Page 29 of Deserving Lara
“His heart had stopped. I don’t know if it was shock, loss of blood, or what. But in the middle of that firefight, I started CPR. Conditions weren’t ideal.” Owl snorted at the understatement. “But I was that man’s best hope at the time. We were both extremely lucky. After only a minute or so of compressions, his heartbeat returned. He wasn’t out of danger, but at least his heart was pumping again.
“My point is this: If my hands were broken, if my captors had done what they’d planned, there’s no way I could’ve administered CPR. The pain would’ve been too unbearable to do compressions the way I needed to. That man would’ve died right in front of me. So…my decision to beg, this small but shameful thing, had huge ramifications.”
Lara’s gaze was glued to his.
“Learning how to punch might not mean that you can knock someone out with one right hook—but it could surprise someone enough for you to run. So I’ll say it again. Our smallest decisions can have far-reaching consequences.”
He could tell she was mulling over his words carefully, which made him fall for her all the more. She could’ve dismissed him. Come up with alternatives to the situation she’d just heard. Maybe one of the soldier’s teammates would’ve been able to do CPR. Maybe Owl would’ve been able to do the compressions even with all his fingers broken. But instead, she listened with all her heart and soul.
“I’m sorry that happened to you,” she finally said.
Owl nodded. “Just as I’m sorry about what happened to you.”
“I want to be brave. I want to stand up to him. Some days I think I’m ready. That I’m so mad about what he did, I have no doubt when I see him again I’ll be able to beat him. But other days, I’m so terrified. I know that I’ll be that same scared woman who gladly swallowed those pills, if only to dull the pain and humiliation he was inflicting on me.”
Owl wanted to correct her. She’d saidwhenshe saw him again, instead ofif. But he wasn’t stupid enough to think that Grant wouldn’t do everything he could to get his hands on Lara again.
“All you can do is prepare. I wish I could sit here and tell you exactly what to do in any future situation you might find yourself in. Unfortunately, I can’t. But Icantell you this—you are not the same woman you were a few months ago. I know down to my bones that whatever happens will not be a repeat of before. And if I was a betting man, I’d put all my money on you.”
Lara’s eyes filled with tears, but Owl refused to break eye contact.
“And I’d go even further and say that God forbid I was ever a POW again, I’d want you by my side. Because I have no doubt whatsoever that you’d surprise the hell out of our captors. You’d find a way to outsmart them, simply because of who you’ve become.”
“Owl, I…you…Crap.”
He smiled, then got serious again. “Your instincts are spot on, sweetheart. Hitting my hands with gloves would be nothing like a real life-or-death situation. Whoever you’re trying to hit won’t stand still. They won’t have padding on their hands or face. Punching them would hurt. A lot. It would take more than one little smack to make them let you go. And they’d probably be hitting back. It’s kind of like my flight sim. It seems real to you because you’ve never flown an actual chopper. But it’s not. The smell is different. The feeling of the instruments is different. Choppers are loud, even with the headsets on. There’s usually chatter in your ear from your copilot and others on the ground as you fly. But that doesn’t mean the simulator doesn’t have value. It’s just different.”
“You’re telling me the self-defense classes aren’t useless.”
“That’s what I’m telling you. And I’m definitely not an expert on hand-to-hand fighting, but Pipe is. He’s got great advice. Stuff that you can store away, up here.” Owl tapped her temple gently.
“Like going for the soft-tissue spots,” Lara said dryly.
“Exactly.”
“Cora was amazing,” she whispered. “I was mostly out of it, but I saw her jump on Carter’s back. She really hurt him.”
“She did,” Owl agreed. “And you know what? He let go of Pipe.”
“And hurtherby throwing her across the room,” Lara said dryly.
“True. But her actions gave Pipe the opening he needed to disable him enough so we could get the hell out of there.”
“If I have the chance, I’m killing him,” Lara said fiercely, staring at Owl boldly as if waiting for him to be shocked, to talk her out of it.
“Okay,” he said.
“Okay?” she questioned, obviously surprised by his reaction.
“Yup. And I am too.”
“Oh.”
“You want to go back up to the lodge and the lessons?” he asked, knowing deep down that’s what she needed. He would prefer to sit here on his couch with her snuggled into his side, but he wanted her to get back on her feet even more. To soak in every bit of advice Pipe could give her. Because an uneasy feeling in his gut told him she’d need it.
“I think so. Owl?”
“Yeah?”
