Jacob(3)

Jacob glanced back at the woman. “Doc, she’s been victimized enough. Fix the shoulder. Wash the leg and see if you can tell if it’s broken.” They both looked at the overlapped, bloody and weeping burns that covered the soles of her feet. The men’s eyes met. Each understood the pain the woman endured. “Let her keep what little dignity she has left.”

Doc nodded and sighed. “Agreed. Damn it, Skipper. Why…how could they? I mean…a woman?”

I know.” He put his hand on his friend’s shoulder and squeezed. “Do what you can.”



*



Tori felt the soft touch on her face and heard the drawl of a deep baritone. “Honey, we have to put your shoulder back in the socket.” Opening her eye, she turned toward the soothing voice and tried to focus. His eyes were almost a steel color. He had a handsome face, strong chin and cheekbones. His nose had been broken once or twice, but the irregularity added to his rugged handsomeness. She noticed his thick black hair fell long against his collar, longer than Tori knew a military man’s hair should be. Oh…okay… she was hallucinating. It had to be, because there was no other explanation if he wasn’t military. She reached out and touched his face. Her hand shook as she felt his warm skin. “Are you real?”

In an instant, his solemn face changed as he smiled at her. “Yeah honey, I’m real. You’re on your way home. Doc here needs to set your shoulder. I’m not going to lie to you. It’s going to hurt like hell.”

Her eyes never left his. “Who?”

“Consider me your guardian angel.”

She stared at him. Her voice gathered strength and again she asked, “Who are you?”

His hand touched her cheek. “My name is Jacob. Listen, if we don’t relocate your shoulder and set your leg more damage will occur. This will hurt. I’m going to hold you while Doc works. Try to stay still. Can you do that for me?”

Tori looked at him and cringed inwardly. Not again, please, please…no more. She watched as a large blond man took Jacob’s place. Her mind reacted as the fear of impending pain gripped her again when the blond touched her. She rolled her head to the side and waited.

Flashes of agony twisted through her body and as if an outside spectator, she heard moans and screams. Her shoulder burned and agony radiated through her chest. A razor sharp pain pierced her leg. Finally, the blessed veil of darkness fell over her.



*



Jacob held the woman down as Doc manipulated her shoulder back into its socket and lifted her for the medic to bind her arm against her chest preventing movement. The woman’s body shook and convulsed in his arms. He moved lower and pinned her hips to hold her down as Doc set the broken bone and splinted the leg. The eerie reverberation of her tormented screams echoed through the cargo hold and her frail body went slack after a final anguished cry. Jacob waited until the medic finished the splint so Jacob’s question wouldn’t distract him. “Can you give her anything for the pain?”

“I’ve already given her what I can. I don’t know the exact extent of her injuries. With the bruises covering her stomach and back, she could have extensive internal damage. I’m not going to give her anything else unless I’m forced. The best thing is to keep her still and warm. We’ll be landing in a couple hours.”

Jacob turned and looked at the woman lying on the pallet. Obviously tall, and the one side of her face not grotesque and swollen showed the possibility of a high cheekbone. Damned if he could imagine how she would actually look clean and without the bruises and marks of the beatings. Her hair, it could be blond, but the caked mud and filth prevented him from knowing for sure. His gaze lowered to her face to see her intense observation of him. Her blue eyes did not waver as he greeted her. “Hello.”

She pulled a ragged breath. “Hello, Jacob.”

He smiled and sat on the pallet beside her. “You have me at a disadvantage. I don’t know your name…or perhaps you prefer honey?”

His smile spread across his face as he reached down and took her good hand in his. Why did he feel compelled to touch her? And no, he didn’t really want to answer or try to figure that one out. Thank you very much.

“I don’t mind…name is Tori.”

Remarkably, her voice seemed somewhat clear, at complete odds with the horrendous damage her body displayed. Sympathy overwhelmed him. What if this woman had been one of his sisters? His smile became forced. “Odd name for a girl.”

“Victoria.” The corner of her mouth twitched, but he didn’t know if it was from the pain or an attempt at a smile.

