Hawk had just dozed off when a female voice woke him. He opened his eyes and flew up to sit as the doctor walked into the waiting room. She grabbed a chair as she walked over to them.

“Are you her next of kin?” she asked, her face serious as she sat down.

“I’m her brother, so yes,” Max replied.

“Good, because you have a tough decision to make and not much time to make it,” she said, huffing a breath. “We’ve got your sister on a vent and her vitals stable. We’re pushing IV antibiotics to deal with her infection and fluids for the severe dehydration. Her fever is coming down, but the only thing that will help her is surgery. Her lower left leg is gangrenous.”

Hawk gagged and wrapped his arms around his stomach when it cramped. Max groaned as he shoved a hand through his hair.

“There’s no way to save it?” he asked, his voice raw. “Stronger antibiotics? Waiting a few days to see if they help? Can you wake her up to ask her what she wants to do?”

“Not if you want to save her, I’m sorry. Ideally that would be desirable, and our normal protocol, but this is a very dire situation. Even if we removed the vent and asked her, I don’t know if she would be coherent enough to understand and give us an answer. The infection is all over her body—even her brain.”

“No offense, doc,” Max said, and Hawk’s eyes flew to him. “I have a buddy who is an orthopedic surgeon at the Veteran’s Hospital in San Antonio. I want to call him in for a second opinion. I can’t make this decision for her without it.”

“None taken, but if he doesn’t get here quickly, there might not be a decision to be made,” the doctor replied.

“Understood,” Max said, quickly standing to walk off as he pulled out his cell phone.

Hawk was even more glad that Max was with him right now, because if it were him who had to make this decision, he wasn’t sure he could. Amputation was a life and mind-altering thing. He had Army buddies who came back home and watched the hell they went through. But Maddie wouldn’t have a life if her brother didn’t make that decision, if this doctor was right.

“I’d be interested to know how she came by these injuries and why they were allowed to get so critical,” the doctor said, and Hawk’s eyes flew to hers.

The suspicion in her tone raised the hair on the back of his neck along with his anger. What in the hell was she thinking? That they’d neglected her? Or done this to her?

“According to the Army, Captain Maddie Carter died in a helicopter crash in El Salvador six months ago,” he informed, swallowing the knot of guilt that lodged in his throat. Maybe this was partly his fault for waiting so long to go looking for her. “Her brother and I went to El Salvador looking for her body. We found what was left of it at a drug cartel stronghold in the jungle two days ago. She was being held captive to fly drugs for them.”

“She was still flying a helicopter? With her leg like that?!?” the doctor screeched, then cleared her throat.

“Yes, she was. And she had a baby in captivity. Sarah, my daughter, who is upstairs in the NICU being treated.”

“Good, Lord—this story is too horrific to believe. She is a lucky woman to be alive. And it sounds like the baby is lucky too. I can’t imagine the pain she endured,” she said, her voice not entirely steady.

“Maddie Carter is a tough woman—and a fighter. That’s why I couldn’t accept her death until I found her body,” Hawk replied, his stomach cramping again. “But I have to tell you, her captors gave her drugs. They needed her to fly for them, so they patched her up and drugged her enough to do that.”

“That she was using the ankle so much, explains the old fractures and new ones. The x-rays were a mess. The ankle wasn’t treated properly after it was crushed so it didn’t heal. The pressure from flying the helicopter, probably caused the new fractures and the infection. Even if the leg could be saved, she wouldn’t have much use and the pain would be with her forever.”

“I’m glad I’m not the one making this decision and feel bad that Max has to do it. Maddie was always so active, a runner, so she’s not going to be happy.”

“There are new prostheses options that will allow her to continue running. She couldn’t have done that considering the condition of the limb.”

Hawk huffed a breath and forced himself to accept that amputation was the best option for her. “I guess things happen for a reason, but I’m at a loss to figure out what could possibly be the reason she’s going through this. The reason we’re all going through it.”

“I assume you’re her husband? Boyfriend?” she asked, and Hawk nodded, because he didn’t have an explanation of exactly what their relationship was now.

“I consulted with a plastic surgeon, too. He examined her and said her face is going to take major reconstruction. Several surgeries.” She pulled a card out and handed it to him and Hawk’s eyes felt as dry as a desert. Too dry to blink, as he tried to focus on the gold lettering.

“Thank you, doc,” he said, choking out the words, as the enormity of what Maddie would have to endure to become herself again hit him.

Who was he kidding? She would never be the same. How could she be, after all she’d endured and had to go through now?

Dealing with the emotional issues from her captivity, the surgery on her face and the loss of her leg might be more than she could take. It should be more than anyone could bear. If he were in her shoes, he wasn’t sure he could. A thought hit him, something he hadn’t told the doctor.

“What about her memory?” Hawk asked, looking up at her. “She can’t remember anything before the crash.” The doctor’s body jerked and her eyebrows rose.

“Amnesia, too? I saw the scars on her scalp. Since they were healed, I didn’t think about a head injury. I was too worried about her leg.” She shook her head and a tired breath escaped. “I’ll have an MRI done immediately and call neuro in to see if we can figure out what’s going on.” She stood then leaned in to squeeze his shoulder. “This young lady has a long row to hoe, so it’s good to hear that she has plenty of support.”

She wouldn’t have plenty of support. Maddie would have him. Her brother would be going back to Arizona, where his life was now, and her father couldn’t give a shit less.

Hawk would be the one standing beside her with a hoe in his hand, or in this case, his dick, feeling overwhelmed and scared out of his mind. The question was, when Maddie got to feeling better, would she want him standing there?