Page 10 of Finding Lexie
“Fine. But if I sing off-key while in the shower, I don’t want to hear any comments.” Then she spun and headed for the tiny bathroom. Midas had caught a glimpse of it when he’d entered the room. The shower wasn’t much more than a spigot coming out of the wall. No stall. No curtain. But he supposed Lexie wouldn’t care. A shower was a shower.
While she was busy getting clean, Midas checked in with his team. Aleck reported that they were still waiting for test results on Dagmar and things looked normal around the hospital.
Relieved, Midas paced the room, trying to work out some of his nervous energy. The op in the desert had gone off without a hitch. They’d extracted the hostages and, other than making the unplanned stop back in town, everything was going smoothly.
He didn’t know why he couldn’t shake his uneasy feeling.
Twenty minutes later, and about ten minutes before he thought he’d see her, Lexie opened the door to the bathroom. Her hair was wet, but still just as curly as when it had been dry. The scrubs she wore were a bit big on her, but she still looked one hundred percent better now that she was clean.
“I needed that,” she admitted.
“It’s amazing how a long hot shower can make you feel better,” Midas said, doing his best to vanquish abrupt thoughts of Lexie naked in the shower. They were wrong as hell and completely inappropriate. He was on a mission; he needed to remember that.
“Hot?” she echoed, scrunching her nose.
Midas winced. “Cold, huh?”
“Yeah, but honestly, it didn’t matter. I’ve never been so happy to see toothpaste and soap in my life. My hair’ll need actual shampoo to make it manageable, but I’m thrilled with what I got.”
“Come on. Come sit,” Midas said.
Lexie sat on the examination table in the middle of the room and sighed in relief.
“Lie down,” Midas ordered.
As proof of how tired she was, Lexie didn’t protest. She did as ordered and shifted until she was lying on the padded table. There was no pillow, but that didn’t seem to faze her.
Looking around, Midas made a split-second decision. He might get in trouble for it, but fuck it. Lexie had waited long enough. He rummaged through some drawers until he found what he needed.
He ripped open an antiseptic pad and reached for Lexie’s arm.
“What are you doing?” she asked, pulling her arm back and holding it against her belly.
“Starting an IV,” Midas said without hesitation.
“But…you aren’t a doctor,” Lexie protested.
Midas couldn’t stop the chuckle from rumbling up his throat. “I’m a SEAL,” he countered. “I can put in an IV without too much issue.”
“I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
Midas merely shook his head. He wanted to get this done, but he needed her acquiescence. He looked her in the eyes and said, “Do you trust me?”
Something inside him sparked to life when she didn’t even hesitate before saying, “Yes.”
“You’re dehydrated, Lex. You need fluids. The one bottle of water you drank while we were waiting isn’t enough. An IV will be quicker and will make you feel better in no time. Hopefully Dagmar’s doctor will finish up quickly and we can get you both back on the chopper and out to the Navy ship. But until we know what Dagmar’s condition is, we have no idea what the next few hours will bring. Let me help you.”
She bit on her lower lip for a moment before she nodded. “Okay.”
Midas studied her. “You have a hard time accepting help,” he said matter-of-factly.
“I like being the helper, not the helpee,” she said with a shrug. “Besides, I let you rescue me from the desert, didn’t I?”
Midas laughed. “True. Come on, hold out your arm.”
She did, and he vaguely noted that Lexie didn’t look away as he prepped her arm for the needle.
“Not squeamish?” he asked.
