Page 93 of Protected By the Convicts
Her unit waited for her outside.
Then the mine collapsed. With the utter chaos that followed, Hannah found places to hide in the med-center despite the influx of wounded and dead. Until Thorne gave her no choice but to return to Narkos.
Hannah had been relieved and nervous.
“Explain why you wouldn’t return,” Vaughn insisted, his voice and face void of all emotion. He’d retreated from her already. “Explain why you chose that hell hole over us.”
No, not retreated. Hurt. Rejected.
All at once they began firing questions at her. Sweat dripped down her back. The world around her spun and finally she was in Ky’Li’s arms just as all the voices faded away.
* * *
VAUGHN
“Well?” Ren asked impatiently as Vaughn waved them into the med-bay where Hannah rested.
“She fainted. Anxiety. Stress. Low-blood sugar. The heat.” Vaughn stopped before saying more.
As he was examining her, she’d woken. Immediately, her eyes had shown a fear, afraid he knew her secret perhaps or that he’d say something to the others in their unit.
He wanted answers. It made no sense why she’d hide this from them, from any of them. But he’d promised to protect her. As he looked over at the other men in what used to be his unit, at the men who’d continued to live in Ren’s house even though they’d been officially dissolved as a unit, he couldn’t lie to them, but protecting her meant divulging her secret.
“I’m sorry, Hannah. They need to know.”
“I want to speak with you in private, Vaughn.”
“They’ll only eavesdrop. It’s been a long few weeks without you. We’ve been scared to death not knowing what was happening to you. Imagining the worst.” Vaughn took a deep breath as he stepped away.
“What he means is that we missed you,” Sersie finished for him. “Foley disbanded our unit. Did you know that?”
“I suspected he would.”
“He told us to find a replacement,” Ren spat out the words. “As if that could happen.”
“You’re leaving soon, Ren,” Hannah said, her voice soft and full of love. “You don’t have to worry about that.”
“I never said I was leaving. Not without you.”
Hannah sucked in air.
“Is that it, Hannah? Is that why you don’t want them to know?” Vaughn asked. “Because Ren is leaving?”
“I don’t want him staying because of me, because of. . .” She started breathing too fast. Her blood pressure rose too quickly. He needed to keep her calm and get some food into her.
Vaughn disappeared down the hall for a moment, grabbed a protein bar and returned. No one was talking. The pleading look she threw his way tore at him, leaving him conflicted. The need to protect her privacy and the need to tell his unit what they had a right to know.
“Here,” he said, handing her the protein bar. “You haven’t been eating enough. And don’t get up again or I’ll tie you to the bed.”
“A little extreme, Vaughn,” Ren said, his voice clearly on edge. Hell, everyone was on edge.
“What aren’t you telling us, Vaughn?” Sersie asked.
Vaughn waited for Hannah to decide. Telling the others before she was ready would only stress her further. Eyes wide and filled with tears, she nodded.
“She’s pregnant,” Vaughn said.
Sersie’s eyes lit up. “That’s wonderful!”
