Desperate Escape. Lisa Harris

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СКАЧАТЬ what she says. She is a doctor.”

      He stepped away from the table and spat something into the radio before turning back to Maddie. “Then you’re coming with me—”

      “No.” Maddie clenched her jaw. “I’m staying here.”

      Grant caught the flash of fire in her gaze despite the marked fatigue in her eyes, and knew exactly what she was thinking. Their best chance to stay alive was to stay together.

      “No?” The older man aimed his weapon at Maddie. “No? If you don’t go with me, then I don’t need you anymore. Any of you.”

      “Wait.” Grant grasped Maddie’s wrist and stepped in front her. “That’s where you’re wrong. You have a camp full of sick men, which means you still need her here. Antonio and I have medical training. We can help as well.”

      The man shook his head. “If I leave her here, you’ll help her escape again.”

      “Oumar, please.” Jose’s mother grabbed his arm, pleading with him. “There is no time for fighting. Jose will die while you stand here arguing. And your men as well. They’re right. You need them here.”

      Grant felt his lungs expand. He held his breath as they waited for the old man’s response. The tension felt as thick as the humidity. His fingers closed tighter around Maddie’s wrist until he could feel her heart’s rapid pulse. He knew she was scared, but he hadn’t flown halfway around the world to fail, nor did he have any intention of breaking his promise to her brother. One way or another, they were going to get her out of here.

      “Fine.” The old man dropped his hands to his sides, the situation defused for the moment. “I’ll leave you here—all of you—alive for now. But I will deal with you when I return.”

      He watched as the older man began shouting orders to the other men. A makeshift gurney was rigged, and orders were sent to the pilot. Grant turned around to face Maddie, slipping his hand down her wrist until their fingers touched. With his other hand, he reached out and wiped her damp cheek with his thumb.

      “Are you going to be okay?” he asked.

      “For now.” She looked up at him, eyes wide open. “But this epidemic is going to be under control soon. And after that...they won’t need us.”

      He pulled her a few inches closer. “We’re going to get out of here.”

      She nodded, clearly wanting to believe his words as much as he did. “I owe you one. More than one, actually.” A smile briefly crossed her lips before she pulled away from him and started washing down the table with disinfectant. “If nothing else, you bought us some time.”

      He worked beside her to clean up, impressed with the way she’d gained control over the situation. She asked one of the women to make a diluted mixture of cooked cereal and water for the cholera patients she’d been treating, while several of the men headed into the forest with Jose. He realized he’d misjudged her strength. There was no doubt her parents loved her. They spoke of how smart and accomplished she was, but they’d been against her coming here. Believed she was wasting her God-given talents and wouldn’t be able to handle the work.

      But they’d been wrong.

      He’d seen the courage in her eyes. The boldness it had taken to stand up to her captors. Maybe it was true that difficulties brought out hidden strengths in a person, but there was more about Maddie Gilbert than met the eye—something that part of him wanted to stick around and discover even after all of this was over.

      But that was something he couldn’t afford to do.

      She turned to him, breaking the silence that had fallen between them as they continued working. “You were there when Darren died.”

      It was a statement rather than a question, but one he’d never spoken of with her. After the funeral, he’d answered her parents’ questions about that day, knowing if Maddie ever needed those same answers from him he’d be there to tell her.

      “Yes,” he nodded. “I was there.”

      “Did tonight remind you of that day?”

      She might not have been there that night, but she had to be facing some of the same haunting images of losing her brother he was.

      “Yes. It was...almost as if I was there again, during those final moments.”

      A place he dreamed about at night. A place he longed to escape.

      She scrubbed at an invisible mark on the table. “Two weeks after I arrived here, I had to treat my first land mine victim. All I could see was Darren.”

      “Somehow we didn’t think it could happen to us. We were out to save the world. Invincible. Always wishing we could ignore the fact that all it took was one wrong step...”

      She stopped to look up at him, allowing the light from the lantern to catch the yellow-copper colors in her eyes. The soft curve of her lashes. “Thank you,” she said.

      Grant fought to push away the unexpected draw. “I haven’t got you out of here yet. I told your mom I planned to have you back by Christmas, and I’m going to do everything in my power to keep my promise.”

      “It’s hard to believe Christmas is in a couple weeks.” A look of sadness registered on her face. “But I’m not just thanking you for today. I’m talking about your being there the night Darren died. And for coming to rescue me. You didn’t have to come.”

      He touched her arm briefly before pulling away. “Yes, I did. I owe Darren.”

      He might not have been able to save his friend, but he was going to save Maddie.

      “Is that why you came to rescue me?” She asked. “Because of Darren’s death?”

      His face must have betrayed his thoughts for her to ask such a pointed question.

      “No...I...” He didn’t know how to answer. He didn’t want to answer. Because she was right. He’d come to play hero and make up for not saving Darren. Which meant he hadn’t come for noble purposes. Not really. He’d come to ease his own conscience.

      Her gaze shifted back to the table and, as if reading his thoughts, she said, “I know what it’s like to do something good for the wrong reasons.”

      “What do you mean?”

      “I came here, in a way, because of Darren, too. I was looking for what he found with his career. I hoped that somehow helping others would help me find that missing part of myself.”

      “And did you?”

      She shrugged at the question. “It depends on the day, I suppose. I came here convinced I’d save the world. Instead I’ve had to realize I can’t fix everyone. People are going to die, and I can’t stop it.”

       Like Darren.

      “But then,” she continued, “there are times where I think I’m making a difference in one person’s life and somehow...that’s enough.”

      “Darren was always so proud of you.” Grant СКАЧАТЬ