Chapter 459
[ 545 words ]
Chapter 459:
Jarrod’s jaw flexed. The old command habit in him wanted someone to blame, something to order, a problem he could crush flat beneath his boot. But there was no rubble here, no enemy line, no clean target. There was only Caroline, pale and stubborn on a cot, and the ugly fact that locking her away would not keep her safe. It would only make her fight him harder.
He stared down at her, at her stubborn, upturned chin, and the towering inferno of his rage seemed to collapse in on itself, leaving only the ashes of a weary, helpless frustration.
He wasn’t going to win this. He knew it.
With a final, frustrated sigh that was almost a groan, he turned his head toward K.C., who had followed him in and was hovering near the entrance with the rigid posture of a man wishing he were anywhere else.
“Bring a wheelchair,” Jarrod said, each word clipped. “And a litter team if Reed wants her moved farther than this cot.”
𝖳𝘩𝗲 b𝖾𝗌t r𝘦𝖺𝖽і𝗻g ex𝘱𝖾𝗋іe𝗻𝗰𝖾 o𝗇 ga𝗹novе𝗹ѕ.𝖼𝗈m
K.C. vanished at once.
Jarrod did not bend down. He did not slide an arm under her knees. He did not lift her. He stood beside the cot like a man chained to his own injuries, rage rolling off him in waves because even now, even furious, he could not physically carry her out of danger.
He turned and pinned Dr. Evelyn Reed with a glare. “Check her vitals,” he commanded. “Get her glucose and some food. Now.”
Evelyn, a seasoned and respected military doctor, simply nodded, her face a mixture of wariness and professionalism, and hurried off to do as she was told.
Jarrod pulled up a stool and sat beside the cot, moving stiffly around the brace before lowering himself onto it. His right arm remained strapped across his chest. His splinted left hand rested uselessly against his thigh. He didn’t speak. He just stared at Caroline, his silent, suffocating anger filling the space between them, more intimidating than any shouting could ever be.
When Evelyn returned with a glucose pouch and a tray of food, she saw the scene: the formidable Colonel Romero, the man whose command made generals tremble, sitting a silent, helpless vigil over one stubborn nurse. And she thought, for the first time, that she was witnessing something truly legendary.
Dr. Reed efficiently checked Caroline’s pulse and blood pressure. “Her vitals are a little low, but stable,” she reported to Jarrod, her voice carefully neutral. “She just needs rest and nutrition, Colonel. As I’m sure she already knows.”
Jarrod gave a curt, single nod, his eyes never leaving Caroline’s face. It was a clear dismissal.
Evelyn took the hint and retreated, finding Brenna near the supply station. “I have never seen him like that,” Evelyn whispered, her eyes wide. “Ever. That woman is a force of nature.”
Brenna just looked worried. “I’m just afraid he’s going to lock her in a cage.”
Back at the cot, Caroline sipped the sweet glucose gel Evelyn had given her, the sugar slowly chasing away the faintness. The silence from Jarrod was a heavy, suffocating blanket. She knew he was still furious.
She reached out, her fingers tentatively touching the back of his hand where it rested on his crossed arms. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice small. “I didn’t mean to worry you.”
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