Page 94 of Leading Conviction

The thought jarred his mind.

Wait… am I dying?

“No, you’re not,” Hawk ground through his teeth. Eagle hadn’t realized he’d spoken out loud. “We’ll inject you, and you’ll pass out and be fine. You’re coming home with us, brother. We need you.Ineed you.”

The thought thatthisman neededhim, made a laugh rumble in Eagle’s chest. But instead of chuckling, it only served to bring about another painful hacking cough. The blood settled in the back of his throat, giving the awful sensation he was choking. He tried to suck in a breath but all of his inhales were empty and unsatisfying.

“Three-two-one!” Hawk yelled.

Eagle felt weightless and free as Hawk and Devil hoisted him into the helo, almost like he was actually flying. But he landed hard against the MH-6’s cabin floor onto his back with a grunt. Jaybird scooted around him to hop onto the MH-6’s external sideboard to fire back at the shooters on the ground.

“What the fuck happened out there?” Devil entered Eagle’s vision again as he knelt over him.

The normally stoic man’s sunburned face was bloodred from exertion and wrinkles of worry furrowed the light freckles on his brow.

“The target knew we were coming, somehow,” Hawk answered.

Devil’s lips thinned as he pulled his large red medical kit closer. It slipped through his hands as the helo lifted jerkily from the ground. He lifted his fingers in front of him and Eagle felt his own eyes widen along with Devil’s green ones at the sight of the slick blood coating his hands.

“Goddamnit, focus and fix him!” Hawk yelled over his shoulder from where he shot out of the helicopter’s open cabin.

“He’s lost a lot of blood,” Devil murmured under his breath, but it blared into Eagle’s ears. Hawk set aside his pistol and turned around to help Devil. Together, they ripped at Eagle’s fatigues and kit until hot air breezed over his naked, feverish skin, making him shiver.

“GSW to the chest, punctured lung, through and through in his lower abdomen…” he turned Eagle over slightly and cursed low before he laid him back down. Eagle didn’t feel a thing as Devil muttered and shook his head, “Bullet in his spine.”

The General’s drugs they used for injuries were a miracle, but they weren’t guaranteed. If the body passed the point of no return before the drugs were administered, there was nothing that could be done. The person would lose consciousness from unbearable pain as his body tried to heal itself… only he’d never wake up again.

I’m going to die.

The thought rested in his mind like a blanket, covering all the turmoil, guilt, and pain that’d been plaguing him for years.

The guilt over tricking Hawk away from Hannah so he could have her for one night.

Leaving Hannah to fend for herself.

Trusting a monster to help him save the world.

Never getting to meet his son…

It crashed into him over and over, like the heartbeat thumping in his chest trying its damnedest to keep him alive. Hawk pulled off his own gloves before tugging off Eagle’s, too. He bent over him and clapped their hands together. Blood-coated palms made Eagle’s already weak grip harder to control, but he tried to put all his strength into it.

“Love you, brother,” Eagle whispered through numb lips.

“Don’t start with that shit, man,” Hawk ordered with all the authority of a soldier who believed he could stop death itself. “You’re not going anywhere.”

Eagle coughed a laugh until Devil spoke again.

“You can’t feel that?” he asked.

Eagle’s brow furrowed as he concentrated. “Feel what?”

“Fuck,” Devil cursed. He lifted a syringe and popped the cap with his teeth. “He’s lost a lot of blood already and it looks like he’s paralyzed, at least from the waist down.”

“What’re you waiting for then? Give him the drugs already!” Hawk growled.

“No!” Eagle garbled through thick saliva.

Hawk’s head whirled to face Eagle, his eyes wide and terrified. “What do you mean, ‘no?’ You’re getting the fucking drugs, Eagle.”