He moaned.
“Dex?” She touched his shoulder. “Dex. Wake up.”
He squinted and shifted and then moaned again.
“You had some fall. They found you hanging in a tree.” She laughed as if it were nothing. “And then they carried you here because you were taking some kind of nap on the path. In their way.” She kept babbling, hoping he wouldn’t drift off again.
He mumbled and then gasped and opened his eyes. “Gi!” His eyes were crazed, scared. She knew he had no idea where he was.
“Dex.” Her voice was quiet. As soon as he recognized her, his eyes softened and one corner of his mouth lifted. His signature crooked smile even now begged to be kissed. She peered down over his face so that he could see her without moving. “Hey there.” She tried to be as encouraging as possible. But she didn’t need to force her smile. She was happy to see him.
“Hey.” His voice was crackling. He tried to wet his lips.
“Hold on.” She grabbed one of her bottles of filtered water. She tipped it just enough to wet his lips.
“More.” He lifted his head and then moaned. “Ah.”
“You have a cut. It’s stopped bleeding, but I’m sure it’s gonna hurt for a while.”
He closed his eyes. “Mmm.”
“So, I don’t know what happened to you or why you’re here. But the villagers found you hanging from a tree by your parachute ropes.”
He squinted his eyes. “Bullets.”
She gasped. “No.”
“Yes. Thirsty.”
She moved closer and lifted his head in her lap. Then she tipped the water bottle so that he could sip it. He took a few careful swallows and then he sat up in one fluid motion.
“What!” His grin made her laugh though she should have been angry. “Were you faking all that?”
He winced as he shifted his body. “No, you think I’m faking a gash in my head?” He looked around. “Do you own a mirror?” Then his gaze travelled over her face, and she felt everywhere he looked as if his eyes left a trail of awareness.
“Yes.” She dug in her rucksack. “But I don’t use it much.”
He grinned appreciatively. “You don’t need it.” Then he held it up to his face. “Oh, wow.” He turned to one side then the other. “But that looks nasty. Clean though. I guess I can thank you for that?”
She nodded. “It might be good to see a doctor.”
“I will once we get out of here.”
“Wait, what?”
“It’s a total war zone. The island is the center of what is becoming an international incident. We are leaving.”
She immediately sat taller and shook her head. Decisions were not made so abruptly. And if she left, all her people would leave too. If she abandoned ship, she would feel like a total traitor. “I can’t just leave these people.”
He winced. “I don’t want to leave them either. Not without helping them first. But if I know you, they’re self-sufficient by now. They can carry on without you. And no international power is interested in terrorizing them. They want the resources and the location of this island. The villagers will be ignored. But you won’t.”
She knew he was right. “I told Father.”
Understanding lit his expression. “Ah, no wonder. I got a message flying over that you were spotted and had been communicating with allied forces.”
“But what will I tell the villagers? I feel terrible.”
“Tell them you’re out fighting for their peace.”
Oh, he knew just what to say. She narrowed her eyes. “That smooth lie just rolled off your tongue.”
“That was no lie. Don’t you think you will do exactly that?”
She bit back all accusations about how he had not done any of the things they’d dreamed about during their time as JAGs. Instead she just nodded. “You’re right. So where’s the pickup point?”
He looked away.
“There’s no pickup point?” She studied him. “What is this? Are you here alone?” She couldn’t believe he’d done something so daft as to land down here by himself.
“Yeah, it was a last-minute choice. But they know what I did, where I am. It’s just a matter of reaching them by radio, I would think.”
“Except my signal has been blocked. I finally got some emails out at the café earlier. But it’s not like you can just start walking around to public places.”
He pulled his sack off his back, wincing. “Let’s give it a try.” His radio in hand, he turned it on and switched channels. Then he reached one where a women’s voice was talking. “Ace, I repeat, Ace, are you out there?”
He winked at Gianna. “Ivy, I’m here.”
“Dex! Oh, Dex!” She sounded frantic, and Gianna wondered just how close this Ivy person was to Dex.
“I landed. I’ve assessed the situation. Will need an extraction first thing in the morning.”
The pause felt long and thick. “Uh, that’s a negative, Ace.”
“What? Ivy, I need an extraction. We will be at the northwest tip of the island—”
“Dex Callison, this is Commander Wilkins. What do you think you’re doing?”
“I became aware of an American down here in the middle of all this mess, and I wanted to check on the children.”
“Wanted to…” The man clicked off his radio for a moment. And Gianna’s hut went silent.
Then the crackle started up again and made Gianna jump.
“That’s a negative, Dex. You not only broke several international laws, but you are in breach of contract with the Pacific Alliance.”
“I am not in breach. I have a team in place who will carry out our agreement with you. In fact, you are in a unique situation where we can consult in a live manner. And your first exercise can be how to extract a team member from enemy water.”
“I’m not amused.”
“I don’t suggest that you are, sir, Commander, with all due respect.”
“No. I don’t want to hear it. What you did was selfish, plain and simple, and I’m of a mind to let you rot there with your girlfriend.”
Gianna sucked in a breath.
But Dex waved his hand and shook his head to her, perhaps hoping to ease the awkwardness, but really it only increased her discomfort. No need to deny a relationship quite so emphatically, honestly. She wanted to step out of the hut and take a walk. But she was stuck, waiting to hear how Dex talked himself out of what was apparently a reckless rogue move. Had he not changed one bit since they were kids?
After what Gianna thought was an overly long and mostly unnecessary conversation, he turned off his radio, leaned his head back, and sighed. “You heard.”
“So they aren’t coming? At all?”
“I’m not sure. I think once the Pacific Alliance Commander cools off a little bit and your father lays on some heat, things might change, but until then, we might be here for a while.”
“Which is fine with me since I was planning on being here for another year at least.”
He knocked on her wall. “How sturdy is this?”
“About as sturdy as it looks.”