Above All Else: A Bad Boy Military Romance (Easy Team Book 2) (25 page)
Read Above All Else: A Bad Boy Military Romance (Easy Team Book 2) Online
Authors: Gemma Hart
Chapter
Five
Emilia
“Oh my god, this is like stepping into Satan’s anus,” Doc Jones groaned as he stepped out of the small airport.
“God, you’re not kidding,” Margie said, taking in the small and desolate little airstrip we had landed at. “It has to be at least a 110 degrees right now.”
“150,” Doc Jones corrected, mopping his already beading forehead. “500, maybe even.”
I couldn’t argue with either of them.
We were huddled around our suitcases and large medic supply trunks, waiting for out escort. I could feel beads of sweat trickling down my back. Holy crap, this heat was no joke. We’d have to be careful not to get heat stroke while we worked here.
My lips tightened as I imagined Edward enjoying a nice breezy California day with his fiancée while I was sweating my ass off in the middle of nowhere.
No.
I had to stop thinking about him!
I looked around the group. “Well, hopefully our base camp will have some fans,” I said, trying to inject as much optimism as I could into my voice.
The group just grunted in acknowledgement, too exhausted from the heat to say much more.
But I smiled at their grunt, touched to just see them here in this heat with me. After the morning meeting, Doc Jones had quickly filled in Margie with what had happened. Immediately, Margie volunteered for the mission. Immediately, she was told she was too valuable a floor nurse to lose. But she argued that there was a greater need for efficient nurses in a place like Qunar than in L.A.
And along with Margie, Tammy had joined as well. She had huffed and puffed at hearing about Edward’s gall to suggest me for the trip. “That slimy little weasel!” she had said, her blue eyes narrowing. She stamped her foot and looked up at me. “You should know that I never liked his nose! It’s too skinny and weak. Like the man himself.”
With three more nurses, our staff was complete. When I had mentioned to Doc Jones how we had essentially stolen the entire ER staff, he had simply shrugged and said, “That’s Listrom’s problem. He brought the mission to our table anyway.” And that was that.
Soon we were packed and on a long flight to half way across the world.
“Oh look! There’s Mr. Carew!” Tammy said, pointing to a large olive Humvee coming in from the distance.
A familiar weather beaten face stuck his head out from the side of the vehicle and smiled at us. “Hello, hello!” he called out.
The large vehicle stopped right in front of us. Mr. Carew stepped out and surveyed us with beaming eyes. “I’m so glad you are here! So glad! There’s so much work to be done and your help will be such a blessing.”
Seeing the sincerity in his gaze and the bags of exhaustion lining his eyes, I suddenly felt a small spark of satisfaction in coming. No matter what brought me here, I was here now. And maybe I could do so measure of good.
This was a place where I could throw myself into work and be far removed from the drama and heartache of men. I could focus on just the work at hand and maybe through time and distraction, I could begin to heal. Maybe, by the time I returned to California, I’d be a whole new woman.
“Why don’t you all climb in and we can head over to base camp,” he said, opening the car doors. “I know you all must be exhausted from your flight!”
“What about our trunks?” I asked. There was no way we could fit into the Humvee with our suitcases and our medical supply trunks.
Mr. Carew clapped his hands and then waved them at me in comfort. “No worries! No worries! Another vehicle is coming to pick these up. They will be following us back to base camp. I came on ahead since I figured the heat might be a bit of a surprise for you.”
I saw the twinkle of humor in his eyes. I couldn’t help but laugh.
Doc Jones huffed a laugh. “I think Satan’s shits are cooler than this weather.”
Mr. Carew chuckled ruefully. “You’ll get used to it. Just give it a few weeks.” He got into the driver’s seat. “Now, let’s go, shall we?”
***
“This is quite the set up, Mr. Carew,” Doc Jones said as we drove into base camp. “Much larger than I had expected.”
Mr. Carew nodded. “Same here. But I have to say, Easy Team soldiers are amazing men. They can find resources and connections anywhere. And once they were notified about our arrival, they helped set up additional space for medical usage.”
“Easy Team?” I asked, confused.
“They’re a patrol team for the refugee camp here,” Mr. Carew explained. “Former soldiers. They work independently now.”
“Mercenaries,” Doc Jones said, a brow raised in curiosity.
Mercenaries? I looked back at Mr. Carew in surprise. Really? That sounded…dangerous.
Mr. Carew shifted uneasily in his seat as he kept his eye on the road. “Well…yes,” he admitted. “But that word usually has such a negative connotation. Easy Team works with more of a moral compass than most mercenaries. They were the ones who set up your workspace here. You’ll see. They are good men. And they’ll make good guides for you here.”
