CHAPTER TWO
STEELE
“Are you a doctor?” Vice stands, his hands all covered in blood, obviously thinking more clearly than I am. I can’t seem to move from this squatted-down position. I’ve been around a hell of a lot of beautiful women. Not sure what it is that strikes me about this one, since I can’t see around the long dress that covers her up from head to toe. The only thing I notice are her eyes. A deep, dark brown that’s warm as the Earth's soil. A rich, dark ring of chocolate around the edge that engulfs you in their depths and could swallow you whole. Her eyes have a million stories to tell. I’m guessing most of them are as painful as it would be to live here. Jesus, she is by far the most exquisite, tiniest woman I have ever seen. She has me dumbfounded as fuck.
“No. My father is, though. I’ve helped enough to know that your friend needs help immediately or he is going to lose his leg.” She’s still staring right at me when she speaks. Her words have me snapping back to reality and the fact that I’m still aiming my gun at her.
“How do we know you weren’t sent as a distraction?” That came out of nowhere. Can’t help it. I hate this place.
“How about you just move and let me help your friend, and then you can quiz me later.” She moves to Ace and begins searching all around his body for any other injuries. Hands are moving at lightning speed. “You two see if you can lift this off him, and I’ll pull him out and stabilize his leg.” We both move quickly; I shove my gun in the back of my pants and grab the pipe. We wedge it under the concrete, both lifting with everything we have. Ace’s screams roar even though he’s trying to internalize them.
“Fuck. It’s stuck in a trap.” Vice speaks through exerted breaths as we keep the concrete lifted off Ace’s leg. Before we have the chance to say another word, the woman slides her head under the concrete, reaching to free him from the trap. She seems not to be afraid a damn thing as I watch her feel around for god knows what down there.
“I thought we had these all cleared out of here. The locals used these to trap wild animals after the war. I hate these things.” Her soft voice sounds from around the giant concrete boulder we’re holding up. “There, the trap is open; we need to be careful pulling him out. I have no idea what kind of damage has been done.” She stands, wipes the blood on her clothes, then pulls him away from the hole until we can drop this concrete without it landing on him. Ace groans as she slides him by herself.
She places one hand over Ace’s forehead and the other on his wrist the second she sets him down. “At least his pulse is steady. He’s burning up, though. A mixture of this heat and injuries, I assume. Now, if you’ll help me, I can use those supplies to fix him up. I’ll warn you now; he’s not going to be able to leave here for a few days. We need to make sure there isn’t an infection.”
I’m half listening to her carry on about the supplies and her knowledge of his condition. I have no doubt in my mind that Ace will pull through. He’s a tough motherfucker. What I did catch her say is how long he must stay here in this shit hole, and there’s no fucking way that is happening. I won’t even have to worry about that. She’s not used to working with men like my team.
“Goddamn, you motherfuckers are trying to kill me. Fucking hell, this hurts.” His eyes snap open, bloodshot and wired like he’s fucking high. They immediately soften when he looks at Grace. He looks from her to me. “If I’m dreaming, get your sorry ass out of my fantasy, asshole.”
“Is she real?” I nod at him and smile. This is Ace. He’s going to hit on her even though he’s hurting like hell, and I’m just waiting for the smooth talk to flow right out of his mouth.
“You going to fix me up, babe?” Here we go. I roll my eyes. If his leg weren’t all torn up, looking like ground raw hamburger, I’d knock his teeth clean out of his head.
“Have at it.” I move out of her way and gawk like a damn fool trying to get a closer look at her underneath the head-to-toe burqa she’s wearing when she bends down and begins wrapping his leg with an extra shirt she pulled out of her bag. I’m not sure why I’m finding myself wishing I could get a better look at her. It’s the strangest feeling I’ve ever had. One I shake off as quick as it hits me.
“Yes, I am. Now, please hold still.” Christ, she’s polite. A little too innocent for a man like me, but shit if I wouldn’t get off on dirtying her up. Every damn inch of her. She takes some sort of scarf out of the bag and expertly starts to wrap it around Ace’s leg, too. “If you guys want to carry him, I’ll show you where our clinic is.”
