Page 3 of Destiny Reclaimed
He tried to recall the flight back but couldn’t.
“I don’t...”
The soldier popped himself up on his elbow, keeping his gaze on him. “You did it. Without a doubt it was heroic. You’d hardly touched down before you passed out.”
“Huh.”
“Thank God you were able to do that or we’d all be dead.”
“So, you’re not a pilot?”
“No sir. I was just one of the injured you picked up.” The soldier pointed at his leg. “I got shot in the thigh.”
A sense of admiration sifted through Jack. Everyone on that helicopter would be dead if not for this man and his resolve. “So, you’re not a pilot, and you’d been shot, yet you still climbed up front to help.”
“Yeah. My only hope was to try to keep you alert. You had me estimate how far off the ground we were and try to keep you away from obstacles. Your depth perception seemed to be a problem.”
Good heavens, it was a complete miracle. “What’s your name?”
“Blake.”
“Well, thank you, Blake.”
He gazed at the nurse. “And your name?”
She glanced at the other man, and they shared a knowing smile before she replied, “Ariel.”
Jack eased his aching head back down to the pillow. “That’s a pretty name. Reminds me of a guardian angel.”
Out of the blue, a spine-chilling, eerie sensation saturated every cell of his being. The feeling seemed oddly familiar. He racked his brain to place the root of it, but with the level of exhaustion consuming him, he couldn't focus. His eyelids drifted shut.
A hard jolt to his arm catapulted him to full alert despite his fatigue. A tall, dark-haired nurse yanked his arm again, nearly pulling it from the socket. Why was she gripping him so tightly, and where had the nice blonde gone? This wasn’t right. What was this woman up to? He squirmed to free himself from her hold. The woman’s long fingernails dug into his skin. Her dark, soulless gaze unnerved him. In her opposite hand, he glimpsed a shiny object. He pulled away from her as he sprang into a seated position.
All at once, she spun away from him and into the petite, golden-haired nurse. Ariel, and the soldier from the bed next over, struggled to get the object from the woman's hand. Jack’s pulse pounded. What in the hell was happening? He made a move to leap off his bed to help them but before he could a sudden, fiery gust of swirling air knocked the three of them to the floor. A dark funnel cloud encircled the dark-haired nurse, spinning fast and hard.
Jack blinked to clear his vision. When he refocused, it was not a woman in the swirling tornado-like funnel, but a large raven. A dragon-like screech pierced his eardrums as the dark cloud disappeared.
Strong air currents rushed over him as if he were standing under the whooshing blades of the helicopter. Heat surged his body. The sensation of danger dissipated but sheer curiosity caused him to keep his gaze fixed on Blake and Ariel who hovered in the air a few feet off the floor. They both began to spin as if caught in a whirlwind. Faster and faster. Lifting until they spun out of sight.
Jack collapsed back onto the bed. Hehadto be dreaming.
When next he woke, his temples throbbed less than before, but they still pounded. He hadn’t a clue how long he’d been out. Turning his head to the side, he found the next bed vacant and recalled the odd dream he’d had about Blake and Ariel.
As he lay there staring at the empty bed, a doctor stepped into his line of vision.
He turned his attention to the tall, blade-thin man. Deep creases stretched out from the guy’s dark inset eyes. His eyelids drooped as if he hadn’t slept in a while.
Jack’s injured eye twinged and his brows furrowed as he peeked around the doctor at the empty bed.
“Captain Cornelis. How are you feeling?” The man’s voice sounded more chipper than he appeared.
“Got a bit of a headache, but other than that, I feel fine.”
“Overall, your injuries are minor. You got lucky. It appears a bullet snuck between the windshield where bolts hold the frame, hit your hand, maybe deflected off the collective then hit your helmet above your left eye and came out the helmet by your left ear. The bullet scraped your head, and I dug some metal and plexiglass fragments out of your eye.”
His heart plummeted to his stomach. How bad was the damage to his eye? He couldn’t pilot if he couldn’t see.
The doctor lifted his hand. In it, he held Jack’s helmet. “See.” He pointed to a hole. “The bullet entered here.” The doc turned his arm slightly, angling head covering so Jack could see the exit hole. “And came out here.”
