Caroline leaned her entire body weight into the wound, too scared to do anything but obey without question. The blood was still pouring out rapidly, saturating the once white bandage at a terrifying rate.
Within seconds, the woman had an IV in Reaper’s arm. She’d hung the bag from a hook on the small stainless steel table next to his head. “I’m going to remove the bullet, clean the wound and then stitch it up. If you’re lucky, you’ll pass out. But if you value your wife’s life, you will not scream.”
Tears pricked Caroline’s eyes and fell freely down into the line of the scarf covering her face, but she didn’t care one bit. Reaper was in so much obvious pain, and she wanted to do anything she could to take that away from him. But the only thing she could do was hold his hand, a gesture that felt so inadequate next to everything he had risked for her.
The nurse lifted a small silver instrument that resembled a pair of angled scissors. She placed her free hand around the wound. “Lift the gauze. I’m going to dig out the bullet. If you can, try to keep as much of the blood out of my way as possible so I can move more quickly.”
Caroline looked to Reaper for reassurance, and God bless him he nodded, his face twisted with a look of absolute agony. Pulling up her reserves of strength and steadfastness, Caroline lifted the gauze sucked in a breath and gripped his free hand with all her might.
The nurse formed an L around his wound with her hand, splaying his flesh open and carefully inserting the instrument into his parted skin. He bowed up on the table and fell back down, panting. The nurse kept digging, and somehow Reaper managed to stay still. Droplets of sweat were absorbed into the material around Caroline’s face as she silently prayed for God to equip her with a miraculous way to ease his suffering.
As shivers racked his body, his fingers tightened around hers—but not enough to actually hurt her. Somehow, through what was clearly unimaginable torture, he still valued her safety. The realization nearly sent her to her knees.
Caroline vowed right then and there that she would do whatever it took to see this man safely back home, even if it meant going back to that lab and trading her life for his.
Finally, the nurse pulled out a narrow brass bullet, its front end crushed and burnt looking. She hissed a sharp breath and exclaimed, “They were trying to kill you with this for sure.”
A fresh gush of blood slid over Caroline’s hand and she immediately replaced the already saturated bandage, pressing as hard as she could against Reaper’s wound. He grunted in pain, but she knew she was doing what needed to be done in order for him to survive this.
Reaper’s eyes rolled back in his head and Caroline braced herself for him to pass out, but he didn’t fall into unconsciousness.
“Let it take you under,” the nurse said emphatically, “there is no need for you to be awake for this.” Reaper shook his head no. Stubborn, prideful, beautiful, strong man.
“Okay, I must again stretch the skin so that I can disinfect the wounds.” The nurse pulled a large dark brown bottle out from behind her and held it up. “Iodine.” She didn’t speak this time—just gestured for Caroline to remove the useless bandage. As soon as it was clear, the nurse poured the liquid onto Reaper’s wound. He bit down on the towel so hard, Caroline heard his jaw click, and his entire body trembled uncontrollably. Dear God, why wouldn’t he just let go? Any normal man would’ve passed out long before now.
But her man was anything but normal. He was a warrior. And he was fighting the pain for her. She dipped her head to his, whispering in his ear, “You’re so brave. Hold on just a little bit longer. It will be over soon.”
She felt his head tilt against hers, and she let herself believe that he actually welcomed her comfort—if only for the moment.
She couldn’t even watch the nurse work anymore. While she was distantly aware of the woman’s quick and efficient movements out of the corner of her eye, all of her attention was focused on Reaper. Even laid up, covered in dirt and blood and sweat, he amazed her. This was the kind of man who shouldn’t exist in real life. A real live knight in shining armor.
The first man she’d ever met whom she could actually picture herself spending the rest of her life with.
“Miss, I need to bandage him up now.”
Caroline lifted from Reaper, but her gaze didn’t shift from him. “Thank you.”
After a few more minutes, Reaper was freshly bandaged, the area around his shoulder clean. He laid back, his eyes closed and the towel still clenched between his teeth. Caroline gently pried the material from his lips, smoothing over the lines at the corners of his chin.
“He’ll need antibiotics. We keep those down the hall in the lockbox. I’ll do my best to get you some as soon as possible, but I may have to wait until the guards are distracted. Stay here. Don’t move. As soon as you’re able to, I’ll sneak you out of the hospital. The United States Embassy is fifty miles west of here. If you can get there, you’ll be safe.”
Unwilling to let go of Reaper’s hand, Caroline poured every single bit of gratitude she could into her expression. “We owe you our lives.”
“This is my job. It’s what I do. Now, stay put and don’t do anything stupid to ruin all the hard work I just put into him.” With that, the woman headed out of the room, leaving Caroline alone with Reaper.
13
Agony ripped across his entire torso and covered his body, stealing his strength and his energy until it was all he could do to stay conscious. Every single shudder brought a fresh wave of torture. Every breath a burning pain. And yet he could still feel Caroline’s soft fingers clutching his and her comforting presence at his side. She eased a hand up to his forehead, soothing the tension from his brow.
