Robin cleared her throat. All eyes turned to her.
The Watch Captain stared at her, and she narrowed her eyes. They wore the same tight expression and had identical bright blue eyes.
Now, something else made sense. Lissa laughed. “You two are related, aren’t you?”
Robin smiled, her glare evaporating. “Yes. Luke’s my uncle. He also seems to have forgotten that my due date is in a month.” She rubbed her pregnant belly. “I was hoping Kory would be here when the baby comes. Not on an errand someone else can take care of.” Her voice was syrupy sweet.
Christopher chortled and slapped the captain on the back. “Guess Kory’s staying.”
Lieutenant Walker smiled broadly and kissed his wife’s temple. “I’ll be here.”
The captain nodded. “My apologies. Of course.”
Cam squeezed Lissa’s hand. “I’ll go. I’ll accompany Lissa.”
She returned the pressure, her heart rate increasing. “I might not be able to travel for a while. Even if I get a ride home. The doctor examined me while you were out. I need to take it easy for a few weeks so they can monitor my progress.” They’d reminded her a gunshot wound could take weeks or even months for a full recovery. Hopefully, she wouldn’t have complications or nervedamage. Maybe she could do the remainder of her recovery at home.
Dismay filled her at the thought of how difficult her summer chores would be with only one healthy arm. She’d have to rig a different way to get water. Chopping firewood would have to wait. Her mind whirled, leaping from problem to problem. With so many tasks, she couldn’t stay here long. Her swirling thoughts were interrupted as her attention shifted back to the ongoing discussion.
“It’ll take us a while to clear the Slains from our immediate area anyway,” said the captain. “Then you two can take a vehicle.” His gaze flicked to Cam and Lissa holding hands. “Montgomery should go. Especially since he might be leaving us.” He arched an eyebrow.
Lissa glanced between Cam and his friends. She raised an eyebrow as she met his eyes. They were the same deep gray-green she’d missed, but the look in them was new. Tender. What was she missing?
“I’ll explain later,” he said. “We need you healthy before we travel to Nebraska. Did the doctor say how long you’ll be in the hospital?”
“I can be discharged tomorrow afternoon,” she said, careful not to show her panic, unsure where she’d stay if not here. Maybe xTerra had accommodations she could rent. Not that she had the means to pay.
“Don’t worry,” Cam said, as if reading her mind. “Stay with me. I have room.” Her heart fluttered as she met his steady gaze. “I want to take care of you, like you took care of me last fall.”
Tears welled up in her eyes, but she held on. She didn’t want to cry in front of strangers. Especially important ones. She clenched her jaw, barely keeping them contained. Her exhaustion from the last few days must be catching up.
“We’ll leave you two to sort out the details of your recovery,” said the mayor with a wink. “Lissa, thank you for coming. You risked your life running the gauntlet through the Slains, and we appreciate your efforts. Don’t worry. We’ll take it from here and make sure you’re safe.”
She hoped that was true.
“It was nice to meet you,” said Robin, taking Kory’s hand as she opened the door. “I’ll look for you at Cam’s in a few days, if you’d like some company.”
Lissa nodded, sending Robin a genuine smile. She and Kory were the first to leave, but the captain and the mayor followed on their heels, leaving Cam and Lissa alone.
“You don’t owe me.” She wanted to be sure that driving her to Nebraska wasn’t just an obligation. “If you don’t want to take me, they can find someone else.” She didn’t want to raise her hopes. If he changed his mind about returning with her, she’d end up crushed. She forced herself to meet his eyes.
Cam tightened his grip. “Sweetheart, if you’ll let me, I want to live with you. I want to be together. I don’t regret you or leaving early that morning. I was trying to spare us both heartache.” His gaze continued to hold hers. He leaned forward, every muscle rigid, seeming sincere. “The last months without you were miserable. Despite being here, surrounded by people, I’ve never felt more alone.” Considering his lonely past, that was a lot. He swallowed. “I planned to return before the fall, no matter the state of our conflict with the Slains.”
Some of the air returned to her lungs with his declaration. A few of the tears she’d contained escaped, rolling down her cheeks. She brushed them away. “I’m not usually such a crier.”
He stroked her jaw, sending tingles racing through her. “Blame the morphine. You’ve been through a lot. They’re a release. I’ve seen you cry before, and your tears don’t scare me. They’re part of you. Will you please stay at my bunker withme once you’re discharged? When you’ve passed all the medical checks, we’ll go home to Nebraska together.” The expression in his beautiful gray-green eyes might be hope.
She nodded. His forthright statements helped her pounding heart subside while the tightness in her chest abated. “I’d like that. I missed you too.” More than she could have imagined.
***
Two days post-surgery, Lissa was released from the Medical Center. She climbed stiffly out of the electric golf cart they’d driven to Cam’s bunker. Her left shoulder and arm were swathed in clean white bandages and nestled in a sling. She’d been told to report back to the Medical Center in a week’s time, and again in three weeks for a follow-up examination. If she was healing without complications, she’d be free to return to Nebraska after the second appointment.
“xTerra’s huge,” she said, turning a circle, taking in the view in all directions. “I couldn’t imagine the scope of 575 bunkers.” While the near and side walls were visible, the far end of the complex was too distant and disappeared over the horizon. xTerra wasn’t just a series of bunkers, it was its own walled city-state, like something from the olden days before countries.
“It’s something else, isn’t it?” Cam’s voice returned her to the present. He was watching her with a slightly crooked smile. God. She’d missed him.
The size of xTerra, rolling waves of bunker entrances arranged in rows, went for miles in each direction. Other than the cluster of aboveground buildings near the gate, almost everything else in this city was underground. Though Cam had described it last fall, it took seeing this place to realize the size of their community. Thousands of people lived here, even if she’donly seen a few in the Medical Center, including the mayor and her other visitors.
