by Julie Rowe
His head wound was actually worse than he’d thought. The bullet that grazed him hadn’t just cut a furrow through his skin, but scraped off a layer of bone as well. They did an X-ray and decided there wasn’t much more they could do about it than bandage it up.
They’d given Ali an MRI and thankfully she’d sustained no internal bleeding. It did reveal two broken ribs, and the extent of the damage to her lungs.
Whatever Akbar had put in the powder she breathed in caused a great deal of irritation and swelling, which meant less oxygen was reaching her bloodstream.
Max went to explain it to General Stone. “It’s out of our hands now and in hers. If she can survive long enough for the antibiotics to kill off the anthrax, she’s got a good chance. But her lungs aren’t in good shape. The spores she inhaled along with the other ingredients of Akbar’s poison have irritated the tissue enough to cause significant swelling. Fluid in the lungs. We have to give the lungs time to recover and allow the swelling to go down.”
“But if her lungs are full of fluid, is she drowning?”
“As long as some oxygen is making it into her bloodstream, she’ll survive. We can do some things to help. Put her on one hundred percent oxygen, medically paralyze her so her muscles don’t use up any oxygen, and even give her a unit or two of packed cells to increase the number of red blood cells available—”
“You’re babbling, Max,” the general interrupted. “You know your job. You don’t need to explain it all to me, just do it.”
“I will, sir.” Max paused, then squared his shoulders and said, “I’d like to formally apologize for the mission going so wrong. I’ll have a report for you in a few hours and will present myself for any disciplinary action you’d like to take.”
“No.”
“Sir?”
“And don’t mention it again, Max,” General Stone said, pointing a finger at him. “Get your head back in the game. Got it?”
He didn’t agree, but he wasn’t the general in the room. “Yes, sir.”
“Keep me informed, but don’t wait for my permission if she needs some kind of medical procedure. You’re the expert. I trust your judgment.”
His judgment had gotten them into the situation they were in now. His judgment had failed. Max opened his mouth, but General Stone turned on his heel and left before he could make a sound.
That was just as well. What could he say that he hadn’t already? General Stone had made it clear he didn’t want to hear any more explanations, excuses or apologies.
Max was able to set up a sort of mobile office right outside Ali’s intensive care room. Mostly a laptop computer, a cell phone and a small rolling desk. His proximity allowed him to maintain a constant watch on her condition while still writing his mission report, communicating with Dr. Samuels and Dr. Perry at the village and reviewing the mini-flu outbreak at the base in Bahrain.
The flu that had spread through the supply department like wildfire was very nearly the same virus that caused all the death and destruction at the village. Max wondered if Akbar had tried to release it first via person to person contact between the receiving staff and local suppliers of fresh fruit and vegetables. Its lack of virulence must have spurred Akbar into tinkering with it further, creating a more deadly version which he’d loosed on the refugees at the village.
Dr. Perry had done some backtracking on Akbar’s movements, thanks to a couple of the militants they captured. The chemist had released his flu among his supporters, and their families had become infected. For a chance at receiving the vaccine, they were willing to confess all.
Akbar hadn’t just cooked up a few deadly pathogens, he’d taught other people how to do it too. Most had caught the flu and died, but not all. Some survived and left the training camp Akbar ran in northern Syria for who knew where.
Not only was Max going to need his team of medical specialists and their Special Forces partners working harder than ever, he could see a need for soldiers who could be trained to find the people actively creating biological weapons.
There was just no other way to find all the militants Akbar had trained.
He was going to have to request more people, more supplies, more everything.
He just didn’t know if he could do any of it.
He listened to Ali’s ventilator thunk and hiss in its steady pattern. If she died...would he want to?
She’d given no sign of improvement. No change at all.
The current nurse on duty came out of the room and stopped in front of him. “Sir, would you mind going in and talking to her? I’d like to see if she’s aware.”
Max nodded and went inside. He stood next to her bed and for the first time in his career as a doctor, his ability to separate himself emotionally from a patient failed. “Ali?” he asked, his voice cracking. “The nurses want to know if you’re awake. Personally, I’d pretend to be sleeping if I were you.”
Next to his head the beep of her heart monitor sped up as her heartrate rose by ten, then fifteen beats per minute.
“Excellent,” the nurse said. “She’s reacting well to the sound of your voice. Thank you, sir.”
Max nodded, but didn’t follow the woman out of the room, didn’t say anything at all. He couldn’t. His throat was totally blocked by a lake of tears.
All because the bravest person he’d ever met in his life recognized his voice. Despite the half a dozen machines she was hooked up to, with all their beeping and white noise. Despite the drugs keeping her from losing her mind while medically paralyzed. Despite the crushing weight she had to feel sitting on her chest, preventing her from getting the air she needed, she knew him. Reacted to him. Showed him how much he mattered to her with just her heartbeat.
