2. Chase

My focus hadto be getting us out of the current goat-fucked situation we were in. Getting separated from my team normally wasn't the worst thing in the world. I could manage anything whether we were in the middle of a city or in the mountains. But we weren't in the United States. We were in the jungle at the ass end of nowhere, and there wasn't a street or so much as a boulder to signify where we were. Not to mention that the interference from the trees was wreaking havoc on comms. If I had to guide us out of here by the trees, we'd be here for a while.

I stopped by the river, peering across to the other shore. While I didn't know exactly where we were, I knew we had to cross the river to get to the extraction point. With any luck, Nick—the newest member of our team— and Patrick would be waiting there for me.

The sound of a gasping breath broke my focus. I turned to the woman crouched beside me and tried my best not to ogle her. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, but the sweat pouring from her face said something entirely different. I grabbed her hand and pressed my fingers to her wrist, checking her heart rate. It was erratic at best.

She jerked her hand away, shooting me an irritated look. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

"I appreciate that," she grinned, "but I'm dehydrated and running through a jungle. What did you think I would look like?"

"True. And you are the doctor."

"Precisely."

I watched her a moment longer, telling myself it was to make sure she was okay. In reality, I was taking in every ounce of breathtaking beauty in front of me. Long dark hair pulled up high in a ponytail only accentuated her high cheekbones and big brown eyes. Even with smudges of dirt on her face and that sunken skin around her eyes, she was still fiercely gorgeous. There was no vulnerability there like I'd expected. Instead, this woman held herself high and refused to back down.

But there was something off.

Maybe she really was just dehydrated and suffering from captivity. Hell, she was the doctor. She would know better than me. I shook my head and focused back on the task at hand, trying not to let my dick do too much of the thinking.

"So, what's the plan?" she asked.

"We need to make it across the river and put as much distance between us and this camp as possible."

"We didn't lose them?"

I shook my head slightly. "Not yet. They're still on our trail."

"How can you tell?"

I pointed up, then strained to hear. The sound of voices was faint, so much so that I could almost imagine it was in my head, but I knew better. I watched her carefully as she pursed her lips, listening intently.

"I don't hear anything."

"They're out there. Probably a mile back. It's hard to say for certain because of the trees."

"Do we have to go across the river?"

There was an element of fear in her voice that hadn't been there before. "Don't worry. The river isn't deep here. At least, it shouldn't be."

She took a steadying breath, then nodded. I liked the determination in her eyes, the way she faced each challenge with strength instead of curling up in a ball and crying. I couldn't say the same for the man we found her with. I'd seen the way he panicked with Patrick.

If it weren't for the fact that I was running through the jungle, separated from my team, I would be laughing my ass off that Patrick insisted I take the woman. He assumed the man would be easier to deal with. I had no problem with it either way, but it was fucking hilarious that I ended up with the calmer of the two.

"You ready to go?"

"Let's do this."

Keeping an eye on our surroundings, I stepped down into the river, sinking to my knee. The water moved steadily around me, but was faster in the center of the river. It would be more difficult to cross, but we didn't have an option. There weren't a lot of great places to cross. I started across the river, probing the riverbed with my foot. It was rocky and slimy as hell, but this was the best chance we had.

"Alright, take my hand," I said, holding mine out to her.

She stepped into the water, carefully making her way closer to me. The moment she clasped my hand, something settled inside me. It had to be because we were in the jungle and the unknown was a nasty bitch. After we lost Jade, I swore I would never lose another person on my watch, but being in the jungle made that a harder promise to keep.

The water raced around us the deeper into the river we moved. Her fingers clasped mine harder as she nearly slipped on the algae built up on the rocks under our feet.

"Almost halfway," I said, hoping to keep her calm.

We were up to our waists in river water, but she didn't seem scared, just determined to make it across. And we might have made it if a shot hadn't rung out just as she slipped for the second time. She screamed as she fell into the water. I tried to grip her hand tighter, but the current took her downstream, pulling her away from me.