He could feel the sorrow and sympathy pouring out of her, battering his stalwart defenses into the ground, and for the first time in his memory, it left him vulnerable to a cascade of uncontrollable emotions. Emotions he wasn’t even sure he’d felt as a child. Warmth was fighting the agony in his chest for space. And then there was something more, something that went beyond a simple protective instinct, something that compelled him even now, at his weakest and lowest point, to want to take her into his arms and comfort her the same way she was trying to comfort him.
She made him feel like he had an actual heart beating in his chest. For the first time since Project Mayhem, she made him feel human.
“Caroline, got to move.” The words were nearly impossible to hear, and they sounded slurred in his own ears.
He’d been injured since his training and his enhancement, but never this badly. He was still on the verge of death, and no matter how quickly he could heal from this injury, his body needed to rest enough to recover.
“Hush now, we have to wait for the nurse to bring back the antibiotics. Plus, if you passed out as soon as you stood up, what good would it do either of us?” There was a hint of sarcasm in the words that was completely softened by the featherlight caress of her hands on his cheeks.
“What if she alerts the guards?” This whole thing could be some elaborate hoax to trap them in the hospital, get him too weak to move or defend them.
“So you’re telling me that this nurse who just risked her life for both of us, removed your bullet and stitched your wound, is now going to alert the guards after she just spent so much time trying to save your life?”
“You don’t have to be so grouchy about it,” he said.
“And you don’t have to be so stubborn. You’re the strongest man I’ve ever seen, but you have to rest if you’re going to get us out of this country. You and I both know I can’t make it alone. Agreed?”
She was right. He did need to rest. But he sure as hell didn’t want to trust a stranger in this hornet’s nest with either of their lives. He had to do it, comfortable or not, so he decided not to focus on it. Much better to focus on what he really wanted at this moment. To see Caroline. To touch her. “Uncover your face.”
She unwound the scarf from her face, revealing lips even lusher
than he remembered. Her features were dainty yet strong, from her chin to her curvy nose and bold blue eyes. He couldn’t imagine a woman more perfect.
“I want to kiss you.”
A shadow flashed across her face, so brief he was almost certain he’d imagined it. Then her blonde brows eased and that look of loving kindness was back on her face. “You’re feverish. You don’t mean that.”
Using every ounce of energy he had left, he wrapped his hand around her neck and pulled her down to him, until their breaths mingled together as one. “I might be feverish, but it’s not enough to keep me from wanting you.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying ….”
“Caroline, if you don’t kiss me right now, I might as well die right here on this table.”
She closed her eyes and lowered her head those precious few inches left between them, leaving him to wonder if she’d reject him.
He brushed his lips over her ears and her featherlight caress left him aching for more. He tightened his hand, pulling her to him so that his lips parted hers and his tongue penetrated her mouth. He needed to possess her, to explore every inch of her velvety sweetness. He delved deep, Caroline accommodating his need as she arched her back and tilted her head so that her mouth slanted across his. In that moment, something inside him melded with her and he felt as though they were one unit, existing in perfect synchronicity together. He didn’t feel any pain or fatigue; he only felt her.
And then the door burst open and he shoved her to the ground, reaching for the gun she’d propped against the bed and lifted it. He ignored the fresh wave of blood from his shoulder stitches, intent only on eliminating the threat to Caroline.
The nurse’s expression froze on a look of mingled shock and fear. It took him a full second to get his breathing under control, and then another second to lower the gun.
Caroline lifted herself from the floor and he fell back onto the exam table exhausted. Staring at the ceiling as he grappled with the dawning realization that the awareness he’d felt for Caroline back at the bunker had not been about the adrenaline rush of their escape. He truly wanted her as he had no other woman.
And that was a level of vulnerability he wasn’t sure he could handle.
“I’m sorry. I thought you were a guard.” He turned to Caroline, reaching for her even though he knew he shouldn’t. And as sick and twisted as he was, he accepted her comfort, savoring every single millimeter where his skin met hers even though they were only holding hands.
The nurse recovered her senses and quickly shut the door behind her, her stern look from before back in place. She set down a satchel of some sort. “Idiot man, I’m going to have to re-stitch your entire wound.”
He would have shrugged if it didn’t hurt so damn bad. “Automatic reaction. Too many people have tried to kill us today.”
Caroline trembled and he soothed his thumb over that little delicate L-shape between her thumb and first finger.
The nurse chuckled and began taking off his bandage. “And for once they failed. I’m only sorry there aren’t more men like you around.”
“Men willing to fight?”
She shook her head no. “Men who know how to.”
14
Caroline’s heart drummed in her chest. Instead of shouting at the nurse for startling them, Reaper had sought to put the woman at ease.
And before that, when he’d assured Caroline his need had nothing to do with his fever, he’d soothed her as well.
She’d always imagined her life with some polished executive, someone who knew exactly how to hold the fork at a dinner; A shark in a suit, able to withstand the kind of social attacks commonplace in the political crowd. Instead, fate had served her up a god.
Reaper would never fit into one of her father’s dinners, let alone one of her fundraisers—and thank God for that. He’d done more good in his life than she could ever dream. He fought with his hands and risked his life to save those in need.