“Well, Victoria, I have a question for you.” He felt her body stiffen and watched as a guarded mask slid over her face. Jacob leaned forward and lowered his voice. “What is the first thing you want to eat when you hit the States?”

Her head jerked as she gaped at him. His laughter erupted. He couldn’t help it. The woman’s response was priceless. He saw her lips move as she attempted another deformed smile and winced.

The joy in her breathless voice surprised him. “Steak. Baked potato…butter.” He watched as she struggled to draw a deeper breath. She grimaced and continued. “Veggies. Salad…blue cheese dress…dress…oh…” She pulled a hissing breath in followed by a few shallow pants and released a small moan but continued. “Wine, a lot of red wine.”

Well, if that didn’t seal the deal. He liked this woman. Definitely not a physical thing. No way. The woman’s appearance, stench, and filth defied any attraction. Decidedly not a physical thing. But, damn it if she didn’t make him smile. A person he would like to get to know. “Tori, you just stole my favorite meal, up to and including the red wine.”

She lifted her eyebrow at him, pulled on his hand and waited until he leaned closer. Her eye twinkled as she whispered, “Bullshit.”

He threw his head back and laughed outright as he tried to feign offense. “What? You don’t believe me?” He glanced over his shoulder at his communications officer at work in a cluster of radio equipment and yelled across the bay. “Yo! Chief! What is my favorite meal?”

Chief leveled his intense black eyes on both of them and without missing a beat yelled back. “Rib-eye steak…medium rare.”

Doc walked up to the foot of the pallet and chimed in, “Yeah and a baked potato with that damn foo-foo red wine. Not a real man’s drink if you ask me. And you should. Ask me, that is.”

Jacob turned back to her and plastered on his best cheesy smile. He held out both hands, palms up. “See, no bullshit.”

Tori laughed and winced. Jacob watched as she grabbed her ribs and closed her eye. He felt a twinge of guilt for eliciting the laughter. When she looked at him again, he shook a finger as if admonishing a child. “No more laughing for you, young lady.”

Tori turned her head. Her eyelid dropped once and then again. Barely discernible over the engine noise, her voice carried to him. “I’d given up. I never thought…I’d laugh again.”

Either the pain or exhaustion pulled her under. He sat beside her as she dozed on and off. When turbulence shook the aircraft, she would jolt awake. He made sure each time she woke, he was with her. As he signed with his aviation, weapons, and demolition specialists, she cleared her throat. Jacob stopped signing and looked down at her.

“Explain something for me?”

Jacob lifted an eyebrow. “If I can.”

She nodded her head towards his team. “No insignia. Military team. Good team. Equipment not DoD. Why were you there?”

Jacob liked her spunk. He knew the questions had cost her. He could see the pain she battled to ask them. Amazed the woman could be anything but a comatose heap after what she endured, his admiration for her grew. Yeah, he could like her. “Well now, you are observant and inquisitive aren’t you? How about we turn the tables? Why does a young woman with a non-distinguishable accent who would be more at home in a country club or on a college campus happen to be held in an Afghanistan warlord’s encampment?”

He could tell Tori watched him closely, but she hadn’t finished surprising him. She lifted her head a small distance off the pallet, looked around the cargo bay, and then crooked a beckoning finger at him.

He leaned in and watched her. He heard her rasping breath as she drew it in before she spoke. “I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.” Tori executed a massive stage wink and laid her head back down. The look on her face could almost be classified as mischievous. Well, two could play that game.

The audacity and the personality of the woman lying beside him struck him to the core. “Truthfully, I doubt I would enjoy that Tori…and realistically I think killing me may be just a little bit challenging for you right now.”

She drew a deeper breath. “No, no challenge. Give me a year…to heal. I’ll kill you then.”

“Okay, that’s a deal. We’ll meet for a rib-eye steak dinner, one year from today. After we eat, you can try to kill me if you think you’re up to it.”

She raised that delicate shaped brow again. “Meet? How? You don’t…ah…know me.” Her face contorted in response to the effort it took to talk.