“No.” He grinned. “I’m here because this is going to be awesome. Checking you out is part of the bonus.”
“Well, no worries. Your sister and I are not a thing.”
Nilay shook his head in disbelief. “She may be mad right now, but she’ll get over it.”
Daniel shrugged.
“She told me to behave myself when I came out here with you and not be a pain,” Nilay continued, “and not bother you. She wouldn’t have made a point to call me about all that if she wasn’t thinking about forgiving you.”
Daniel’s traitorous heart did a flip. He didn’t really deserve that forgiveness, though clearly he was ready to accept it.
“You’ve got a stupid look on your face.”
Daniel knew he did. But try as he might, he couldn’t remove the grin. He might still have a chance. He parked the car and they both got out, heading for the front entrance this time, so Daniel could sign Nilay in.
“Make no mistake about it.” Nilay stopped and looked Daniel square in the eye, that seriousness back in his eyes for a moment. “You saw what happened in the bar. I’m not afraid of much. If you hurt her, I’ll have to hurt you. I don’t care that your muscles are twice the size of mine.” He glanced at Daniel’s biceps and swallowed hard, the intensity of his gaze unwavering. “Well, maybe I do—but it won’t stop me. Understood?”
Daniel stood frozen for a moment. And in that moment, he was not standing in front of a young boy who was half his age, and easily half his size. He was facing a brother who cared enough for his sister that nothing else mattered. Daniel knew this was another reason he should run from Annika: Nilay would just be another person he hurt when he hurt her. “That won’t be necessary. I’d never do anything to hurt her.”
But that meant he couldn’t see her again—ever.
Nilay nodded and broke into a smile, a regular teenager again. “I knew you were a good guy.”
They entered the building, and Nilay presented his ID while Daniel chatted with the administrator and signed him in.
Nilay was a hit with the night shift as he placed doughnuts and bagels on the food table. He was enjoying a doughnut and getting his questions answered when Crista and the pilot, Andrea, came on duty. Daniel made introductions and waited for Andrea to start briefing.
Crista’s smirk said more than Daniel wanted to deal with at the moment, so he did everything he could to avoid eye contact with her.
“So, you want to be a flight medic?” she asked Nilay.
“Well, actually, I don’t know. I kind of want to go to med school, but this seems really interesting, and Daniel said I could tag along. And I brought food my mom cooked.” He smiled. “Indian food.”
Crista’s eyes lit up at that. “You brought Indian food? Kid, you can observe here anytime.”
Andrea cleared her throat. “You guys okay if we start working here?”
Crista high-fived Nilay and turned to Andrea. “Let’s hear the brief, already.”
Andrea sighed and went through the pilot’s brief, going over the weather, maintenance and what the role of the observer should be. She finished up and fixed a hard stare on Nilay. “Stick with Daniel, don’t get in the way.”
Wide-eyed and stiff, Nilay nodded. Daniel clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t mind her. She’s just giving you a hard time. Come on, I’ll show you where to put your stuff.” He led Nilay back to the room he’d had Annika in for her stitches. A small closet had a couple of shelves in it, one of which belonged to Daniel. He squeezed Nilay’s backpack onto it and put on his flight suit.
“Now what?” Nilay bounced, unable to sit still.
“Now we wait.”
Crista came over and stood in the doorway. “Hey, Nilay, how’s your sister’s hand doing?”
“Oh, she’s doing great. Daniel’s awesome at stitches.”
Daniel closed his eyes and shook his head. Nilay needed to understand what a secret was.
“That he is.” Crista grinned wide, her eyes dancing with knowledge. “Well, kid. Andrea informed me that the chopper needs cleaning, and she can be convinced to tell you all about flying while you do it.”
Nilay’s face lit up like a kid at Christmas. “I get to hang out on the chopper? Sure! I’ll do whatever!” He glanced at Daniel before leaving. “Okay?”
“Yeah, sure. Make yourself useful.”
