The nurse arched her eyebrows in Caroline’s direction. “And you thought your wife could remove it?”
It was Caroline’s time to roll her eyes. She didn’t take offense to the woman’s doubtful tone in the least. “He did, despite my reservations.”
“Of course, he did not listen to you.”
“Nope,” Caroline said.
Reaper leaned up from his reclined position. “I didn’t exactly have much of a choice.”
The nurse gently eased him back down onto the table. “No, you didn’t,” she said quietly. “Your wife is a very lucky woman. You are blessed to have her. I hope you will have many strong sons.”
Heat rose to Caroline’s cheeks and she almost ducked before remembering her face was still covered by the scarf. The thought of having sons with Reaper was . . . enthralling. It was an expansion of her fantasy. Of course, it was just that: a fantasy. It would never come true. Reaper would keep risking his life on missions and Caroline would no doubt return to the sheltered life she’d always lived. But there was no way she was coming back from this unchanged. He’d put a fire in her belly that couldn’t be denied.
“Look in that cabinet behind you. There is a stack of small towels. Grab one and roll it tightly.”
Caroline did as the nurse instructed without question.
“You will need to bite down on that to keep from crying out,” the nurse said to Reaper. “When I pull the bandage, it will be painful and if you scream it will alert the guards.”
Reaper took the makeshift muzzle from Caroline’s grasp and placed it between his teeth, bearing down like a bulldog on a bone.
“Hold his hand. A man who has gone to so much trouble to protect you won’t harm you by squeezing too tight.” The nurse began peeling back Reaper’s bandage, and Caroline clutched his free hand, her own grip so tight it cut off the blood from her fingers. Although Reaper gripped her firmly, he didn’t hurt her.
“On a count of three, be ready. No matter how gentle I am, it’s still going to hurt, but the pain will be over with quickly.” The nurse waited on Reaper to nod, and then she gripped his shirt tightly in her fist and yanked. Reaper’s muffled moan filled the room, but it was mostly held in check by the towel stuffed into his teeth. His body bowed backward off the table and fresh blood poured from his torn-open wound. Without gasping or even hesitating, the nurse grabbed a nearby stack of bandages and began applying pressure to the wound. Reaching out blindly for Caroline’s hand, she said, “Keep the pressure. If you don’t he may bleed out.”
Caroline leaned her entire body weight into the wound, too scared to do anything but obey without question. The blood was still pouring out rapidly, saturating the once white bandage at a terrifying rate.
Within seconds, the woman had an IV in Reaper’s arm. She’d hung the bag from a hook on the small stainless steel table next to his head. “I’m going to remove the bullet, clean the wound and then stitch it up. If you’re lucky, you’ll pass out. But if you value your wife’s life, you will not scream.”
Tears pricked Caroline’s eyes and fell freely down into the line of the scarf covering her face, but she didn’t care one bit. Reaper was in so much obvious pain, and she wanted to do anything she could to take that away from him. But the only thing shecoulddo was hold his hand, a gesture that felt so inadequate next to everything he had risked for her.
The nurse lifted a small silver instrument that resembled a pair of angled scissors. She placed her free hand around the wound. “Lift the gauze. I’m going to dig out the bullet. If you can, try to keep as much of the blood out of my way as possible so I can move more quickly.”
Caroline looked to Reaper for reassurance, and God bless him he nodded, his face twisted with a look of absolute agony. Pulling up her reserves of strength and steadfastness, Caroline lifted the gauze sucked in a breath and gripped his free hand with all her might.
The nurse formed an L around his wound with her hand, splaying his flesh open and carefully inserting the instrument into his parted skin. He bowed up on the table and fell back down, panting. The nurse kept digging, and somehow Reaper managed to stay still. Droplets of sweat were absorbed into the material around Caroline’s face as she silently prayed for God to equip her with a miraculous way to ease his suffering.
As shivers racked his body, his fingers tightened around hers—but not enough to actually hurt her. Somehow, through what was clearly unimaginable torture, he still valued her safety. The realization nearly sent her to her knees.
Caroline vowed right then and there that she would do whatever it took to see this man safely back home, even if it meant going back to that lab and trading her life for his.
Finally, the nurse pulled out a narrow brass bullet, its front end crushed and burnt looking. She hissed a sharp breath and exclaimed, “They were trying to kill you with this for sure.”
A fresh gush of blood slid over Caroline’s hand and she immediately replaced the already saturated bandage, pressing as hard as she could against Reaper’s wound. He grunted in pain, but she knew she was doing what needed to be done in order for him to survive this.
Reaper’s eyes rolled back in his head and Caroline braced herself for him to pass out, but he didn’t fall into unconsciousness.
“Let it take you under,” the nurse said emphatically, “there is no need for you to be awake for this.” Reaper shook his head no. Stubborn, prideful, beautiful, strong man.
“Okay, I must again stretch the skin so that I can disinfect the wounds.” The nurse pulled a large dark brown bottle out from behind her and held it up. “Iodine.” She didn’t speak this time—just gestured for Caroline to remove the useless bandage. As soon as it was clear, the nurse poured the liquid onto Reaper’s wound. He bit down on the towel so hard, Caroline heard his jaw click, and his entire body trembled uncontrollably. Dear God, why wouldn’t he just let go? Any normal man would’ve passed out long before now.
But her man was anything but normal. He was a warrior. And he was fighting the pain forher. She dipped her head to his, whispering in his ear, “You’re so brave. Hold on just a little bit longer. It will be over soon.”
She felt his head tilt against hers, and she let herself believe that he actually welcomed her comfort—if only for the moment.
She couldn’t even watch the nurse work anymore. While she was distantly aware of the woman’s quick and efficient movements out of the corner of her eye, all of her attention was focused on Reaper. Even laid up, covered in dirt and blood and sweat, he amazed her. This was the kind of man who shouldn’t exist in real life. A real live knight in shining armor.
The first man she’d ever met whom she could actually picture herself spending the rest of her life with.
“Miss, I need to bandage him up now.”
Caroline lifted from Reaper, but her gaze didn’t shift from him. “Thank you.”
After a few more minutes, Reaper was freshly bandaged, the area around his shoulder clean. He laid back, his eyes closed and the towel still clenched between his teeth. Caroline gently pried the material from his lips, smoothing over the lines at the corners of his chin.
“He’ll need antibiotics. We keep those down the hall in the lockbox. I’ll do my best to get you some as soon as possible, but I may have to wait until the guards are distracted. Stay here. Don’t move. As soon as you’re able to, I’ll sneak you out of the hospital. The United States Embassy is fifty miles west of here. If you can get there, you’ll be safe.”
Unwilling to let go of Reaper’s hand, Caroline poured every single bit of gratitude she could into her expression. “We owe you our lives.”
“This is my job. It’s what I do. Now, stay put and don’t do anything stupid to ruin all the hard work I just put into him.” With that, the woman headed out of the room, leaving Caroline alone with Reaper.
