Ayden
SAWYER

Dark. Everything was dark. And quiet. 

I was hoping that my eyes were simply closed right now. Because, if they weren't, that meant I had gone blind. I couldn't see anything. I couldn't barely breathe. Was I breathing? Perhaps I was dead. Nate was dead. At least, he had to be. We had been stranded here for too long. We ran out of food and water awhile ago. My gut told me that his infection had gotten worse. It was probably in his bloodstream by now. So, yeah. He was.probably dead.

Okay...maybe he wasn't dead. Maybe we were both alive and I just passed out. Right? But if that was the case, then how and why were my thoughts going a mile a minute? Maybe I was dead and this was Heaven. No, if it was Heaven then I would be seeing Lanie and our child. Lanie...I hoped she was okay. God, the devastation of losing both-- No. She was the strongest person I knew. Stronger than Nate and I combined. If anyone was going to survive this, it would be her. She was going to be okay. Sure, she was going to hurt for a long time, but in the end, she would be okay. She would raise our child and she would be happy. 

I remembered the first time we slept together in that hotel room. It was amazing and nothing compared to it. But the night of New Years...it wasn't so much as the sex in her kitchen that affected me. It was after. 

"Ayden!" My name was a scream on her lips as she climaxed. She was even more beautiful, if that were possible.

A few more thrusts and I felt my body stiffen as I came inside her. We stayed like that for several minutes. I placed lazy kisses on her neck and shoulder while we both continued to catch our breaths. My eyelids slid shut as I basked in the happiness I was feeling. This moment, here and now, was unlike any other. I've never felt this before. With anyone.

I took a step back and withdrew from her. I pulled up my sweats and helped her off of the table. She fixed her dress and picked her panties up from the floor before looking up at me.

I cleared my throat and smiled. "Well, that was--"

"Yeah," she said with a laugh.

She walked over to the counter and grabbed a bottle of wine and two glasses. She left the kitchen and I followed after her. When I saw her head into my bedroom, I paused a few feet away. There was a picture of her and Nate on the fireplace. Guilt filled me when I glanced at it. Nate didn't know it, but he really was the only real friend that I had; and here I was, betraying him. Again.

My door creaked open and Lanie stood in the doorway. She was wearing one of my shirts. Holy shit.

"Coming?" she asked with a seductive smile.

I smiled back as I walked over to her. She squealed when I threw her over my shoulder and carried her into my room. As I tumbled into bed with her, I breathed her in. No matter what happened after tonight, I knew there was one thing I wouldn't forget...

The smell of her jasmine perfume.

The confidence she had that night was one of the things that amazed me. Even now, I could smell that jasmine perfume. If I ever saw her again, I wanted to breathe in that smell. I wanted to breathe her in. I wanted more than anything to kiss her. I've kissed my fair share of women, but it was different with Lanie. Time seemed to stop when I was just around her. When we had our first kiss under the mistletoe, I wasn't thinking. I was feeling. If I had been thinking, I wouldn't have done it. I would have remembered my promise to her brother and I would have made a different call. 

I was so surprised when Nate told me he had set us up. It was so unlike Nate to interfere in my personal life. After he confessed his little secret, I replayed the time I stayed at Lanie's. Now that I knew, it seemed obvious that he was trying to give us alone time. All those times he would sneak off to go see The Barbie and leave us alone. Or when he blatantly asked Lanie to take me sightseeing. Let's not forget when he gave me permission to kiss her on New Years. That should have been a big neon sign.

Something wet fell on my face. What the hell? Maybe it was raining. It actually felt kind of good. Wait-- what the hell? I felt my body get lifted and pain shot through me. What the hell was going on? Who was carrying me? Where were they taking me? If it was the enemy, they were probably going to kill me. Unless, I was actually dead and this was some kind of hereafter or something. 

"Get him in the chopper now!" 

Who was yelling? I didn't recognize the male voice. It was American, so that was a good sign. Maybe we were rescued? 

"Where's Sergeant Jenkins!" Another voice asked. Or yelled, actually. The blades of the helicopter were so loud it was hard to hear anything. 

