by Dale Mayer
When his voice fell quiet she glanced over to see him gently stroking her hand before speaking to her again in that same low tone.
Whatever he was saying to her was helping. She was curious though. “What are you telling her?”
“I’m telling her that she’s lucky to be here and that you’re the best. If you can save her baby then you will.”
“How do you know?” Sasha stared at him in shock. “I haven’t worked on you before. I’d have remembered.”
“No,” he said with a gentle smile. “But you saved Cooper. I heard about the doctor you saved at the same time, too.”
She shook her head. “That’s not fair. I was just doing what needed to be done.”
“And did both jobs well.” He grinned. “I know many a man who says they owe you big time.”
Discomfited, she returned to her patient.
A moment later she asked, “Can you ask her about her family? Does she have anyone she’d like here with her?”
The musical sounds erupted again as the two spoke. “Her mother is ill and the rest are men.”
“Husband? Does he want to be here?”
“Custom won’t let him,” Markus said. “And that’s something you and I aren’t going to be able to buck today.”
“No, I guess not.” She walked to the small cupboards and pulled out a tray. They didn’t have an incubator for the baby either. She could hope they didn’t need one. As she set up a bassinet for the baby, David came rushing in.
“What have we got?”
“Cesarean,” she said quietly. “No progress for several hours. Baby is in fetal distress.” She showed him the woman’s chart. “No ambulance for at least an hour, then the return trip, and we’ll lose the baby in that time.”
“Crap.”
“Right.” They smiled at each other. They’d been required to pull a few miracles out of their respective hats these last months. “Let’s have at it.”
With David handling the drugs, Sasha sorted the tools while the nurse prepped Yalta. She glanced over to find Markus staring at her, his gaze wide, his lips pinched. It was probably the first time anyone had asked him to do what she was about to ask him to do, but heck, he was a SEAL, he could handle anything. “Can you stay for her?”
He glanced at the scalpel in her hand, his eyebrows raised. Then gave a grim nod. She nodded at him once, waiting until he turned his attention to the poor woman. It wasn’t going to be fun, but she’d make damn sure it was fast.
And it was. She was holding an unhappy newborn male in her hands in minutes.
She laughed as his angry cries filled the room.
With Yalta’s happy tears and cries of joy she handed the squalling boy off to the nurse and turned her attention back to the patient.
“We’re almost done,” she said, more for Markus’s benefit than anyone else’s. Yalta wasn’t feeling anything other than the overwhelming emotions that overtook every woman at this moment in her life.
Sasha had helped deliver any number of babies but wasn’t sure she’d ever done a cesarean under these circumstance. The reality was it didn’t matter. The joy was the same for everyone, no matter where in the world it happened.
What she wanted to know was would it ever happen to her? She’d had no doubt a year ago. She’d been happily married and completely in love with her life and knew the time for her own family would be soon. After that dream had blown up in her face, she’d avoided facing that question. It was too painful.
“Done?” David asked at her side. He looked at her over the mask in question.
She realized she’d been standing there staring at the woman. She shook off the reverie and nodded. “I am. She’s in great shape.”
“And you’re a great doctor,” he said seriously. “Love that you’re so calm and controlled.”
“Always,” she said with a smile at Yalta. “It’s all about the patient.”
She hopped off the stool and walked over to the water to wash up. The nurse was taking care of Yalta while David studied the little boy now swaddled in towels. “He’s beautiful,” he announced to the new mother.
Markus quickly translated. The mother beamed and held out her arms.
They shifted her in bed so she could meet her new son.
The nurse came over to Sasha and gave her a big hug. “Thank God, you got back in time,” she cried. “I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.”
“I did, so it’s all good, and you did wonderfully,” she said warmly. The thought of not having made it back made her nauseous. “David, anyone else in dire need at the moment?”
“No, Theresa has done what she needs to do as well. We can leave.”
Sasha was undecided. Her patient needed to be watched carefully, and she hated to leave her like this. Just then she heard the sirens. A big grin broke across her face. “That’s music to my ears.”
“Isn’t that too little too late?” Markus asked.
“In this case, it’s perfect. Yalta shouldn’t be alone.”
“How long will this take?” Cooper asked from the doorway.
She spun in surprise. She’d forgotten he was there. “About twenty minutes for the paperwork and to get her transferred, then I’m free to go.”
Markus nodded. “We’re going to hold you to that.”
“I promise,” she said. “You can see why I needed to be here.”
“I do.” Cooper nodded. “Markus?”
Markus took off. With Cooper at her side, she walked to her quarters to pack up her few belongings. Only as she stood in the doorway to the tiny room, she realized her room wasn’t as she’d left it.
*
“What’s the matter?” Cooper asked, studying the bare bones closet of a room. There shouldn’t be much wrong as there was nothing here to go wrong.
“My stuff has been rifled through,” she said shortly.
He gave her a side long glance. “You can tell?”
She reared back slightly and looked at the room again. Then laughed and relaxed slightly. “Absolutely but then when I do surgery I want my tools in a specific order and at a specific distance from my fingers. In other words everything is placed exactly where I want it. These…” she waved her arm at the shelf of folded clothes, “Are not the way I left them.”
