Forged in Steele

CHAPTER 40

STEELE came to awareness with an awful buzzing sound in his ears. His head hurt like a bitch and he was numb everywhere else. He tried to shake the cobwebs cluttering his mind and as his vision cleared, he saw glass, blood and crumpled metal, and he was tilted to the left staring up at the right side of the helicopter.

It was lying on its side and he was trapped by the caved-in frame of the chopper. But he was alive. And on the heels of that revelation came utter despair and panic.

Maren.

She’d been in the back. He had no way of getting to her. No way of moving. He could move his right arm, but his left was pinned against the side of the chopper and his legs were trapped by the caved-in control panel.

He tried to calm the roaring panic that gripped him. He had to think straight. He had to figure out a way out of this mess and get to Maren. She could be seriously injured. He needed to get her to a hospital. Hancock had been shot and was already looking bad. It was doubtful he’d even survived the crash. He wouldn’t consider that Maren had been killed. He couldn’t think about that or he’d go insane.

The teams were there. They had to have seen the helicopter go down. They’d be here soon. Only minutes had passed, hadn’t they? He’d lost consciousness and had no idea of the passage of time, but the others were close so not much time could have passed or they’d already be on the scene.

“Maren,” he called, his voice hoarse and thready. “Maren, can you hear me? Talk to me, please. Let me know you’re back there.”

There was a long silence and with each passing second, darkness filled his soul.

“Steele?”

Oh God. Relief was crushing. He went weak, sagging and closing his eyes. It was weak, barely audible, and yet his name was the sweetest thing he’d ever heard.

“Yes, honey, it’s me. Are you okay? Don’t move, okay? Help is on the way. They’ll be here in any minute. Any idea how bad your injuries are?”

“I don’t know,” she said weakly. “I can’t move. Hancock is on top of me and I’m pinned between him and the side of the helicopter. I can’t really feel anything. I know I’m in shock. I felt a little pain in my shoulder when I tried to move but nothing else.”

“Stay put,” Steele, said, worry seizing him. “Don’t move at all. We don’t want to risk you injuring yourself further. Hold on, Maren. Please, baby. For me.”

“What about you?” she asked slowly, each word seemingly difficult for her to get out. It worried him that she sounded so weak. But if he could keep her talking, then he could distract her from everything else. And he’d keep her with him. He didn’t want her slipping away. What if she had a head injury? What if she lost consciousness and never regained it?

“I think I’m good,” he said, not knowing if it was a lie, but no way in hell was he going to give her any reason to worry. He wanted her focused on herself. “Pinned like you, but I’m not in any pain. Just can’t move. We’ll be out soon.”

“I don’t know if Hancock is alive,” she choked out. “His blood is all over me. I can smell it. I can taste it. I can’t reach to feel for a pulse, but he covered me, trying to protect me when we went down.”

“Thank God,” Steele whispered. No matter the history KGI had with Hancock, despite his dislike of the man, he’d taken a bullet meant for Maren and now he’d shielded her with his own body. Twice he’d saved her life, risking his own in the process. It was a debt Steele could never hope to repay.

“Steele! Steele!”

Steele heard a shout close to the helicopter and relief flooded him. Sam was yelling at the top of his lungs, and if Sam was here, the rest of KGI was here too.

“I’m here,” Steele called. “Trapped. Can’t move. Maren is alive but she’s pinned between Hancock and the side of the helicopter. Hancock is in bad shape. He took a bullet for Maren and then he covered her with his body when we went down. I don’t even know if he’s still breathing. We need help immediately.”

“I’ve called in every fucking available resource,” Sam said. “We’ll get you out, man, just stay with me, okay? Don’t you dare fucking die on me.”

“That’s one order I’ll gladly follow,” Steele said dryly.

The helicopter shook and metal creaked.

“Be careful,” Steele barked. “Be very careful. I don’t want Maren more injured and we have no idea the extent of her injuries. I don’t want her hurt more by you trying to pull her out.”

“I can climb in the top,” Donovan called out. “If I can get to Hancock and Maren, I’ll put a C collar on Maren and I’ll see if Hancock is alive. If he’s not, then we’ll pull him out so we can get to Maren. For that matter, a neck injury is the least of Hancock’s worries if he took a bullet to the chest. There’s blood goddamn everywhere back here. We’ll get him out and then I’ll see to Maren.”

“Be careful with her, Donovan. I’m trusting you with my entire life,” Steele said, his voice aching with emotion.

