Page 105 of Protective Heroes

“Allison, we need you over here in bed three.”

She looked up from the man whose breathing she was monitoring to Jessy peeking around the curtain. “I’ll be right there.”

Jessy gave a shake of her head and a contagious smile. “We’re slammed today. What are these soldiers doing out there? Must be something in the air.”

Allison smiled back and looked down to the man lying on the cot. “I think you just have some heatstroke. It causes you to feel lightheaded and you breathe faster to get the heat out of your core. I’m going to get an IV started and administer fluids, which should help you feel better.”

She just got out all the equipment needed to start the IV, when Jessy was back. “Allison, I need you now.”

She glanced at the man lying there with reddened face and wide eyes. He was young, weeks into his basic training, and scared, she could tell. But this was triage, and you helped the victims in order of who needed it most. Her patient was starting to cool down and sweat, his body already helping itself.

“I’m coming.” She patted his leg as she went out. “You’ll be fine for a minute. Just rest.”

When she moved aside the curtain screening bed three, she saw a huge guy with muscles for days and dirty blond hair lying there, looking dazed.

“Corporal Renegade was brought in by friends with a report that he hit his head and passed out,” Jessy filled her in.

She knew Jessy had most likely checked his eyes already, but Allison moved to the head of the bed, her pen flashlight in hand. She placed her hand on his forehead as much to calm him as to hold him still while she checked whether or not his pupils dilated and at the same rate.

Both black dots shriveled to pinpoints as she flashed the light across them. She caught her lip in her teeth and asked some questions to Jessy as well as the patient. Head injuries were serious things, especially if he had a brain bleed. He could need immediate surgery.

But this man didn’t seem to be displaying the classic symptoms. Of course, with a concussion, they only needed him to report a blow to the head and a headache to be diagnosed.

“What happened out there, Corporal? Can you tell me how you’re feeling?”

Jessy was trained well but Allison had a little more experience on her, which was probably why she’d called her in. She looked a little flustered and was wringing her hands.

Allison glanced up at her. “Why don’t you see to the heatstroke victim while I assess this one? I’m worried about him.”

“Okay.” Jessy disappeared, and Allison opened her mouth to question Ren.

He sat up, looked her in the eyes, and cut across her. “I’m carrying a message from Lincoln.”

Holy shit. Why wasn’t she a bit surprised? She blinked. She had a faker on her hands. Perfect.

“I can see why he’s obsessed with you.” Colton gave her a once-over. Meanwhile, her brain caught up and anger struck.

“You faked a head injury and wasted our time in order to tell me something from fucking Lincoln?” Her voice pitched higher and louder, she couldn’t help it. She set a hand on her hip.

Ren gave her a sheepish smile. Damn, he was cute, but it wasn’t giving him any brownie points. “Yes, he was afraid to come in himself. I can see you’re mad. Just hear me out.”

She expelled a sharp breath through her nose. “Fine. Say what you’ve got to say and then get out of my unit before I have you tossed out.”

“Feisty too. Hmm. Maybe I’ll give him a run for his money after all.” A teasing smile corked up a corner of his lip.

She shot him a glare.

“Fine, fine. Sorry. Okay. He says, ‘I know I can’t tell you why I’m different from the other soldiers who hurt you. But I can show you. Give me a chance. Please.”

As he spoke, she pictured Lincoln as clear as day, and her heart tumbled over and over. She pulled in a ragged breath, trying not to show Corporal Renegade that the message affected her at all.

She pursed her lips in a way that made the man sit up a little straighter. “That’s it?”

“He wants you to meet him after your shift at the corner.”

Something warm and liquid slid through her body. Molten lava is what.

Damn Lincoln. He knew how to get right to her softest spot. And how he knew that there was no man on earth who could talk her out of her beliefs that she shouldn’t be with a soldier was a mystery. But he knew that he could show her, and that would be infinitely different.

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