for Lexie. She didn’t seem as shell-shocked as she had earlier. And the panic she’d felt when she’d learned she and Dag might be separated seemed to have dissipated. Though it was obvious Dagmar wasn’t doing well, and she continued to watch him, a worried expression on her face.
The rumble of two trucks arriving was a welcome sound, and Midas helped to get Dagmar ready for transporting. Lexie hung back, not getting in the way and pitching in where she could.
When they’d gotten Dagmar settled in the back of a truck, Midas motioned to Lexie.
She immediately came toward him.
“Sit there,” he told her, indicating a spot in the back of the truck, away from the tailgate.
Without complaint, she climbed up and scooted down the bench-style seats until she was tucked into a back corner. Nodding in satisfaction, Midas turned to Mustang—only to find his friend smirking at him.
“What?” he asked quietly before following Lexie inside.
“Nothing. Just noticing that you’ve got her completely protected, don’t you?”
“Don’t start with me,” Midas grumbled.
“What?” Mustang echoed not so innocently.
Deciding to ignore his friend’s teasing, Midas hopped into the back of the truck and sat close to Lexie. Putting her in the back made sense. He and Mustang would be between her and the tailgate…and anyone who might want to hurt them.
Driving through town had him on high alert. None of them would ever forget what happened in Mogadishu. And while Galkayo wasn’t nearly as big as the capital
city, he’d never forgive himself if Lexie had been saved from a kidnapping, only to be killed after returning to the town she seemed to love.
Midas kept his eyes peeled for trouble as the trucks rumbled toward the hospital. It was a two-story concrete building in the middle of Galkayo. There was no emergency room, per se, just a large open space that was already packed with people. Slate and Jag carried the gurney holding Dagmar, and they were immediately led down a hall to a private room.
Midas gestured for Lexie to follow him, but she shook her head and walked toward the check-in desk instead.
“What are you doing?” he asked, coming up behind her.
“I’m not going to come in here and butt in front of all these people,” she protested.
“Lexie, you were kidnapped,” Midas said in exasperation. “You’re dehydrated, filthy, and need to be seen now, not a few hours from now.”
She straightened her shoulders and, once again, her nose wrinkled before she spoke. “And everyone else has been waiting for who knows how long. I’m okay, Midas. Yeah, I’m thirsty and would kill for a shower, but that doesn’t mean my needs are more important than anyone else’s.”
“We’re going to leave as soon as Dagmar gets looked at and you’ve had a chance to say goodbye,” Midas said. “And since we’re here, you’re going to at least get a cursory exam before we leave.”
“I think we both know that Dagmar isn’t doing well. He might even need surgery. I don’t know if that’s possible here, but he’s not going to be leaving in the next hour,” Lexie insisted. “We’ve got time.”
Midas sighed. She was right, but that didn’t mean he liked it. “Have you always been this stubborn?” he asked.
She smiled then, and it literally lit up her face. “No. I think you bring it out in me.”
Midas chuckled. She was lying through her teeth, and they both knew it. “Fine. Put your name on the list. But I’m sticking by your side until we leave.”
Her smile turned into a frown. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“I’m perfectly fine here,” she said. “Look at all the people around. No one’s gonna come in, grab me, and drag me out.”
“You’re right, they aren’t,” Midas told her. “Because I’ll be next to you the whole time, making sure of it.”
Lexie stared up at him for a long moment before finally nodding. “Okay.”
“Okay,” Midas echoed.
She got herself on the list and explained why she was there. As expected, the lady said the wait would be lengthy because of the number of people ahead of her. But Lexie merely nodded.
They headed to a corner with two empty seats and she settled into the uncomfortable chair without complaint. The woman sitting next to her had a toddler, and Lexie immediately turned to the little boy and began to engage him in conversation.
Midas watched her with a mixture of surprise and awe. The woman had just been rescued from a damn kidnapping and here she was, sitting in a crowded waiting room, playing with a kid. She was the most genuine and exasperating woman he’d ever met. She should be demanding something to eat and drink. Insisting that she be seen so she could change clothes and shower. But instead, she seemed perfectly content to put everyone else first.
Her naïveté was a bit worrisome. It was charming at times, but more importantly, it was dangerous to her safety.
An hour later, Midas was done.
He could see Lexie’s energy was fading, even though she was doing her best to pretend she was fine. When Pid walked through the lobby on one of his rounds, Midas motioned to him to get Lexie seen. He didn’t care if that meant they pushed ahead of the others waiting.
Twenty minutes later, Lexie’s name was called and Midas helped her stand. She wobbled a bit, and he scowled.
“I’m fine,” she said. “I just moved too fast.”
He didn’t bother to respond. They both knew that wasn’t the case. She was at the end of her rope, and he was done pretending everything was fine when it wasn’t.
He kept a steadying hand on her arm as they made their way through the waiting room toward the hallway where Dagmar had disappeared a while ago. Midas hadn’t heard anything about the other man’s condition, but he knew his teammates were keeping on top of the situation. Mustang and one of the Jaeger Corps were keeping their eyes on him, while the other men on both teams patrolled the area and the hospital for trouble.
