I stepped forward, and the guy moved the knife to Adam’s throat. That small move exposed him just enough. Foster and I both fired, dropping the guy. As he fell, Adam collapsed, too. I rushed forward, catching him under his arms.
“Medic!” I yelled, lowering Adam to the ground. “Hang on, Woody. We’ve got you. We’re going to get you out of here.”
Adam’s hand came up to my face weakly.
“Brock…” His voice drifted off to nothing, and his arm went limp, falling to the dirt floor.
I scrambled, pulling off my gloves to feel for his pulse.
Nothing!
“ADAM!” I started CPR, screaming, “Medic!” between every breath.
Foster’s voice called out, echoing in my ear since he was still in the same room. “TOC, this is Alpha One. We need an immediate medivac. Alpha Two has been located and secured but is down hard.”
Tears poured down my face as I continued compressions. “Please, God, Adam. Don’t leave me.”
“Brock, move over. I’ve got him,” Alex said.
When I didn’t move, Foster grabbed my tactical vest and pulled me away. I fell back on my ass, and Alex Madison, who was our corpsman, moved into place. He slapped the AED pads on Adam’s chest. The sound of the flatline tones coming from the machine drowned out the world around me, making everything else sound far, far, away.
“Please, Adam!” I begged, kneeling over his head.
I wanted to look into his eyes and spend whatever time we could scrounge together with one another. I no longer gave a fuck if we were able to sleep together under the same roof or hold hands at a restaurant and while we walked down the street. I just wanted him to live. I’d take whatever I could fucking get.
Alex shocked Adam several times. His body jerked, arching up off the nasty ass floor. The smells of this room would have overwhelmed me if I’d allowed them to register at all, but all that got through for me was the glorious sound of Adam’s heart restarting. The beats were regular and beautiful.
I leaned over Adam, kissing his forehead, repeating “Thank you, Jesus” and “I love you, baby” over and over.
Foster called out to Carson, Eric, and James. “Keep everyone away from this room. No one gets through until I give the okay.”
“Roger that, Lieutenant.”
“Lieu,” Alex yelled, tossing Foster an IV kit.
I wanted to help, but at the moment, I didn’t have the capacity. I’d officially lost my shit. Foster knelt next to Adam, inserting the IV.
He handed me the bag of fluid. “Squeeze that.”
I did as ordered, still watching Adam’s face while Foster piggybacked another smaller bag of fluid. Alex and Foster continued working on Adam while I focused on squeezing thatsaline bag. His ragged breaths were music to my ears, only to be topped by the whirling thump, thump of a helicopter.
Foster stood, grabbing a blanket and the collapsible litter. “Let’s go! That’s Adam’s ride.”
Finlay came over to help us load Adam up. We rushed Adam out of the building to the courtyard of the compound.
We slid the litter into the chopper, and I stepped back, knowing I had a duty to stay with my team, but I wanted nothing more than to follow Adam. I turned to Foster, and he glared at me.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going? Get on that fucking bird. I expect regular updates.”
“Yes, Lieutenant,” I said around the lump in my throat.
I climbed into the chopper next to Adam and waved at my brothers as we lifted into the air.
CHAPTER 15
ADAM
SUMMER 2009
