Page 38 of Evening Shadows

Jolting her from her thoughts of trying to figure out how to help them, Ken requested something she should’ve already done for him.

“Help me get to the cot. I’m afraid the blood has started drying my pants to the wound. Maybe we should wait until we get some water to loosen it instead of ripping it back open. If it starts bleeding again, we may have to start removing clothes.” He winked at her—winked!—and somehow, with his pain and discomfort, he smiled at her. Was he actually flirting with her? Now of all times?

Shaking her head and banishing those thoughts, she ignored his playfulness. If it got him through the pain, she wouldn’t stop him. Heck, for all she knew, he might be delirious. Her medical training extended to not much more than putting on a Band-Aid. Okay, a little more than that, like the improvised tourniquet she’d slapped on his leg, but without the proper items, her ability to help remained limited.

What she knew was that he made perfect sense. And not the loss of clothing, but that the wound would start bleeding again, and she couldn’t chance it going beyond a trickle or two.

It took some heaving, grunting, gasping, groaning, half-dragging, and Sam almost landing on her ass, but they made it to the cot. His pallor didn’t appear as gray as it had earlier. In fact, the warrior she knew had returned, albeit with a grimace of pain from time to time. He had to be in agony. “How serious do you think it is?”

Clenching his jaw, he sat on the cot and patted the space beside him. “Come sit with me. Let me rest my head on your lap.”

She gulped. That close? That intimate? She’d just fully emerged from the cocoon of her body’s awareness to him.

“No funny business to worry about, Sam.”

Her heart lurched in a bit of disappointment and a lot of concern. His voice sounded weaker. Without another thought, she slid onto the head of the cot and allowed him to rest his head on her lap. At the contact, warmth infused her and settled the makings of desire inside her.

Dammit, hadn’t she twirled herself in circles enough about this today? But he’d dropped a real big bomb that she kept trying to put away for a later day, but it wouldn’t stop shoving itself forward. She wanted to think about it, analyze it, consider it, and decide what to do about it, but she had to focus on the op, not the man. Nor how her pulse raced for him. Or the butterflies that twittered in her stomach. Or the breathlessness that overcame her when they were close. Or all the rest of her erstwhile responses and emotions.

“In answer to your question—” His Adam’s apple bobbed as if he had trouble swallowing. “—I’ve had a bullet hit bone and stay inside me. This isn’t the same.”

Her body shook with worry. “Do you think it’s just a through-and-through wound then?”

“I’d be damn lucky if it did that and didn’t tear up any tendons or muscle, but it’s possible. I do know that the pain and limitations of my leg are worse than just a notch from a bullet graze though. I think after a short rest, I can use it more than I have.”

Scrutinizing the front of his thigh, the obvious presence of blood there meant the bullet had to have exited. With the hole where the bullet went through his body in the front being larger than the entry point in the rear, she could probably get some give with the material, but as Ken had said, it stuck to his skin, so separating it could cause problems they didn’t need.

Surely their captors would bring them water as a minimum. Without thought, her hand moved to his head where she softly rubbed it. His dark-blond hair had fallen from the band at the base of his neck. It had been an odd thing to see the long hair on Ken after so long with military-short hair. She scrunched her brow.

“What’d you see?” he asked, soft enough she had to lean over him.

She described their trip from capture to cell. He asked a question or two to clarify but asked if she saw cameras in their cell. In surveying the room, none appeared, but that didn’t mean listening devices weren’t somewhere she’d missed.

Listening!Hope surged through her. She reached back to her low ponytail and hoped the object hadn’t fallen. When she’d tightened her hair in the holder before capture, she’d shoved the earpiece between the elastic band holding back her hair and secured it as best she could. She hadn’t been jostled enough for it to have fallen loose.

Her spirit lifting, she grasped and removed the tiny mechanism. In case she missed cameras or they were overhead, she reached out her hand to his and leaned down. “Here,” she said in a low voice, hoping he’d understand why she spoke as she did and not blurt out a response.

He opened his eyes and felt for the object she held. Eyes brightening, he whispered back, “I hadn’t thought of hiding it like that.” When he closed his eyes again and clenched his jaw, she knew he hid from her the real level of his pain. She ached for him, wishing she could make everything right with a kiss. It worked in cartoons. She barely held back a strained laugh.

Acting as if she hadn’t noticed his battle, she tried to not make him feel foolish for not considering to hide his. “I don’t think it would’ve worked for you.” His hair didn’t have the full length of hers, but most importantly, he didn’t have the volume that she used to lose the tiny mechanism.

His ability to toss out a brief smile warmed her soul. Yet he handed back the earpiece. All of a sudden she remembered two things. First, for her to listen, the other part of her comm system had to be near, in working order, and activated. Which could be possible, depending on where the men who’d captured them deposited the equipment they’d gathered. Second, the team had been sent to another channel. Thankfully, she hadn’t changed her radio to the new station assuming she’d been about to lose it to some hostiles. But that also left her with the inability to listen to the new comm.

Something akin to a nod from him played across her lap. “This is a good thing for us. Go ahead now, but be prepared to put it back quickly. After they take me, bring it back out and listen, but always hide it again before they come. They won’t see it unless they’re looking, but we can’t take the chance.”

Her heart raced, and she hated to admit that a slice of fear ran through her. “What do you mean take you?” Had her voice betrayed that he meant something to her? That hadn’t been her intent, but his one raised eyebrow made her wonder how he took it.

Took. Take.

That sinking feeling rose in waves. If they took him, she couldn’t protect him. And with his injury, he needed her protection. While she was sure he’d never admit that, especially on ops, she didn’t think him so foolish to deny support. He was a good leader, and part of leading meant knowing when to ask for help.

He reached up with an open hand. Without hesitation, she placed her palm on his. His warmth radiated through her, leaving her wanting to cuddle with him. Cuddle? Yes, so she could hold him through the pain. Everything before this moment slipped away. Her blinders were off. Ken was her future and she wouldn’t let what they had go.

He squeezed her hand and didn’t let go. “I understood enough of the Spanish I overheard. They’re going to question me.”

Something tightened inside her. Question to what extent? And, why not her? Maybe they planned to offer him medical attention if he talked. She, on the other hand, had nothing for them to bargain. Except Ken’s life. Christ, they couldn’t do that to Ken. Offer her life for Cody’s.

“Why do you think he wants Cody so badly?” she asked.

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