Chapter 26
“Wake up, Summer.”
Her eyes opened, squinting against the bright overhead lights. Her head hurt and she sat up, holding the blanket over her clothes. She was in a small room bordered by cots in HERO Force headquarters where she’d collapsed after the ordeal at the missile silo.
They’d been airlifted through the massive hydraulic doors—first her father, Luke to a waiting ambulance, then herself. It was some time later before Mac was able to retrieve Moto and T-ball’s body and sent them up on a stretcher, finally being lifted himself.
Summer had stood in the cold, watching it all. Her burned foot was sore but was far less severe than the others’ injuries. She didn’t feel right accompanying Luke to the hospital, and besides, she needed to see that this was truly finished.
She rubbed her eyes. “What time is it?”
Mac O’Brady was sitting on a folding chair next to her bed. “A little before nine in the morning. I was hoping we could talk.”
She shrugged. “Okay. Sure.”
“I know Wiseman told you what happened to your brother. And you’re mad.”
“Hurt.” She looked at her hands. “I don’t really know how I feel after yesterday.”
“Well, that’s something you’ll have to figure out.
But I have something to add.” He sat back in his chair.
“You should know, Luke waited longer than he should have. A good thirty seconds longer, and any one of those seconds could have killed us all. I was shitting a brick thinking we were all going to die if he didn’t do something, and every man out there knew why he hadn’t. None of us wanted Buckeye to die.”
She raised her chin. “He was an acceptable loss. A sacrifice made to save others.”
“I don’t think so, but go ahead. See it your way. Just answer me this. Would it be better if we were all dead? He was in there too long. Either he died or we all did, but either way he couldn’t have survived. You have to see that.”
“I don’t have to see anything. My government told me my brother died protecting an outpost, but that isn’t what happened. He died because the men who were supposed to protect him killed him instead.”
“Luke tried to save him and damn near got killed himself.”
“Hiding behind sandbags is hardly putting himself in danger.”
“Jesus H. Christ, he didn’t tell you.” Mac shook his head and blew out air.
She furrowed her brow. “Didn’t tell me what?”
“He went in there. Yes, he detonated the explosives to save the rest of our asses, then he ran in that storage building and tried to save your brother, too. But there must have been a faulty wire on the explosives. Half the charges didn’t go off until he was already inside. Blew off his leg from the knee down.”
“Oh, my God…” In her mind’s eye she could see it, too, see the horror on Luke’s face as he tried to save her brother. And she’d blamed him. Oh, how she’d blamed him!
“Blew him clear of the building. Some superficial wounds, a nasty concussion. It killed him that he lost Buckeye, Summer. Just like it must have killed you.”
She looked down at her hands twisted in the blanket. “Why didn’t he tell me this? Why did he let me think…”
“Because that’s the way he sees it in his mind, and he’s never let himself forget. Going into that burning building to save him doesn’t even stand out in his memory.”
“Which hospital is he in?”
“Lenox Hill.”
She already knew he was okay, having waited to get word before falling asleep last night. But still, she hadn’t gone to him. “Do you think he wants to see me?”
“I do.”
“Will you take me to him?”
He smiled. “This is New York. I don’t have a car, but I’ll be happy to grab you a cab.”