Page 12 of SEAL's Tempest
“The hospital is one klick west,” Quinn said. “The hotel is two klicks north. Tempest, you’re with Josh and Doc to check out the hospital. We’ll rendezvous here at zero seven hundred. If you find the packages, advise, but otherwise refrain from using the comms.”
“Copy that.” Josh nodded and glanced at Tempest to make sure she understood.
None of them knew what she needed to do or when, but he fully expected her to disappear now that they’d made it into the city.
Tempest nodded, and they headed north through the desolate streets toward the hospital. They walked slowly, not wanting to draw attention to themselves as some people emerged. A new day dawned in Zdolnihiv, and as the sun rose, it revealed the near obliteration of the once thriving city.
“According to the GPS coordinates, that should be the hospital over there,” Doc said.
As they rounded the corner, he heard Tempest suck in a breath. Most of the hospital had been destroyed, and only part of one wing remained standing. Half of that solitary wing was missing the outer walls. Most of the windows were shattered, the blinds hanging haphazardly.
“Velniop,”Tempest whispered.
If Josh hadn’t been standing next to her he wouldn’t have heard it. “What does that mean?”
“Uh, it means fuck. How could they do this to a hospital?”
Tempest’s expression seemed to crumble, and his heart broke for her. Even though he saw this type of destruction way too often, he couldn’t even fathom how he’d react if this were his homeland.
Doc exchanged a look with Josh. Neither knew what to say to make it better. There were no words. War fucking sucked, and the proof stood right in front of them.
“Let’s go see if anyone is inside,” Doc said.
Josh nodded and rested his palm on Tempest’s lower back to encourage her to move with them. His touch startled her, but she nodded and followed Doc across the debris covered street.
A rat ran across their path, and Doc kicked it out of the way. None of the team had any love for the little beasts after being stuck underground for three days in a tunnel in Afghanistan with the fuckers crawling all over them.
The door to the hospital stood open, the glass broken, as they stepped into the remnants of the hospital lobby. No one sat at the information desk, but as Josh moved farther into the building, they could hear what sounded like a baby crying.
Hope burned bright in Josh’s chest; they’d find survivors, even if they weren’t the aid workers. He’d be damned if they wouldn’t try to get help for anyone they found.
. “Hot damn.” Doc grinned as he carefully made his way down the dust and debris-filled hallway.
Josh and Tempest followed right behind him.
They cleared every room as they continued down the halls. When Josh turned into the last corridor, the crying grew louder mingling with hushed voices.
Praying that they weren’t too late, he followed Doc through the door and into a ward filled with beds and people. As Josh rushed into the room, the desperation on their faces twisted something in his belly.
Time to triage and determine what they could do to help. They were mother fucking SEALs. That was what they did.
* * *
“Šventoji dievo motina.Holy mother of God,”Tempest mumbled as she followed Doc and Josh into the crumbling ward. She didn’t know what she’d expected, but not twenty women, children, and babies. Certainly not her sister in the middle of the room rocking a baby in her arms.
“Grace?”
At the sound of Tempest’s voice, the woman looked up from where she’d been cooing to the baby.
“Tempest? Oh my God, what on Earth are you doing here?” Grace rushed toward her.
Tempest stopped in front of Grace, and relief surged through her. Her beloved little sister was alive. She hadn’t failed her father. Now the SEAL team would bring Grace home, and thentètiscould deal with the aftermath.
Grace pulled Tempest into a tight hug, mindful of the baby between them. Tempest looked down at the baby, bundled in blankets. It was sucking it’s thumb and her blue eyes seemed to watch everything.
“Thank God you’re okay. Is your team here, too?” Tempest asked as Josh and Doc came up beside her. She didn’t need to look at them to know they had a ton of questions, starting with why she hadn’t revealed she knew one of the aid workers. This was about to get messier.
“Half of our full team are here,” Grace said. “We took shifts helping the staff before most of them left to go to their families. Not that we blamed them.”
