Chapter 7 #2
Mustang informed him that she’d already been led away.
Then he and the rest of the team had to debrief about the mission.
He’d had to explain what he’d done at the hospital, and where he and Lexie had hidden out all day.
He’d listened as the rest of his team reported about Dagmar’s death and what they’d done to avoid the groups of men looking for Lexie and Dagmar.
The digital meeting with their commander back in Hawaii had gone on for three hours. Once everything had been recorded and reported and their superior officers were satisfied for the time being, Midas and the rest of the team were dismissed.
They had a few hours to get some sleep, then right after first light, they were being flown to South Korea before heading back to Hawaii. Midas was exhausted, but there was no way he’d be able to sleep without seeing how Lexie was doing.
He was sure she was fine. She was probably sleeping anyway, but leaving without talking to her seemed…wrong. It felt as if they had unfinished business. After all, they’d been interrupted right after that amazing kiss, and he hadn’t even had a chance to let her know he wanted to keep in touch.
“You going to find Lexie?” Mustang asked in the narrow hallway outside the conference room they’d been in for the last few hours. The other guys had already left to hit the showers and to catch some z’s.
“Yes,” he said, a little more forcefully than he’d meant to.
“Easy,” Mustang said. “I was just asking.”
“Sorry. I know.”
“Things were pretty intense there for a while, huh?” Mustang asked.
Midas nodded. “She was amazing though. Didn’t panic. Even when we had to go out the window of the hospital, she didn’t even flinch. She ran through the streets with me without shoes on, Mustang. And not once did she complain about it.”
“She doesn’t seem like the complaining type,” his friend said. “It’s damn lucky you two ran into that woman she knew.”
“Yeah. But here’s the thing, if it wasn’t her, I’m convinced it would’ve been someone else. She doesn’t have a mean bone in her body and is generous to a fault.”
Mustang tilted his head. “It sounds as if she’s more than a mission to you.”
“I think she is,” Midas admitted out loud for the first time. Then he shook his head. “But there’s no way this is gonna work out.”
Mustang laughed. Actually threw his head back and laughed at him.
Midas glared at his friend. “You’re an asshole,” he said, frowning.
“I’m sorry,” Mustang said, not sounding sorry at all. “But you’re standing there saying it’s impossible for anything to work out with the woman you rescued, to a man who recently married a woman he rescued while on a mission halfway across the world from where he lives.”
Midas pressed his lips together. His friend’s comment was convoluted, but he’d made his point.
Mustang went on. “Look. I know how you feel, okay? Out of everyone on the team, I know. You know how crazy I was when we got back to Hawaii and I was waiting to hear from Elodie. I drove you all nuts. But there was something about her that was different than anyone else I’d met.
The odds of us making it were slim to none, but I’m standing in front of you a very happily married man, madly in love with his wife, telling you not to give up.
I’ve never seen you this worked up about a woman, Midas.
Don’t let her be your biggest regret. A relationship with her might not be easy, but it could also be the best thing that’s ever happened to you. ”
“I just don’t know how it can work out.”
“I didn’t either. All I knew was that it sucked that I had to leave Elodie on that ship,” Mustang said. “You just gotta trust that if you and her are meant to be, it’ll work out.”
“Well, that was vague as shit,” Midas complained.
Mustang chuckled. “Sorry. Go find her, Midas. Tell her flat out that you want to keep in touch. See where things go from there.”
“Thanks,” Midas said.
Mustang clapped him on the shoulder and nodded. “For the record? I like her. I obviously don’t know her as well as you do, but I can see the appeal.”
His friend’s approval meant a lot to Midas. It wouldn’t’ve stopped him from keeping in touch with her regardless, but it felt a hell of a lot better to know Mustang approved.
Midas knew he should probably shower before he tracked down Lex, but he was too impatient to see her.
To find out what the doctor had said. To make sure she was good.
It took a bit to find the infirmary because he wasn’t familiar with the ship, but after a few wrong turns, and asking some of the sailors who were out and about even at this time of night, he found it.
Midas had no idea if she would still be there, but it was a place to start.
He pushed open the door and looked around the room. There were several examination tables, as well as twin-size cots along the back wall, for those patients who needed extra monitoring. His eyes immediately zeroed in on the only cot in the back that was occupied.
Midas walked toward it, eager to talk to Lexie.
But when he got his first glimpse of her, his stomach dropped.
