Chapter 14
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
NOAH
The Humvee rumbles beneath us, the desert rolling by in a blur of dust and fading stars. I sit in the front, rifle across my lap, eyes scanning the horizon knowing we won’t be safe until we are back on base.
The hostages are quiet, some asleep, some just staring. Jessica sits in the back, her head tilted against the window, eyes closed but not resting. She hasn’t said much since we left the bunker.
I want to say something, but the words feel too heavy for the space we’re in. So I just watch her, the way her fingers twitch like she’s still checking gear, still ready to move. She’s always ready.
We reach base just as the sun begins to rise. The sky is streaked with orange and violet, like the desert’s trying to remind us there’s beauty here too. The Humvee slows, and I hop out first, helping the wounded down, guiding the others toward the med tent.
Jessica moves with purpose, but I can see the exhaustion in her shoulders. She’s running on fumes.
Inside the tent, the medics take over. I stand back, watching her kneel beside the woman with the bloodied arm again, whispering something I can’t hear. The woman clutches her hand like a lifeline.
When the medics usher Jessica away, she finally lets herself breathe. I catch up to her outside, where the air is cooler, quieter.
“You did good,” I say.
She looks at me, eyes rimmed with fatigue. “We all did.”
I nod, but I mean her. She doesn’t know how much she held this team together. How much she held me together.
We walk toward the barracks in silence. The base is waking up, soldiers moving, radios crackling, but it feels like we’re in a bubble. Just us.
“While we were walking to the bunker, I kept thinking about what we’d find. If we’d be too late,” she says softly.
“We weren’t,” I say. “And you can’t focus on what could have happened, but focus on what did happen. They are safe, we are safe. ”
She looks at me then, really looks. “You always say the right thing.”
I shrug. “Not always. Just when it matters.”
She smiles, tired but real. “You’ve been solid through all of this.”
“You said that yesterday.”
“I know, but it’s the truth and I don’t think you fully believe it.”
I look down at her. “You just needed to know you weren’t alone and I provided that.”
She hesitates, as she stands next to me, “You’re right, I did need to know I wasn’t alone, but it’s more than that. I don’t know what this is between us, but it’s been the one thing that’s kept me grounded.”
I stare at her, heart thudding. “It’s not just you.”
Her eyes search mine, and I see it again, that flicker of something we’ve both been trying to ignore, but not now. Not anymore.
I reach down, brushing a strand of hair from her face. She doesn’t pull away.
“I’ve wanted to do this for days,” I whisper.
She leans in, and this time, there’s no interruption. No mission. No noise.
Just her lips on mine, soft, certain, and everything I didn’t know I needed.
When we finally pull back, she rests her forehead against mine. “We should probably get some sleep.”
“Yeah,” I say, but I don’t move.
Because for the first time in a long time, I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.