Ayden
SAWYER

"Ayden?" Lanie's voice sounded far away for some odd reason. "Ayden, wake up. Can you hear me?" 

It was weird. I wanted to tell her I missed her. I wanted to tell her I loved her and ask her how the baby was doing. When I tried to tell her that, I wasn't able to actually speak. What was wrong with me? Was I dreaming? If I was dreaming, then I was grateful for it. I missed her so much and I was counting down the days until I could see her again. 

"Ayden?" I heard her voice again, but this time it was a little different. "Ayden, come on, man. Wake the fuck up!" 

Okay, definitely not Lanie's voice. I felt something wet on my face. What the fuck? Was it raining? Then someone was slapping me. 

"Ayden!" 

I knew that voice. It was the brother of the woman I fell helplessly in love with. I tried to peel my eyes open and was nearly blinded by the sun. That was until Nate's face came into my field of view. 

"Nate? What the-- why were you slapping me?" 

He let out a relieved sigh and fell back on his ass. "Good God. You scared the fuck out of me." 

I sat up and noticed a searing pain from my left arm. I hissed as I assessed the wound I apparently had and cursed under my breath. Great. A fucking gunshot wound. How the hell did this happen? I looked over at Nate and he didn't appear to be injured. 

"Nate, what the hell happened, man? How did I get shot?" I looked around at our surroundings. "Where the hell are we?" I was somehow in a shaded area that looked very unfamiliar. 

Nate seemed to have trouble catching his breath and it took him several moments before he could answer me. "You don't remember?" I shook my head and he asked, "What's the last thing you remember?" 

I tried to search my memories and, unfortunately, I didn't remember anything that led to how I got here or getting shot. "The last thing I remembered was us getting assigned that recon mission. We got to camp and then...that's it." 

Nate nodded but he had an odd look on his face. "After we got to camp and got situated, you went for a walk. About thirty minutes after you left, I heard the gunfire. I didn't get injured, but I've been looking for you." He reached out and placed his hand on my good shoulder. "Ayden, you have no idea how happy I am that I found you." 

This was all so strange. I went for a walk...I must have called Lanie. How long into the conversation did this supposed gunfire start? Did she hear it? God, I hope not. I needed to reach out to her and make sure she was okay. If she heard it, she probably thought I was dead.

I started patting my pockets and Nate frowned at me. "What are you doing?" 

"I'm looking for the sat-phone." 

"Ah, about that..." I looked up at Nate and he glanced away. "I found it in pieces when I went looking for you." 

Goddammit. How was I going to get in contact with her now? I didn't have my cell phone, and Nate's phone had shit reception. Fuck, this was a mess.  That's when it hit me. "Nate, how long have you been looking for me?" 

He was quiet for several moments before finally giving me an answer. "Three days." 

Three...Fuck me. I needed to get ahold of Lanie now. She was probably going out of her mind. If she had any idea what happened to me, she was not in a good place. Hell, Nate and I definitely weren't in a good place. We were in a fucking hot zone. 

"I've been unconscious for three days?" I asked Nate incredulously. 

"I think so," he shrugged. "We need to eat. You're lucky that you found some shade before you went unconscious. Add that to the two water bottles I found next to you, and I'm sure that's how you're still alive." He ran a hand through his dark hair. "We need to find our supplies. We have food and stuff there." 

"Fuck the supplies," I grumbled and looked at my wound on my shoulder again. "I need my med kit." 

Nate frowned at me as he stretched his legs out. "Your med kit?" 

That's right. Nate may have known me for years, but there were still quite a few things he didn't know about me. "Yeah," I said awkwardly, "I, uh, carry a med kit. You know, for things like this." 

Wanting to avoid eye contact, I pulled my shirt over my head to examine my wound more closely. It seemed to be a through-and-through, which was beneficial. There wasn't much bleeding. But I needed to get it sewn up ASAP. There was a massive risk of infection and that could turn septic really quick. If it turned septic...I was fucking screwed.

Nate leaned forward and snapped his fingers in front of my face. "Hey, asshole. Tell me the truth. What are you hiding?" 

What was I hiding? A lot of shit, actually. I turned towards him and let out a long breath. "I sort of went to medical school."

Nate's brows rose and he scoffed. "You 'sort of' went to medical school? How does someone 'sort of' go to medical school? I knew it. You're a doctor, aren't you?" 

I ran my hand over the back of my neck and let out a frustrated breath. "No, Nate. I'm not a doctor. But I know a thing or two about medicine." I got to my feet and dusted off my pants. "We should get a move on and find our stuff. You're right, we need to eat something and we need to call for help somehow." 

I started walking in the direction I thought I came from and I heard Nate's heavy footfalls as he caught up with me. I knew he was going to press me for more information, but I wasn't in the mood. I was worried about Lanie, I was worried about us, and my fucking shoulder was hurting like a bitch. 

"Ayden, you need to give me more than that. You owe me more than that." 

I didn't give him an answer. Instead, I ignored him and kept walking. It was bad enough that I was keeping my relationship with his sister a secret, but adding in a past that I wasn't proud of? That was not something I was in the mood for. Not yet. I trusted Nate more than anyone. He was like a brother to me and there was no one I would rather have at my back. 

"Let's just keep moving," I said, hoping that he would drop the subject. Unfortunately, he was Nate and I was an idiot for thinking it this would end here. 

"Fuck this shit," Nate said as he pulled me to a stop. He came to stand in front of me and held my stare. "Tell me the truth."

"I don't owe you anything," I sneered and regretted it instantly. Nate has saved my life more than once and the reality was-- I owed him my life. 

Nate crossed his arms over his chest and gave me a look that told me he wasn't moving. "Really? I think you do. Especially since your sleeping with my sister." 

What. The. Fuck. Okay. I was not expecting that. How the hell did he know? We were pretty good about hiding it. I ran my hand over my face and sighed. This was too fucking much. We were lost in the desert, injured, and in desperate need of food and water. Now this? My heart was beating a thousand times a minute. 

Noticing I was unable to speak, Nate asked. "So, are you a doctor or not?" 

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Yes. I finished med school. But something happened and I chose not to go down the doctor path. That's when I joined the Army. But how--"

"I'm asking the questions," Nate barked. "What happened that you joined the Army?" 

Christ, this was a fucking interrogation. I didn't want to answer these questions, but he seemed to have me by the fucking balls. My heart ached as I answered his question. "I had a girlfriend when I was in med school. She died. I joined the Army. I'm not telling you more than that." 

He seemed satisfied with that question and asked, "That's the reason why you swore off women and relationships?" 

"It's one of the reasons. Trust isn't an easy thing to come by for me. There is a very small amount of people I can trust." I took a deep breath. "How did you know? About me and Lanie?" 

Nate's face softened a little. "That's right. You don't remember." 

I frowned in confusion. "Remember what?" 

"You called her when you went for a walk. She heard the gunfire, Ayden, then the call went dead. She called me when she didn't hear back from you. She was so scared that something happened to you and me." 

My head was fucking spinning. My fear came true; she had heard the gunfire. God, how she must be feeling right now... My eyes flicked back up to Nate's. There was no denying it now. "You know." 

"I know everything, Ayden." 

Goddammit. This wasn't how I wanted him to find out. This is not the way I pictured telling my best friend that I was in love with his sister. And that I was going to be a father. I glanced away awkwardly before I asked, "She told you about the baby then?" 

When Nate didn't say anything, I looked over at him. The man's face was white as a ghost. Oh...shit. 

Nate held out his hand and swallowed. "What the fuck are you talking about?" 

Yep. I'm dead.