"I don't know!"

"Try to wake up Sawyer and see if he can talk! We need to find him! He can't be far from here!" 

So I wasn't dead. But I wasn't really alive, either. I seemed to be somewhere in the middle. I could hear them, but I couldn't speak or open my eyes. I was probably severely dehydrated. Malnourished. I don't think I was...

"Hold still, Sergeant. This is going to hurt like a son-of-a-bitch. On the count of three!" 

I heard someone counting. What were they counting for? When they got to three, I felt the worst pain I have ever experienced in my left leg. My eyes flew opened and I screamed. Screamed so loud my throat was probably bleeding.  I felt someone stick an oxygen hose in my nose.

When I tried to swallow it was like sandpaper. I felt the men wrapping my leg after they set it. I must have a broken something. Fuck. When did that happen? Where was Nate?

"Sawyer! Can you hear me?"

Yes?

"I don't think he can here us." 

I can hear you.

Maybe they couldn't hear me? Oh, right. I couldn't talk. Even though I managed to peel my eyes open, I couldn't really focus on anything. Everything was blurry. I instinctively squinted as I saw bright flashes of light before a large figure hunched over me. He had something in his hand and shined it in my eyes. 

"Follow the light, Sawyer." 

Please. I was trying everything to not follow any light. I did not want to die. My dark sense of humor aside, I tried to do as he asked. 

"He seems to have trouble focusing." 

Someone grabbed my face and turned my head in their direction. "Sawyer, listen to my voice. Try to focus. It's me, Collins." 

Collins? My superior? I squinted my eyes and tried to focus. When they finally started working, so did everything else.

I felt a rush of pain and adrenaline. I started finding the medics who were trying to help me. I kicked my legs at them; even the leg that was fucked up. They tried to hold me down and it took all four of them to get me restrained. 

Collins was in my field of vision again. "Settle down. It's okay. I know you've been through a lot, but we need to know where Jenkins is. Can you tell us?" 

It took multiple tried for me to get the words out. "Fifty feet. West. Under." I needed to swallow again multiple times. They gave me more water and I nearly choked. "Camo."

Collins looked up at the medic. "Go! Now!" He looked back down to me and gave me a hopeful smile. "You boys sure know how to scare the shit out of us." 

He wasn't wrong. This might be the worst thing that's happened to Nate and I, but it wasn't the first time we needed a rescue. 

"He's got a broken leg and, from what I can, see a GSW to the left shoulder that was treated in the field. Severe dehydration. We just started him with IV fluids. Besides the possibility of infection, it looks like he's going to be okay. But it's hard to say outside of a hospital." 

"Got him!" The other medics called as they brought Nate into the chopped next to me. "It's bad. Barely has a pulse. We had to intubate him. Get an IV going now!" 

I heard Collins command the pilot to leave and I felt the chopped take off. My head fell to the side and I looked over at Nate. There were three medics working on him. One was working the ambu bag to give him oxygen, the other was assessing his gunshot wound, and the third was sticking pads to his chest to check his heart.

"He's bradying down! Get the paddles!" 

Fuck. Come on, Nate. I kept you alive this long, don't die on me now. I watched as they put the paddles to his chest. "Charge to 200. Clear!"

As Nate's body jolted from the shock of the defibrillator, my eyes remained on the monitor. Flatline. Fuck. Do it again, I mentally commanded the medics.

"Charge to 300. Clear!" 

Another jolt of his body and silence filled the chopper as everyone waited for...

"We got sinus." 

There it was. My eyes slid shut as I heard the monitor beeping in time with the rhythm of his heart. I opened them again to see a medic injecting something into my IV. 

"Hang in there, Sawyer. We're going to take care of you guys. I gave you something to help you relax."

"Lanie..." 

Collins and the medic leaned forward and frowned at each other. 

"Did you get that?" Collins asked the medic. "What did you say, Ayden?" 

I felt the medication take effect and it kept me from answering them. Everything went dark again as I started to drift off. These must be really good meds; because I could have sworn I could smell the heavenly scent...of that jasmine perfume.