"Mercy!" I shouted, diving into the water after her. I saw her underwater, fighting to reach the surface. It wasn't deep, but the current wasn't allowing her to reach for the surface as it tossed her around.

I allowed the current to carry me, grasping out for her hand as she got caught against a boulder. I barely caught the edge of the boulder and a handful of her shirt. "Are you okay?"

She gasped for air, nodding quickly.

I didn't wait for further confirmation. I planted my foot on the riverbed and pulled her one step at a time through the current. But at the back of my mind, I knew there was still someone out there hunting us, just waiting for us to reach the shore. And the moment we did, it would be open season on us.

I got us to a shallow section of the river and pulled her close to me, staying low in the water. She was breathing heavily but otherwise looked fine. I took a quick moment to look around. From my vantage point, I couldn't see anyone waiting on us, but the prickling at the back of my neck said we were still being hunted.

The river was surrounded heavily by trees, but getting out of the river and under cover would be the hard part. "Mercy, I'm going to help you out of the river and then I want you to run?—"

"Why?"

"Because someone is still out there. When you get out, you'll have only a few seconds. You run and don't look back. I'll catch up."

Her eyes widened as she realized what was happening. "But if?—"

"Don't worry about me."

But she didn't listen. "If I get out, it'll give away our position. We should get out together."

"It'll be faster if I help you out first." There was no point in denying what she already knew. "The moment one of us moves, he'll reposition and start firing again. Our chances are better if only one of us gets out. And that would be you."

"And who's going to get me out if you get shot? I don't know where I am," she argued.

"When you get out, you run like hell." I pulled out my comm system and handed it over. When you get to a clearing, contact my team. They'll get you out."

"No," she said, not even hesitating. "You have to be fucking crazy. You're not sacrificing your life to save mine."

"It's my job," I argued.

Her eyes turned to steel in front of me. "I don't give a shit if it's your job or not. No one is dying for me. Not ever again."

There was so much to unpack in that last statement, but now wasn't the time for it. We were running out of luck fast, and if we kept bickering about it, we'd both end up dead.

I shoved the comms in her hand. "Fine, we move together, but if anything happens, you run like hell. Do you understand me?"

She gave a stiff nod. "Alright. But no protecting me. I don't care if it is your job."

Maybe Patrick was the lucky one. At least the guy he was protecting probably didn't argue with him when he was trying to save his life. "Sure, I won't protect you."

Like hell I wouldn't do my job. I may have only known this woman for a few hours, but it didn't matter. I never took a job if I wasn't prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice. It wasn't in my bones to take the coward's way out. Then again, despite knowing the risks, I also knew I was smarter and could outmaneuver most of my opponents. It wasn't arrogance. It was confidence in my abilities.

"Alright, we move on my signal." I checked the shoreline one last time, then turned back to Mercy. "On three."

"On three," she said, preparing herself for moving.

I placed my hands on her hips, ready to toss her on the shore. "Three, two, one," I said, hauling her out of the water and throwing her to the ground. I jumped out of the water after her, hauling her the rest of the way up as she scrambled to her feet. I grabbed her arm, jerking her in front of my body and shoving her forward.

She didn't hesitate to run, breaking through the trees faster than I expected. I was right behind her when the shot rang out, piercing my leg just as we took cover. I ignored the stinging and kept running, pushing her to go faster. It was doubtful anyone would catch up with us now, but we couldn't afford to take the risk that they would not only follow us across the river, but also catch up to us.

As we raced through the jungle, I checked my watch. Three hours to extraction.

Mercy stumbled against a tree,bending over to catch her breath. I knew this was a tough pace, but we needed to get to that extraction point. Pulling my canteen out of my pack, I handed it over to her. She took it and greedily drank, but not all of it. She handed it back to me, still panting way harder than she should be.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

She nodded, refusing to look at me. "It's just been a while since I ran a marathon in the jungle while escaping a group of men that want to kill me."

"It didn't look like they intended to murder you."