I can’t help but stare at the way her ass sways as we follow her, my mind and my dick wondering what her legs look like, her chest, her hair. Damn, if her body matches her sweet little voice, she will be one hell of a ride to dirty up. I’d break a woman like her.
“How much farther, Doc?” Ace grunts out his words with a whine to his voice. The guy has got to be in unbearable pain. That leg of his looks shredded. I can hardly stand to look at it.
“It’s right around this corner,” she answers, not bothering to acknowledge she isn’t a doctor. This woman with the big, brown eyes better not be lying or pretending about what the hell she’s doing, or I’ll lose my shit. The thought of spending even one night in the fucked-up place has a chill running down my spine despite the heat penetrating on my back.
“It’s the next one on the left.” Her head tilts my way, showing me enough of her delicate profile that my cock wants to answer for me. Dirty bastard. This woman has innocence written all over her. She couldn’t handle the things I would do to her. I’d tear her apart.
“Lay him down here,” she tells us after we walk through what appears to be an old church turned into a small hospital lined up with beds on one side and medical equipment on the other.
“I need you two to step away and let me do my job.” She’s a bossy little thing, I’ll give her that. However, this is my friend, my teammate. Her rules don’t apply.
“We’ll step back, but no way are we leaving him. You fix him up, get him comfortable, and then we get the fuck outta here.” She turns quickly, glaring at me.
“I told you he needs to rest. I’m waiting on our med supplies that should’ve already been dropped.” She has no idea who we are.
“We brought the supplies. Where the fuck are they, Vice?” He looks at me knowingly, both of us realizing one of us has to leave here to go grab them. No way in hell I’m leaving Ace here alone.
“I hid them when I heard the explosion. I’ll go get them. You stay here with Ace.” He heads for the door, but she stops him before he has the chance to leave.
“Please hurry. I have a patient who needs the antibiotics you have very badly. It’s a matter of life and death.” She rushes back to Ace and works quickly to begin unwrapping his leg. “We have to clean it. This is going to hurt. Please stay with me and just know I’m trying to help.” She begins cleaning his open wounds, blood spilling from them as she does. My stomach churns for the first time in forever as I watch my friend in agonizing pain as he takes everything she does and growls through it. Fuck, this is painful to watch; I can’t imagine what he’s going through.
“What can I do to help?”
“Please open that door and check on my father.” She nods her head to her right, not once taking her eyes off what she’s doing. I open the door to see a frail old man lying in bed. He must be the patient she’s referring to, because, by the way he looks, face ashen and eyes sunken into his head, he’s obviously on one of his last days on Earth. He glances at me with a terrified look on his face, and I immediately try to reassure him.
“I fly the chopper that drops your med supplies. I’m here to help.” He’s worn and tired-looking. He’s been through hell, and now I see why Grace is here, but I don’t like the idea of the doctor that she brought us to is this old man. How is this guy going to fix Ace?
“Thank you,” he rasps out. I lean my head out the door to watch Grace work with precision and hustle as another woman hands her different medical to
ols to use. Their talk is hushed, but they both seem calm. “He’s in good hands. My daughter—”he coughs and grabs hold of his chest, squeezing his eyes shut.
“I can see she knows what she’s doing. Is there anything I can do for you?” I step inside, my mind on overdrive about what I should be doing to help these people. They have to be saints to work in this hell hole out of sheer desire to save others. This isn’t a place I’d want to bring my family to live. By the way I see things, this man is about to die. She needs those meds for him desperately, so I hope like hell Vice can find them.
“You a Marine?” He looks me square in the eyes, quizzing me as if he’s trying to test my ranks.
“Ex. I’m privately contracted for the government now.” That’s all the information I can give the man. He must know that, because he doesn’t push for any further details. Hopefully, he can see by the way we carry ourselves that we’re here to help.
“If you want to help me, then you make sure she gets back to our home in Missouri safely.” He coughs again, struggling through a swallow that has him nearly gagging.
