AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thanks. Having seen what I saw taking place down there and now witnessing the aftermath of what these women endured on that yacht makes me want to castrate every single one of those men and shove their dicks so far up their asses they choke on them.”
James chuckled. “I hear ya.”
They were quiet for a few minutes.
“Are you sure that you’re okay?” James asked again, his eyes moving between her eye and lip.
Not wanting to be coddled, she waved him off.
“I’ll be fine.”
James gave her a hard look, but there was a hint of admiration in his eyes. “Oliver said that guy took you down pretty hard. Just promise me, if you start to feel any other pain, that you’ll get it looked at.”
Shit. Did he know she was hiding something from them? She thought she had been very convincing.
She smiled. “I promise.”
As she sat there, her hip aching and her eye swelling, Gabby knew that she would face it all again if it meant protecting those who couldn’t defend themselves.
The mission had been a success, and though the early morning had been dark and full of danger, Gabby believed that the dawn would bring hope and a new beginning for those they had rescued.
After a while, a chopper arrived to take her and the team back to the base. As she settled in and felt the helicopter lift, Gabby closed her eyes, letting the steady rhythm of the rotors soothe her as she headed home.
CHAPTER TWO
After hours of debriefings, paperwork, getting her face and lip checked by another medic, and a nap, Gabby finally made it to the locker room. She was in desperate need of a hot shower.
She still felt like she was carrying the weight of the mission with her. The guys had waited for her while their base medic looked over her injuries. After that, they all split up to do their own post-mission tasks. Gabby had promised to meet them later that evening for drinks at Bayside. She’d thrown on her best “I’m totally fine” smile.
Now, though, she wasn’t sure everything was fine.
Her hip wasn’t just throbbing. It was downright painful. Every step she took was excruciating. She was now regretting being stubborn.
For the first time in hours, she allowed herself to really assess how her body felt after the altercation on the yacht. It wasn’t good.
As she peeled off her pants, she froze. “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me,” she mumbled, looking down at the monstrous bruise on her hip. It was already purple and black, and it covered her entire hip like a grotesque, ugly flower, swelling around the center. She pressed on it lightly and winced. The slight pressure made her eyes water.
She limped to the shower and set it as hot as she could handle. When she first stepped under the hot spray of water, she felt the tension in her muscles slowly unravel. However, when she turned, the water hit her hip, and a jolt of pain shot through her so sharply that she nearly cursed out loud.
“How did I even walk back here?” she muttered to herself. She’d been running on adrenaline all day, and now that it had worn off, her body was reminding her just how much she’d taken a beating.
After a painful but needed shower, Gabby slipped into a pair of loose navy blue Coast Guard sweatpants and a white long-sleeved t-shirt. Comfort was key right now, but even the soft fabric brushing against her hip made her wince.
“This is so much worse than I thought,” she muttered, gingerly lowering herself onto the bench in front of her locker. She should’ve said something earlier, but she’d been too stubborn and too focused on pushing through, thinking it would be fine. Now, with the pain increasing by the minute, she knew there was no way she could hide it.
She sighed as she pulled her phone out of her bag and dialed James’s number, biting her lip while she waited for him to pick up.
“Gabby?” James answered on the third ring, his voice groggy. Clearly, she’d woken him up.
“Hey, you still at the base?” she asked, trying to sound casual despite the fact her hip was screaming in agony.
“Nah, we left about an hour ago. Got some sleep to catch up on before Bayside tonight,” James replied. “We swung by to check on you but saw you were passed out on the couch in the rec room, snoring, so we didn’t bother waking you.
She scrunched her nose up at his comment. “I don’t snore.”
He laughed. “You sounded like a mix between a dying lawnmower and an angry walrus.”
Her mouth gaped open, and she went to respond to his insult when he started laughing again.
