“I should go too.” Savannah gave me a hug. “I’ll be back with more food.”
I waved a goodbye and waited for the nurse to inject the goods. I hoped they’d hit fast.
“This will help. Now, get some rest.” She eased the liquids into my IV then left.
Sloane moved up the bed and ran a hand through my hair. “Can I get you anything?”
“No.” Warmth spread through my body, and I felt heavy. The top of my head started to prickle, and my mind slowly let go of the room. “Say it to me again?”
“What?” she whispered as she turned off the light next to the bed.
“That you love me.” I gave in to sleep remembering my Delta days.
“My feet fucking kill,” Dimitri bitched as we finished the last leg of our twenty-mile hike through thick terrain with a forty-five-pound pack strapped to our backs.
“You’re fine,” I muttered and grabbed Tony’s arm as his legs gave out again. Delta Force training weeded the weak from the strong and the undetermined from the determined. A good part of it was mental. Harsh, but true. I knew that when faced with the challenges a Delta Force soldier would come up against, you’d better be the best of the best. Or you’d die.
“Come on, Tony.” I bent down and used what little strength I had left and hoisted him over my shoulder. My knees shook, but I took a moment and cleared my head.
“Really?” Dimitri snickered as he hobbled along. “You’d think we were in a movie or something.”
I whirled around and glared down at the bastard who had been riding my ass since we started training.
“By all means, then,” I held out my arms and felt Tony fight for balance, “you can be the star in it. If you want to carry him, you can.”
“I’m not carrying him and his extra weight.” He indicated Tony’s pack. “We’re pushed for time as it is.”
“Then shut the hell up and get back in line.”
The rest of our unit followed in silence. We were all exhausted and had little patience for Dimitri and all he’d put us through. Multiple times we’d had to stop and help him out, but the first time someone else really needed help, he was willing to leave them in the woods just to finish on time. His type was not cut out for the Army.
“Ten minutes,” Waters chimed in, “and we have two more miles to go.”
“So, pick up the pace.” Dimitri hit my arm as he hurried by. “You can be the hero, but I’m finishing this test.”
“Whatever,” I hissed and watched more than half of the unit race after him.
“Not worth it.” Tony tried to sound coherent. “Drop me.” I shifted a bit to relieve my right shoulder.
“I wouldn’t drop you in battle, so why would I do it now?”
“You won’t make it in time.” Waters’ voice came from the side. I hadn’t noticed him because of Tony’s legs.
“I don’t care,” I nodded toward the finish line ahead, “but you should go. This was my decision.”
Waters shook his head and stayed close. “If I ever have to fight in a battle for my life, Black,” he looked over at me, “I would want you with me.”
I lifted my fist to give him a bump.
My mud-soaked boots crossed the line with thirty seconds to spare. I handed Tony to the EMT who was waiting on the sidelines and dropped my pack with a thud. I ignored the cheers from the rest of the unit, grabbed my canister, and headed to a quiet spot. I usually loved the brotherhood of the Army, when you were in the right company. Other than Waters, my unit was disappointing. Perhaps in time their mind-set would change, but if it wasn’t in them now, I highly doubted it would ever change.
An upside-down bucket seemed like a good place to sit. It was in a shady spot and a short distance away from everyone else. I sat down and chugged about half of my water then closed my eyes, happy the testing was over. I knew I had done well, and it felt good.
“Black.” My commanding officer waved me over.
Damn. I pushed back on my tired knees and made quick work to join him.
“Sir,” I greeted with a curt nod.
“I’m not going to drag this out. We don’t need to evaluate you any more. You have proven yourself time and time again. Welcome to Delta Force.”