by Dale Mayer
“Miss, are you okay?”
She rolled her head to the side, seeing the worry on the soldier’s face and tried to smile, realizing that once again a waterfall of tears rolled down her cheeks.
“I’m okay,” she managed. “It was a very tough weekend, that’s all.”
“It’s over. You’re safe now.”
And that was partly why she was crying. Stupid really. Still, she was going to miss those men. All of them. They’d worked their way into her heart in such a way she knew she’d never be able to forget. How could such a crazy weekend happen in the first place and then there was the way it all ended. At that, she started to really cry. The release of stress, the constant danger, the fear, and panic – it had happened in a short time frame. Like a small bomb going off inside, the tears and heartache burst free. The soldier let her cry. She appreciated that. The release was good but made her feel crappy at the same time. How did that work?
They weren’t in the air for long before they descended.
The soldier noticed her interest. “We’ll be at the hospital in just a few minutes.”
She nodded, not caring which hospital. It wasn’t the one at home and that’s where she wanted to be. But she didn’t have time to look at much as soon houses appeared below then a large roof with a landing spot came next. The helicopter lowered gently and landed easily on the spot.
Several people rushed toward her.
She was unloaded onto a stretcher and whisked to a door. Before she was pushed inside, she watched the helicopter rise up and disappear into the clouds above. With it went her dreams of seeing Shadow and his team again. She stared at the long white corridors as she was taken into an elevator and rolled down to the ER. There she was moved into a small curtained off room. She hated everything about it. Not logical, considering they were helping her.
Shadow was already gone, her world lost and empty.
Then the curtain was ripped back. The medical team poured over her as she was partially stripped, her leg poked and prodded, then cleaned. She lay there, vulnerable, as they did what they had to do. Already tired and worn out, she barely reacted.
A doctor leaned over her. “Miss Stephenson, how are you feeling?”
She raised dull eyes to him. “I’m fine. How is my leg?”
He glanced down at it. “It’s going to be fine.”
“Oh good.” She knew it would be. After all, the guys had looked after it. They’d done their best and in this case their best was pretty fine. “Can I go home now?”
“We’ll need to keep you for a day or two. Then there’s a lot of paperwork to take care of. So should be sometime in the next couple of days.”
Paperwork? Who cared about that right now? Without Shadow her world looked so dark and she knew her golden dream attitude wasn’t going to pull her out of this one.
But her irrepressible positive thinking latched onto Cooper’s promise that they’d see her again. And would try to come by the hospital if they could. Only…what if she was shipped out first? Then what? Then it didn’t matter what he said, he’d have done his best and this time it would be that the wheels of bureaucracy had moved too fast. She brightened even more. That never happened. Paperwork…took forever. Right. She’d still be here when the SEALs got free of that town. She had to be…
The doctor stepped back slightly. “Now, there is someone I’d like you to speak with. You’ve been through a traumatic ordeal. And as you’re going to be with us for the next couple of days, I think it would be helpful if you talked to one of our trauma counselors.”
She was ready to agree to anything if it meant she could stay until the guys arrived but at his word, counselor, she froze.
“Is that like a shrink?” she asked cautiously, her gaze locked on his face. “Surely I don’t need that?”
“Don’t look at it that way. Dr. Mendelson is very good at her job, and in this case, her job would be to help you get over the horrific experience you’ve just been through.” He straightened and walked to the doorway. “Now that we have that sorted, I’ll let her know you’re here.”
And he was gone.
She stared suspiciously at the doorway, afraid the shrink would be popping through any second. She really didn’t want to talk with her, but was it worth fighting over?
She was still mulling it over when an orderly came and raised the bars on her bed. In alarm, she asked, “What are you doing?”
“Not to worry, your room is ready. I’m taking you down.” He unclicked the brakes on the wheels and pulled the bed back out slightly. Then unhooked her IV bag to lay it on her bed. “Now we can get you settled in for a pleasant visit. You’re only with us for a few days I understand.”
He was really nice. Still, part of her was suspicious, was everyone like that here? And then the orderly nudged the curtain accidentally. “Oops, sorry about that. Here I was trying to be so careful.”
“It’s fine,” she said, chuckling inside.
“Well, I’m still sorry. We don’t want you to have a bad impression of us.”
She counted three more apologies on the way to her room. One when they passed another orderly pushing a different patient in a bed, again as they turned the corner into her room and she moved her hand away even though there was lots of room and then because he couldn’t set the bed up any closer to the window. She gave a happy sigh. He was a sweetheart. She was quickly falling in love with the country and the people.
After she was set up in her new bed, a move he made painless, and her IV once again hanging, her medication administered and a wonderful warm blanket wrapped around her, she lay in a haze of wellbeing.
Truly, she was safe now.
And she closed her eyes.