“I can make that promise,” I answer honestly. I wonder how far away from the compound this home is. I’m about to ask him when he speaks again.
“She’s sacrificed too much for my wife and me. It’s time for her now.”
“I live in Missouri. West Plains, actually.” I’m not sure why I tell him the vicinity of where we all live part of the time. Maybe to make him feel as if he can trust me more? Hell, I don’t know. All I know is, I see a hint of a spark in his eyes.
I have no idea how long this man has left, hours, maybe a day or two, but just as he has no doubt about her capabilities out there, I have none about mine. I could fly a chopper, plane, or anything you put me behind with my eyes closed. I hope to god she has family back there; she’s going to need it.
“Not too far away then, that’s good. Now, go out there and tell her I’m doing okay. If you don’t, she’ll be hollering in here.” I simply nod and do as he says. I need to check on Ace anyway.
CHAPTER THREE
GRACE
“I think you’ll live,” I joke with the man they call Ace. He’s cute. Obviously a flirt and has the greenest eyes I’ve ever seen. It’s not his eyes, though, that made my heart pound in my chest and my mind struggling for something to say. It’s the man they call Steele standing over him like some sort of protector. His baby-blue eyes blazed right through me when I first caught a glimpse of him. Eyes so light they appeared to be faded like an old pair of washed-out blue jeans. I had to quickly tear mine away from his and focus on the injured man, which wasn’t hard to do once I saw how bad his leg was.
“Aw. Thanks, Doc,” he slurs, eyes slowly drifting closed until he finally gives in to the morphine. I take off my gloves, toss them in the trash, and make my way to my dad’s room without glancing at Steele and Vice sitting in two worn-out folding chairs next to where Ace is now fast asleep.
“I’ll be in here. Keep an eye on things for me, Leslie,” I call out to the head nurse who has been with my father since I can remember. She’s family to me.
“Of course, he was sleeping when I checked on him last,” she answers to my back. I hesitate for a moment before opening the door. My sweaty palm is holding tight to the knob.
“Please be alive,” I whisper to the piece of wood. Even though both Steele and Leslie told me he was resting, it doesn’t mean his health isn’t weighing on my mind.
Leslie took care of giving him the antibiotics the second they arrived, while I continued with the patients. One thing my father taught me is that no patient is more valuable than the other. He knew I was out here attending to someone, and if I had given him more attention than a patient, he would have been upset with me. The last thing I want to do is disappoint him.
“Dad, our new patient is going to be fi—” I pause, my body goes still. “I’m too late,” I say, pain rippling through my chest as I rush to his side. He’s gone. His facial muscles are relaxed, his eyes are softly closed; there’s still a slight color to his cheeks, which means he hasn’t been gone long. He died in his sleep, which is how most people want to go.
I bow my head, the sobs wracking through me while I try to remain calm for the sake of the people working in the clinic. There isn’t anyone here who’s not going to feel this loss. I feel pain stabbing me everywhere, and the guilt claws at me for leaving him earlier. The shame I’ll feel for the rest of my life will haunt me forever because I couldn’t save him.
I should’ve demanded that we leave sooner. “I love you so much, Dad. I’m sorry.” I cry. I never even made it to my mom’s grave. His last wish was never granted. “God, what do I do now?” My sobs are uncontrollable, getting the attention of everyone in the other room. I fall into the chair beside him, leaning my elbows on the mattress as I hold his lifeless hand.
“Grace. Oh, my god.” Leslie rushes toward my dad, checking for a pulse. She’s not going to find one. I know with every bone in my body that he’s gone. He’s with my mother. And even though I’m happy they’re together, I can’t help but want to scream at the two of them for leaving me completely alone. I feel an instant loss flow through my body. And then, as if they both called out to me at the same time, I feel a warm hand on my shoulder. It penetrates through my clothes and heats my skin in a comforting way.
