“The most dangerous one was that time I went to the doctor with severe stomach pains, and they said my leggings were too tight.”
“What was it?”
“Ectopic pregnancy.”
“What?” Dakota’s face hardened. “You didn’t die, which I’m very grateful for. How did you survive that shit?”
“I went home, changed into a sack dress, and went to a different hospital.”
“Do you think if a guy walked in with severe stomach pains, they’d have suggested it was from his pants being too tight? Disgusting.”
“Yeah.” Rylee kicked her legs again.
And now Dakota knew that it probably had to do with the discomfort of neuropathy. He’d experienced that a bit since he’d broken his back. But it wasn’t something that got worse with time. “So you have the diagnosis, how are you feeling?”
“Jostled.”
“Are you worried about being part of a study?”
“To be honest?” Rylee asked. “No. not at all.”
“But you’rehere.”
“Might as well be. I’m a flight away from London. I’m leaving Wednesday morning. That will give me a day of downtime to rest a bit and a safety window if something unexpected happens. I get the prick on Friday.”
The ground beneath them rumbled, and Dakota pushed himself over the top of Rylee, bracing himself on his forearms to shield her.
A moment later, all was still.
“Aftershocks,” she whispered.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Dakota
Tuesday
“He’s there,” Kumar’s voice boomed triumphantly over the phone.
“What do you mean he’s here?” Dakota said from the top of a rubble heap.
“McLeod’s got a newsletter on his website. One just pinged in my in-box. He was in Israel taking photographs, and Israel was sending a response team on a boat. Somehow, he wiggled himself on. He didn’t say where the Israeli’s went to help, but McLeod said he was heading to the Turkish-Syrian border south of Kilis. Sound familiar?”
“Is there a date? I mean, I’ve been here. He hasn’t stopped by to say hi.”
“You said there are still standing buildings?”
“Standing and habitable shouldn’t take up the same space in your mind. Though no one was able to convince the folks to stay out. Until the tents get here, it’s shelter.”
“When is that, do you think?” Kumar asked.
“This afternoon. I had planned to go help Team Mike, but now I think I have to stick around and try to find McLeod.”
“Are the teams finding people alive?” Kumar asked.
“It’s a mess. The students that Iniquus went after are all alive. They’ve worked about a dozen out from the tangle of building material. The ones that are out are all living on the plane. Bravo has food, water, and air supplies going to the others. They’re good at what they do. Patient. Doing it right.”
The ground rumbled beneath him. It was a very strange sensation.
