Page 36 of Finding Lexie
“You going to find Lexie?” Mustang asked in the narrow hallway outside the conference room they’d been in for the last few hours. The other guys had already left to hit the showers and to catch some z’s.
“Yes,” he said, a little more forcefully than he’d meant to.
“Easy,” Mustang said. “I was just asking.”
“Sorry. I know.”
“Things were pretty intense there for a while, huh?” Mustang asked.
Midas nodded. “She was amazing though. Didn’t panic. Even when we had to go out the window of the hospital, she didn’t even flinch. She ran through the streets with me without shoes on, Mustang. And not once did she complain about it.”
“She doesn’t seem like the complaining type,” his friend said. “It’s damn lucky you two ran into that woman she knew.”
“Yeah. But here’s the thing, if it wasn’t her, I’m convinced it would’ve been someone else. She doesn’t have a mean bone in her body and is generous to a fault.”
Mustang tilted his head. “It sounds as if she’s more than a mission to you.”
“I think she is,” Midas admitted out loud for the first time. Then he shook his head. “But there’s no way this is gonna work out.”
Mustang laughed. Actually threw his head back and laughed at him.
Midas glared at his friend. “You’re an asshole,” he said, frowning.
“I’m sorry,” Mustang said, not sounding sorry at all. “But you’re standing there saying it’s impossible for anything to work out with the woman you rescued, to a man who recently married a woman he rescued while on a mission halfway across the world from where he lives.”
Midas pressed his lips together. His friend’s comment was convoluted, but he’d made his point.
Mustang went on. “Look. I know how you feel, okay? Out of everyone on the team, I know. You know how crazy I was when we got back to Hawaii and I was waiting to hear from Elodie. I drove you all nuts. But there was something about her that was different than anyone else I’d met. The odds of us making it were slim to none, but I’m standing in front of you a very happily married man, madly in love with his wife, telling you not to give up. I’ve never seen you this worked up about a woman, Midas. Don’t let her be your biggest regret. A relationship with her might not be easy, but it could also be the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”
“I just don’t know how it can work out.”
“I didn’t either. All I knew was that it sucked that I had to leave Elodie on that ship,” Mustang said. “You just gotta trust that if you and her are meant to be, it’ll work out.”
“Well, that was vague as shit,” Midas complained.
Mustang chuckled. “Sorry. Go find her, Midas. Tell her flat out that you want to keep in touch. See where things go from there.”
“Thanks,” Midas said.
Mustang clapped him on the shoulder and nodded. “For the record? I like her. I obviously don’t know her as well as you do, but I can see the appeal.”
His friend’s approval meant a lot to Midas. It wouldn’t’ve stopped him from keeping in touch with her regardless, but it felt a hell of a lot better to know Mustang approved.
Midas knew he should probably shower before he tracked down Lex, but he was too impatient to see her. To find out what the doctor had said. To make sure she was good. It took a bit to find the infirmary because he wasn’t familiar with the ship, but after a few wrong turns, and asking some of the sailors who were out and about even at this time of night, he found it. Midas had no idea if she would still be there, but it was a place to start.
He pushed open the door and looked around the room. There were several examination tables, as well as twin-size cots along the back wall, for those patients who needed extra monitoring. His eyes immediately zeroed in on the only cot in the back that was occupied.
Midas walked toward it, eager to talk to Lexie.
But when he got his first glimpse of her, his stomach dropped.
She was lying on her side, and he could literally see the blanket over her vibrating because she was shaking so hard.
“What the fuck?” he muttered. Midas went to his knees beside the low bed and put his hand on Lexie’s shoulder. “Lex?” he asked.
She rolled over—and Midas mentally kicked himself in the ass. Her face was red and blotchy from crying, her eyes were swollen and, even as he watched, more tears spilled over her lids.
Without a word, he got up and gently scooted her over, climbing onto the small twin mattress with her.