An indescribable feeling passes through me; one of comfort and security. I don’t understand how I begin to feel this way, but I need to forget. Nothing else matters except for the man in front of me. I will my shaky legs to push me up and turn to see Steele standing behind me, his hand dropping to his side. I expect to see pity when I look through my strained eyes into his baby blues, but instead I find compassion and concern.
“I’m sorry,” he says quietly. “I’ll be right outside the door. Let me know what I can do to help.”
“Okay. Thank you,” I reply quickly, wiping the tears from my face as I force myself to look once again at my father. I move to the opposite side of the bed from Leslie. She’s still crying.
“Last night, when I came to check on him, he was wide awake. We talked a bit about you. He loved you so much, Grace. He asked me to tell you to bury him next to your mother, and then he said for me to make sure you went home.” She pauses as she tries to form her words once again. “He told me to tell you to follow your dreams and always know that he was incredibly proud of you. He also said to tell you to contact a man named Kevin Miller when you return. His number is programmed in your dad’s phone.” I cut her off as politely as I can.
“I know who Kevin is. He’s their attorney.” I don’t need to give her any more information than that. Nor do I need anyone to tell me that my parents left everything they own to me. They didn’t make much money with what they did here, but before this, when my dad had his practice, he was very successful. Money doesn’t concern me right now. It never has. What concerns me is knowing I’m leaving the two most important people in my life in a country that took both their lives. A country I hate with every fiber of my being.
“I’m going to go tell the rest of the staff. We’ll need to contact Doctor Stapleton to come in here and take care of the patients now that your dad is gone.” The clinic is part of a large missionary group that has small hospitals in a few places around a few countries. He’s going to have to find a replacement for my father here. I can’t stay and do his work, because I’m not licensed to practice. I shouldn’t have been doing what I have lately, but we didn’t have a choice. People were injured, sick, and someone had to treat them. That someone was me.
“Good-bye, Dad. I love you,” I speak from my broken heart, my tears. The unconditional love I have for this incredible man will forever be ingrained in my soul.
I’m not sure how long I stay in the room with him while images of my life flood my mind. I’ve experienced so many good memories because of him. He’s always been a great father to me, and losing him has created a hole in my heart I’ll never recover from.
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br /> Once I leave his room, I try to busy myself with patients in the clinic, even though the pressure of what I’ve let happen continues to torture me. He’s my father, for god’s sake. He taught me everything while he loved me unreservedly, and I failed him.
Maybe this is how he wanted it. If he was going to die, he wanted to be with the woman he loved. Seeing how he and my mother were with each other, always loving, always touching, I can see that being the case.
“The mind is a crazy thing, dear. Go. Grieve. You shouldn’t be in here when Doctor Stapleton comes. Your father knew your capabilities; he doesn’t. Besides, everyone is stable here. Now, go.” Leslie forces me to step away by plucking my stethoscope right out of my hands. I stifle a laugh, knowing she’s right, but I insist on checking on the Marine who’s here one last time before I let myself fall apart. I can feel it coming; no matter how much I tried to prepare myself for this outcome, I just wasn’t ready to lose my father so quickly. At the very least, I expected to be with him as he took his last breath.
I stop at the foot of Ace’s bed and check his bandages. He’s a very lucky man. His leg should’ve been crushed, but the wall fell just perfectly, so that a boulder saved him from permanent damage. Before I have a chance to get a real close look to check the bleeding, Steele steps in beside me.
“You should probably make arrangements to get him to a hospital. The other doctor won’t be here for a few more hours; I don’t want anything to go wrong when I can’t ask my father for advice,” I speak honestly, knowing that if it were me standing here with a friend, I’d want to know this information.
“That’s already been done; he’ll be going to Germany. I’m leaving as soon as you give me the go-ahead that he’s safe to travel.” He looks down at Ace before he continues to talk. “Thanks for what you did for him. I promised your father that I’d make sure you made it home to Missouri. I want you to know I plan to keep that promise.” His voice is deep yet comforting at the same time. I can’t think about leaving this soon, so I immediately attempt to decline.
Steele (The Elite Forces Book 4) Page 2