Page 40 of Zain

“My neck, yeah.”

Using four fingers, he probed down her spine, then went to her shoulders, elbows, and wrists. She winced again when he lifted her left hand. “There too?”

“I don’t think it’s serious.”

He turned over her hand to look for swelling, but there wasn’t any. He made a note to check it later. “I need you to lift up your shirt.”

She blinked.

“I want to check for signs of internal bleeding or anything that might need bandaging.” He hadn’t spotted any blood on her, but with the dark clothing it’d be hard to tell.

She shifted forward in her seat, turned her back and inched up the material. Her hand shook, so he took the shirt and rolled it up himself. Her back looked clear, but he hadn’t expected to find much there since her back was against the leather when they crashed.

Next, he probed around her hips. She winced again, but not as much. He gestured for her to turn and she did. His male hormones made his focus linger a little too long on her narrow waist. The slim, tanned skin begged for his attention, but he brought his fingers to the neckline of her shirt and tugged it to the side to see her shoulder instead. “Looks like a bruise from the seatbelt. You’ve got one here too,” he said, pointing to the opposite side of her waist. The exact spots she’d assumed had been hit the worst.

Other than that, no alarming bruises called to him. He rolled down her shirt and went on to check her knees and ankles. Once again, she didn’t complain.

“Satisfied?” she asked, her voice groggy.

He took a flashlight from the first aid kit. “I’d be more satisfied if you told me more about how you’re feeling.”

She gave a little sigh as he checked her pupils. “My head feels like it’s going to explode, my neck pulses with every movement, and I have a ringing sound in my ears.”

“Nauseated still?”

“Yes.”

“You could have a mild concussion, but it’s hard to tell. I think some food and sleep would help.”

“I’m really not hungry.”

He popped open the bag of chips. “Then justhave a couple of these and some water and I’ll leave you alone until we land in Seattle.”

Her lips twitched. “Promise?”

“Cross my heart.” He made an X over his chest but quickly held up his crossed fingers, showing he was full of shit.

A smile softened her lips. She wriggled her fingers into the snack-sized bag and removed some plain salted chips. “There,” she said, crunching on them.

“Water, too.”

She huffed through her nose. He suspected she would’ve rolled her eyes if she weren’t experiencing so much discomfort, but he was happy to see a bit of personality back. She sipped half the bottle of water and then reclined in her seat.

Zain reached for the blanket on the seat in front of him and draped it over her legs.

“Thank you,” she said, sincerity in her tone.

He brushed his fingers over her cheek, wishing he could erase all that’d happened to her. But all he could do was mitigate some of the damage. “Sleep.”

Dana pulled the blanket closer to her chin and closed her eyes. Part of him wanted to sit and watch her to make sure she didn’t suffer any more side effects of the crash. But if seeing his violence hadn’t freaked her out, surely having him stare at her while she slept would.

He also fought the urge to talk to Brick. Hewanted to drill him for information on Ali—and anything else he could tell him regarding the crash—but he didn’t have the energy. A deep ache twisted his bones, and the pressure from the altitude had brought forth a driving headache.

Plus, his back hurt like a bitch, probably from the awkward position he’d held himself in to shield Dana from the impact.

An explosion. Christ.

He could’ve lost her. If he hadn’t seen the IED coming, if he hadn’t been leery of Ali... He’d witnessed firsthand the brutality of war weapons. Anger bunched his thighs at the thought of what could’ve happened.

---