After the Storm(67)
She shuddered. “How can you be so nonchalant about it? You make getting shot sound so . . . normal.”
He shrugged. “Like I said. Hazard of the job. We’re all very aware of the risks we take when we go on a mission. If we weren’t prepared for that possibility, then we wouldn’t be doing our jobs very well.”
“Not many people would risk their lives for a stranger,” she murmured.
“We do,” he said simply.
They drove across the compound back in the direction they’d come and pulled up beside the building Eve had noticed on their way in. The one with no windows that resembled a hulking, concrete block. What she hadn’t seen at the time was that there was a smaller building right behind it. This one had windows in the front. Was this the infirmary Donovan had mentioned?
It awed her that they had such a sophisticated, self-sustaining facility. Airfields, hangars, a helicopter, shooting range. And an honest-to-God medical clinic.
“What’s that building?” she asked, gesturing toward the one with no windows.
“War room,” Donovan said.
She gaped at him. “War room?”
“It’s where we plan our missions. It houses our communications, computers, all the technology that plays a part in our business. It—and I—are the brains in this operation,” he said with a grin.
“He’s our resident geek,” Swanny said, speaking up for the first time since they’d left Donovan’s home.
“It would seem you do a little bit of everything,” Eve murmured. “Medic, geek, badass ex-military guy? Is there anything you can’t do?”
He pretended to consider the matter a moment, and then his smile broadened. “Nope.”
“Very humble too,” Swanny said dryly.
Eve couldn’t help the light chuckle that escaped her. Donovan stopped in his tracks as he started to get out of the driver’s side.
“You have a beautiful smile, Eve.”
She had no idea what to say to that. She immediately sobered, because really, what right did she have to be smiling when her brother and sister were hurt and ill?
“I didn’t say that so you’d stop,” Donovan said as he appeared at her door.
“I haven’t had a lot to smile about,” she returned quietly as he helped her from the vehicle.
“And I intend to rectify that.”
Her mouth fell open, but he ignored her reaction and began walking her in slow, measured steps to the door where Joe and Steele had already taken Travis. Swanny followed swiftly behind, carrying Cammie.
“I want to be with Travis,” Eve said anxiously. “I need to make sure he’s okay.”
Donovan slid a hand down her arm, spreading warmth in its wake. “He’ll be fine, Eve. I’ll put you and Cammie in the other exam room so you’re with her when Maren checks her over.”
“Yes, of course,” Eve said hastily. “I didn’t mean that I’d be leaving Cammie. I just thought that we could all be in the same room.”
Donovan led her into a small exam room and set her down in a chair. Then he turned to Swanny and took Cammie from his arms and perched her on the end of the padded exam table.
“The rooms are small and there are only two. Maren will need the room to get the portable X-ray in. Joe and Steele will be with him, and as soon as she’s done with Travis she’ll let you know how he is. I promise.”