“Wait,” I said, confused. “Are you saying that we’re going to be working with them?”
Mr. Carew nodded, looking at me in surprise. “Why, of course. Even though this is a small camp, it’d be dangerous for you to be working out there without at least some protection. Easy Team will be on hand to guide you and to protect you as you work.”
I looked around the camp. No wonder it was so big. It wouldn’t be just us staying here.
“I thought you were going to be our liaison here, Mr. Carew,” Doc Jones said from the back.
Mr. Carew shook his head. “No, I’m afraid not. My role is more foundational. I help recruit and set up teams. I’m constantly moving around to the next location to help them find the services they need.” He shook his head. “And there are so many camps in need so I’m afraid I’ll always be on the road.”
Despite this surprising new information, I looked around, impressed. There was an abandoned building that looked like it might have been a restaurant at one point. That was now used as temporary barracks. Behind it was a small but neatly built structure that looked like a storehouse. Around these two main buildings were several tents of varying sizes.
The largest one stood at the far center of camp and looked to be some kind of meeting space. The second largest stood close by. Judging by the neat stack of pots and pans outside of it, I could guess it to be some kind of mess hall. There were several smaller tents set up around the larger ones, all serving some kind of purpose. It was quite impressive. It almost looked like a little town.
But the grand finale was saved for last.
At the far end of camp was a large, heavy canvas medical tent that was propped up, looking to be about almost twenty by twenty feet. Under the heavy canvas tent flaps, I could see a thick protective plastic flap, protecting the entrance. That was good. It would help keep the space clean and sterile. Or at least as clean and sterile as we could get it here.
Outside were some of the trunks we had sent on ahead, neatly stacked by the tent front.
“Wow,” I said.
Mr. Carew beamed with pride. “I know,” he said. “Unchartered Relief Aid recently invested in some newer tents that are a little better designed for the modern medic in mind. Come inside! You must see the inside!”
Parking the Humvee outside the tent, we all stepped down eagerly. With a grand flourish, Mr. Carew pushed back the heavy tent flap and let us all in. It was cool inside although no fan was turned on. The canvas tent must’ve been lined with some kind of heat repelling fabric.
Inside were four hospital beds, each with a clean curtain waiting by its side. There were several portable medical sets, equipped with several drawers filled with the essentials like bandages, syringes, gauze, etc.
We slowly took in our surroundings, amazed and impressed. None of us had expected to see anything so nice here. I know I had personally been picturing a hot open tent with flies buzzing in our faces as we tried to treat patients in a dirty, sandy environment.
There was even a little storeroom inside the tent that carried some basic medications and vaccinations.
“This…might not be so bad,” Margie said. It was hard to impress an experienced nurse like Margie. But this tent was doing it.
“Right?” I said, opening one of the medical chests and finding neat rows of packaged scalpels and scissors. “Whoever this Easy Team is, they did a good job of setting up the place.” Especially if none of them had any medical background. They had placed everything in a very logical order. We wouldn’t have to change anything at all. We could just get straight to work.
I looked around the tent and saw my team browsing in awe around the space when I noticed someone was missing. “Where did Mr. Carew go?” I asked.
Doc Jones looked up from the tiny autoclaves. “Oh, he said that he was going to go grab the—”
Suddenly, Mr. Carew’s face popped back into the tent. He made a waving gesture at me. “Dr. Lyon, could you come out for a moment? I want to introduce you to the Captain of Easy Team. He’ll be your main contact and guide throughout your stay here.”
I made a gesture to the rest of my group. Although Doc Jones was the more senior doctor, I had been the one assigned this relief mission so technically, I was team leader.
Together, we exited the tent and stepped back out into the blinding dry heat. I squinted my eyes as I adjusted to the brilliant sunlight again.
“Dr. Lyon,” I heard Mr. Carew say from somewhere to my right. “May I introduce Captain Cooper Hawking?”
I blinked, waiting for my vision to clear. Slowly the black shapes blinded by the sun began to fade into colors more recognizable.
I stuck out my hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Cap—”
The words dried out on my tongue. I looked at the figure in front of me in stunned amazement.
It was him.
The height. The broad chest. The muscular forearms that his rolled up sleeves revealed. And the dark, penetrating gaze.
It was my mystery man.
Here. In Qunar.
What the fuck?
“Holy shit,” I breathed to myself.
I saw the shock and surprise cross the man’s eyes as well but he was doing a much better job of keeping his composure. But I saw his lips twitch as I muttered my oath.
“Ditto,” he said.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Any similarities to events or situations is also coincidental.
© 2016 Gemma Hart
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