“I know, man,” Donovan said. “I know. You know I’ll get it done.”

Steele closed his eyes, pain swamping him. Now that he knew Maren would be taken care of, he let go and pain splintered through his body until he wanted to scream. He was precariously close to losing control. Pain. Overwhelming fear for Maren. Helplessness. Never in his life had he been in a situation where he was absolutely at the mercy of others. He hated being trapped, unable to move. Unable to go to Maren and reassure her, touch her and let her know he was there and wouldn’t leave her.

“Hancock’s alive,” Donovan called out. “But he’s in bad shape. ETA on a med evac unit is ten minutes. He’s bleeding like a stuck pig. I can’t tell if the blood on Maren is his or hers or both.”

“What about Maren?” Steele ground out.

“I’m okay, Steele.”

Her soft voice slid like silk over his ears and he closed his eyes, inhaling deeply as sweet relief eased some of the pain racking his body.

“Okay, sweetheart, I’m going to put a C collar on you and then we’re going to try to pry the metal from around your legs so we can get you out of here. I need you to be extremely still for me and relax as much as you can. I know that’s asking a lot, but I need you to be calm and cooperate,” Donovan said in a gentle voice.

“I think it’s just my shoulder,” Maren replied. “It hurts. Can’t move it. But I’m worried about the baby, Donovan. Can you tell if I’m bleeding? Please, I have to know.”

Steele’s heart clenched and he squeezed his eyes shut as he whispered a fervent prayer. He’d never prayed for something so hard in his life as he prayed for his child to be okay.

“I’ll cut away your pants. Is that all right?” Donovan asked in a soothing tone. “It’s just me, Maren. No one else is looking. I’ll see if you have any vaginal bleeding and then I’ll cover you with a blanket and get you out of here, okay?”

“Okay,” she whispered back.

It seemed an eternity for Steele. It was too damn quiet. No sounds came from the back and each second was torture.

“I don’t see any bleeding, Maren. How are you feeling? Any cramping or pain in your abdomen?”

There was a long silence, almost as if she were weighing his words and doing a self-exam. Then finally, “No, I don’t think so. It’s just my shoulder. I can’t move my left shoulder. If I try, the pain is unbearable.”

“Okay, we’ll be careful. Hancock has been removed now, and now we’re going to focus on you. This might hurt, Maren. But we’ll be as quick and as gentle as possible.”

“What about Steele,” she said in a choppy voice. “I’m okay. Just my shoulder. You said I wasn’t bleeding. Most of the blood is from Hancock. You need to get Steele out first. I can wait.”

“No!” Steele bellowed. “Goddamn it, Maren. You need to get to a hospital so you and the baby can be checked out. I’m fine. Now cooperate with Donovan and let him get you the hell away from here.”

“Impossible, stubborn man,” Maren growled.

Donovan chuckled. “As much as I agree with your assessment, he’s right. You’re the priority here. They’re working on Hancock and doing what they can to save him. Med flight should be here any minute to take him away. But you’re next. Steele can wait. The bastard is too stubborn to die anyway, so you don’t need to worry about him. No way in hell he’s going to leave you and the baby.”

“Damn straight,” Steele bit out. “Now stop the chitchat and get her the fuck out of the chopper and do an assessment of her injuries. She needs to be treated for shock and transported to a hospital stat.”

“I’m the medic here,” Donovan said dryly. “And Maren is an MD. I think between us we can handle this without you taking charge. You have zilch in the way of medical training.”

Maren sucked in a deep breath as she looked up at the warm encouragement in Donovan’s eyes. There was concern, yes, but she didn’t see fear or doubt. He was at ease, doing his best to keep her calm and to keep Steele from completely losing it. She appreciated that. She reached for Donovan’s hand and squeezed, surprised at how little strength she had.

Garrett pushed into the already cramped space, and he and Donovan put all their strength and effort into freeing Maren from the crumpled metal. She winced but refused to cry out, biting into her lip until she drew blood. She refused to add to Steele’s worry. He was already losing his mind over not being able to get to her.

Garrett’s entire face grew red, the veins distended in his brow and his lips and jaw clenched tight. His muscles bulged and strained and he let out a shout as he pushed at the resisting metal that had folded over her legs.

As soon as there was enough of a gap, Donovan roughly yanked her from the seat, and this time she couldn’t halt the scream of pain as agony shot through her shoulder and up into her neck.

“What the fuck?” Steele raged.

