Page 71 of Alexander's Heart

“We got her Chief; she’s not injured you protected her well, but I need to patch you up before we can move you. Tiny has the girl in the other room trying to calm her down.” Doc informs me.

“Rob?” I grind out, my right side is painful but fuck my left side is biting hard.

“Dead.” He spits out.

“How bad is it, Doc?”

“I reckon you’ll live Chief, but you need surgery and I suspect your left lung has been grazed, your breathing is labored and getting worse.” I hear his voice tinged with concern.

“Anyone else hit?”

“No, the guys were all spread out in other rooms searching for Rob. We’ve done a sweep for more bodies and there’s no one else here. Rob came through from the room next door, he’d made a precut opening ready to go in the drywall which was hidden behind the door when you opened it and he pushed it through once you were in the room, there was no way you’d have seen it even without night vision.” Doc explains.

“So, if the HME had of exploded he would have had more of a warning that we were coming and could escape, and the smoke grenade was his secondary warning system, essentially.” I deduce.

“Yeah, Chief, it appears that way. Jackson and Cuddy are doing a thorough search for any more explosives before we move you.”

“I’m solid, Doc, the girl was small about Alexa’s age. Do you think the child could be Caroline’s?”

“Yeah, Chief, the timing fits, I suspect Caroline had fraternal twins, a boy and a girl.”

“Fucking hell.” This is some twisted fucking shit.

“Right, I’m gonna help you up, let’s move, I want to get where we can get some light on the subject, it’s pitch black down here and I’m practically working blind.”

:Joint Comms, this is Alpha 7, Chief is ready to move, we clear?

:Joint Comms, this is Alpha 2, all clear, Blake, Reid and Jackson have gone ahead and hauling ass to get the SVD ready for extraction.

We enter the larger space and there’s not an ounce of light in here, my guess is they must have used lamps for lighting, I make out Tiny and he is cradling the small girl against his chest, Cuddy is ahead of us making his way through the tunnel. My sides are burning like a mother fucker and I’m noticing my breathing is definitely heavier on my left side, as long as I make it to the Hawk, we’re good. Ascending to the top is not going to be easy, once Cuddy and Tiny are at the top they’ll help pull me up and Doc will be below in case anything happens, but I’ll get it done.

On exiting the mausoleum, the moon is low in the sky with the dawning hour approaching. I can see a lot better than deep in the tunnel, Jackson is behind the wheel with Reid sitting next to him, Cuddy and Blake help Doc get me into the back and Tiny steps up easily still cradling the little girl to his chest. Blake is ready with space blankets handing Tiny a blanket to cover the little girl, it’s not cold but she’s most likely in shock after the ordeal, he hands me one too and I’m grateful because I’m noticing the loss of blood and my body succumbing to my injuries.

The ride to the Hawk is rough through the property, the little girl has been crying the whole way because we are being bounced around so much, Tiny bent his body over hers to make her feel more secure but she is scared and rightfully so. These big scary men have just invaded her home and taken her, who even knows if she’s ever seen the light of day, for all we know is she could have been down there since her birth. We just made it to the Hawk and Doc just sedated her because the bird is really loud and would only distress her even more.

She’s asleep now securely wrapped in Tiny’s protective arms and Blake starts the rotors while Doc shines a torch on the little girl to get a better look at her.

:Joint Comms, this is Alpha 7, She’s definitely Caroline’s child.

Doc steps away and we all see it, her facial features look just like Caroline but she looks to have medium length ash blonde colored hair, it’s hard to really tell in this light and could be full of dirt and she looks to be around four-years-old.

:Joint Comms, this is Alpha 1, how is Caroline going to handle this news, because this would rock anybody let alone someone in a fragile state, I know she’s really good right now but this could set her back.

This is something none of us expected and it’s a fucking huge deal.

:Joint Comms, this is Alpha 7, it’s definitely a concern but Caroline is doing really well, we will do a complete medical first and make sure this little girl hasn’t suffered abuse and that she’s in good health. But when we tell Caroline I’ll have sedation on hand just in case.

Doc informs us all.

:Joint Comms, this is Alpha 6, Caroline won’t believe this easily, so I agree with Doc, we make sure she’s healthy and Caroline’s so we have definitive proof, not that we need it she’s clearly her child but knowing for certain will allow her to accept her easier and I feel deep down she will be happy.

Tiny says with certainty. Tiny hasn’t let go of the little girl and I doubt he ever will, I know Caroline is special to him and he is already protecting this sweet baby like she’s his own. Not saying we wouldn’t do the same but I can feel it’s different for him.

:Joint Comms, this is Alpha 1, I agree, removing any doubt is the best approach, we all in agreement?

I ask the team because we need to all agree on a plan.

:Joint Comms, ‘Hooyah.’

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