Not his leg. Anything but his leg.

I nod and whisper, “And you, Krypt? Are you hurt?”

“I was behind Maddox and Tyke, further back, keeping a look out. I only received a little bit of the force. Mack was with the other guys, closest to the heat of the explosion—it’s why he’s so badly injured. It killed four other men who were even closer than him. Everyone else was lying further back, so that’s all the injuries.”

“H . . . h . . . h . . . how did something like that happen?”

He shrugs and reaches for his wife, pulling her into his side. “It wasn’t planted by us, or for us. They wouldn’t blow up their own compound as revenge. Someone had put it there before we got there. It would seem they have more that one enemy. The good news is there were a lot of them inside. It wiped out a good portion of their operation.”

I nod and turn to Jaylah, who is still tucked in Grimm’s arms, looking utterly broken. I walk over to her and pull her into mine. Santana joins us, then Ash, and there we sit, waiting for the fate of our men.

Praying they will get through.

~*~*~*~

NOW - Pippa

There’s nothing like the pain that is lodged deep in your chest while you wait for the news of a loved one. You wait to hear if they’ve lived or died, you wait to hear if they will ever walk again, or if they will ever ride. You wait to hear if the damage that’s done is so severe that they’ll never be the same again. That’s what we’re doing. We’re waiting, praying, hoping.

The doctor comes out about twelve hours after we arrive at the hospital.  He approaches us and we all stand. His eyes scan over us all and then he asks, “Who is the wife of Miakoda?”

Jaylah raises a weak hand. “Me.”

The doctor nods. “We’ve operated on your husband. Sadly, we’ve had to amputate his right leg—it was a mess. However, he should make a full recovery, and can have a prosthesis fitted down the track. It will be uncomfortable and somewhat of a long journey, but I have every faith he will make it just fine. His other leg was severely burned—we’ve done the best we can but sadly there will be a good deal of scarring.”

“But he’ll be okay?” she whispers.

The doctor nods. “Yes, he will be okay.”

“Can I see him?”

He nods and waves down a nurse. “Betty will take you.”

When Jaylah disappears, the doctor turns to Santana. “Who are you with?”

“Maddox.”

He nods. “Maddox has just come out of surgery. There was no severe damage from the impaled object, but he’s going to be sore for a good few weeks. The burns on his neck aren’t too bad and should heal nicely. He had a few deep gashes we’ve had to stitch, and we bound up his broken arm, but otherwise he’s well. You may go and see him.”

Another nurse takes Santana away and the doctor turns to me. “You must be with Tyke?”

I nod. “Yes.”

“Tyke had a good deal of surgery on his leg. The bone was broken quite badly, but it would appear he’s had broken bones before.”

“Yes, he had an accident years ago that crushed his legs.”

The doctor nods. “Makes sense. Anyway, because of that it took a little more to repair, but when his bone heals he might find he walks better than before as we have realigned his damaged bones more firmly. The gash on his arm was stitched and he didn’t have any burns. You can go and see him.”

Another nurse arrives and I hurry down the hall after her, desperate to see Tyke.  She takes me into a room and points to a bed. Tyke is lying in it, his eyes on the ceiling. His leg is in a cast and slightly risen, and his arm is bandaged. He’s got some cuts and scratches on his face, but otherwise he looks okay. I take a small moment to thank God for that.

I walk over and when he hears me, he turns. “Little one,” he croaks.

“Hi there,” I whisper, reaching down and pressing my forehead to his. “You scared me.”

He smiles weakly. “Scared me, too.”

“Are you in pain?”

He shakes his head. “Nah, they have me on some pretty solid medication.”

“I was so afraid,” I say, and a tear spills out.

“Come here, baby,” he murmurs, pulling me into the bed. “I’m okay.”

“You broke your leg.”

“Yeah,” he murmurs. “Must have been meant to be, hey?”

“Tyke, it’s not funny.”

“I never said it was, little one.”

“You could have died.”

He squeezes me. “But I didn’t.”

“The other guys are okay, too.”

“Mack?”

“He lost a leg, Tyke,” I croak.

Tyke is silent, then he yells, “Fuck!”

I hold him as he pants out his rage over that fact. “It shouldn’t have happened, Pip. It was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. If we had been one hour too late . . . we wouldn’t have had to do this.”

“I’m so sorry, Tyke.”

He turns and presses his lips to my head. “You couldn’t have done anything about it.”

“No, but I’m still sorry.”

“It’s going to be a long road for Mack.”

I nod.

“But we’ll be there for him. We’ll always be there for him,” I whisper.

Forever.

Because you always save the ones you love.