Chapter 16
Mila glanced back at Damien as Jared took her into the ship, but he was already talking to his teammates. It was harder to leave him than she’d anticipated. Foolish, she hadn’t prepared herself for it, but she hadn’t considered what would happen after they arrived on the ship.
At least her brother was here. She squeezed his hand as she limped down the corridor. She hadn’t heard where he’d been going on his latest deployment so seeing him had been an incredible shock.
“Are you OK, Milly?” he asked.
“I am now. Damien didn’t say anything about you being here.”
“He didn’t know. I didn’t hear about the tsunami until the team got back and said you were in danger. Command dragged me in when they couldn’t get a hold of Mum.” He stepped into a bathroom and handed her clean army fatigues. “Take a shower and then I’ll get you to the infirmary.”
“Does Mum know I’m safe?”
He nodded. “Mum eventually got in touch with the Major-General and he’s kept her informed as a matter of courtesy.”
He closed the door as he left and she looked around the small room. Safe. Finally.
She closed her eyes as the tears welled and her chest squeezed.
Damien had promised he’d get her out, and he had.
She took a long, shuddery breath and stripped off her clothes, stepping under the steaming shower.
The heat melted away the rest of her resistance and she slid to the floor and cried.
A knock on the door had her heart racing. “You alive in there, Milly?”
She smiled at her brother’s voice and swallowed hard, brushing away the tears. “Yeah. Won’t be long.” She washed her face and the rest of the dirt from her and switched off the shower.
When she wiped the steam from the mirror, her red eyes exposed she’d been crying. No matter. Her brother would understand.
She dressed and opened the door. Jared took one look at her and his expression grew pained. He dragged her into his arms. “Milly, I can’t imagine what you’ve been through.”
Tears threatened again, and she swallowed them down, hugging him back. “I’m OK. I’ll be OK.” It might take her a while to realise it was the truth, but it was the truth, nonetheless.
He seemed reluctant to let her go. “Hungry?”
“As long as it’s not an MRE,” she said.
He laughed. “You got the real experience, didn’t you?”
She nodded.
“I’ll organise something for you, but you need to be examined by the doctor first.” Jared helped her to a large infirmary and waited while all her cuts were sanitised, and her ankle was examined.
“How did you get the cuts?” the doctor asked.
“Most were from getting caught in the tsunami,” Mila said.
“What?” Jared’s shout made her jump.
She frowned. “Didn’t they tell you?”
He shook his head. “All they told me was you were on the island with one of the team.”
The doctor frowned. “Did you swallow any water?”
“Yeah, but I vomited it up.”
“How long ago?”
“It must be about twenty-four hours by now.”
“I still need to scan your lungs and stomach.” The doctor gave an order to the nurse in the room.
In no time Mila was being scanned and the doctor was checking the results. He smiled. “There’s no cause for concern. It doesn’t appear as if any of the water damaged your lungs.”
That was a relief.
The doctor gave her some crutches and dismissed her.
“I want to hear about everything,” Jared said as he took her to the mess. At this time of night there weren’t many people inside and he made her a sandwich. “What happened?”
Mila sighed. No doubt she’d have to tell her story dozens of times over the next few days. “I didn’t have time to thank the team who rescued me. Do you think they’re awake?”
Jared smiled at her. “I can almost guarantee they’ll be waiting until Dobby has finished explaining things to his CO.”
She bit her lip. “How much trouble will he be in?”
“Hard to say. Mum might pull a few strings, though she doesn’t like doing it.”
“Should I call her?”
“We’ll need permission for the call and she’s deployed at the moment. I’ll put in a request. Now will you tell me what happened?”
She smiled. “Can I tell you at the same time as I tell the team? They’ll want to know what occurred after they left.”
Jared sighed and gestured to her. She followed him down the sparse corridors to a rec room where Radar, Joker and Axle waited. It was a sparse area with grey walls and seating bolted to the floor.
“This is my brother, Jared,” she said.
Joker grinned. “We’ve met. He was pretty insistent about keeping informed about your whereabouts.”
Mila watched a faint blush tint her brother’s cheeks. “Were you?”
He grimaced. “I needed to make sure my baby sister was all right.”
She hugged him. “I am thanks to these men and Damien.” She turned to the men. “Thank you.” She hugged each of them in turn, though Radar squirmed a bit.
“You helped to get us out of there with Hawk and Vance,” Joker said. “We should be thanking you.”
She’d forgotten about her ex. “Where is Vance?”