He stood there for a solid minute, not even breathing.
Stood there and prayed for that miracle again, because he knew only one thing.
He couldn’t live without her.
He swayed and realized his knees were shaking so bad he wasn’t going to be able to stand up much longer.
Fuck it. He was going sit down right here next to her bed and pray.
He sank down to his knees and leaned his forehead against the rail of the bed. “I love you,” he told her. Her heartbeat sped up once more and tears rolled down his face. “I love you,” he said again. “You’ve shown me every moment since the day I met you what courage was. I thought it meant keeping your word and causing no harm to anyone, but you’ve shown me real courage has to be ready to fight for what’s right. I’ve been so afraid of fighting, afraid I wouldn’t be able to think through the rage. You showed me how to stay me and still fight. I want to wake up next to you every morning for the next forty or fifty years. I want to be your partner, your friend and your lover.”
He wiped the wetness away, but there was no stopping the waterfall of grief. “Fight for me, Ali. Fight for us. Don’t go.”
He hadn’t cried since his father had destroyed their family.
Now he did.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Max woke to someone shaking his arm.
“Sir? Colonel Maximillian, sir?”
He looked up into the masked face of a nurse he didn’t recognize. “Yes? What is it?” He sat up and realized he’d fallen asleep on the floor in Alicia’s intensive care room. “How is Ali?”
“Her oxygen saturation started to go up about twenty minutes ago. It’s at ninety right now... Wait, it went up again to ninety-one.”
Max got to his feet and looked at all the monitors. He put his stethoscope in his ears and listened to her lungs. They sounded less congested. “Can we get X-ray in here to do some chest pictures? I want to see if her lungs have cleared at all.”
“Yes, sir.”
They’d done a chest X-ray only eight hours ago. It was probably going to look the same, white lu
ngs instead of ghostly, but increasing oxygen saturation was a good sign.
The tech came, took the chest X-rays then came back with the films. Max stared at them, shock holding him frozen for several seconds.
Her lungs were clear.
They’d been completely congested, a solid white on the films only eight hours ago. “How is this possible?” he whispered to himself.
“She’s a fighter,” one of the nurses said behind him.
Exactly what General Stone said ten minutes later when Max gave him the news.
“She’s a stubborn thing, my daughter.” The general patted Max on the shoulder. “I told you she’d pull through.”
“She’s remarkable.” Max didn’t care that he sounded as far from detached as a man could get.
The general grunted, shook his head and left.
The miracle of Ali’s recovery didn’t stop. The swelling in her lungs disappeared so fast they were able to take her off the ventilator for good two days later. She had trouble talking due to the tube that had been down her throat. It had irritated her vocal cords, but she was able to make her needs known.
She slept a lot, sometimes falling asleep in the middle of trying to explain what she wanted. But her recovery continued to amaze everyone.
Max found himself in the role of her doctor with little time for more.
Finally, a week after she’d killed Akbar, Max went into her room to find her sitting up, alert and waiting for him.
He stopped cold in the doorway. He had so much to tell her, but had no idea where to start.
“Hey,” she whispered. “Don’t rush off. I want to talk to you.”
“Okay.” He could do this, had been waiting for this chance to tell her how he felt.
Damn if he could even open his mouth.
She stared at him for a long time before saying, “I seem to be missing a few days.” She tapped her temple with one finger. “I remember dreaming, though.”
“That’s not uncommon with patients who’ve been as sick as you have been.”
“Do you know what I dreamed?”
Max waited. This was important for her recovery. Important for her to make sense of what had happened to her, and what hadn’t.
“You told me you loved me. I dreamed a wedding and a baby girl.”
“Oh,” he said. His throat closed up.
“I’m not sure it was all a dream,” she told him. “Do you know anything about that?”
He cleared his throat. “How would I know anything about your dreams?” When her brows went up he hastily added, “Though they sound very nice.”
“Nice,” she repeated, then rolled her eyes. “Did I dream you saying you love me?”
He swallowed, then took all of his courage in both hands and answered with the truth. “No. You didn’t dream it. I love you.”
“Was that so hard to say?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Idiot. I love you too.” She paused. “What about the wedding?”
“That never got mentioned, but do you...” He hesitated, then decided that since he was being courageous he might as well go all the way. “Want one? With me?”
She shook her head and smiled. “Only ever with you.” She held out her hand to him and he strode over to take it, kissing her palm.
Relief coursed through him like a river bursting a dam. “I never talked about a little girl, but it just so happens that there are two little boys who need a family, a home. Two little boys who are determined to take care of you the way you took care of them.”
“Berez and Coban? They’re okay?” Joy dawned on her face. “Could we...?”
