The sun was cresting the horizon and the temperature had already increased several degrees when we began a descent and I knew we were nearly out of the canyon. I feared we’d be a sight walking along the road back to the camp—a woman without hijab along with an American soldier in the remains of a uniform, arm in a sling as an announcement that I wasn’t one hundred percent. We were exhausted and hungry and thirsty, and all I could hope was that we’d see one of the vehicles from base sooner than later.
As we hiked down the last incline before the canyon mouth and the main road, I heard a truck idling. I was about to pull Alexis down and listen when a sharp voice came from behind me. “Hands up and identify yourselves!”
Alexis squealed, and after the initial burst of my heart jetted through me, relief soaked my weary bones. Benji.
I raised my hand slowly, taking Alexis’s hand along with mine and said, “Sergeant Gabe Thompson, United States Army, and Alexis Garcia, United Nations personnel.”
“Turn the fuck around, soldier.”
I did and Benji grinned as he lowered his gun and pulled out his handheld radio. “Central? Lucero reporting. We’ve got them. They’re on foot and safe.”
The radio crackled and then Benji said, “Yes, sir.” He strapped it back on his belt and stepped forward, grabbing me in a big hug. I gritted my teeth to keep from hollering as pain shot through my arm.
“Dammit, bro, we thought we’d lost you.”
Alexis was standing with her hands over her mouth in shock. I put my arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick kiss on the temple, noticing Benji’s eyes grow wide in surprise.
“Tell me about it, man. I thought we were done for a few times too. Where the fuck were you guys?”
Benji indicated we should keep walking as he talked. I noticed he kept his rifle at the ready and his eyes darting around the area, so I clamped Alexis close to my side and watched too.
“They’ve got this whole canyon tied up, bro. We’ve been out here since the morning after you went MIA trying to get to you. We knew you had to be up there, but with only one way in and out, we couldn’t make inroads. Every time we tried, the snipers would warn us off. The road’s too narrow for a tank, and we’d get annihilated in a truck. We’ve been sending guys up in the dark every night, but they could never see any sign of where you were, and they had to get in and out fast while it was dark.”
“Damn, man. No one got hurt, did they?”
“Nielsen got hit, but he’s fine.”
“Shit. Thanks for trying to get to us. It was fucking crazy up there. We’ve been in a cave for three days.”
“Looks like you took some lead too. You all right?” Benji pointed at my arm.
“It’s good. I had nurse Garcia here to fix me up, isn’t that right?” I said, giving Alexis’s shoulders a squeeze. She smiled weakly but didn’t say anything.
Benji leaned close to my ear. “She in shock?”
“Maybe. She’s been a trooper, but we were about at the end, man.”
Benji nodded, and we walked the rest of the way to the waiting trucks in silence.
• • •
The ride back to camp was awkward and painful. Every bump that damn truck took jarred my arm and pain sliced through me like a knife slitting open a fish. Alexis wasn’t doing much better. She hadn’t said a word since Benji found us, and she sat leaned up against me in the back of the truck, her head on my shoulder, her eyes big and frightened.
I had my arm around her as I silently stroked her hair, hoping it would remind her I was there and she was safe. I knew the five guys sitting in the back of the truck with us were watching and wondering what the hell was going on, but right then I didn’t care about rules or gossip or much of anything but getting Alexis back to decent food, a warm bed, and hopefully her old self.
It wasn’t unusual for someone who’d been through something traumatic to collapse after the fact. She’d been so solid through the whole ordeal, but she’d probably been functioning on pure adrenaline for three straight days, and now it had drained out of her, leaving a very tired shell of the gorgeous girl I was far too attached to.
When we pulled into the main plaza, I was stunned to see the entire unit along with all the UN volunteers waiting for us. Our truck came to a stop and people were cheering and pressing around the bumper, shouting things and putting their hands up to help us down.
Before I could move, Benji was up, leaning over to talk in my ear. “I’ll be on one side of you, and Harlow will take the other. You keep ahold of Alexis and we’ll take you straight to the infirmary. The CO’s waiting for you there.”