No amount of money on Wall Street or in the White House could ever equal that kind of sacrifice. She saw that now. What a sheltered life she’d lived, showing her dedication to alleviating poverty and helping starving children by showing up at fundraising dinners, whether the plate cost $2,000 or $10,000. Disgusting when you thought about it.
This town and this whole experience, start to finish, had been a giant slap of reality in her face. She’d been so naïve and so stupid, but Reaper had helped her see the truth.
When she got home there would be no more overabundance of sequined ball gowns and fake smiles and fake fundraisers. This kind of place needed boots on the ground and people to support them. People like Reaper who really cared. No donation could equal that. Much better for her to strive to be more like Reaper in the future. To help by actually showing up.
That hope unfurled inside her, blooming ever brighter.
“I know this is a stupid question, but how bad does it hurt?” Caroline asked.
He probably intended to offer her a smile, but it ended up looking more like a grimace. “Not the worst I’ve been through.”
He didn’t even flinch as the nurse pierced his flesh time and time again, re-stitching his wound, but the white lines around his eyes got wider. So did the tiny wrinkles that appeared in the corners of his mouth as he clenched his lips together.
“Liar,” she said with a smile.
“Okay, I’m man enough to admit it hurts just a little bit.”
Caroline glanced at the large hook-shaped needle the nurse was wielding. “A little bit?”
“Barely feel a thing.”
The brazen lie made her chuckle. “Thank God, because if it’s fifty miles to the nearest embassy, we’re going to be doing a lot of walking.”
The nurse looked up then, pausing mid-thread. “I have a cousin who smuggles refugees from the village. He could get you over halfway.”
Caroline drew a hopeful breath. “Really?” If they had transportation, it would give her time to rest; it would get them home even faster. This was more than she could’ve dreamed.
“No, I’ve already got something set up. You will not risk your family for us,” Reaper said gruffly, his gaze pulling from Caroline to the nurse. His eyelids lowered and his entire expression shut down. Try as she might, she couldn’t read his face when he did the shutdown thing, not even a little bit.
“Are you sure? He wants to fight against the guards as much as I do. I promise he isn’t a threat,” the nurse said. “My cousin sent word that the guards have put out an alert for two Americans. They’ll be searching for you here, and if they find you, I will not be able to stop them.”
“I’m sure. We have men waiting on us outside the city to transport us to the embassy. But thank you for your offer. It is truly kind,” Reaper said.
The nurse went back to stitching and Caroline went back to daydreaming.
Of course Reaper would have someone waiting on them. He probably had an entire unit of special-forces guys waiting in the bushes for him to get patched up and back out to them.
That thought should’ve sent nothing but joy through her, but there was a shadow over her heart. If he made contact with his men so quickly, she wouldn’t be allowed to spend any more time alone with him. She’d be rushed back home to her father and Reaper would be rushed to the nearest military base with a hospital. She hadn’t had enough time with him. What if he was assigned to another mission immediately and forgot about her?
A giant lump of dried-up sand clogged her throat—so chokingly dry she couldn’t even swallow. She wasn’t ready to give him up yet. Maybe she could convince him to stay and rest.
The nurse finished stitching up his wound all too quickly and had him re-bandaged before Caroline could think of a plausible reason to stay. His quick treatment was finished with an injection of two vials of fluid. “The first is a broad spectrum antibiotic. The second is something else. I know you Americans say it’s not safe, but I’ve also given you a dose of ephedrine, which may give you t
he edge you need to get out of here alive. You can’t stay in this hospital for much longer.”
Caroline watched as Reaper slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. She put her arms around him and helped him, knowing she wouldn’t likely be able to help but scared he might fall back and reopen his wound. “She didn’t mean for you to move right now.”
“Yes, I did,” the nurse said. “The sun’s coming up, which means you’ll lose what little camouflage you had by the darkness. If you’re going to get out of here safely, it has to be now.”
“Are you sure he can make it in his current condition?” Caroline asked.
“As much as I hate to say it, he doesn’t have a choice.”
Reaper’s hand closed around her arm, his fingers completely circling her wrist. “She’s right. We’ve wasted enough time here. We have to go now.”
“But, you were almost unconscious thirty minutes ago.”
“And I was unconscious earlier today. I got all the rest I needed then.” He swung his legs around the edge of the table and let his feet dangle above the floor.
“I can get you out of the hospital, through the back, but you will have to take it from there,” the nurse said. She crossed to Reaper’s other side, and together she and Caroline managed to hoist him to stand. “I know it’s not much, but I managed to steal some water and a little bit of food,” the nurse said, gesturing to the satchel. “I’m sorry, but that’s as much as I can do.”
“It’s more than I could expect. I hope to one day repay the favor,” Reaper all but grunted out as he struggled to maintain his balance.
With most of his bare chest and abdomen showing now, the muscles she’d spent the day imagining were now on display. His shoulders were even wider than she’d thought, his waist narrower, and yet his almost impossible physique fit him perfectly. He was built just like the predator that he was, made to attack his enemies and defend those he loved.
Mayhem's Warrior: Operation Mayhem Page 13
