Three Years in My Fiancé's Brother's Bed novel Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Carter held Cole upright and fought the rising panic.

They had waited outside the conflict zone for 72 hours while approvals and paperwork crawled through the system, and only then did they latch onto a supply convoy and roll in.

Once inside, they handed out aid from stop to stop and asked at every camp if anyone had seen Maya.

They made it to the second encampment before the shooting started.

Cole had taken a round.

There was no field unit nearby that could handle it, so they chased the medical convoy to the closest war hospital.

By the time they rattled through the gate, Cole was completely out.

Carter shouldered him through the crush of bodies, then looked up and saw Maya.

She stood a few yards away, looking calm and distant, with something complicated crossing her eyes.

Carter stopped in his tracks, joy crashing through him.

She was alive! She was right there!

The moment snapped as he remembered the man bleeding in his arms. He pushed forward, his eyes stinging. “Maya, Cole’s been shot.”

Maya glanced at Cole’s ashen face and said, “This way.”

冷必

*

She led them into the surgical bay, set up fast, and told Carter to pin Cole’s shoulders.

When she went in after the bullet, Cole, who had been out cold, gave a low grunt and jerked once, then went limp again.

The extraction went cleanly. Maya packed the wound, stripped off her gloves, and turned to leave.

“Maya!” Carter called after her.

She didn’t slow down. More patients were waiting, and she had no time for them.

Carter stayed by Cole and kept tracking Maya with his eyes whenever she crossed the ward.

He watched her move from cot to cot without stopping to breathe, and pride tangled with relief until his chest ached.

Gratitude flooded him that she was still alive. He marveled at her strength-at the way she had survived all they put her through and still refused to break.

Affection burned in his chest, tangled with regret, respect, and a shame so deep that it kept his eyes fixed

on her, unable to look away.

Maya finally secured a small vial of antibiotics and took it straight to Jasper.

His vitals were shaky, but he was awake now, worn thin yet steady.

As she pushed the medication, he said, “Dr. Reed, thank you for pulling me through.”

Maya kept her focus on the syringe. “You don’t need to thank me. This is my job.”

Then, she capped the needle and met his gaze. “Besides, you’ve saved me twice now, and I have yet to square that ledger.”

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