My phone rings, waking me. “This better be good,” I growl into the phone.

“Um, it’s noon, Dr. Manning,” Ander’s voice blares.

“Damn it.” I jump out of bed.

“It’s okay, I was calling to let you know that I’ll have your plane waiting on the tarmac at five.”

“Did I call you in my sleep to tell you I was coming back?” I ask, pulling on a pair of jeans.

“Aedon called this morning. She said things had slowed down enough that she was sending several of the rescue teams home and that you guys weren’t needed in the field anymore. Wren called me earlier, he said he’d been worried when you didn’t answer your phone. The maid let him inside and he said you were sleeping and not to wake you until now.”

“Thanks, I needed it. I’ll go check in with the two of them. I’m sure you could use some time off.”

“As soon as the three of you are back, I’m taking a week off to catch up on my sleep.”

“Take whatever you need. Nice job.”

“Thanks, Dr. