Her Steadfast HERO (Black Dawn Book 1)

by Caitlyn O'Leary

  “Hey, why are you putting on clothes? I like you in your underwear,” he said trying to keep things light.

  “I’m going downstairs with you. I want to check on Carys.”

  David held out his hand as he opened the door. She took it, and they started down the hallway, skipping the elevators and heading straight for the stairs. Sarah tugged at his hand as he paused at the spot where she had hit Dr. Stanton.

  “Don’t think about it, David.”

  That wasn’t going to be possible. But he let her lead him away. The idea of the two of them being separated clawed a hole in his gut. He knew how worried she was about him, but he was just as worried about her. The only saving grace was that she would constantly be surrounded by people and should be safe. But he wanted to be the one watching over her.

  As they walked into the lobby, it was pandemonium. The lobby doors were wide open, as gurneys passed through towards ambulances. There were still two curtained off areas. Amidst all the dark hair of the Las Flores residents, it was easy to spot the blonde giant that was Aiden O’Malley as he hovered over the strawberry blonde doctor. What the hell? David checked his watch. Yep. Three hours ago she had been held hostage, and now she had a stethoscope held against a young woman’s chest.

  “Do you see them?” Sarah was on her toes, but she couldn’t see over the throng of people. David tightened his grip on her hand.

  “Follow me.”

  “Doc, do you mind telling me what you’re doing. You need to be resting,” David said in his most reasonable tone of voice.

  “Yeah, what he said,” Aiden growled.

  Carys made a shushing motion with her hand, then finished listening to the woman’s lungs. She ignored the two men and spoke to Sarah. “How many more in the rural areas need to be brought into the hospital?”

  “If they’ve made it into the clinic and needed hospitalization, I’ve gotten them there. The problem has been all the people who haven’t been able to make it to the clinic. I keep hearing reports of people who have died because of untreated injuries. We need an outreach program. Carys, we need to go to them.”

  “No way,” David said. “Not while there are convicts still on the loose. You are not going door to door looking for earthquake survivors who need care.”

  “Yeah, what he said,” Aiden agreed.

  “Don’t you have anything original to say?” Carys snapped at Aiden.

  “Okay, get to bed. There’s a room with your name on it. You just killed a man and were covered in your blood and his. You’re still shaky.” Aiden gently clasped her wrists in his hands so that they could all see her hands tremble. “If you’d give me that damn stethoscope, I’d find your heart still racing. You’re white as a sheet. You need to rest for a couple of hours, or better yet, have some food and go to sleep for the night.”

  “I didn’t ask for a monologue.” Shit. She was shocky. That sounded like she was pouting.

  “Dr. Adams,” the SEAL said in a soothing tone.

  “Carys,” she corrected petulantly.

  “Carys. He’s right,” David interjected. “You were the one who insisted your people rest the first day you landed. I really respected that.” She was on the fence. He turned to Sarah.

  Come on baby, bring it home.

  “Carys, if I was to check your blood pressure right now, what would I find? Let’s go get some food. You and I can talk about the outreach plan. Then you can get a little bit of rest while I take over down here.”

  “Fine,” she huffed. “Since I was triple-teamed. Where are you two going?” she asked David and Aiden.

  “We have to go to the prison. They’re coordinating the manhunt for the remaining prisoners.”

  “Are they as dangerous as the…” Carys’ voice trailed off.

  “They’re all bad,” David said grimly.

  “Go get your food, Carys. When you’re figuring out your outreach program, factor in military personnel going with you,” Aiden warned.

  “You too, Sarah, and it will be me.” There was no way he was leaving her safety in anyone else’s hands.

  “Same goes, Carys,” Aiden said emphatically. David looked over at the big SEAL. The man worked fast.

  Sarah was smirking, and she looked adorable. He pulled her into his arms, loving how easily she wound her arms around his neck. His beautiful gray-eyed nurse. Her lips molded to his and everything around him fell away, just Sarah remained.

  “Captain.” Okay, Aiden was still here.

  David lifted his head, admiring her wet lips. One last quick kiss. She carefully pushed at his uninjured shoulder.

  “Stay safe,” they said in unison and laughed.

  “Okay, Aiden. Let’s go.”

  Chapter Nine

  “I’ll go to my room, as long as you go with me and tell me what is going on with you and that big hunk of a guy,” Carys said as soon as they were alone.

  Sarah laughed. It would be good to talk to her friend. “Same goes, it seems like you made a friend pretty fast.”

  “The SEAL?” Carys asked.

  “His name is Aiden,” Sarah corrected. “He seemed pretty damned protective.”

  “I think it’s in their DNA.” Carys walked slowly towards the stairs.

  “Let’s take the elevator,” Sarah suggested. Carys just rolled her eyes and continued towards the stairs. Sarah laughed again. Despite the horror of the last twenty hours, Carys wouldn’t let herself be bested. But Sarah was going to kick her ass and ensure that she got some rest, and some professional care. They trudged up the stairs to the room that Carys was sharing with Alena, who was busy at one of the clinics.

  “You don’t have to babysit me,” Carys said when they got to her room. Sarah didn’t say anything, she just followed her friend into her room. As soon as they stepped in, she wrapped Carys into a hug. The doctor stiffened. Sarah held on for long moments, waiting. She felt a deep shudder, and finally heard a wrenching sob.

  Sarah murmured words of comfort and stroked her friends hair.

  “I should be stronger,” were the first words Carys said.

  “Dammit Carys, I’m going to shake you,” Sarah said through her own tears. She maneuvered them to the bed, and got Carys to sit down.

  “I need to get clean.” Carys yanked at the shirt she was wearing and it got tangled as she tried to pull it over her head.

  “Let me,” Sarah coaxed. She could see the blood caked on her friend’s pale skin as she pulled the shirt off her. As soon as it was off, Carys sprung off the bed and rushed to the bathroom. Sarah followed and held her hair as she threw up in the toilet. When nothing was left, wounded eyes looked up at her.

  “Can you help me into the shower?”

  “Of course. Then you have to rest.”

  “No, there’s too much to do.” Carys was resolute. “I had my mini-breakdown. I’ll have a full-blown meltdown when this disaster is cleaned up.”

  “I won’t allow it. I’ll tie you to the bed,” Sarah growled.

  Carys laid her hand on Sarah’s shoulder.

  “What would you do if the roles were reversed? Be honest.”

  Sarah looked inside herself. “I’m not sure I’m as strong as you.”

  “You’re stronger, my friend.” Carys pushed up from the floor and Sarah helped her into the shower.

  * * *

  When David arrived at the prison, a lot had been accomplished. Joaquin was finished briefing Gray and his men on the terrain and the convicts who remained at large. Riggs and Harrison were safely back with the young men, and all but six of the men who were going to still help with the manhunt had arrived back at the prison.

  “Joaquin is a good man, you really lucked out,” Gray said when he and David had a moment to themselves.

  “I agree. What’s your assessment of Riggs and Harrison?”

  “I haven’t had enough interaction with them to tell. But I read over their records, and I liked how they handled themselves to get those two kids. Damn shame about their fathers.”
Gray must have seen the guilt on David’s face. “Stop it. You’ve done a hell of a job in a terrible situation. You’ve had to trust that the locals knew what they were doing.”

  “I appreciate what you’re saying, but it still happened on my watch.”

  Gray nodded, respect evident in his eyes.

  “How do you want to play this? I know these are your men. I don’t want to be the one giving orders,” David said. “What’s more, you have a lot more tactical experience.”

  “The men of Las Flores look to you as their leader. I’ll lay out the plan and assign my men, but you can assign the locals to their tasks.”

  “Sounds good.”

  They went back to the warden’s old office where everyone was gathered.

  “Joaquin, what’s keeping the men we’re waiting for?”

