Page 5

“I already asked. I was told I can go in the corner.”

Olivia grimaced and held her hand out, requesting help to sit up. Baylee clasped it strongly and levered Olivia up. Her head swam, and she thought for a moment she was going to be sick, but she dragged in a few deep breaths, and it faded away. “Remind me not to piss him off again. I have a concussion.”

Baylee nodded, her emerald eyes dark with worry. “I know. I’ll try.”

“Have you seen Rex again, or any of the others?”

Baylee shook her head again. “I can’t think about it,” she said firmly. “They might just be in another room.”

Olivia nodded, trying to be reassuring, though she doubted it. Fuck, if they were the last ones alive…

The two men standing at the door watched them as Olivia stood and looked toward the corner. She was going to pee her pants if she didn’t relieve herself. “Maybe we can use a sheet to shield each other when we go. And there’s a small trash can over there.” She pointed at the desk on the far side of the room. Baylee crossed over and got the can, then returned to their corner. “I can grab one of the sheets and hold it up while you go.”

Olivia nodded and they moved together. Baylee held the sheet up as she peed, and it was such a relief. The rim of the trash can didn’t feel nice, but it was better than squatting in the corner and peeing on the floor. She finished her business and took the sheet from Baylee. “Your turn.”

Baylee dropped her drawers and sat on the can, sighing, and started to relieve herself. That was when the men made their move. They ripped the sheet from Olivia’s hands, shoved her to the floor and grinned down at Baylee. Stoically, she finished what she was doing and stood, pulling her scrubs pants up as quickly as she could. Her cheeks were flaming, and she stared at them defiantly.

The men leered down at her and tossed the sheet away. One shook his head at her as he pulled his mask down, obviously telling her not to do it again. Then he reached out and cupped her ass. Baylee instinctively swatted his hand away, and the man’s face went dark with fury. Quicker than a snake, he punched her in the mouth. Baylee staggered, but didn’t go down, and Olivia prayed she didn’t do something rash.

The second man was watching the commotion, his head turned away from her. Was there a chance they could get away? Or at least get their weapons? Could she kick his knee out or something? If she got to her feet, he would look at her. Right now, he expected her to stay beaten down.

Baylee had a fight or die expression on her face, and Olivia had seen it before. The woman had grown up on a farm and knew what it was like to do hard work. During training, she’d always been the last woman standing in everything, and Olivia admired that in her friend. She was afraid it was going to get her into trouble now, though. She didn’t always think before she acted.

The man that had ripped the sheet away and punched her had a look in his dark eyes that didn’t bode well for Baylee. No sooner had the thought entered her mind than the man struck out, slapping Baylee across the face and spinning her around. Quicker than a snake, he wrapped his arms through hers, pulling her elbows to meet at her shoulder blades. Now he had the leverage. He wasn’t that much bigger than her, but the way he had her back arched, she couldn’t get her footing. Then he shoved her across the room to the gurney and bent her over it. While one hand held her arms, a second fumbled to pull her elastic-waisted pants down.

“No,” Baylee screamed, kicking and fighting like a wildcat.

Olivia wouldn’t let them rape her friend. Before she could second guess herself, she kicked out at the second man, catching him in the side of the knee. She was a nurse. She knew how painful that could be if done right. But he moved a mere inch before she connected. The hit was lame, at best, and the man turned in anger. He backhanded her across the face, sending her back to slam against the floor. Her head swam again, and she immediately started to throw up, rolling to the side. Then the man brought his booted foot down on her calf.

Olivia felt the bones break and pierce the skin, and that was all before her world went dark again.

* * *

Olivia had moments of lucidity, then the darkness would swallow her. She knew she needed to wake up, because Baylee needed her, but she couldn’t manage it. She could feel pain, though, that rolled through her in waves, making her shudder. And she could feel hands doing something to her. Manipulating her body. Then she faded away.

Then, suddenly, there was a percussive blast around her, and her eyes fluttered open. Someone was wrapped around her, and she had a mouthful of hair. Then Baylee pulled back, and Olivia realized she had been shielding her from falling debris. Dust swirled in the air, and it seemed like it was night. There was light coming from somewhere, but it wasn’t bright.

“W-what’s going on,” she gritted out. Her mouth was so dry…

Baylee gave a cry and gripped her hand. “My god, I didn’t think you were going to come back to me. Do you know where you are?”

Olivia snorted and shifted, then gasped in pain. Her back was screaming. And her head. “Yeah, I think so. Is the Taliban still here?”

“Kind of,” Baylee whispered.

Olivia looked through the gloom, trying to see her friend’s face. Her attention sharpened as she began to remember. “Wait, they…” She forced herself to sit up, fighting at a tube in her arm. Was she hooked up to an IV? “Are you okay?”

Baylee nodded, but there was a huge wad of gauze wrapped over half her face. “I’m okay, but you’ve been out for hours. I had to do it, Olivia. I had to.”

Then, shocking Olivia to the core, Baylee broke down into great, gulping sobs. Olivia wrapped her arms around the woman, trying to comfort her. “What, honey? What did you do?”

Baylee pulled back far enough that Olivia could look down her body. Her right leg wasn’t right. There were strange dark bulges around her calf. And that was when she saw the tourniquet. It was above her calf and below the knee a few inches. Her body chilled.

“You have a double compound fracture of your lower right leg, just above the ankle. By the time t-they…” Baylee’s voice stuttered and stopped, and she took a breath. “By the time they finished, and I found you, you had gone into shock from blood loss. I had to stop the flow of blood.”

Tears rolled down Baylee’s cheeks, and Olivia blinked at what she’d said. By the time they’d finished. Oh, hell. Her own pain was forgotten for the moment as she pulled Baylee to her again. They both wept, but Olivia could feel how her friend shivered and clung to her.

Those fucking bastards…