"No, just use us as some kind of political leverage." She swiped the sweat from her forehead and leaned back against the tree. "I don't suppose your comm system is working now?"

I pulled it out, having taken it from her after we were clear of the river. But when I checked in, there was still no signal. "Not yet."

"Any idea where your team is?"

"They could be a mile from us or on the other side of the jungle," I muttered, not wanting to admit that I was lost. We were still headed in the right direction, but were somehow nowhere close to where we needed to be. I checked my watch, noting we had just thirty minutes to get to the evac point.

"What happens if we're not at the extraction point on time?"

"They'll wait if they can. If not, they'll send a team back in to look for us."

"Right away?"

I shook my head. "They'll have to regroup and locate my tracker."

"You…you have a tracker?"

"In my arm," I grinned. "You want one?"

She was momentarily amused by my jest, but then her eyes trailed down to my leg and I knew I was screwed.

Gasping, she knelt down in front of me, pulling the bloody fabric away from my leg. "You were shot!"

"Nah, that's from a branch or something."

She slowly raised her eyes, quirking her brow at me. "Do you think I've never seen a gunshot wound before?"

"I'm not qualified to say what you have or haven't seen."

She shook her head, examining the wound further. "We need to clean this up."

"Actually, we need to get moving to the evac point."

I tried to move, but she grasped my thighs and held me in place, careful not to touch the wound. "I'm serious. This is bleeding and the more you run, the more blood you pump out. You have to let me close this up."

I nodded at her. "Okay. Where's your med kit?"

"I don't have one," she answered, pursing her lips at me. "But that doesn't mean I can't help you."

She stood to go in search of some jungle medicine, but I couldn't let her do that. "Wait." Sighing, I pulled the med kit out of my cargo pants. "Here."

Her jaw dropped in disbelief. "You had a med kit and didn't tell me?"

"Because we don't have time to waste. But it would be even worse if you went traipsing through the jungle looking for snake venom or something to cure me."

"I don't know that there are any actual documented cases of snake venom healing a gunshot wound," she said drolly, taking the kit from me. "Why would you do this anyway?"

"Do what?"

"Take a bullet for me. Are you insane?"

"Um…no. It's part of the job."

"It's stupid."

Wow, this woman was… "I think this might be the first time I've had a client complain about me saving their life."

"I'm not complaining. I just don't understand why you would come all the way out here when you know you could get shot. Drop your pants."

"Excuse me?"

"Your pants. I need them off so I can clean this up."

I laughed at that. "Yeah, not gonna happen."

"And why not? I'm a doctor. This isn't a big deal."

"Maybe not to you. I'm a man and I've been running through the jungle. There's such a thing as ball sweat, and I can guarantee I have plenty of it right now."

"Yes, ball sweat is the worst thing I've ever seen. Why don't I just put this kit away and hope you make it out of here without losing the use of your leg," she said sarcastically.

"Sounds good. Now, let's hit the road."

Just as I reached for the kit, she yanked it away from me. "I'm serious. Drop your pants or I'm not going anywhere with you."

"I could pick you up."

"And I could scream," she taunted.

"Ooh, yes, that would be bad for all the monkeys nearby."

She shot me a mocking glare. "I was thinking more about the men who are hunting us."

"Well, if you really want to be captured, I'm not sure there's much I can do about that."

"Is this some kind of macho thing?"

"No, this is some kind of sweat thing," I reiterated. "I already explained."

"So, if you came into the hospital with a gunshot wound, you would refuse treatment because of ball sweat?"

"No," I said, drawing out the word, "but I might ask them to cut above the wound. You can't really do that out here. I'd look like an idiot to all the other animals."

"I'll give you five hundred dollars."

"I don't need the money."

"Then I'll be quiet the rest of the hike."

That made me chuckle. "You've stayed quiet the whole time. How is that a threat?"

I could see the wheels spinning in her head until she finally smirked. "I give a great blow job."

As tempting as that was, there was the whole ball sweat issue. "Again, if I won't take off my pants for you to sew me up, I'm pretty sure the blow job wouldn't do it either, no matter how good it would be."

