Page 12 of Training Rain
“Yes. Why would you do something that is so terrible for you, something that hurts you?”
“It is why I’m here. What else am I supposed to do if not use the gifts given to me?”
“You don’t even know me or at least you didn’t that day. Why help me? Why save me at such a high cost to yourself?”
“Have you ever seen someone die?”
“I’m in law enforcement at a pretty high and strange level. Yes, I’ve seen people die.”
“Strangers?”
“Some.”
“Would you have saved them if you’d known you could?”
She had maneuvered him. Not an easy thing to do. “Yes.”
“Even if it had cost you? What if you would have died to save them?” Her voice grew intense.
He couldn’t look away from those fathomless eyes. “Yes, I would have saved them.”
“It’s no different. I don’t cure all sickness. If the patient will die regardless of my attention and saving them would kill me too, then there is little point. In those cases I ease their pain.” Rain yawned.
“Go to bed. I’ll wake you early to start your training.”
She opened her mouth, closed it and opened it again. “I haven’t agreed to the training.”
His eyes fixated on her lips. He shook himself and focused his gifts on her fears. She might fail, but he would see that she gave it her best shot. “You will.”
Continuing for a few seconds to bend her decision, he told himself it was for her own good. As soon as he felt her give, he backed off.
An adorable crease formed between her brows. She had a strong mind. If she really wanted to go back and resume her old life, it would not be possible to sway her. He thought she would argue, but then she shrugged and went back into the bedroom. She left the door open and while he wished it was an invitation, he knew she did it to gain some of the heat from the fire.
Shit.Jess pulled the blanket over himself and stretched out on the couch. It would be a long time before he fell asleep. He felt it the moment Rain drifted off. Exhaustion had won out over her fears. He was glad for that at least.
He’d not been conscious in Vegas. The decision had been taken from him, but if he had known what healing him would cost her, he would have refused her services. Now there was a debt and it was one that could never be paid.
* * *
Three dayslater he watched as she climbed a tall pine. She was nimble. He’d initially been worried that she wasn’t strong enough for the tasks he would set for her, but she soon proved that she took good care of herself. Her muscles might have been small and feminine, but she was stronger than she looked. What she lacked in brute strength she made up for in determination. She was magnificent and his body reacted on more than one occasion.
Watching from the ground, he saw her secure herself to a branch with her legs and put the binoculars up to her eyes. “What do you see?”
“Snow.” The snarky remark tumbled down the twenty feet.
He smiled. “What else?”
Ten seconds went by. “There’s a small camp about a mile to the west, just past the tree-line. No people, but the fire is still smoking.”
“I didn’t make a fire for you to find. I left a small white tent to the northwest.” His heart quickened.
As he watched from below, she turned her head. “I see it.”
“Go back to the other camp.”
She was turning back before he made the command. “A green camouflage tent that can sleep several people, ATV with some kind of emblem on the side and the fire.” “Weapons?”
“None that I can see.”
