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Her lashes fluttered, a small smile bloomed on her face. It was so clear, all of it. Mike was running a finger over the back of her hand, slowly, lightly, slowly turning the ring this way and that. How could she ever forget? She heard a bee buzzing around her, and a beautiful yellow bird she didn’t recognize landed on a lower branch of a nearby willow. Odd, she could hear and feel her own breathing, how it had slowed even more. Was that Mike’s breathing she heard, too, or was it Dr. Hicks?
Dr. Hicks studied her painfully young face, knew a warrior was behind that face. He pulled a shiny gold round watch on a chain from his jacket pocket and held it up. “Open your eyes now and look at this very old watch.”
Olivia opened her eyes, blinked. “You really want me to look at a watch?”
Dr. Hicks smiled at her sarcasm. “Of course, a swinging watch sounds hackneyed. It’s nothing more than something to look at, really, but this watch belonged to my grandfather, it’s an old friend of mine. Look at the watch now, Olivia, nothing else. Listen to my voice and look at the watch moving, empty out all the questions from your mind, all the worries, let them float away from you until there’s only my voice. You’re safe with me, never forget that.”
Olivia kept her eyes on the shining gold watch as it swung gently back and forth, the hot sun warming her face and the buzzing bee slowly fading, and there was only the gentle swaying of the watch and Dr. Hicks’s voice. She slipped away.
Dr. Hicks leaned toward her, his voice quiet, calm. “You are perfectly safe, Olivia. Nothing can hurt you. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I understand.”
“I want us to go back together to that day when you and your team went into Iran. Where are we?”
“We’ve crossed the plateau and we’re hiking in the Zagros Mountains. We’re going to meet Hashem there and escort him to the border into Iraq.”
“Do you see Hashem?”
“Yes, through my binoculars I see him running all out from Iranian soldiers. The soldiers are firing at him. I see him stumble, but he gets up, keeps running. I want to protect him, but all we can do is cover him from our position on high ground, and now the soldiers see us and fire at us, too. He’s so close, I can see he’s heaving for breath, and then he’s hit and he stumbles to his knees. Mike is closest and he runs and picks Hashem up while we cover them, and Mike carries him behind a boulder. I run over to them.” She stiffened, shook her head, back and forth.
Dr. Hicks took her hand. “You’re safe here with us, Olivia, with me and Agent Savich. Nothing can hurt you. These are memories. They feel real, but they won’t hurt you. Don’t forget that.” Dr. Hicks nodded to Savich.
Savich said, “Olivia, I know you want to help Hashem, and you’re close to him and to Mike. Is Mike bending over him?”
“Yes, he’s pulled him onto his side, trying to stop the bleeding from his chest. I yell at Higgs and Andi to cover us. Andi wants to come over, but she can’t, she’s got to help Higgs.”
“But you’re there, next to Hashem?”
“Yes, both Mike and I are. I’m tearing off my sleeve so Mike can press it against the wound in Hashem’s chest. There’s so much dirt and shards from the rocks flying, and the noise, it’s deafening.”
“Can you hear what Hashem is saying to Mike?”
Olivia gasped, her head jerked back. Dr. Hicks squeezed her hand. She calmed.
“Hashem is whispering, ‘They betrayed me, they betrayed us.’
“I’m on my knees. I lean in closer. I hear him wheezing for breath, see blood bubbling on his mouth. He knows he’s dying, his breath is failing, but he’s hanging on, desperately. He’s looking directly at Mike, manages to pull him closer, presses something into Mike’s hand. ‘The guard knew where I was headed, came out of nowhere. Someone told them. Langley? The field office? Take this flash drive to Washington, deliver it only to someone you trust completely.’ Hashem’s choking on his own blood, shivering violently, but then he manages to whisper, ‘Missile guidance components—not Chinese or Russian, they’re French. You have to stop them.’ He pulls his hand from Mike’s and leaves the flash drive in Mike’s hand, tries to close his fist over it. His blood is on it. He whispers, ‘Tell my wife I love her.’ He seizes and then he’s gone, just gone, and for an instant I can’t believe he’s dead, don’t want to accept it. Then I hear Andi yelling to me for more ammo, and I jump up and run to her and Higgs, lay down more fire, but Mike stays with Hashem.
“Higgs yells, ‘RPG!’ Then there’s nothing.” Olivia jerked her head, heaving. Savich squeezed her hands, felt her slowly calm. He looked over at Dr. Hicks, who whispered, “And yet she survived. Amazing.”
Savich nodded. “She was told Mike carried her out, and Andi and Higgs brought out Hashem’s body.” He leaned close to her again. “Olivia, did Mike visit you in the military hospital in Balad?”
“Balad? Yes, a nurse told me he did.”
“Remember Balad, Olivia. You’re sedated, you’re confused, but do you hear Mike talking to you? Do you remember what he said?”
She shook her head back and forth. “His voice, I love his voice, all deep and scratchy. He smoked until he got smart and quit, when he was twenty-two, he told me. Yes, he’s with me, close. I can feel his breath on my check, and he’s kissing me, smoothing my hair.”
Olivia was quiet, frowning. “He’s saying he has to leave me, he won’t see me again until I get back home. He wishes I could come with him because there’s no one he can trust, except me. Then he kisses me again. I don’t want him to go, but I can only lie there.”
“And you haven’t heard from him since that day in Balad?”
She slowly shook her head, swallowed. “I’m so afraid for him. They’ll want to kill him, they’ll want him dead.”
Savich wanted to tell her Mike wasn’t going to die on his watch, but he remained silent, nodded to Dr. Hicks. “Olivia, on the count of three you’re going to wake up. You’ll feel refreshed and relaxed, and you’ll remember everything you told us.”
Olivia opened her eyes, blinked several times, and smiled. “So it’s about some kind of missile technology, and it’s French.”
Savich smiled at her. “Yes, that’s what Hashem told you and Mike. You did it, Olivia.”
Olivia looked at Dr. Hicks and said with wonder in her voice, “I remembered everything, all of it. Thank you, Dr. Hicks. Will you give me tickets to your next Elvis performance?”
