Seal of Honor(37)

Gabe winced. “It has GPS,” he said of the phone. “As long as the battery holds out, Quinn will be able to track us.”

One good thing, she supposed. Still, she’d rather it have a signal.

Was the team even still searching for her brother? Or had they abandoned the search to launch a rescue mission for her and Gabe? God, she hoped not. Her brother needed their help. At least she had Gabe. Bryson had nobody, and the thought of him locked away somewhere, alone and frightened, brought on a fresh round of tears.

“Hey.” Gabe reached out and brushed his thumb over her cheek. “We’ll be okay.”

“I’m more worried about Bryson. Do you think the guys are still looking for him?”

“I know they are.”

“Okay.” She sucked in a fortifying breath through her nose. “Then let me take care of that foot.”

She worked at the boot in silence, using the tension in his body as an indicator of when to take a break. Because God knew the macho man SEAL wouldn’t cry uncle if his life depended on it.

After what seemed like forever of her going all Jack the Ripper on the boot, it finally lay on the floor in shreds, and his foot ballooned now that the pressure was off it. Scars covered the top of his foot and ran in surgical lines up his calf to his knee. He was missing his middle toe, and another appeared mangled. No wonder he needed the cane.

“I, uh, know it’s not very pretty,” Gabe muttered. He kept his eyes off both her and his damaged foot.

“Feet rarely are.” Aching for him, she closed the Swiss army knife then gently picked up his foot and placed it on her lap. “How did this happen?”

As soon as the question left her lips, she wished she could call it back. She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear about the time he was captured and tortured by terrorists. Or the time he stepped on an IED. Or—

“Car accident,” he said. “About a year ago now. We were on our way back to base after a weekend leave and some asshole kept playing leap frog with us on I-95—you know, speeding up to get ahead of us then slowing way down. So Quinn tried to pass him on the right and the guy got pissed, cut us off. Quinn swerved to miss hitting him and this semi came up behind us out of nowhere.”

A semi truck? Audrey’s heart performed a quick swan dive into her stomach. He was lucky to be alive. “Oh my God.”

“Yeah, I said that a couple times when it blindsided us.” His lips inched up into a hint of a smile. “Sent us over the median. Quinn got thrown through the windshield after the first flip and, lucky him, he missed the face-to-face meet and greet with a concrete support. I was pinned upside down by my leg for four hours. The docs didn’t think I’d keep it. It’s—”

His voice caught, and she watched emotions battle over his face before he locked them down and cleared his throat. “It’s the reason I’m no longer on the teams. Little tough to be covert when there’s so much metal in there, I can’t even get through airport security without a big hassle.”

If it looked this bad now, his foot and leg must have been a mess a year ago. It was truly amazing that he was even walking. Then again, maybe not. She’d never met any man as stubborn and indomitable as him, and if he’d made up his mind to walk again after the accident, by God, nothing short of an apocalypse would have stopped him from walking.

But if he wanted to stay that way, they needed to get him professional medical attention. All she knew about medicine was what she’d seen on House and Grey’s Anatomy.

She soothed a hand over his calf and felt his muscles jump. “Can you wiggle your toes at all?”

His big toe moved about a centimeter, but that was it. Probably not a good sign. Okay, now what?

“I… I think we need to wrap it.”

“Cut up one of these.” He thumped his palm on a feedbag. “The burlap should work.”

“Won’t be comfortable.”

“Neither was the boot.”

“Good point.” Audrey hurried to drag one of the burlap sacks off the pile and cut it open. The sweet, earthy scent of oats filled the hut as she dumped it out. Using the knife, she cut five strips and went back to his side, again lifting his foot onto her lap. “This will probably hurt. I wish I had something to give you for the pain.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Releasing a long breath, he laid back and shut his eyes. “I’ve dealt with worse.”

Yes, she bet he had. Pain was a hazard of his former job, but she absolutely hated the thought of hurting him in any way.

“Just get it wrapped up for me, okay?” he said. “After I stay off it and keep it elevated for the night, it’ll be good as new tomorrow.”