“There’s a lot of red tape to adopting, but given the circumstances, I think we could make it happen. It’s a lot to take on. We’d be going from single to a family with two kids.”
Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times before she managed to say, “It sounds wonderful. I thought I knew what courage was until I saw you come to my rescue,” she said, her smile so deep and happy he felt ten feet taller.
“You showed me what it was,” he countered. “You had faith in me even when I was certain I couldn’t do it.”
“That’s because you’re the best man I know. I knew you could do it. So...” She tilted her head to one side. “What’s a girl got to do to get out of this place?”
“Hmm, would you agree to some very private nursing by a relieved and grateful doctor?”
“If he’s as sexy as you, I think I could see my way to allowing it.”
“Then I’m happy to break you out of here,” Max said as he leaned over and kissed her. He pulled back after a couple of moments and cupped her face with one hand. “I thought I’d lost you, just when I figured out how much I loved you, needed you, wanted to be with you.”
“That’s how I felt when Akbar pulled me out of that broken building and left you to die inside. It took three of them to drag me away, and they had to beat the shit out of me to do it.”
“I’ll talk to your father about resigning my commission,” Max began, but she put a quivering finger over his mouth.
“No, it’s time for me to make a change. There are many people who can take my place in training the teams. I’m going to go private and be your very, very, personal bodyguard.”
“Are you sure? Your job has been important to you for a long time.”
“We’re more important. Besides, I think your job is only going to get more interesting, and someone has to keep you out of trouble.”
That sounded perfect. Max smiled at her. “Yes, ma’am.”
Epilogue
General Stone stood outside his daughter’s hospital room listening to her and his soon-to-be son-in-law fuss over each other.
One less thing to worry about.
He’d seen this coming long before either of them had. Max was already a friend, and now he was family.
He was going to be a grandfather to two little boys. Bonus.
The future looked a lot brighter now than it had an hour ago when he got the latest report from Dr. Perry and her Special Forces partner, and fiancé, Weapons Sergeant Connor Button. As near as they could figure, Akbar had trained no less than a dozen people in his low-tech version of biological weapons creation.
Seven of them were dead, most from the flu.
That left five very dangerous extremists loose in the world. Madmen who had the capability of creating bioweapons that could wipe out entire towns or even countries. A cell phone found on Akbar’s body provided enough details to make two things clear. A traitor, someone inside the American military, had managed to warn Akbar’s surviving apprentices in enough time for them to get away. And the next attack would be on American soil.
* * * * *
Also available from Julie Rowe
and Carina Press
Icebound
North of Heartbreak
The War Girls
Saving the Rifleman
Enticing the Spymaster
Aiding the Enemy
Biological Response Team
Deadly Strain
Lethal Game
About the Author
Julie Rowe’s first career as a medical lab technologist in Canada took her to the Northwest Territories and northern Alberta, where she still resides. She loves to include medical details in her romance novels, but admits she’ll never be able to write about all her medical experiences because “Fiction has to be believable.” Julie writes contemporary and historical medical romance, fun romantic suspense and military romance. Her most recent titles are Deadly Strain, Lethal Game and Viral Justice in the Biological Response Team series. You can find her at julieroweauthor.com, on Twitter, @julieroweauthor, or at her Facebook page, Facebook.com/julieroweauthor.
Julie R
owe’s Biological Response Team series is American Sniper meets a worldwide infectious disease outbreak meets romance!
“DEADLY STRAIN is a gripping, terrifying hybrid that combines suspense with romance without compromising either aspect of the story.”
—RT Book Reviews
DEADLY STRAIN, Biological Response Team, book one
LETHAL GAME, Biological Response Team, book two
Connect with us for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers and much more!
Visit CarinaPress.com
We like you—why not like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/CarinaPress
Follow us on Twitter: Twitter.com/CarinaPress
More thrilling and suspenseful romances featuring military heroes and heroines are just a click away!
THE ASSET by Anna del Mar (A Wounded Warrior Novel, book one)
COUNTDOWN TO ZERO HOUR by Nico Rosso (Black Ops: Automatik, book one)
HIDDEN IMPACT by Piper J. Drake (A Safeguard Novel, book one)
These romantic suspense novels will keep your eyes glued to the page as you uncover every clue and feel your heart skip a beat with every romantic moment!
Order your copies today!
Connect with us for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers and much more!
Visit CarinaPress.com
We like you—why not like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/CarinaPress
Follow us on Twitter: Twitter.com/CarinaPress
We think you have a good book in you!
Do you write in the below genres? Harlequin’s Carina Press wants to see your manuscript.
• Contemporary Romance
• Romantic Suspense
• Historical Romance
• Paranormal Romance
• Mystery
• Erotic Romance
• LGBT
• Science Fiction & Fantasy
