SEAL's Embrace - Makenna Jameison Page 0,15

she’d been injured, too? Hailey hadn’t even considered that at first, she’d been too shocked at waking up in the hospital and learning she was being airlifted out.

“Let me administer your medicine first, and then you can make the call.”

“Can I make sure she’s not here in the hospital? Kimberly Turner. She lives in the same building—I wasn’t even thinking, but she could’ve been hurt also. She won’t have to come visit me if she’s already here. Oh my God, I hope she’s okay.”

“I’ll check. Let me just put this into your IV. It’s a pain reliever, and you’re due for your next dose.”

“Okay. What time is it anyway?”

“Four a.m. You’ve been asleep for several hours. I know you’ve been through quite a lot, so it’s good that you got some rest so that your body can begin to heal. We’ve wrapped your ribs a bit, as you probably noticed. They’ll take the stitches out of your head wound either in Germany or back in the States. I’m guessing they won’t keep you long in Landstuhl, so it will most likely be when you’re back home.”

“Okay.”

Hailey’s mind was a whirl. The past twelve hours or so had been crazy. She’d gotten off for the day, gone to the cafeteria for dinner, met Grayson.

Grayson.

Goodness.

He’d said he was busy tomorrow. Well, today now. Was he going off on some type of mission? Not that she had the clearance to know. She hoped he’d be safe though. What would he think when he came back to check on her and she was gone?

The thought made her heart pound.

Clearly, he had a million things on his mind that didn’t involve her, but she had the feeling he’d come check on her since he’d said exactly that. Especially after he’d gone into a burning building to rescue her. And she wouldn’t be here. Should she leave him a note or something? That seemed silly. He wasn’t her boyfriend or anything—she hardly even knew him.

Hailey had been terrified last night though, and he’d held her so carefully as he’d carried her out. Grayson had helped her not once yesterday, but twice. She’d be a fool to ignore the chemistry that had been sizzling between them. Maybe it was presumptuous of her to write him a note. He could just have felt obligated to say he’d check up on her.

Blowing out a sigh, she looked over at her monitor.

She was lucky to be alive. The fact that a hunky military man had come to her rescue made her heart pound, but the reality was, they lived in different worlds. They led different lives. She’d write him a note to thank him, but she wouldn’t expect anything after that. Maybe she was moving to California, but she couldn’t really expect anything to happen.

He may not have admitted it, but she was certain he was Special Forces. He had missions to go on, other people to save. Just because he’d wanted to have dinner together didn’t mean something would come of it. And she needed to get better. To check on her friend Kim. And then fly home and move on with her life.

***

Grayson dropped to the ground at oh six hundred, crouching by the Humvee for surveillance before they stormed into the village. Blake spat on the ground beside him, cursing as they saw women and children gathered near the first house. Their team was a good distance away, ready to roll in, but again, it almost seemed like the enemy knew they were coming.

How else could they explain the fact that children were up and outside at dawn?

The villagers knew the U.S. forces wouldn’t harm innocent civilians, which made the fact that Sayed was hiding in the village all the more frustrating. He thought nothing of harming Americans, but he also seemed to care little about his fellow Afghanis. He was probably hiding amongst them, forcing the joint forces to search every home.

The first Army Ranger platoon assigned to the mission began to roll into the village, their large trucks and Humvees rumbling through. They’d go in first to secure the streets, and then Grayson’s team of SEALs would begin moving door to door, near where intelligence had most likely indicated Sayed to be.

The other Ranger platoon would begin searching the opposite side of the village, methodically moving door to door as they sought out the enemy.

If all went well, they’d be bringing Sayed in for interrogation. Another leader would always spring up after his capture, but