“Anything missing?”
She stepped inside and did a quick search. “Not that I can see.” She pulled a bag out from under the single bed and opened the zipper. “I don’t keep any valuables here. They are in the office safe.”
He frowned. “In a place like this, that’s hardly safe.”
“They aren’t criminals here. They are families looking to start again.”
“And many families in that position will do anything to make it happen.”
She stood up and gathered the closest stack of clothing. He noticed that meant several pairs of jeans and a couple pairs of shorts. He’d love to see her in shorts. Then she’d be gorgeous in anything. While he watched, she quickly finished packing. Within minutes she straightened and looked around. “Do you see if I missed anything?”
“Looks cleaned out.” But he dropped to the floor and looked under the bed. He almost laughed at the militant style the bed had been made up in. “I think you’re good to go.”
“Then to the office for my purse and passport. Not to mention the contract for being here.”
She led the way with Cooper on her heels. They passed the room with mother and baby and Markus back standing watch. The ambulance could be heard outside. In the office she quickly opened the safe and withdrew a brown envelope and a small purse. Then closed and locked it again. They raced back to the patient where he watched as she efficiently managed the transfer.
She gave the young woman a hug before releasing her to the paramedics. Cooper immediately ushered her toward the SUV.
“We’re here, Mason,” he said to the silvery eyed man she’d assumed to be the leader of the group.
“There’s one more thing…” she said to Mason. “And it’s so
mething Markus can help with. Plus, we’ll all be together.”
Mason narrowed his gaze at her and waited.
“The mother and son are safe, but no one has informed the family or the father that he has a healthy son or that his wife is going to be fine.”
Cooper caught his breath behind her. She turned and glanced at him and Markus at his side. “I’m sure you can understand.”
“A driver took you there, can you find the location on your own?” Mason asked.
She nodded. “That I can do.”
“Even though this place is a maze?” Mason asked, one eyebrow raised.
She laughed and handed over a map and a piece of paper. “That’s where they live and this is a map of the camp. I might not be able to figure it out, but you big bad SEALs will be able to.”
She grinned as he rolled his eyes at her, but he took the sheet nonetheless. Cooper looked down at her in bemusement. Keeping his voice low he whispered, “I didn’t know angels came in pint size.”
She froze in shock then laughed. “I should punch you for that.”
He snickered. “Go for it. I have a fly swatter around here somewhere.”
Mason shook his head. “Let’s go you two. We will travel together.”
“Fun.” She hopped into the back of the big black SUV. Cooper sat beside her. Markus took the passenger seat. With Mason driving the lead vehicle they slowly wound their way through the camp that was just waking up. Several people dashed inside their small shelters in fear. Many others came running out. Sasha waved at them.
“Smile, Markus. They are scared of you.”
Markus shot her a look of surprise. “Me?” he protested. “Why me?”
“It’s the look. So dour and dark. Smile a little and make their day instead.”
He snorted in disgust, but he plastered a smile on his face anyway.
Cooper chuckled.
When Markus shot the bird at Cooper, he whooped. Lord, this was good to see. Sasha was such a breath of fresh air. She was bringing even Markus out of his shell. Evan was on the far side of her being uncharacteristically quiet. When Copper twisted enough that he could see Evan’s face it was to realize he was studying Sasha’s profile as if fascinated.
He glared at him but Evan didn’t lift his head. Cooper reached along the back seat and flicked his arm.
Evan raised his gaze in surprise, and Cooper deepened his scowl. Evan narrowed his gaze as he studied his friend and then glanced from Sasha to Cooper and back again – and his face lit with unholy mirth.
Cooper knew he was going to be bugged forever.
He subsided in his seat and glared out the window. Only to see Markus’s smirk in the rearview mirror.
“Shit,” he said under his breath. They’d never leave him alone now.
Just as they reached the correct sector of the camp, a large group of young men stepped out in front to stop the vehicles.
And Sasha gasped in recognition. “Oh my God,” she whispered. “That’s my driver. The one we thought was shot dead.”
Chapter 8
The vehicles rolled to a stop. Sasha peered forward to see Mason speaking with the men. “Markus you need to help him,” she ordered.
That he opened his door and hopped out immediately caused a snicker from her left. She eyed the man whose name she didn’t know and asked, “Do you speak their language?”
He immediately shook his head.
“Exactly.” She turned to Cooper. “Let me out.”
He shook his head, his gaze never moving from the man sitting on a chair. She followed the same direction as he was looking and studied her driver. His skin pale and his features drawn. Without a shirt the bandage around his ribs was easy to see as was the blood seeping through it.
“Cooper…” she said in her most imperious tone. “He needs to be questioned and his injuries looked at. We also need to be asking if the other medical personnel here are in danger. Did he have anything to do with my abduction or not?”
In the lead vehicle she could see David and Theresa arguing with the men as well.
“Why do you guys have to be so difficult?” she muttered.
