Chapter 17
Mila was shaken awake by a female corporal who was crouched down next to her.
The room she was in was tiny, with a glaring yellow light.
It took her a second to remember she was safe on a naval ship.
She was on the bottom bunk of three and there wasn’t enough head room for her to sit. “What’s wrong?”
“Your flight has been brought forward. You’re leaving in ten minutes.”
She blinked as she tried to figure out what that meant. “Flight where?”
“Home. Come on, we don’t have a lot of time. Do you have any things?”
“Just my bag.” She crawled out of her bunk and pulled on the pants she’d been given to wear. “Can I say goodbye to my brother?” And Damien.
“I don’t know. I’ve been told to get you to the top deck. He might already be there.”
Mila shoved on her military boots, grabbed her still damp bag and crutches, and followed the woman out of the door. She didn’t know where she was on the boat and was panting by the time they’d gone down the first corridor.
Where was Damien?
It didn’t take long until she stepped out on the deck and the humidity enveloped her like a blanket she didn’t want. The sky had the glow of early morning and across the deck a man was being loaded onto a helicopter on a stretcher.
Was that Ethan?
“This way.” The corporal headed towards the helicopter.
From the left, out of another door, she spotted Vance. Damn it. She didn’t want to share a ride with him.
She scanned the deck for Damien or her brother but she didn’t recognise any of the uniformed men.
Wouldn’t she get the chance to say goodbye?
She hadn’t even given Damien her number—not that she had a phone. Did her travel insurance cover natural disasters?
She reached the helicopter and was helped in by a soldier, who handed her a pair of headphones. Lying on one side was Ethan, and he was awake and wearing a headset as well.
She grinned at him. “How are you?”
“Angel!” He smiled and then grimaced. “Broken, but alive thanks to you.”
She squeezed his hand. “I’m glad. Do you know where we’re going? I didn’t say goodbye to the team.”
“They’re flying us to Singapore first and then to Perth. Where are you from?”
“Sydney.”
“Then I guess they’ll get you on a flight to Sydney from there.”
Someone tapped her on the shoulder and she turned as the solider pointed to a nearby seat. “You need to strap in.”
She chose a seat across from Ethan, though it also meant she was next to Vance. His smile was a little hesitant.
Good. Maybe he realised what he’d done had risked so many lives.
She ignored him as the soldier showed her how to strap in correctly and in no time the helicopter rose into the air and flew away.
She kept her eyes on the deck until it was out of sight, but didn’t see Damien or Jared. Her chest squeezed as she closed her eyes.
Would she see Damien again?
She pushed away the pain and turned to Ethan. “Have you got someone waiting for you back home to pamper you?”
Sadness crossed his face. “No.”
Something about the way he said it made her pause. “Have you got anyone?”
“I’ll be in hospital for a long time still. Plenty of rehabilitation.”
She hated the idea of him going through it all alone. “Parents?”
He shook his head.
“Partner?”
“I abandoned the only girl who ever loved me for the army,” he said, regret filling his tone. “It’s no life for someone you love to always worry when you go away.”
Damien had mentioned that. Mila frowned. “Did Chelsea say that?”
“How do you know that name?”
“You mentioned her when you were drugged.”
He grimaced. “No, she didn’t.”
“What did she say?”
He looked embarrassed. “I didn’t give her a choice.”
Mila gaped at him. “What? You loved her and you left her without telling her why?” Was that why Damien hadn’t said goodbye to her?
“She was better off without me. We were both too young to know our hearts.”
Well that was the biggest load of rubbish she’d heard. Was it a common misconception with military people? “How long ago?”
“Ten years. She’s got her own life now.”
“Married?”
He shook his head. “Not that I can see.”
So he kept track of her. Mila hid a smile. “Maybe you should reconnect while you’re recovering.”
“Hell no. I’m not putting her through this.”
He had a point. It was probably a bad time to be coming back into her life. “Then maybe when you’re back on your feet.”
He shook his head. “Tell me what happened after we left you on the island.”
Subject closed. Topic changed.
Understood.
She exhaled and told her story again.
It was late afternoon by the time they arrived in Perth, Western Australia. Mila had avoided talking to Vance for the entire trip as she made herself Ethan’s personal helper in Singapore, getting him food and drink when he needed it.
His actual nurse didn’t seem to mind.
