Page 42 of Javier

Despair sat on my chest and dread weighed down my guts. Had she been hit? Riddled with anxiety, I looked for wounds.

“It’s okay, wain.” Sister Janet came to stand by my side. “She does that sometimes.”

“Does what?”

“She faints,” Sister Elsa announced, feeling her way with her cane until she stood next to me. “It’s a stress-related response, a mercy from God, I believe.”

Ah, yes. I recalled that she suffered from fainting spells. I felt like an idiot. For an instant, that odd sensation of fear had altered my wits. Didn’t mean I liked seeing her senseless any less.

“Fuck that,” I swore. “She’s not waking up.”

“She won’t be long now,” Sister Elsa insisted. “She’s going to be fine.”

“Are you sure?” I demanded.

“Fairly so,” Sister Janet returned. “Look at her. She’s beginning to come back to us.”

“Missy?” Holding her against my chest, I caressed herface. “Angel, can you hear me?”

“Give her a moment,” Sister Elsa advised.

“Meanwhile, do ye want us to throw away the thugs’ weapons?” Sister Janet asked.

“Proceed.” I forced myself to think. “Throw them into the swamp, but keep my weapons. Look through the mercs and retrieve anything of informational value, like cells and shit.”

“Very well.” Sister Janet took Sister Elsa’s elbow. “Off we go, deary.”

“Come on, Angel.” As soon as the nuns turned around, I planted a kiss on her forehead. “Wake up. I need you to be all right.”

Her eyes fluttered open. A small frown etched her forehead. She blinked the confusion from her eyes. “What happened?”

“You fainted,” I said, riding a wave of relief that allowed me to breathe again.

“Oh, shoot.” She sat up, and after scrubbing her face, met my gaze. “I hate when it happens. I hate it so freaking much.”

“Me, too.” My cramped guts fully agreed. “Do you think you can stand?”

“Yeah.”

She clung to me as I helped her to her feet.

“Sorry about that,” she mumbled. “It’s some sort of neurological condition—”

“I know.” I braced her against me. “Still, I about shit my pants.”

“I try not to faint.” She slumped her shoulders and stared at the ground. “I’m such a wimp.”

“Don’t you dare put yourself down.” I cupped her chin and met her gaze. “You just took on a bunch of mercs, for fuck’s sake, and disarmed Snake like a pro. What the hell were you thinking?” My voice caught and a rush of emotions I couldn’tbegin to understand tightened my chest. “I told you to go away. Why the fuck did you come back here?”

“I had to,” she murmured, staring at her hands.

“Why?”

Her throat rippled and the way she looked at me stole my breath away. “I had to help you.”

I may have shaken the reckless woman a little. “You could’ve died!”

“You could’ve died too,” she returned, her eyes moist. “I couldn’t abandon you. I couldn’t leave you behind.”

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