Page 79 of Brooks

It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the green tint and the room to come into focus. Max was standing to the side of the blown-out window, Kyle standing next to him struggling to tie his boots. Declan was coming into the living room strapping on his vest. Thad had AR15s slung over his shoulder. He dropped the load on the couch and took off back toward the bedrooms.

Declan picked an AR and tossed it in Brooks’ direction. He easily snagged the rifle midair and handed it back to me.

Another burst of gunfire splintered the door, bullets whizzing by us in all directions.

“Goddammit!” Declan yelled before he returned fire. “You two cover the back.”

“Roger.” Brooks turned and started back down the hallway we’d just come from.

Now that I could see the destruction, I was amazed the house hadn’t completely collapsed. Not to say it wouldn’t at any time. Plaster and other debris crunched under my boots, the odor of spent gunpowder thick in the small house told the seriousness of our situation.

“Take right,” Brooks ordered.

Wordlessly, I complied, covering our three o’clock as we approached the bullet-ridden back door. Brooks broke left without a moment to spare. The battered door blew in, exploding into hundreds of pieces of deadly flying shrapnel.

I turned my back to the blast and crouched, covering my head the best I could. Heat from the discharge waned, I stood and turned in time to see the first man enter, the barrel of his rifle aimed at Brooks’ prone body. Without hesitation, I pulled the trigger and moved to the man behind him, firing a second round. With my night vision goggles askew from the initial attack on the door, I’d missed the third man. The wind was knocked out of me right before hot, searing pain radiated through my left arm. I stumbled back, lost my footing, and landed on my ass with a bone-jarring thud.

This was it, this was how I died, on the floor of a ramshackle house in the middle of the Saudi desert, never telling Brooks I loved him back. Fuck. This couldn’t be it. This was not how I was going to let our story end. I had to pull my shit together, not fighting would be suicide. With great effort, I lifted my AR. More gunfire exploded. Mine and his. Both bullets tore through flesh, mine pierced his throat, his hit my leg. Red liquid soaked my clothes as blood freely flowed from my gunshot wounds. The pain was near-crippling. Neither would stop me from getting to Brooks.

It was a miracle I’d gotten to my feet at all, but once I did, I wished I’d crawled. I could’ve moved faster if I’d stayed on my hands and knees. With awkward, jerky strides, I got to Brooks. Blood was covering his face and for a moment I was afraid I was going to throw up. The bitter scent of smoke and blood mingled together into a pungent smell that threatened to take my breath.

The guys were still taking gunfire from the front of the house. If I didn’t move Brooks to safety we’d both die. At least I hoped he was still alive. He wasn’t moving and there was so much blood pooling around him, I wasn’t sure what was his, the three dead men’s, or mine. It all was mixing together in a brew of demise.

Balanced the best I could on my good leg, I reached down and found the grab drag handle on the back of Brooks’ tactical vest and prayed to all things holy I had the strength to move him.

“Come on, Brooks, move.” I yanked as hard as I could and staggered before I caught my balance.

He’d only moved a fraction of an inch, but it was something. It was going to take an act of God, he was so much bigger than me, and my leg was screaming in pain. The team was engaged in a firefight, I was Brooks only chance. Our only chance. Even if I yelled for help, I doubted the guys would’ve been able to hear me over the barrage of bullets being exchanged.

Ten feet, I just had to get him back into the hallway. On an exhale, I pulled and he slid. With a strength I hadn’t known I possessed, I continued to pull. We inched our way down the hall. It seemed like it took forever, I was exhausted by the time I felt it safe enough to stop. It wasn’t as far as I’d wanted to take him, but at least we weren’t in the doorway anymore. It may’ve taken minutes, or it may’ve taken an hour. I had no perception of time. I was fucked, completely and totally screwed. My vision was blurring, and I was getting lightheaded. I needed to check Brooks’ injuries, but I knew if I tried to kneel beside him, I’d never get up. The only thing that was keeping me alive was adrenaline and it was quickly waning.

“I’m so fucking sorry, Brooks!” I screamed in frustration.

There was nothing left for me to do. I didn’t have enough energy to pull the combat gauze or the WoundStat from my vest. Either of those would at least slow the bleeding in my leg. All I could do was keep my AR trained toward the back door and shoot anyone who tried to enter.

“I love you,” I whispered.

A cold chill raced down my spine – what if Brooks was already dead, what if he was waiting for me on the other side? What if I just closed my eyes for a second? What if—

Chapter 34

I was in the seventh circle of hell. It had been five hours since I’d lost sight of Tatiana. She had been hanging onto life by the thinnest of hairs as she was rushed into surgery.

When I’d come to, Max and Thad were working on her injuries and Declan was performing CPR. If she pulled through, it would be because of them. And Tex. Not me. I’d laid there passed out while my woman was bleeding out, slowly dying, as she protected me. Max, Thad, and Declan had saved her life for obvious reasons, and Tex because he’d been watching the area using drone footage and saw the attack. He was able to call in backup and a medivac. If it weren’t for him, she would’ve died right there on the floor of that fucking house. With me watching, too stunned to do a goddamn thing.

“It’s Tex,” Declan announced, holding his phone out.

We had the small waiting room at the North Armed Forces Trauma Center all to ourselves. The food Kyle had gone out to get remained untouched on the small table. The team was surviving on coffee and energy drinks.

“Go ahead. You’re on speaker.”

“First, I wanted to tell you I dialed into the hospital’s database. There're no updates, but I’ll keep checking.” That was a nice way of saying he’d hacked into the hospital records. “There’s a Delta team ready and waiting for my go-ahead. Shit time to ask, but I have to know. Should I give Ghost the green light or are you going back in?”

His question was a punch to the gut. Another reminder we’d failed our mission. Al Issa was still breathing, even if the small army he’d sent to take us out weren’t. I’d never forgive myself for letting my team down. While they’d been battling for their lives, I was of no help. Truth be told, I was the weak link. I could’ve gotten them all killed. Tatiana had covered the rear of the building, only finally laying her gun down when the last man was dead.

The team had told me when they came into the hallway, she was standing over me; sheet white, panting, arm shaking, holding her AR. But she’d not given up. It wasn’t until Declan told her they were clear that she had dropped. Literally, like a ton of bricks, she just collapsed.

She was a motherfucking warrior queen. A hero. And I hated myself that she’d had to be one because my pansy ass was asleep.