She sucked in steadying breaths, blinking back the tears of pain. Her chest heaved with exertion as she tried to get it together so she could reassure Steele.

“I’m fine,” she gasped.

Donovan looked agonized, regret brimming in his green eyes. “God, I’m sorry, Maren. I had to hurry. Garrett wasn’t going to be able to hold it forever.”

He lifted her gently and crawled awkwardly up the floor of the helicopter to the side facing up, where Sam waited. Donovan passed Maren to Sam, who enfolded her in his arms.

Ethan wrapped a blanket firmly around her, taking care not to bump her shoulder, and Sam carried her toward a waiting vehicle.

“Steele,” she protested. “You can’t just leave him. He’s hurt.”

“Shhh, Maren. We aren’t leaving him. Donovan, Garrett and Ethan are working with Steele’s team to get him out. It’s possible we’ll have to wait for a rescue crew with the right tools to cut him out of the cockpit, but they’ll be with him every step of the way.”

“I need to be with him,” she whispered. “I don’t want him to think I left. He needs me.”

Sam eased her into the passenger seat of the SUV and wrapped the blanket more firmly around her. The engine had been running and the heat was going full blast despite the sultry temperature outside.

“EMS has already airlifted Hancock. They landed while we were getting you out of the chopper. You need to be in the hospital, Maren, and Steele would be the first person to tell you so. He’s going to cooperate a hell of a lot better if he knows you’re being taken care of. So do us all a favor and let us get you to the hospital so you can get checked out.”

Through her muddled thoughts, guilt surged. She hadn’t even asked about her parents. Fear knotted in her belly and the words stuck in her throat as she tried to ask what she dreaded most.

She clutched Sam’s sleeve, clutching it and bunching the material into a fist.

“My parents, Sam. What about my mom and dad?”

He touched her cheek and stroked soothingly. “We have a team on the way. Donovan was able to get a lock on the location when Caldwell made the call. I’ll let you know the minute we hear anything. Now, the most important thing is to get you to the hospital.”

He secured the seat belt around her and made sure her head rested comfortably with the C collar around her neck. Then he hurried around to the driver’s side and got in. Seconds later, they roared off and Maren stared numbly out the window at the passing scenery.

She couldn’t even take it all in. Caldwell was dead. She’d killed a man, and she didn’t have a single regret. Hancock was at death’s door after saving her. Twice. Steele was trapped in the cockpit of the helicopter after doing his best to land it safely. But they were alive.

Sweet relief whispered through her veins and she closed her eyes, suddenly exhausted beyond measure. She could no longer even hold her head up and let it sag against the headrest.

She dimly registered a phone ringing and Sam speaking in low tones. She felt drowsy, out of it. Like she was separated from her body and was only half aware of what was going on around her.

And she was cold. So very cold. Her bones were like ice and she was freezing from the inside out. She feared she’d never be warm again.

“Maren.”

Her eyelids were heavy. Too heavy to open and she ignored the person calling her name.

“Maren, honey, I need you to wake up and stay with me. I have good news. Open your eyes so I know you understand me.”

Drowsily, she forced her eyes open, her stare directed ahead as she was unable to turn her head in Sam’s direction because of the C collar.

He reached over and curled his hand over hers. It was a warm shock. So very warm and comforting. She wanted to keep holding it. Allow his heat to bleed into her body.

“Your parents are okay, Maren. Nathan just reported in. Your mom’s fine and they’re taking your dad to the hospital. I’ll take you there so you can be in the same place. But don’t worry. They don’t feel it’s anything serious. It’s more of a precaution than anything. He’s bruised, but he’s doing well.”

Tears slid down her cheeks and her eyelids shut as she inhaled and exhaled in deep, forceful breaths.

“Thank God,” she whispered. “Oh God, Sam. I was so worried I’d never see them again. And now it’s over. They’re okay. Caldwell is dead. It’s really over.”

“It’s over,” he agreed. “You never have to worry about him again, Maren. He’s no longer a threat to anyone.”

Her breath stuttered erratically over her lips as she tried to hold the sobs at bay.

“I’m sorry. I’m a complete wreck,” she babbled out.

Sam squeezed her hand again. “Honey, you were kidnapped, shot at, fell from a helicopter, and then crashed. I think you’re entitled to be a little rattled.”

She laughed shakily. “When you put it that way, you have a point.”

“Let’s get you to the hospital so they can check you over and make sure you and the baby are fine,” Sam said. “Steele won’t be far behind. I promise.”