  “Their truck broke down. They’ll be here in an hour.”

  “Okay, we’ll get started without them.”

  David looked around the room. There were eighteen residents of Las Flores gathered along with the seven SEALs, him and Joaquin.

  “Lieutenant Tyler is going to introduce his team, and then explain our plan. Joaquin and I will assign you men to different groups, paired with different Navy SEALs.” David smiled to himself when the Las Flores men perked up at the term Navy SEAL, it seemed even here in Las Flores they had heard of the elite team of soldiers.

  Bernardo had also been helpful in his efforts to stop the convicts. There was now a tip line set up, so they would not be flying blind. Carmen’s daughter was coordinating the project and alerting the manhunt teams when a tip seemed to have merit.

  It was agreed that Joaquin would coordinate things from the prison. Luis, the acting warden, had been disgruntled at first. David had explained to him that his job was too big to care for another monumental task.

  “Luis, you’re already trying to rebuild a prison, keep riots from happening, and hire new guards. It’s too much to ask of you to do one more thing.” David’s words had pacified him.

  With the seven SEALs, Riggs, Harrison, and David, they had ten teams. O’Malley got a call.

  “Gray, we have a problem.”

  “What?”

  “That was Carys, she said that she received information that there were two kids hurt at a small farm about fifteen clicks from one of the clinics. She intends to go out and get them to the hospital.”

  “Yep, that’s a problem. Do what you need to do.”

  David’s skin crawled. “Let me guess, she’s not going alone.”

  “Nope,” Aiden said. “Your woman is going with her.”

  “Dammit! I told her to call me.”

  “You’re not raising her right.” Aiden smirked. David’s palm itched. Then his phone rang.

  “David, it’s me.” His world settled.

  “Wait for us. I’ll be there in an hour.”

  “I don’t think they have that long. Somebody got a cell phone to them. We talked to someone on site. They’re in real trouble. They need immediate triage.”

  “Let Aiden go, he’s a medic.” He heard her talking to someone. He couldn’t make out what they were saying.

  “It’s in the wrong direction. You’ll have to meet us there.”

  “Don’t you leave without us.” He heard Aiden saying the same thing. It was stupid. The leader inside of him screamed that he and Aiden shouldn’t both leave, but fuck that. He was going, and something told him that Aiden would be going too. So be it.

  Phones to their ears, they grabbed their weapons and headed outside. David pointed to his truck.

  “Hang up your phone, O’Malley.” Aiden scowled but did as he was told. David did the same thing and handed his phone to the man.

  “What do I do with this?” he asked as he took the phone. David started down the road as fast as he could, even though it was a rut-filled mess.

  “I can track Sarah on GPS. We have that arranged on a bunch of different specific targets.” He saw the man grin.

  “They’re already moving.”

  “Of course, they are.”

  * * *

  “My God,” Aiden breathed as they pulled up to what must have been a house at one point. They parked beside the jeep the women had used. An elderly man stepped over a pile of rubble as he headed toward them and he looked sick.

  “Who are you? Where are the women who drove the jeep?” Aiden demanded.

  “What?” the old man was dazed. David scowled at Aiden.

  “Hello, sir. Do you live here?”

  “My grandchildren…” He waved his hand toward the crumbling house.

  Aiden pushed past the man and stepped through the ruined doorway.

  “Sir, can you tell me what happened?” David asked.

  “My little angel is dead. But my daughter she will not accept it. She just holds and rocks her while her other two children, Oscar and Pira, suffer.”

  David shook his head. He couldn’t imagine the woman’s pain. “Where’s the person who reported this?”

  “He left. He’s gone to look for more victims.”

  “Stay here, I’m going to see if I can help.” David went into the house. It was quiet. Too quiet. The ceiling was missing. He saw an opening that led through the kitchen, and there were two rooms. One contained a bed, but had no people, the other had all the people.

