What the fuck just happened?

Ava wanted to laugh at her own stupid question. This was a war zone; stuff like this happened all the time-but not to her—never to her. One minute she was yakking to Brandon about the crappy food at the base, and the next she was in the sand, her skin scorched and abraded by an unexpected skid across the dunes—on her face. Fierce heat blossomed behind her and she was afraid to turn her head to see what had become of the vehicle she and five others had been traveling in.

“Lieutenant!”

She fell over Private Brandon, picked him up by the scruff of the neck and half-dragged, half-carried him over the next sand dune. No mean feat when his IOTV weighed almost thirty pounds. She dumped him unceremoniously on his ass and sat down beside him.

“You okay, Lieutenant?”

Ava managed to simultaneously nod and spit sand out of her mouth. “Yeah, I’m good. Where’s everyone else?”

“Wilkinson’s gone back to check.”

Ava scrambled to her feet. “He can’t do that by himself. Let’s go. Did someone call for help?”

Hell, she didn’t want to go anywhere near the choking black smoke and flames that engulfed their vehicle, but she had no choice. No one was going to survive in there for long. She covered her mouth and ran around to the other side of the vehicle, her legs trembling, and her breath coming out in gasps. Wilkinson had already dragged two of the guys out and was struggling with a third.

Ava went to help him and staggered under the dead weight of Hernandez, the driver, whose head was not only bleeding but smashed in like an eggshell. There didn’t seem to be any sign of the enemy, but there rarely was. She could only pray help would get to them before they attracted the wrong kind of attention.

Wilkinson grabbed her arm and pointed skyward where the reassuring sound of an approaching helicopter cut through the roar of the fire. She nodded and pointed back the way they’d come.

“Let’s get everyone away from the vehicle before it blows.”

Four hours later, Ava, Wilkinson and Brandon had been cleared by the medics and were returning to their base. The three other guys remained in the hospital. From what Ava could tell from the debriefing, their vehicle had set off an IED and been thrown up in the air. She’d been sitting on the opposite side to the driver and had fallen out along with Wilkinson and Brandon. She shivered as the gates slowly opened into the small compound and contemplated the blazing lights. If she’d sat in her usual seat, she’d be in the hospital now. Everything suddenly seemed surreal.

Brandon unobtrusively hoisted her out of the vehicle and they made their way into the ramshackle single story building that retained the institutional air of a disused school or clinic. She blinked at the sudden brightness and made out the figures of two men waiting for them. The taller of the two men fell in behind her commanding officer, his expression grim.

Shit.

Why was she surprised he was here? Even though they weren’t serving in the same unit they still inhabited the same space. She bit down on her already blistered lip. It wasn’t as though she was expecting him to break ranks and give her a bear hug, but some reaction would’ve been nice.

Ava stared straight at Major Ross who studied the three of them in return. “I’ve got most of the details. Get a good night’s rest, and report to me in the morning.”

“Yes Sir.” Ava saluted as he turned and left.

Wilkinson squeezed her shoulder. “You okay?”

“I’m good,” Ava murmured, trying to ignore the figure looming in front of her.

“Lieutenant, can you spare me a moment?”

She raised her voice. “Yes, Captain.” With a resigned shrug of her shoulders, she followed him toward the sleeping quarters at the rear of the building.

He waited at the end of the hall and held the door open for her. She glanced briefly up at his face, but could see no trace of emotion.

“Thanks, Captain.” She murmured, as he followed her through and maneuvered her toward another door with a piece of paper stuck to it that read Female Showers. He came into the room and shut the door behind him. Luckily, it was deserted with just a hint of steam lingering and glistening on the hastily painted walls.

She blinked as he cupped her chin and stared down into her eyes.

“You okay?”

“Mike…”