Page 6 of Raven's Curse
“Good.” Tremblay grabbed his hand. “Can you squeeze my fingers?”
Rhett responded, then faded, eyes once again drifting shut.
Tremblay did a few more tests before straightening. “I’ll be damned. Guess those bits of activity we saw weren’t erroneous, after all. Though…” He pinned all of them with a firm stare. “This is just the first step, albeit a great one. But no one should be celebrating, just yet. Your teammate has a long way to go before he’s out of the woods. However, I’m cautiously optimistic he might just beat the odds.”
Foster grinned. “Oh, he’ll beat them. Bastard never did know when to quit.”
Tremblay laughed. “Well, he’s going to need his rest. I realize you probably want to camp out and wait for another moment of consciousness, but he really needs to save his strength.” The doctor walked to the door. “Go home. Get some rest and come back tomorrow. I’m betting you can rouse him, again. We’ll call if anything changes or he comes fully out of it. You have my word.”
Foster waited until the man left. “Does he seriously expect us to leave when we’ve been waiting a year for a sign Rhett’s coming back?”
Chase sighed. “I know, but he’s right. I can only imagine the toll it takes trying to shake all this loose. We should let him rest — grill the shit out of him tomorrow.”
“It’s your compassion that makes you such a great medic, buddy.”
“I know.”
Zain patted Rhett’s thigh, then followed the others out, leaving Chase alone with the man.
Chase leaned over Rhett, glancing toward the door when a flash of movement caught his eye. A shadow played along the hallway, the silhouette of a man lingering across from the door for a few moments before he walked in front, hoodie covering most of his face, black boots peeking out from beneath a pair of tan cargo pants. Chase caught a glimpse of skin — what could be scars or burns — before the guy moved out of view, his footsteps tapping down the hallway. Steady. Confident.
Chase focused back on Rhett. “I knew you could hear me. So, all that shit I confessed about Greer over the past few weeks is top secret. No spilling to the guys, you hear?”
Rhett managed to drag himself back for a moment — give Chase what looked like a wink. “Whiskey.”
“You sly bastard. Still blackmailing us with Glenfiddich, huh? Fine. I’ll bring you a bottle, but you’d better keep your end of the bargain.”
Chase turned when Rhett’s hand closed over his, drawing his focus back to his face.
Rhett slivered his eyes open — managed a sloppy smile. “We’re… even.”
“Tell me that again tomorrow, and maybe I’ll believe it.” He squeezed Rhett’s hand one last time. “Damn, we’ve missed you, brother. It’s great to have you back, so, no more laying on your ass. We’ve got a lot to catch up on.”
He waited until Rhett drifted off, then headed for the door, staring down the hallway where that guy had disappeared. While he couldn’t place it, something felt off. The way the man had lingered just out of sight, then rushed past with his face hidden as if he didn’t want anyone to notice him. The echo of his footsteps along the corridor, the weight and pace seemed vaguely familiar. Nothing Chase could really pinpoint, but it had Chase’s protective instincts on high alert.
He sighed and pushed the odd thoughts aside. Rhett was back. That’s all that mattered, and Chase would ensure he didn’t let his buddy down, again. He’d erase any red still hiding in his ledger, whether Rhett thought they were even or not.
Chase smiled to himself, the pressure on his chest finally lifting as he jogged to catch up to Foster and the others as they talked to the staff at the nursing station. If this wasn’t a damn cosmic sign, then nothing was. Which meant, Chase was done waiting. Time to man up and make a move. Have that chat with Greer he’d been avoiding for the past month. How things had changed since she’d helped out Saylor a few weeks back. He just wasn’t sure if the events had forced her to make a decision — one that might not go in his favor — or if she was drowning like him.
Either way, he’d take the leap of faith, tonight. See which side of the line he landed. Rhett wasn’t the only one who needed to jump back into the land of the living. And it was high time Chase took his own advice.
Chapter Two
She could do this.
It was just dinner. Another gathering with friends. The same setup she’d been part of for the past several months. All she needed to do was breathe.
Nothing fancy, just in, hold, out. Ignoring the nauseating lemon scent clinging to every surface. How one of the toilets behind the stall doors kept running, the constant trickling sound making her left eye twitch. Not as bad as how that damn sonar weapon had rattled her brains a few weeks ago, the tone still lingering in the back of her mind. Driving her to the brink without warning. But it seemed everything set her off these days.
Sheriff Greer Hudson stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Dark circles rimmed her eyes, the lines around her mouth deeper than she remembered. A couple butterfly bandages secured a cut across her left temple, only a hint of the bruising bleeding through the thick foundation she’d dabbed over top. Fallout from an early morning encounter with a couple drunken, rowdy frat boys.
She smirked. They were still sweating it out in one of the cells.
But it wasn’t the obvious exhaustion paling her skin that worried her. More the gleam in her eyes that broadcast how damn lovesick she was over one, irritatingly handsome medic. While she doubted his teammates would notice — look beyond the smudges and tape — he would.
Chase Remington.
Ex-pararescue turned SAR tech, and the man slowly driving her insane.
