Page 9 of Finding Lexie
“Why what?”
“I’m perfectly fine here,” she said. “Look at all the people around. No one’s gonna come in, grab me, and drag me out.”
“You’re right, they aren’t,” Midas told her. “Because I’ll be next to you the whole time, making sure of it.”
Lexie stared up at him for a long moment before finally nodding. “Okay.”
“Okay,” Midas echoed.
She got herself on the list and explained why she was there. As expected, the lady said the wait would be lengthy because of the number of people ahead of her. But Lexie merely nodded.
They headed to a corner with two empty seats and she settled into the uncomfortable chair without complaint. The woman sitting next to her had a toddler, and Lexie immediately turned to the little boy and began to engage him in conversation.
Midas watched her with a mixture of surprise and awe. The woman had just been rescued from a damn kidnapping and here she was, sitting in a crowded waiting room, playing with a kid. She was the most genuine and exasperating woman he’d ever met. She should be demanding something to eat and drink. Insisting that she be seen so she could change clothes and shower. But instead, she seemed perfectly content to put everyone else first.
Her naïveté was a bit worrisome. It was charming at times, but more importantly, it was dangerous to her safety.
An hour later, Midas was done.
He could see Lexie’s energy was fading, even though she was doing her best to pretend she was fine. When Pid walked through the lobby on one of his rounds, Midas motioned to him to get Lexie seen. He didn’t care if that meant they pushed ahead of the others waiting.
Twenty minutes later, Lexie’s name was called and Midas helped her stand. She wobbled a bit, and he scowled.
“I’m fine,” she said. “I just moved too fast.”
He didn’t bother to respond. They both knew that wasn’t the case. She was at the end of her rope, and he was done pretending everything was fine when it wasn’t.
He kept a steadying hand on her arm as they made their way through the waiting room toward the hallway where Dagmar had disappeared a while ago. Midas hadn’t heard anything about the other man’s condition, but he knew his teammates were keeping on top of the situation. Mustang and one of the Jaeger Corps were keeping their eyes on him, while the other men on both teams patrolled the area and the hospital for trouble.
A nurse led them to a stairwell, and Midas heard Lexie groan under her breath. He wanted to pick her up and carry her but had a feeling that would only cause her embarrassment. So he shifted his grip so his arm was around her waist and did his best to support her as much as possible as they climbed up the one flight to the second floor. The nurse ushered them into a small room halfway down a hallway.
The woman did her best to hide her distaste, but it came through loud and clear when she said, “There’s a small shower in the bathroom, if you want to get clean. There’s also toothbrushes and toothpaste in there.”
Lexie didn’t take offense. In fact, she seemed to perk up a bit. “Oh my God, brushing my teeth sounds awesome! And I’d love a shower. Oh, but I don’t have anything to put on afterward.”
The nurse looked Lexie up and down and said, “I’ll grab a pair of scrubs for you.”
“Thank you so much.”
The nurse left, and Lexie turned to Midas with a huge smile on her face. “Oh my God, I’m so excited!”
Midas could see that she truly was. It took so little to make this woman happy.
The nurse returned with a pair of scrubs and a bag of saline, obviously anticipating the doctor’s orders. She handed the clothes to Lexie and put the IV fluids on the counter nearby. “Take your time,” she said. “It might be a bit until the doctor can see you.” Then she turned and left.
Midas wanted to demand that the doctor make Lexie a priority, but he knew she’d be upset if he fussed. At least she was in a room now. It was something.
Lexie gave him a small smile and gestured to the bathroom. “I’ll just go and…you know. You don’t have to wait in here for me. I’m sure you have some sort of,” she gestured with her arm, “super-soldier thing to do.”
Midas chuckled. “Super-soldier thing?”
Lexie shrugged. “Yeah.”
“I already told you, I’ll be sticking by your side until we’re safely on that ship.”
“No one’s gonna come in here and grab me,” she protested.
“You’re right. Because as I told you before, I’m going to be here, making sure.”