  There were no blankets covering their battered little bodies, just underwear. He guessed the one in the pink panties was a girl. She couldn’t have been more than five, and her legs were at awkward angles. There wasn’t a wound, but her chest was caved in.

  The little boy was in Spiderman underwear with a bone jutting from his broken arm. Same with his right leg. He was writhing around and moaning. The mom was just as the grandfather said, sitting in a chair, rocking her dead infant.

  Carys knelt next to the little girl, she had a grim look on her face and a stethoscope to the little girl’s chest.

  Sarah was kneeling next to the little boy. She looked up at David, her expression determined. But beneath the determination, he could see her heart aching. Breaking.

  The little girl gasped. Then seized. Blood trickled from her mouth. David watched in horror. He looked at the mother. Her rhythm didn’t change, she kept rocking her baby as if nothing was happening. As if her other daughter wasn’t dying right in front of her eyes.

  David looked helplessly at Carys, Aiden, and finally at Sarah. She shook her head, tears in her eyes. The wounds, what he’d seen, he’d known. It was amazing the child had still been alive when they had come through the door.

  “We need to get the boy splinted,” Aiden said as he put his hand on Carys’ shoulder. She wiped the blood away and closed the girl’s eyes. She nodded at Aiden. David watched as the three of them worked to get the boy taken care of.

  The old man came in and explained that the man had returned with three other local men. David went out and met with them.

  “I know Margaret,” one man said. “I was friends with her husband. I am sorry it took me so long to get here.” He looked down at the dirt, then back up at David. “We will take care of her.”

  “We’re going to take her son with us. We will be able to care for him.”

  “He will be well?” the man said hopefully.

  “Yes, we think so,” David answered.

  “Thank God,” the man said fervently. They all turned to see Aiden carrying the small boy out of the house. He placed him in the back of the jeep, where they had made a pallet for patients.

  “We’re following you,” Aiden said to Carys.

  “Thank you,” the man said to them.

  “You’re welcome.”

  Chapter Ten

  It was a week after the little girl had died, each night David held her in his arms and comforted her if she cried. Tonight, he’d been the one to wake her. He had to leave again.

  Sarah sat up, unconcerned that the sheet fell down to her waist, baring her breasts.

  “Is everything okay?” As soon as the words
were out of her mouth, she realized how stupid they were. “Scratch that. Will you need a nurse?”

  David sat down beside her as he pulled on his boots. When he was done, he pulled her into his arms. “With Gray leading this op, the only medical assistance that might be needed will be the clinic personnel at the prison for the convicts.”

  She wanted to ask if the SEALs were so good, why did David need to go, but she kept her mouth shut. This was his job. For now.

  He must have seen the question in her eyes. “The good news is, this is almost done, Gray’s pretty sure this is the last group of prisoners.”

  “More of Molina’s men?” she asked.

  She could see him consider lying, finally he nodded.

  “Be safe,” she whispered.

  “Always, I have you to come home to.”

  He dove in for a deep kiss. She got lost in the sensation. His taste, and urgency swept her away into a world of bliss. Finally David lifted his head. “Keep my place. I’m going to want to finish where we left off.”

  She nipped his chin, and he laughed.

  “I love you Sarah Marie.”

  “I love you David Allen.”

  She watched as the door closed behind him.

  She pulled up the covers and curled into a tight ball in the bed. Her body started to quake.

  “Don’t die. Don’t die. Don’t die. Don’t die.”

  She jammed the heels of her hands into her eyes, trying to stem the flood of tears.

  She’d loved Matt, she really had. But it had been a girl’s love. It had been young love. She had given everything she could at that age.

  But now?

  Now, David was half of her soul. He was her world.

  “Please God. Please God. Please God.”

  Hearing those last few words, she calmed.

  She’d been given the gift of David Sloane, and that was a blessing, in and of itself. He was amazing, and she needed to hang on to that, not worry about something that might or might not happen. Her breathing calmed. She was going to hold on tight for as long as God and the Universe chose to give him to her. That’s all she could do. And she would be grateful.