"Ugh! You're so frustrating!"

"I know. I tend to have this same effect on all women. It must be a personality issue."

"It's a pigheaded male issue," she snapped, turning away from me.

For just a moment, her shoulders hunched over and she looked like she was wheezing or something. My teasing instantly ceased as I walked closer and pressed my hand to her shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She spun around and glared at me. "Why do you keep asking me that?"

"Well, it's sort of part of my job."

"Your stupid job. Who takes a job that's so dangerous?"

"Uh, I could say the same to you."

"My job doesn't involve getting shot at."

Now that was funny. "You do remember where I rescued you from, right?"

"That was different. It wasn't supposed to happen."

"Neither was chlamydia, but I'm guessing people caught on that shit happens. Now, we can either sit here and argue some more or we can head to the extraction point. I promise, once we're on that plane headed home, I'll let you tear off my pants and stitch me up."

"You'll still be sweaty."

"I have Dude Wipes on the plane."

She stomped her foot in frustration. "This is ridiculous. I'm a doctor. I don't care if you have sweaty balls!"

"My leg is fine."

"Everybody says that and then they keel over."

"Like you?" I shot back, hitting the intended target. I knew she was hiding something from me, and until she told me what was wrong, I couldn't help her.

"There's nothing wrong with me."

"You keep having these…episodes. Something's wrong and you're not telling me what. I'm responsible for you. How the hell am I supposed to make sure I get you out of here alive if you're lying to me?"

She stared intently at me before raising her chin. "Let me clean up your wound and I'll answer your question."

"You should answer my question no matter what."

"And you should let me clean up your wound."

Touché. I thought about it a moment, deciding that my sweaty balls could handle a woman being near them if it meant she finally told me what the fuck was wrong. We didn't have the time to delay, but if there was something seriously wrong, I needed to know about it. Besides, there was no way in hell we were making that ride out of here. I had no contact with my team and no idea where we were.

"Fine."

I undid the buckle on my pants and shoved them down my legs, wincing when the fabric slid over the bullet wound. She immediately dropped to her knees, but not in the way I would have preferred. It was all clinical with her. I distracted my dick by keeping an eye on the area. We lost our enemies at least an hour ago, but that didn't mean I didn't have to stay vigilant.

"It's not too bad," she murmured, cleaning up the wound.

I winced as she cleaned it with an antiseptic wipe. "The smell or the wound?"

She refused to meet my eye, but a small smile spread across her lips. "Both. You're worried about nothing."

"So were you. I knew the wound wasn't bad. I wouldn't be running through the jungle if it was."

"That doesn't mean it doesn't need to be cleaned up. You could be fine until we get out of here, only to die from infection when we get home."

I stayed silent as she finished cleaning the wound and slapping a bandage over it. When she was done, I pulled up my pants as she stuffed the garbage into a baggie.

"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" she asked with a grin.

"Well, you didn't suffocate on my sweaty balls, so I guess it's a win-win. Now, about that question…"

"Fire away."

"What's really wrong with you?"

Her lips twitched with humor as she started off ahead of me like she knew where she was going. "There's nothing wrong with me."

"Why do I not buy that?"

Her frustrated groan told me everything I needed to know. I grabbed her by the arm and spun her around. "We made a deal. Tell me what's going on right now or we're not going anywhere."

She refused to look at me, but she finally spoke. "I had a heart transplant when I was ten. Satisfied?"

Satisfied? She had a fucking heart transplant and she was walking around here as if she didn't have a care in the world. Wasn't that really fucking dangerous? But that wasn't the main issue. No, there was some other problem, and she was hiding it from me.

"You said you had it when you were ten. What's the problem right now?"

She bit her lips, probably pissed that I picked up on that. "I don't have my immunosuppressant drugs."

A band wrapped around my heart, squeezing harder the longer I stared at her uncertain eyes. "And what does that mean?"

"It means…it's not good for me. If I catch an infection, my body might start to reject my heart."

And just like that, the bottom fell out.