He slanted a gaze her way and she glared at him. Then in a move that surprised everyone, she hopped onto her seat and scrambled into the front and was out Markus’s door before they had a chance to grab her. Outside she raced to Jamel. It wasn’t his full name but it was the only version she could enunciate.
When he saw her, he bounced to his feet and gasped, his face going sheer white.
“Easy, Jamel, sit down.”
He collapsed back again. But whether it was from his injuries or shock, she didn’t know.
He appeared agitated when he saw the SEALs surrounded them.
“It’s okay. They are surrounding me. Not you.”
“You think?” Cooper said in a cool voice. “We’ve been looking for him. He was at the same cabin, he gets shot and yet somehow you are moved and he escapes and tells no one.”
“They said they’d kill me,” he cried out in fear. “I was injured. Couldn’t move. I waited until everyone was gone. And then tried to move. Only I wasn’t alone. The gunman told me if I lived I had to keep quiet or they’d come and kill my family.” His voice shook and his body wracked with tremors. She knew the signs well.
“I have to check your ribs. You’re running a fever and that is not good.”
“Doc,” Evan said. “Aren’t there others around here that can help him?”
“Yes,” she said without looking up. “Go find me one.” She shot Cooper a stern look. “But I assume people want to talk to him.”
“No, no,” Jamel cried. “No want to talk.”
Several of the other men surrounded them.
“Back up and give me room,” she ordered. “You can ask him questions, but I don’t want him doing more damage to his injuries.” She bent down and reached out to open his bandage, but he shook his hands at her. “No. No,” he cried. “They will take me away.”
“If they do,” she’s said, “I’ll be with you.”
He stared at her with hope. “You would help me?”
“I’m trying to help you now,” she said gently. “Sit still so I can look.”
He stilled long enough for her to unwrap the bandage. She sat back on her heels. This was what Ron had taken a bullet for. He’d been grazed. That was all. They hadn’t intended to kill him or even maim him. “Did you clean this out?”
He nodded. “My wife.”
Sasha sighed. “But you didn’t go to the clinic to get help, did you?”
“I was afraid. Everyone knew I had been taken too.”
“Did they?” Cooper asked in a hard voice. “How is that?”
Jamel shrank back at his tone of voice. Sasha was about to admonish Cooper when she thought better of it. The camp needed doctors. The doctors needed to be safe. Therefore Jamel needed to give a good accounting of his actions. So she bit her lip and studied the wound. It would benefit from a good cleaning and a new bandage, but other than that it would pain him but it wouldn’t kill him. She looked at the leg but decided it didn’t likely require any emergency attention from her. But the wounds bothered her. “What happens with him?”
“He comes with us.” Mason held up his phone. “The Turkish want to have a talk with him.”
Jamel cried out.
She stood up. “You took money for taking those men to where we were working, so they could kidnap us, didn’t you?”
He looked at her in shame and then nodded.
“Well, that answers that question,” she said quietly. “Of course the Turkish want to talk to you. They need to know who the men were and why they wanted us in particular.”
“They wanted the Americans. Just the Americans they said.”
“Which is what we figured?” She looked at Cooper, one eyebrow raised.
Cooper half lifted and half carried Jamel to the SUV.
“Good, now we can finally get to Yalta’s family and finish
this,” she muttered. As she walked back to the SUV with Markus she realized that Mason might have changed his mind about letting the father know. She raced over to where he stood with the huge mountain man that seemed to be everywhere and nowhere. Along with his sidekick she barely saw clearly. Talk about living in the shadows.
“Mason,” she interrupted when there was a break in his conversation, only to realize she was the reason for the break. They were all looking at her. She brushed her hair back off her head self-consciously. “Sorry for interrupting, but I want to confirm that we’re still heading for Yalta’s family?”
She stared directly at him.
His gaze narrowed as if hoping she’d relent. Instead she straightened her back and jutted out her chin. “Nothing has changed,” she said.
“Lots has changed,” he countered. “We now have a person of interest that we need to take in for questioning.”
“And that doesn’t change the need to let a young man know that his wife and son are alive and well,” she said gently. “It’s only a few minutes from here,” she said persuasively.
“Might as well do it,” Markus said when Mason looked over at him. “Doc here is a mite too stubborn for her own good.”
“Exactly,” she said with a beaming smile at him. “Thank you for explaining, Markus.”
Markus frowned at her. Mason just narrowed his gaze.
“I’m even more stubborn when it’s for the good of others,” she said in response to Markus’s irritation.
He rolled his eyes at her.
“You should get that problem fixed,” she said earnestly. “One of these days your eyes are going to stay in the back of your head and you’ll be blind.”
He snorted.
She raised an eyebrow and stared calmly back.
He started to look worried.
She snickered. “Gotcha.”
And she ran back to the SUV laughing. Cooper shook his head at her. “Still up to your bad jokes, huh?”
“That was a good one,” she cried out.
“If Markus was six, maybe,” Cooper said.
“Well…” she chuckled and walked to the open passenger door. She stood up on the running board on the side of the truck and as he was close enough, cute enough and the idea just seemed good enough she leaned over and kissed his cheek. “You’re a sweetie to be so worried about your buddy.”