*
Shadow made his way slowly back to the store. Soldiers had arrived at the old woman’s house, but it had been Shadow who had dug the grave for the beloved dog and had brought the young one back to the old lady. She’d had tears of gratitude in her eyes as she thanked him again. He’d patted her shoulder, put on the tea kettle, ordered one of the young men who’d arrived to make sure she got a hot cup of tea, had the medical team check her over for other injuries and see if she needed anything else. He made it quite clear that the cupboards were bare and the woman needed more help than a pat on her hand.
The soldier had assured him she’d be taken care of.
Satisfied, Shadow walked back into town watching the military in action as they did a house to house search. His team were standing talking with several military leaders. Good, maybe after the updates they could get back to their original mission. Helicopters had been arriving and leaving steadily. Also good. There were five dead men to take care of. And who knew how many living were in need of medical assistance.
Mason gave him a quick nod as he spoke with the major.
The two men saluted and the major turned to the rest of the team. “You have our thanks, if there is ever anything we can do…”
It wasn’t meaningless either. The two countries had a great rapport and military alliance when times warranted.
“Cooper?” Shadow called and stopped. Cooper’s shoulders hunched. Guilt? He searched the surrounding area, although he’d been doing just that since he’d seen his team. But there was no sign of her. He’d left Arianna inside the store. Maybe she was still in there. Or better yet getting medical attention. He twisted looking but couldn’t see her.
“Cooper,” he repeated in an ominous tone of voice, hating he was immediately thinking the worst. Surely she hadn’t been killed. He’d left her alive and well in the store. But he hadn’t actually checked her over to see if a stray bullet had caught her. “Where is she?”
Cooper took a deep breath but it was Mason who answered.
“She was airlifted out a half hour ago.”
Shadow locked down inside. She was gone. He hadn’t been able to say good-bye. There’d been no time. No one had let him know. He’d been busy helping the old lady and Arianna had been shipped out alone.
God, she’d have been a wreck. And he hadn’t been there for her. Of course he hadn’t. He’d done his job. Done what he was supposed to do. Damn it.
Mason, his gaze steady on his face while none of the others would look at him, said in a low voice, “She’s at the hospital.”
He nodded. “Good, that leg needs attention.” He was damn proud of himself for keeping his voice steady. Inside though, he was shattering. And couldn’t afford to let anyone know. He blinked and stared across the way, lost. The world of his, darkening. Shadows filling up the places she’d opened up, letting in the sunlight. Now the light was gone.
Foolish.
Cheesy.
Stupid.
But it was the way he felt.
Cooper spoke up. “She didn’t want to go, but she didn’t have a choice. Like you said, her leg needed attention.” He raised his gaze to Shadow’s dark hooded one. “I told her we’d go to the hospital to see her if we could. I promised her that she’d see us again.”
And the shadows moved to the other side, letting the light shine once again.
“Good. That’s important to her.” Shadow turned and walked toward the store. Needing to leave. To get away. To be alone. Before the others understood just how much she meant to him. And how much her needing that promise did for his soul. It didn’t matter that she’d made Cooper promise. It had been intended for him.
“We’ll be leaving in ten minutes,” Mason called. “We’re hours from the hospital.”
“I’ll be ready,” he said in a controlled voice. “Just want to make sure of something.”
The men watched him as he strode inside. He could feel their scrutiny burning into his back. Once in the store, a quick glance confirming he was alone, he walked to the end where she’d been crouched the last time he’d seen her, and for just a moment he let down his guard, and whispered, “Thank God. Ten minutes. We’re coming sweetheart. We’ll be there soon.”
Chapter 19
Waking in the hospital sucked. Sure she was comfortable and she was feeling better and not being cramped in a back seat with her legs stretched out across the guys’ knees but she was…alone.
Was there anything worse? She wasn’t sure how she was going to be able to go back to her condo and her teaching job. She currently taught at a private girls’ school. How bloody predictable was that? She loved her kids, but had thought often that she’d like to work with those less fortunate. Her father would have a heart attack if he knew what she was thinking.
Then again, her poor father wasn’t going to be able to react to anything anymore. Even if he survived this, he wasn’t going to be around for too much longer.
She’d love to teach the not so privileged kids. She wasn’t sure she had the temperament for inner city kids, there was definitely a skill needed for them that she didn’t think she had. The public system interested her though. Everyone seemed to think private school would mean she could avoid most of the problems prevalent in the public system. But she’d found growing up that the private school system had just as many problems. There were still drugs, booze, and sex at the younger ages. Cheating was rampant and the class eliteness was horrific.
Yet she’d followed the same path for teaching. Now she realized it wasn’t enough. It kept her in her comfort zone when there was so much else available. She needed more. And if her mind suggested she explore opportunities in the direction of San Diego and a very large well known base there, well who could blame her?