She was lying on her side, and he could literally see the blanket over her vibrating because she was shaking so hard.
“What the fuck?” he muttered. Midas went to his knees beside the low bed and put his hand on Lexie’s shoulder. “Lex?” he asked.
She rolled over—and Midas mentally kicked himself in the ass. Her face was red and blotchy from crying, her eyes were swollen and, even as he watched, more tears spilled over her lids.
Without a word, he got up and gently scooted her over, climbing onto the small twin mattress with her.
“Midas? What are you—”
“Move over,” he said, interrupting her.
She did as he asked, although the tiny amount of space left on the mattress wasn’t going to be enough.
So Midas switched to a position he knew would work.
He lifted Lexie and rolled to his back, tucking her against him in the same position they’d been in for most of the day.
It was hard to believe they’d been in that hole only hours ago.
Instead of protesting, Lexie snuggled into him and turned her face against his shoulder. Her arm went across his chest, and this time he could feel everything. Without his Kevlar vest and all his battle accoutrement, she felt even better against him.
“You’re so warm,” she said softly.
Midas shifted so he could pull the blanket she’d been using up and over her shoulders. “They always keep the infirmary cold, I don’t know why,” he told her.
“It’s fine. It’s just, after spending all that time in the hot desert, I think my body’s all out of whack.”
It was good to hear her talking somewhat normally, but Midas was still kicking himself for not being there when her adrenaline finally wore off and she broke.
“Are you all right? What did the doctor say? Why are you still in the same scrubs you’ve been wearing all day? And are you seriously still wearing Shermake’s shoes?” Midas asked, feeling the sneakers against his calves as she curled around him.
“He said I was dehydrated,” Lexie answered, irritation easy to hear in her tone.
“He got annoyed with me when I wouldn’t change.
He was condescending and made me feel as if somehow getting kidnapped was my fault.
I got the impression he was hoping I was all banged up or shot or something, and when all he could find wrong was that I was hungry, dirty, and thirsty, he was disappointed. ”
Midas’s irritation rose tenfold. But he did his best to keep his voice calm as he spoke. “I’m guessing life on an aircraft carrier isn’t always the most exciting for the ship’s doctor. I’m sorry he made you feel that way.”
She shrugged but didn’t comment. Eventually her shaking subsided, and Midas felt her sigh against him.
“Midas?”
“Yeah, Lex?”
“What are you doing here?”
“You think I was gonna leave without saying goodbye?” he asked.
She shrugged again. “I don’t know anything about how the military works. I figured you and your friends might leave right away.”
“No. We had to debrief,” he told her. “After we landed, I was talking to the guys who flew us out, and then I turned around and you were gone.”
“I was gonna say something, but you were busy…and the woman who greeted me seemed anxious to get me inside,” Lexie said.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
She shook her head. “No, it’s fine.”
“You eat?”
“Yeah. The doctor called someone and they brought me something.”
“Something?” Midas questioned.
“Yeah, don’t ask me what it was. Some kind of meat in a heavy sauce. Honestly, I was so hungry I would’ve eaten anything.”
“You get your sweet coffee?” he asked.
She snorted. “No. Two bags of IV fluids and two bottles of water.”
“To be fair, that was probably better for you.”
“I know.”
“You know there’s a shower in here,” he said gently.
“It’s stupid, but the more the doctor tried to convince me to change, the more nervous it made me. I don’t have anything, Midas. Nothing. No clothes. No shoes. Not even underwear. And if they take these scrubs away…” Her voice trailed off.
Midas got it. He did. “It’s okay,” he said.
“It’s not. I’m being ridiculous. I mean, these scrubs aren’t even really mine. I’ve only had them less than a day. They’re dirty and sweaty…but they’re literally all I have.”
Midas’s heart ached.
“And I’m not giving up Shermake’s shoes. He gave them to me when they were probably the only pair he had. Yeah, he can get another from whatever charity organization is giving them out, but still.”
“It’s okay,” he assured her again, running a hand over her hair. It was just as unruly as the last time they’d lain together, but this time his hands were free and he had room to touch her. His fingers tangled in the thick strands, and he couldn’t help but smile.
“If you’re not careful, you’ll lose your hand,” she told him.
She’d stopped crying, which Midas was grateful for. He hated to think of her lying alone in this room, cold, uneasy, and upset. “I’ll risk it,” he told her.