Page 46 of Rescuing Erin

“It’s okay.”

“What is?” she mumbled, her face still pressed against my chest.

“To throw up.”

“I’m not going to throw up on you.”

“I’m not setting you down. So if you need to throw up, do it.”

With every step I took, my ribs screamed in protest. Her body jostling against the broken bones. Thad turned to say something and saw me wince. “Want me to take her?”

“No.”

“If you puncture a lung from carrying her—”

“Then the doc can patch me up. She’s not going anywhere.”

“Copy that.”

He jogged ahead of us and climbed into the helicopter. Declan and Max helped hoist me into the cabin. Once we were in, I damn near collapsed in the seat.

Every goddamn bone in my upper body felt like it was either cracked or bruised. Pain radiated everywhere. I tried to cover my grunts with a cough but even that hurt.

“Let me up.”

“No, sunshine.”

“I’m hurting you.”

“No.”

“But—”

“Erin, right now, no matter how much pain it may cause me, I need you in my arms. I need to feel you breathing. I need you close so I can reassure myself you’re alive. Please, just give me this.”

The pain was nothing compared to the relief I felt.

“Okay.” She burrowed back in and tightened her arms around me.

“You know,” Kyle started. “We had a bet going whether when we got to you it was going to be a rescue mission or a cleanup. Just want it known, I said cleanup. Good to see you, brother.”

“Fuck, you too, man. I thought we’d have a few more hours before you got to us.”

Now that all the guys had taken off their masks, I could see the concern etched in their faces. I hadn’t worked an op with Thad, Max, Kyle, or Brooks, but we’d trained with the Gold Team. They were a good group of guys. It looked like Declan fit right in.

“We were already in San Diego on standby. Something felt off. Greenwold went down too easy,” Declan told me. I was anxious to hear more about what he was talking about but right now with, every part of me hurting, I couldn’t concentrate on his words. I just wanted to hold Erin.

Thank God, she was alive.

* * *

Much to my extreme irritation, Erin and I were separated the moment we landed at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms. The Marines of the 7th Marine Regiment didn’t fuck around. They’d welcomed us on the rooftop of the Robert E. Bush Naval Hospital with automatic weapons drawn at the ready and escorted us into the building. Declan promised he and his team wouldn’t leave Erin’s side as she was wheeled away from me on a stretcher.

I was hell-bent on walking into the exam room on my own and threatened to shove the wheelchair up the male nurse’s ass if he tried to get me to sit in it one more time. I wasn’t trying to be a tough guy, but it hurt like a motherfucker to sit, not that I’d admit it. I just wanted my ribs wrapped so I could get back to Erin’s side.

“Jesus, man. She’s not going anywhere,” Leo said as we waited for the doctor to come into the room. “Stop pacing.”

My team had all been there, waiting for us to arrive. Zane was pissed, and I was a little worried about what he’d do when I told him who was behind the kidnapping.