Her stomach growled. She couldn’t remember when she’d last eaten. The doctor’s had given her a shot of something in her IV like vitamins or something, but she wished for food. Like a real meal. She’d missed lunch as it had been served while she’d been in the ER. Now she’d have to wait for dinner and her stomach was already weighing the odds between the value of a hospital lunch versus no food, and she realized it didn’t matter how bad it was, she’d be happy to have anything. She yawned and snuggled under the covers again. She was still so damn tired. She dozed peacefully just under the surface. When she heard the louder footsteps on the hallways she figured it was the doctors on their rounds.
But there was something odd in the air. She opened her eyes. And smiled.
She didn’t turn. She didn’t trust her heart. It was doing the happy dance inside her chest. She knew exactly who was at the doorway. She said slowly in a low voice, without turning to look at him, “Hello, Shadow.”
She sensed his surprise. He walked into the room a few steps. “May I come in?”
She rolled over, saw he was alone and beamed up at him. She opened her arms and was gratified to see him reach out for her. She hugged him closer. God she’d missed this. Him.
When she could trust her voice, she cried, “I hated to leave you without saying good-bye.”
“It’s what had to be done. Your leg needed care.” He looked down at her sheet covered limbs and asked, “How is it?”
“It’s great,” she exclaimed. “The doctor said you guys did a wonderful job.”
“Of course,” he said casually. “Our medical training for field dressings is pretty extensive.”
“Then why did I have to come here,” she said, feeling aggravated at knowing she could have stayed with him.
He placed a finger against her lips. “In case there was more damage than we could see.”
She kissed his finger and he smiled down at her. Such a warm caring smile, she sighed happily. “Are you okay? I know it got pretty hairy for a while there.”
“It did. Everything is being mopped up now. We weren’t needed at this stage so we’re on our way home.”
Her face fell. “Without me?”
“You are staying here until they can arrange for you to go home.”
“On a commercial flight?” She hated the sound of that. “Can I go home with you? Surely I need to go in for debriefing. I’m a US citizen and the recovered victim of a kidnapping. The senator’s daughter. Are you sure I can’t come home with you?” she said in a wheedling voice.
“We could be going home on a commercial flight too,” he said. “No idea what the plans are for the moment.”
“Perfect. Let me come with you. Then at least if I am too tired or injured I can trust that you’ll make sure I get home.”
“Which is another good reason why you are staying here,” he said.
Her face fell. For a moment there she’d so hoped.
“You aren’t ready to fly yet,” he added in a soothing voice.
“Sure I am,” she said stoutly. “If I was ready for everything else that happened over the last few days, flying home with you guys is hardly an issue.”
A voice from the doorway called out. They turned to stare as Swede carrying two large bags of something that smelled heavenly and the rest of the gang carrying coffee arrived. The last man in was Cooper, and he arrived a few seconds later, carrying a huge bouquet of flowers in his arms.
She cried out and reached for them.
“They are gorgeous.”
“And they are from all of us,” Cooper said. “Even the silent dude here. He just wouldn’t wait for us to arrive together. He raced ahead.”
She lay the flowers on her lap. “Thank you.” And she reached up to hug him, then Swede, Hawk, Dane and finally Mason.
They all stepped back, grinning. She was so damn happy. “I missed you guys. I hated leaving without you all.”
“Hey, it broke my heart to put you on that helicopter,” Cooper admitted. “I knew Shadow here would shoot me for it too.”
“He didn’t though, did he?” She searched Cooper’s face, saw the grin then caught Shadow rolling his eyes. “Of course you wouldn’t shoot him, but that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t have smacked him around some.”
“Not likely, he’s bigger than me,” Shadow said with a straight face.
The others snickered.
“That’s only because he had to do so much physical therapy after getting injured,” she explained. “I’m sure if you worke
d out, you’d get that size too.”
The others laughed.
“I was kidding,” Shadow said, shaking his head.
She sighed. “Right, of course you were.” She winced. “Speaking of which, the doctor wants me to see a shrink. Please let me go home with you guys. I really don’t want to have to speak to anyone about what happened.”
“Actually, I’m not sure that you should be speaking to anyone yet.” Shadow turned to Mason. “It will involve her relationship with her father and family and the events leading up to this. As what that is isn’t exactly clear at this point, should she be talking about any of this to someone without clearance?”
Mason pursed his lips. “A good point. But not sure it’s enough to stop you from talking to a trauma counselor. You might need to do that at some point.”
“Maybe, but at home would be better. Besides,” she glanced over at Cooper, “I was telling Cooper some of the dirty family history.”
“And I didn’t fill you in on what the one kidnapper said, about this being a double job,” Shadow interrupted her. “You and your father weren’t supposed to survive.”
She stared at him. “Just me and my father? Not all of us?”
“According to the kidnapper, you and your father weren’t supposed to make it out alive. When we rescued you, it changed things.”
“And I was explaining to Cooper that I believe if my father dies then his estate would go to my stepmother and if something happened to her then to my brother. And that means his guardian would have control.”
“And who is that guardian?”
She sighed. “My father’s aide. Who is also my step-uncle. My stepmother’s brother. He’s the one who made the arrangements for our trip.”