“I wanted to the first time…” Axle’s voice held regret.
“You did the right thing,” Dobby told him.This job was all about making the hard decisions and it was his fault Hawk had fallen.
“Thank you for saving me,” Mila said, her voice soft.She trembled in his arms.He shifted so she could lean against his chest, ignoring her soaked clothing, and stroked her arm.She flinched.
“Are you injured?”He hadn’t thought to check her.
“My whole body feels as if I’ve been in a washing machine on fast spin, but aside from bruises and scratches, I’m relatively unscathed.”She started coughing, her body wracking, and she fumbled with the button on the window.
Dobby hesitated, wanting to stroke her back, but not wanting to hurt her any further.She seemed so fragile and yet so strong at the same time.
She spat water out of the window.
“How much water did you swallow?”Axle asked.
“A bit.”
“Stomach or lungs?”Though Axle’s question was casual, Dobby heard the concern behind it.
She finished coughing.“Stomach I think.I vomited a lot after the wave receded.”
“We’ll get you checked out by a doctor when we get back to the ship.”
“Thanks.”She shifted, peeling her shoulder bag from her body and placing it on the floor.
Her fragility sparked a flame deep in his gut and with it came anger.“What were you still doing down there?I told you to get out.”
She flinched.“People needed help.”
He opened his mouth to challenge her, but she beat him to it.“Should I have forgotten about Hawk and left him behind?”
The guilt hit him and he bit his tongue.“What happened to your moped?”
She squirmed and the movement came dangerously close to his crotch.He shifted slightly as his body reacted.
“Well?”he demanded, trying to keep his mind off the fact that her very thin sleep shorts weren’t much barrier to her bare skin.
“An old woman stole it as I ran back to get a crying child.I got the child on the bike before the woman took off.The tsunami was almost on us.”
He growled.
“My thoughts exactly,” she said.“I had no choice but to run.”
“You’re lucky you survived,” Dobby said.
“I know.”Her soft words made him clutch her a little tighter as if he could protect her from the memory of what she’d been through.
“I’m Axle by the way,” Axle said.“I’m guessing you’re the ex?”
She nodded.“Mila.”She glanced at Dobby.
“Dobby,” he said and then winced.“At least that’s what everyone calls me.My name is Damien.”
Her smile lit up his world and then she glanced at Hawk in the backseat.He was silent, but his eyes were open, and he was watching them.“Have you got extraction planned?”
“We did,” Dobby answered.“But it was by sea.”
She winced.“Zodiac?”