“Sleeping,” Radar said. “He’s heading out on the same flight as Hawk.”
“You’ll probably be on the same flight,” Jared said.
“That might not be safe for Vance,” she murmured and Joker laughed.
“So what the hell happened?” Jared demanded. “Last I heard you were teaching English and had split up with Vance. But he swore he went to get you back when I saw him earlier.”
Her cheeks heated. “Vance never had a hope in hell,” she retorted. “He was using me to get a job in Dad’s company. What he did was sell me out to the local smuggler who hates Mum, and who stole my phone and computer the day before the tsunami hit so I couldn’t contact anyone.”
Jared’s expression darkened. “Did he now?” The danger in his words reminded her that her brother had a whole other life in the army she didn’t know about.
“Then the earthquake hit and I was helping people who were trapped when I ran into the team and told them where I thought Vance was. When the tsunami hit, they were fleeing the town in a four-wheel drive and Ethan fell out. We both got caught in the water, but I wasn’t injured.”
He turned to her. “Why the hell were you still in town when the tsunami hit?”
Joker nodded his agreement. “She was too busy helping people and then an old woman stole her moped as she was about to escape.”
A vein throbbed in her brother’s forehead and Mila hurried to explain everything that had occurred over the past twenty-four hours, leaving out the bit about having amazing sex with Damien.
She didn’t want to traumatise her brother.
By the end of it, Jared was sitting, shaking his head. He glanced at her. “You’re a bad ass, Milly.”
“We were pretty impressed by her,” Joker agreed. “Which is why we had no problems with Dobby going off mission to rescue her.”
“I need to thank him again when I see him,” Jared said.
Mila yawned, her eyes heavy. It didn’t seem to matter she’d slept the afternoon away, she was still tired.
“Come on, I’ll show you to your quarters,” Jared said, taking her arm.
She shook her head. “I’m not going until I make sure Damien’s all right.”
“They won’t keel-haul him,” Jared joked. “I’m pretty sure they’ve done away with that punishment.”
“I don’t care. I’ll wait with the team.” She glanced at them. “If you don’t mind.”
Radar nodded his approval and Joker and Axle both smiled at her, Joker patting the seat next to him.
She settled in to wait.
It was two hours later before Damien walked into the room accompanied by a corporal. He looked exhausted, but his eyes widened when he saw her. “Why aren’t you in bed?”
“I’m waiting for you.” She got up so he could have her chair. “What did they say?”
“They’re threatening a dishonourable discharge. They say the international implications could have been catastrophic.”
Her breath left her. “Are they crazy? They risked international implications rescuing that worthless piece of shit, Vance.”
A smile played on his lips. “It’s called politics, sweetheart.”
This was ridiculous. Dobby deserved a medal not a discharge. “I’ll give them politics,” Mila said. “Where are they? I want to have a word to them.”
Though all the men smiled, none of them, not even her brother, made a move to show her.
She was tired of running from confrontation, of being indecisive and avoiding conflict. That’s what got her here in the first place. “Do not test me,” Mila snarled. “I’ve had a terrible twenty-four hours and if someone doesn’t show me to these imbeciles right now, I will shout down this boat.”
“Milly, you can’t order command around. You’ll make it worse.” Jared smiled.
“Don’t patronise me,” she snapped. “I know how to talk to these men.”
The corporal cleared his throat. “Ah, are you Mila Watkins?”
She spun to him. “Yes, I am.”
He fought back a nervous smile. “They want to speak with you too.”
She grinned at the apprehensive looks on the team’s faces. “Good. Lead the way.”
She was ready to fight for the man she loved.
The realisation made her pause, but the rightness swept over her.
It was her turn to protect him.
By the time they reached the room where three very important people were seated around a table, she had controlled her initial outrage. She recognised the insignia on the uniforms; major, colonel and major-general.
Her brother was right, these men wouldn’t respond to theatrics or demands so she had to be calm and calculated.
The Major-General nodded at her. “Your mother was pleased to hear you’re safe.”
Mila smiled. She’d met the man at the fundraiser where she’d met Vance. “Thank you for telling her.”
“As you can expect,” the man continued, “we need to know what happened, and how Sergeant Dobson was left behind.”
“Of course. It was quite a fluid and unpredictable experience.” She smiled at the men. “May I sit? It’s been an exhausting twenty-four hours.”
The colonel gestured to a nearby chair, and she rested her crutches against the table and sat, placing her hands together on the table. “What would you like to know?”
“Tell us what happened in your own words,” the colonel invited.