Chapter Thirty-Three
M ax woke to someone shaking his arm.
“Sir? Colonel Maximillian, sir?”
He looked up into the masked face of a nurse he didn’t recognize. “Yes? What is it?” He sat up and realized he’d fallen asleep on the floor in Alicia’s intensive care room. “How is Ali?”
“Her oxygen saturation started to go up about twenty minutes ago. It’s at ninety right now... Wait, it went up again to ninety-one.”
Max got to his feet and looked at all the monitors. He put his stethoscope in his ears and listened to her lungs. They sounded less congested. “Can we get X-ray in here to do some chest pictures? I want to see if her lungs have cleared at all.”
“Yes, sir.”
They’d done a chest X-ray only eight hours ago. It was probably going to look the same, solid white lungs instead of ghostly, but increasing oxygen saturation was a good sign.
The tech came, took the chest X-rays then showed him the images on a tablet. Max stared at them, shock holding him frozen for several seconds.
Her lungs were clear.
They’d been completely congested only eight hours ago. “How is this possible?” he whispered to himself.
“She’s a fighter,” one of the nurses said behind him.
Exactly what General Stone said ten minutes later when Max gave him the news.
“She’s a stubborn thing, my daughter.” The general patted Max on the shoulder. “I told you she’d pull through.”
“She’s remarkable.” Max didn’t care that he sounded as far from detached as a man could get.
The general grunted, shook his head and left.
The miracle of Ali’s recovery didn’t stop. The swelling in her lungs disappeared so fast they were able to take her off the ventilator for good two days later. She had trouble talking due to the tube that had been down her throat. It had irritated her vocal cords, but she was able to make her needs known.
She slept a lot, sometimes falling asleep in the middle of trying to explain what she wanted. But her recovery continued to amaze everyone.
Max found himself in the role of her doctor with little time for more.
Finally, a week after she’d killed Akbar, Max went into her room to find her sitting up, alert and waiting for him.
He stopped cold in the doorway. He had so much to tell her, but had no idea where to start.
“Hey,” she whispered. “Don’t rush off. I want to talk to you.”
“Okay.” He could do this, had been waiting for this chance to tell her how he felt.
Damn if he could even open his mouth.
She stared at him for a long time before saying, “I seem to be missing a few days.” She tapped her temple with one finger. “I remember dreaming, though.”
“That’s not uncommon with patients who’ve been as sick as you have been.”
“Do you know what I dreamed?”
Max waited. This was important for her recovery. Important for her to make sense of what had happened to her, and what hadn’t.
“You told me you loved me. I dreamed of a wedding and a baby girl.”
“Oh,” he said. His throat closed up.
“I’m not sure it was all a dream,” she told him. “Do you know anything about that?”
He cleared his throat. “How would I know anything about your dreams?” When her brows went up he hastily added, “Though they sound very nice.”
“Nice,” she repeated, then rolled her eyes. “Did I dream you saying you love me?”
He swallowed, then took all of his courage in both hands and answered with the truth. “No. You didn’t dream it. I said it, and I’ll say it again, I love you.”
“Was that so difficult?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Idiot. I love you too.” She paused. “What about the wedding?”
“That never got mentioned, but do you...” He hesitated, then decided that since he was being courageous he might as well go all the way. “Want one? With me?”
She shook her head and smiled. “Only ever with you.” She held out her hand to him and he strode over to take it, kissing her palm.
Relief coursed through him like a river bursting a dam. “I never talked about a little girl, but it just so happens that there are two little boys who need a family, a home. Ferhat was killed. But Coban and Berez are determined to take care of you the way you took care of them.”
“They’re okay?” Joy dawned on her face. “Could we really...?”
“There’s a lot of red tape to adopting, but given the circumstances, I think we could make it happen. It’s a lot to take on. We’d be going from single to a family with two kids.”
Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times before she managed to say, “It sounds wonderful. I thought I knew what courage was until I saw you come to my rescue,” she said, her smile so deep and happy he felt ten feet taller.
“You showed me what it was,” he countered. “You had faith in me even when I was certain I couldn’t do it.”
“That’s because you’re the best man I know. I knew you could do it. So...” She tilted her head to one side. “What’s a girl got to do to get out of this place?”
“Hmm, would you agree to some very private nursing by a relieved and grateful doctor?”
“If he’s as sexy as you, I think I could see my way to allowing it.”
“Then I’m happy to break you out of here,” Max said as he leaned over and kissed her. He pulled back after a couple of moments and cupped her face with one hand. “I thought I’d lost you, just when I figured out how much I loved you, needed you, wanted to be with you.”
“That’s how I felt when Akbar pulled me out of that broken building and left you to die inside. It took three of them to drag me away, and they had to beat the shit out of me to do it.”
“I’ll talk to your father about resigning my commission,” Max began, but she put a quivering finger over his mouth.
“No, it’s time for me to make a change. There are many people who can take my place in training the teams. I’m going to go private and be your very, very , personal bodyguard.”
“Are you sure? Your job has been important to you for a long time.”
“ We’re more important. Besides, I think your job is only going to get more interesting, and someone has to keep you out of trouble.”
That sounded perfect. Max smiled at her. “Yes, ma’am.”