Even though Rex knew Avery had no idea what Phantom was talking about, she did an amazing job of going with it. “How did it make you feel?” she asked.
“Pissed off,” Phantom said between clenched teeth. “All I could see was little legs and arms. It wasn’t fair, there was no reason for the rebels to kill all those children.”
“Then what happened?” Avery asked when Phantom didn’t continue.
“We heard the rebels coming. They were laughing and shooting at who knows what as they walked toward the orphanage. I was pissed that they sounded so carefree when the children in that pit could no longer laugh at all.”
“Did you kill them?” Avery asked, leaning over so she was almost nose to nose with Phantom.
“No. We had to leave. Get Piper and the kids away. I looked back once more though and— Holy shit!”
“What?” Avery asked. “What did you see?”
This time, when Phantom answered, his gaze moved from Avery to Rex, who was still hovering over him, holding his shoulders. “Kalee had moved! Her foot wasn’t in the same place it had been when I’d first seen her.”
Rex stiffened. He wanted to tell Phantom that he was wrong. That the Peace Corps volunteer they’d originally gone to Timor-Leste to rescue had definitely been dead. But the certainty in his teammate’s eyes kept him silent.
“Kalee was alive!” he said in an anguished tone. “That’s what’s been bugging me about the mission. It wasn’t about failing, not entirely. Subconsciously, I saw proof she wasn’t dead yet—and we still left her there!”
“Easy, man,” Rex said.
“You believe me, don’t you?” Phantom begged.
“Yes,” Rex told him immediately. Because he did. He had no idea what they could do about it now, months later, but he believed his fellow SEAL.
“Shit. Motherfucker. God damn it!” Phantom swore. “We have to go back. Have to find her!”
“Phantom, you know as well as I do that it’s unlikely she’s alive after all this time,” Rex said.
“Do I? We don’t even know if she was injured. We couldn’t see the front side of her, only the back. Maybe she was just unconscious. Maybe she’s up there in the hills alone and scared out of her mind and wondering how the hell she’s going to get home.”
“All right, Phantom. I’ll get with Commander North and we’ll see what we can find out.”
“Tex. Tell Tex! He’s supposed to be on the lookout for anything unusual. Maybe there’s been a sighting of a red-haired American or something.”
“She’s got red hair?” Avery asked. “She’s tough then.”
Phantom looked at Avery once again. “I don’t know a damn thing about her, but if she survived whatever happened at that orphanage, she’s extremely tough.”
“Of course she is,” Avery said calmly. “And I have no doubt if she’s alive, you’ll do whatever you can to find her and bring her home, just like you did me. Now, we’re going to land in a minute and twenty seconds. I’m going to be hanging on to you and your artery like a sex-starved monkey. There will be lots of yelling, probably by me, and chaos. Just ignore it. Concentrate on me. You’re doing amazing. The fact that you’re still conscious makes me think you’re part superhero, but if you feel the need to take a little nap, go right on ahead.”
As Avery continued to inform Phantom of what was going to happen after they landed, Rex saw for himself why she was such a good nurse. She used a combination of humor and bluntness to put her patient at ease.
Then she leaned close to him and said in a dead-serious tone of voice, “You aren’t dying, Phantom. So don’t you even try to give Cole or your other teammates some bullshit last directives or anything. You just have a small little boo-boo on your artery. The surgeon will put in three stitches, tops, and you’ll be good to go in a few weeks. Hear me?”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Phantom said.
Rex could tell Phantom hadn’t finished processing what he’d just remembered, but he did his best to concentrate on what was going on around him.
“I’m not leaving you until we’re in the operating room. One, because I refuse to let go of your leg until the doc is there with his needle and thread, but two, because we also don’t know who the traitor is. And if he happens to be a fucking nurse or doctor, I’m not leaving you at their mercy. Understand?”
“If you don’t marry Rex, I’m gonna propose myself,” Phantom told her.
Avery rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You don’t want me. We’d drive each other crazy within a week.”
The chopper jolted when its skids hit the asphalt with a thud. Avery turned her head and began spitting out orders to the Night Stalkers, who rushed to do exactly as she said.
Rex turned his head and saw the rest of their team rushing toward the chopper. They’d obviously been informed by the pilot of what had happened. The door was wrenched open and hot air filled the cabin. He gently removed the headphones from Avery’s head, then Phantom’s.
“Is it safe for me to let go of him?” Rex asked.
Avery nodded. “He’s not going anywhere. Right, Phantom?”
“Right,” the other man said between clenched teeth.
“Remember what I said,” Avery warned him. “No last directives to your team. You can talk to them in a few hours when you’re out of surgery and on your way back to the States. Okay?”
“You’re kinda mean,” Phantom told her.
Avery smiled. “I know. That’s what all my patients say at first.”
“At first?” Phantom breathed.
“Yup. Then they realize that I’m always right and everything I said in the heat of the moment was for their benefit. Then they love me and say I’m the most amazing nurse they’ve ever had.”
It was Phantom’s turn to smirk and roll his eyes.
Rex breathed a sigh of relief. Somehow Avery had pulled off a miracle. She’d not only gotten Phantom to remember the very thing he’d spent the last few months agonizing over, but she’d made him smile. All while holding his leg together with her bare hands.
“What the fuck happened?” Rocco asked impatiently when Rex climbed out of the helicopter.
“Long story, but the bottom line is that Phantom got nicked by a bullet as we were being hauled up the ladder into the chopper,” Rex said.
“All that blood’s from him?” Ace asked.
“Yep.”
“The lieutenant’s all right?” Gumby asked.
“Yeah, blood’s all Phantom’s,” Rex reassured the others.
“How in the hell is he still conscious?” Bubba murmured.
“Because he’s stubborn,” Rex said. But he knew that wasn’t it. It was because of Avery. She’d willed him to stay with her. By making him think about something other than his injury and pain, she’d basically slowed his heart rate.
Not to mention her clamping his artery with her fingers.
“Gurney!” someone from behind them yelled.
The five men scooted out of the way but didn’t leave the area. Rex steadied Avery as she awkwardly climbed out of the chopper, her hand still on Phantom’s leg.