Page 15 of Destiny Reclaimed
He nodded in acknowledgment, then looked away from her toward the large navy ship they neared. He breathed a sigh of relief. His dad was close to receiving medical attention.
A jolt of pain zipped through his earlobe, and he pulled his head away from her.
"Sorry. I was just inspecting the damage," she said as she lowered her arm and glanced at the blood on her fingertips before refastening her hand to a protruding piece of metal on the side of the vessel.
"Huh?"
"Your ear is pretty sliced up. Your lobe is hanging on by a thread. Doesn't it hurt?"
"Yeah, I guess. It must have happened when I crash-landed. A piece of the plane's canopy splintered off. Probably hit me along the way."
"This is your ticket into the ship's hospital to keep watch over your father."
"And what about you?"
"I'll never be far from you."
He popped back up to take a peek over the ledge to ensure Evan was still on the floor. He returned his gaze to the Navy ship and then back to his Protector. "Almost there."
She nodded.
Noticing her white knuckles as she continued to grip the small metal loop on the side of the landing craft he asked, “You all right yet. You going to be able to keep hanging on?"
"Yes."
It wasn't only her hands that worried him. She had a bizarre look on her face—puzzled and worried.
It occurred to him that in all they'd been through in a short period of time, he didn't know her name. He should at least know it considering she'd saved his ass when he fought with Arthur and continued to risk her life to help get his dad on this landing craft.
"What's your name?"
Tilting her head up, she fixed her ocean blue gaze on him and pulled her full lips into a soft smile. "Gabriela, and I'm pleased to meet you."
The vessel halted abruptly next to the large Navy ship, knocking her hold loose, but Jack snatched her arm, pulled her back up, then shoved her up to climb over the ledge of the landing craft.
A fairly easy maneuver now that the vessel wasn’t rocking and rolling with the crashing waves. He’d thought about climbing over the side when they were en route but he didn’t want to risk falling off and losing proximity to his father. He followed her over the side.
The stunned look on the faces of both the tiny soldier and the man at the helm didn't surprise him. Of course, it would be shocking for two troops to hurl themselves over the side of the landing craft.
Gabriela and other small woman stared at each other. Same bright blue eyes, delicate features, porcelain skin tone. It was as if they were twins.
Evan's wicked growl broke Jack from his stare. He offered a hard-eyed scowl as he bypassed him to rush over to his father whose shallow breaths and unresponsiveness scared him. He and the man who'd been at the helm lifted his dad and passed him off to the men waiting on the Navy ship.
Once on the ship, both his father and Evan were carried to the infirmary. He and the helmsman followed with the ladies in tow. A cloud of silence surrounded the four of them. With every glance over his shoulder, he caught Gabriela and the other female soldier exchanging odd glances. When not looking at them, his gaze drew to the man who held his traits. He had to be some sort of relative as well. Another Preserver, Jack presumed. Were they allowed to ask each other? One of the things his father had mentioned when he informed him of his role as a Preserver, was that though there was no rule book, the one thing they—Preservers knew for sure, was that secrecy was required. The opposite was punishable by the Gods. Remembering that, he decided he wouldn't ask any questions of the two, but he'd observe them as much as possible.
Jack watched his dad float in and out of consciousness as the surgeon assessed his wound.
"Is he going to be okay," the helmsman asked breaking the uncomfortable silence.
The physician nodded. "It doesn't look too bad. Looks like Doc got lucky. We'll get him patched up."
The surgeon and an aid wasted no time wheeling his father into the surgical room.
Jack moved his gaze two cots down where Evan grimaced in pain as a different doctor inspected the large, bloody gash in his bicep.
Was it awful he didn't care the evil would-be thief lie in pain? Truly, he didn't give two shits about what would happen to his distant cousin. Preserving history was the priority. The guilt sifting through him on account of his not caring about Evan’s wellbeing was unwanted but made him feel more uncomfortable.
He shifted his gaze to the nurse who tugged the pack off the other Preserver's back then his shirt.
