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“Hold on,” the SEAL by the door said to Aidan. “This might get rocky.”
Hold on to what? Aidan’s back was to the wall of the chopper; it wasn’t like there was a seat belt he could hook into. He grabbed a piece of the bulkhead as the chopper dipped and swooped, trying to avoid missiles being shot at it.
“There’s another one on our tail now,” the pilot shouted. “The first one’s heading for the other chopper.”
That was the helicopter carrying Liam, Aidan realized. Could they have come so far only to be shot down now? God damn it, what a stupid way for this to end. At the very least, he wanted to see Liam safe on solid ground again, nurse him back to health. And then if they had to go their separate ways, if he had to return to Philadelphia leaving Liam in Tunis, he would. It would hurt like hell, but he could do it if he had to. At least he’d be leaving Liam alive, and he could hold the memory of their time together, and the possibility that they might meet again.
He didn’t want to blow up over the Libyan desert, even if they’d accomplished what they set out to do. It was a stupid, stupid waste.
The chopper dived, and Aidan thought he might throw up. A couple of the hostages did. And then there was a huge explosion, and the chopper swerved sharply, knocking Aidan against the bulkhead, where his head connected with the metal. Lights flashed behind his eyelids, and he passed out.
***
“COME ON, BUDDY, WAKE up.” Aidan opened his eyes and looked up, not at Liam, but at another of the SEALs. The terrorists had been unloaded from the chopper, and only the smell of sweat and vomit remained.
Aidan looked up. “Where are we?”
“We’re safe. That’s all you need to know for now.” The guy put his hands under Aidan’s shoulders and lifted.
Aidan had a hell of a headache, and he was disoriented, to boot. Where was he? What had happened? The last thing he remembered was standing on the rise in the desert, watching the facility and waiting for Liam.
“Liam. Where’s Liam?”
“You mean Billy? He’s in the hospital,” the SEAL said. “That’s where you’re headed, too.”
It was only then that Aidan felt the congealed blood on his head, and saw how it had dripped over his clothes. “Holy shit,” he said, and then passed out again.
***
THE NEXT TIME AIDAN woke up, he was in a hospital bed. His head still hurt, but at least it was swathed in bandages, and somebody had cleaned up all the blood. His ribs ached every time he took a breath, and he saw a huge black and blue mark on his left arm. His throat was dry as the desert, and as soon as he struggled up to a sitting position he spied the plastic cup of water on the bedside table and brought it to his lips.
“About time you woke up.”
Aidan looked in the direction of the voice. Wearing a hospital gown that had fallen loose over one shoulder, Liam sat amidst rumpled sheets, on the edge of the bed next to his. He started coughing, his face turning purple with the effort.
Aidan stared at him. His memory was coming back; he remembered seeing Liam off on that first chopper, then getting on the second one himself. But that was it. “Where are we?” he asked.
Liam managed to croak out, “Hospital” before another round of coughing took him.
“I didn’t think it was the Ritz Carlton,” Aidan said. “You sound like shit.”
“Anthrax’ll do that to you. The Cipro they give you is almost as bad. I can’t keep anything down except clear liquids.”
He reached a hand out to Aidan, who struggled against the pain in his side to grab it. “Did we...” Aidan asked. “Did we... what were we supposed to do?”
Liam laughed, which set off another coughing fit. Aidan wrapped Liam’s hand in his own. The bodyguard didn’t have his customary strength, but his hand was warm, and Aidan felt reassured, that he could face anything as long as Liam was there next to him.
A male nurse entered the room. “Mr. McCullough,” the nurse said. “What the fuck are you doing up?”
“Sorry,” Liam said, releasing Aidan’s hand and sinking back to his pillow.
The nurse surveyed the situation. He walked across the room and around to the far side of Aidan’s bed. “Hold on,” he said. He put both hands on the side of the bed and pushed.
That wasn’t close enough. He had to move around to the far side of Liam’s bed and push it as well. By the time he was done, Aidan and Liam could reach across the narrow gap between the beds and hold hands again.
And they did.