At the air force base she got his phone number and the name of the hospital they were taking him to and waved as the ambulance took him away.
The soldier responsible for them turned to her and Vance. “We’ve got you on a flight to Sydney from the domestic airport in three hours.” He gestured to a nearby army vehicle. “We’ll take you there now.”
The car seemed incredibly quiet after the noise of the plane and silence stretched between her and Vance. Mila wished she had her phone so she could scroll social media or read a book, but instead she stared out the window.
She no longer found him good looking, couldn’t remember why she had. The sullen turn to his mouth wasn’t intriguing, it was sulky and everything about him screamed selfish to her.
Vance had received the message and didn’t speak to her.
At the airport they were given their tickets, checked in and left to their own devices.
She headed for the security point and Vance followed her. It wasn’t until they were through to the waiting area that Vance spoke.
“Mila, I’m sorry.”
It was surprise that made her turn to look at him. “Really?”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Of course I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get you caught up in my mess.”
She gazed at him, unmoved. “I seem to recall you saying to Agus you had to marry me, which is when he stole my phone and laptop.”
“Shit. Yeah, OK, I did, but I didn’t think he would do something so extreme.”
“What did you think he would do?”
He swore again. “I wasn’t thinking about anything but myself. I was desperate.”
“No, you were selfish and inconsiderate,” she said. “You never cared for me. You used me to get a job.”
He looked guilty, but said, “I cared for you.”
“When’s my birthday?”
He looked blank. “Your birthday?”
“Yeah. When I threw the party for your birthday, you asked when mine was.”
He scowled. “I don’t remember.”
Because it wasn’t important to him. She didn’t have the energy to care about him any longer. “It’s over, Vance. I don’t want to see you again.”
“What will you tell your father?”
Still only worried about his own skin. “The truth. You’ll need to live with the consequences of your actions, and maybe in the future you’ll consider how they’ll affect others.”
He opened his mouth as if to argue and then closed it again. “Fine. Good luck.” He walked away.
She exhaled and spotted a payphone against the wall. She hadn’t called her father yet.
He would make her feel better.
She still had her bag with some cash in it, and money given to her by the soldier who’d dropped them at the airport, so she went into the nearest bookstore to get some change.
It was time to get back to her life.
***
“Gone? What do you mean she’s gone?” Dobby demanded of the corporal who had arrived to give them orders the next day.
“Mila Watkins left on the flight that took Ethan and Vance to Singapore.” The man shrugged. “It was a last-minute departure change. She only had time to get dressed and go.”
Damn it. He hadn’t told her how he felt. He hadn’t even got her address or telephone number. All he knew was she lived in Sydney.
“I need to find her brother.”
Joker placed a hand on his arm. “We’ve got a new mission. You can find her later.”
He didn’t want to find her later. He wanted to make sure she knew how he felt and discover whether they had a future together.
“Joker’s right,” Radar said. “With the exercise cancelled, we’ve all got to help with the relief effort.”
At least they’d been assigned to a different island from the one he’d escaped from.
“We’ll help you find her afterwards,” Axle promised.
He exhaled, soothed by the promise. He’d told her he wanted her to move to Perth. Surely she’d realise that meant he wanted a relationship with her.
“All right.” Time to get to work.
But as soon as this mission was over, he would find the woman he loved.
***
Three weeks.
It had been three weeks since the tsunami and Mila hadn’t heard from Damien. When her mother returned home, Mila asked her to find out where he was, and she’d said he was still actively deployed.
Which meant he couldn’t even call.
She hated not knowing when she’d hear from him—if at all. But she’d have to get used to it if she wanted a relationship with him. Not knowing where he was would be part and parcel of it.
She stared out of the living room window of her parents’ large mansion in Sydney and down at the water below. The waves crashed on the shore and the sound brought goosebumps to her skin. She was trapped, wanting to flee from the coast and not wanting to leave the safety of the cliff.
The day after she’d landed in Sydney, she’d walked along the shore with her father, but when a large wave had reached her where she walked above the tide line she’d panicked and sprinted home.
It had taken five minutes for her father to catch up with her.
That’s when he’d suggested therapy.
She’d agreed, knowing she needed help. Sleep was difficult to come by without Damien around. The memories weren’t far away and closing her eyes meant the wave washed over her again and again.
The lack of sleep had made it hard to get motivated for anything except Ethan.