I nodded at him and turned to Alexis, squeezing her to me even more tightly. “All right, babe, we’re going to get you inside. I gotcha, right?”
She cleared her throat. “Okay,” she said in a tiny voice so unlike her. Benji and I shared a look that said we knew she wasn’t doing well.
We all stood to cheers and shouts, and Benji and Harlow helped us both down. People pressed in around us as we stepped away from the truck. “Thompson! We thought all the women in the area were finally safe, man!” someone yelled.
“Look, it’s a miracle! He came home with the same one he left with!” someone else shouted.
A few of the guys started chanting, “Thompson! Thompson! Thompson!”
Benji and Harlow flanked us and were gently pushing people back while Alexis was clinging to me, her head down as we slowly made our way through the crowd and toward the infirmary.
Then a new voice rose above the others. “Alexis! Alexis! I’m her friend. She’ll want to see me.”
Steve appeared in front of us, eyes darting between me and Alexis, a knowing look on his pinched little face. “Alexis!” he said sharply, but she didn’t respond. Then he looked at me. “What did you do to her?”
Before I could open my mouth or close my fist and shut the guy up permanently, Benji put an arm out between us. “Look, I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but we’ve got a soldier and a civilian here who’ve been trapped under enemy fire for three fucking days. We’re taking them to the infirmary now, and unless you want to end up under confinement in your tent, you’ll get the hell out of the way.”
College boy’s best buddy cringed, and after throwing me a glare, he stepped back. I gave him my sweetest “fuck you” grin and went on by. He’d be first on my list of visits when I got clearance to leave the infirmary. As if he could read my mind, Benji muttered, “I’m going with you, bro. Little asshole.”
I chuckled to myself, and I thought I might have seen a smile turn up the corners of Alexis’s lips as well.
Once we got into the infirmary, everything was a blur. The CO was following me around as the nurses checked me out. A doctor took Alexis away immediately, and it was making me jittery that I couldn’t see her. I was trying to answer the CO’s questions while scanning the place, hoping for a glimpse of Alexis. Finally, one of the nurses realized I wasn’t fully engaged.
“Sir?” she said to the CO. “I think you might get a better report from the sergeant if you gave us a bit to get him settled. He’s been through a lot, and he may need a while to decompress. Can we call you in an hour or so and give you an update?”
The CO scowled at her for a minute then sighed. “Fine. Sergeant? I’ll be expecting a full report as soon as the medics give you the clearance.”
“Yes, sir,” I answered.
“And Thompson?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Good job, soldier.”
“Thank you, sir.”
• • •
“If I wasn’t so damn tired I’d kiss you,” I told the nurse who was taking my blood pressure.
“It’s all right,” she answered. “No one should have to put up with the third degree after being trapped in enemy territory for three days.”
“The UN girl who was with me? Where is she now?” I asked, still looking for Alexis.
“The doctors are checking her out in a separate room. Giving her a little privacy, you know.”
“Is she . . . I mean, will she be okay?”
She scrutinized me for a moment. I felt hot and irritated. I wanted to punch someone, and even more than that, I wanted to be able to see Alexis. It was making me crazy not knowing what was going on.
“Is there some reason why you think she wouldn’t be okay?” the nurse asked as she started taking off my boots.
I was distracted or I’d have wondered what the hell she was doing.
“When they finally found us, she sort of shut down. She’d been fine until then, but she must have gone into shock or something. She quit talking and just kind of, I don’t know, hung on me the whole way back to camp.”
“She may have gone into shock,” the nurse answered as she started on the second boot, “but there are people here who can help her. She’ll be fine.”
I swallowed down the rising panic. “Maybe I better go see her. I mean, she was pretty upset, and if I can just talk to her—”
“Jess?” the nurse called to an orderly across the room. “Can you come over here for a minute?”
I stood up off the gurney I’d been sitting on. “Seriously, I need to see Alexis. Ask her, she’ll want me there. You can do whatever you want to me after she’s squared away, but right now . . .”
That was the last thing I said before I collapsed in a heap, a strong sedative coursing through me after the orderly jabbed an injection into my arm.