Ethan gathered Rachel closer as Sam hopped out and ran ducking toward the woman. Dr. Maren Scofield. He’d heard of her from his brothers. KGI had rescued her during an intense hostage crisis. She’d been the only survivor. Afterward she’d left Africa and set up her clinic in a poor, rural area of Costa Rica.
Sam returned with Dr. Scofield a moment later, and she poked her head inside the helicopter to survey the injured. She pointed to Cole.
“Get him in first. Front exam room.” Her gaze glanced over Rachel and then Dolphin and on to Steele. She pointed first at Steele. “Second exam room.” Then she gestured to Dolphin. “Take him into the back. I have a portable X-ray. I’ll see if he’s broken any ribs.”
Cole grunted and shook his head. Dolphin also remained still.
“See to Rachel first,” Steele said in a firm voice.
Dr. Scofield looked at Rachel in surprise then back at the men as if gauging their determination. “I really think that gunshot wounds should be looked at first.”
Cole held up his hand, pain evident in the crease of his brow. “Rachel comes first.”
Dr. Scofield shrugged and looked at Ethan. “Bring her in.” She turned to Sam. “Get your men in the exam rooms or they’re not going to have any limbs left. If they rot off, it’s not my fault. The rest of you can shower in the back while you wait.”
Sam grinned and motioned for Ethan to get out. “We’ll get them inside, Maren. Don’t get your panties in a knot.”
Dr. Scofield scowled at Sam, but Ethan could see the affection twinkling in her eyes.
Ethan stepped down, holding Rachel tightly. Dr. Scofield leaned over as they walked toward the clinic and then looked up at Ethan. “How long has she been unconscious?”
“We gave her a sedative,” Ethan said. “It was easier that way.”
Dr. Scofield led the way into one of the tiny rooms then motioned for Ethan to lay Rachel down on the exam table. As she brought the stethoscope up, the doctor peered at Ethan over her glasses.
“I need you to give me a rundown of her situation. Then you can go shower with the others while I finish up.”
Ethan hesitated. He didn’t want to leave Rachel here alone. What if she woke up and panicked?
Dr. Scofield’s expression softened. “I won’t be long, and then you can come back in. She probably won’t even wake up.”
Reluctantly, Ethan told her everything he knew about Rachel’s condition. Which wasn’t much. When he was done, Dr. Scofield nodded and motioned for him to go.
He left the room and found Sam in the hallway talking to his other team leader, Rio.
“Ethan,” Rio said with a nod when Ethan approached. “Good to see you.”
Ethan shook his hand. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I was just asking the same thing,” Sam said dryly.
Rio flashed a grin. “Brought you fellows a present. A new helicopter. That one out there is going to get you attention you don’t want with all the bullet holes. Not to mention the fact that the Colombian government has issued a statement saying such a helicopter is an item of interest in national security.”
Sam swore. “I was afraid this would happen. Our departure was too messy.”
Rio shrugged. “Bound to happen when you only have three days to plan a mission and you’re low on manpower. You should have waited for me and my team to get in. It would have only meant one more day.”
“We couldn’t wait one more day,” Ethan broke in. “They had my wife.”
Rio stared at Ethan for a moment and then nodded. “I understand. Still, we need to ditch the helicopter. No way someone won’t notice even in this shithole little village in the Costa Rican jungle. I’ll take care of it.”
Without another word, he turned and strode away, disappearing as quickly as he’d appeared.
Sam shook his head then turned to Ethan. “Rachel settled?”
“Dr. Scofield is looking her over.”
“Let’s go grab a shower then. We both smell like goats.”
They went to the back of the clinic where the small room housed two open showers. There wasn’t much in the way of hot water, but even the lukewarm felt good to Ethan. He washed away the dried blood and felt along his scalp for the wound. He was damn lucky he wasn’t dead.
“Rio’s men go with him?” Ethan asked after they’d showered and dried off.
“Yeah. Where Rio goes, so does his team. They’re a cagey, antisocial bunch to the core. They probably resented like hell having to come out of their caves even briefly.”
“Sounds like my kind of crowd,” Ethan said with a brief smile.
Sam looked at him in astonishment. “Well I’ll be god-damned. You cracked a joke. What on earth is the world coming to?”
Ethan popped him with a towel. “Cut the smart-ass attitude, big brother. I can still kick your scrawny ass.”
Sam actually smiled. Then without warning he grabbed Ethan in a big bear hug and pounded him on the back. “It’s damn good to have you back, little brother.”
“Cut the mushy shit out,” Ethan grumbled as he pulled away.
“You girls having a love fest back here?” Donovan asked.
Ethan and Sam turned to see Donovan and Garrett standing in the doorway, amused grins plastered on their faces.
Sam flipped them both off. “Get cleaned up before Maren tosses your smelly carcasses out of her clinic. Ethan and I will check in on the others while we’re waiting for Maren to finish with Rachel.”