A nurse led them to a stairwell, and Midas heard Lexie groan under her breath. He wanted to pick her up and carry her but had a feeling that would only cause her embarrassment. So he shifted his grip so his arm was around her waist and did his best to support her as much as possible as they climbed up the one flight to the second floor. The nurse ushered them into a small room halfway down a hallway.
The woman did her best to hide her distaste, but it came through loud and clear when she said, “There’s a small shower in the bathroom, if you want to get clean. There’s also toothbrushes and toothpaste in there.”
Lexie didn’t take offense. In fact, she seemed to perk up a bit. “Oh my God, brushing my teeth sounds awesome! And I’d love a shower. Oh, but I don’t have anything to put on afterward.”
The nurse looked Lexie up and down and said, “I’ll grab a pair of scrubs for you.”
“Thank you so much.”
The nurse left, and Lexie turned to Midas with a huge smile on her face. “Oh my God, I’m so excited!”
Midas could see that she truly was. It took so little to make this woman happy.
The nurse returned with a pair of scrubs and a bag of saline, obviously anticipating the doctor’s orders. She handed the clothes to Lexie and put the IV fluids on the counter nearby. “Take your time,” she said. “It might be a bit until the doctor can see you.” Then she turned and left.
Midas wanted to demand that the doctor make Lexie a priority, but he knew she’d be upset if he fussed. At least she was in a room now. It was something.
Lexie gave him a small smile and gestured to the bathroom. “I’ll just go and…you know. You don’t have to wait in here for me. I’m sure you have some sort of,” she gestured with her arm, “super-soldier thing to do.”
Midas chuckled. “Super-soldier thing?”
Lexie shrugged. “Yeah.”
“I already told you, I’ll be sticking by your side until we’re safely on that ship.”
“No one’s gonna come in here and grab me,” she protested.
“You’re right. Because as I told you before, I’m going to be here, making sure.”
“Fine. But if I sing off-key while in the shower, I don’t want to hear any comments.” Then she spun and headed for the tiny bathroom. Midas had caught a glimpse of it when he’d entered the room. The shower wasn’t much more than a spigot coming out of the wall. No stall. No curtain. But he supposed Lexie wouldn’t care. A shower was a shower.
While she was busy getting clean, Midas checked in with his team. Aleck reported that they were still waiting for test results on Dagmar and things looked normal around the hospital.
Relieved, Midas paced the room, trying to work out some of his nervous energy. The op in the desert had gone off without a hitch. They’d extracted the hostages and, other than making the unplanned stop back in town, everything was going smoothly.
He didn’t know why he couldn’t shake his uneasy feeling.
Twenty minutes later, and about ten minutes before he thought he’d see her, Lexie opened the door to the bathroom. Her hair was wet, but still just as curly as when it had been dry. The scrubs she wore were a bit big on her, but she still looked one hundred percent better now that she was clean.
“I needed that,” she admitted.
“It’s amazing how a long hot shower can make you feel better,” Midas said, doing his best to vanquish abrupt thoughts of Lexie naked in the shower. They were wrong as hell and completely inappropriate. He was on a mission; he needed to remember that.
“Hot?” she echoed, scrunching he
r nose.
Midas winced. “Cold, huh?”
“Yeah, but honestly, it didn’t matter. I’ve never been so happy to see toothpaste and soap in my life. My hair’ll need actual shampoo to make it manageable, but I’m thrilled with what I got.”
“Come on. Come sit,” Midas said.
Lexie sat on the examination table in the middle of the room and sighed in relief.
“Lie down,” Midas ordered.
As proof of how tired she was, Lexie didn’t protest. She did as ordered and shifted until she was lying on the padded table. There was no pillow, but that didn’t seem to faze her.
Looking around, Midas made a split-second decision. He might get in trouble for it, but fuck it. Lexie had waited long enough. He rummaged through some drawers until he found what he needed.
He ripped open an antiseptic pad and reached for Lexie’s arm.
“What are you doing?” she asked, pulling her arm back and holding it against her belly.
“Starting an IV,” Midas said without hesitation.
“But…you aren’t a doctor,” Lexie protested.
Midas couldn’t stop the chuckle from rumbling up his throat. “I’m a SEAL,” he countered. “I can put in an IV without too much issue.”
“I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
Midas merely shook his head. He wanted to get this done, but he needed her acquiescence. He looked her in the eyes and said, “Do you trust me?”
Something inside him sparked to life when she didn’t even hesitate before saying, “Yes.”
“You’re dehydrated, Lex. You need fluids. The one bottle of water you drank while we were waiting isn’t enough. An IV will be quicker and will make you feel better in no time. Hopefully Dagmar’s doctor will finish up quickly and we can get you both back on the chopper and out to the Navy ship. But until we know what Dagmar’s condition is, we have no idea what the next few hours will bring. Let me help you.”
She bit on her lower lip for a moment before she nodded. “Okay.”
Midas studied her. “You have a hard time accepting help,” he said matter-of-factly.
“I like being the helper, not the helpee,” she said with a shrug. “Besides, I let you rescue me from the desert, didn’t I?”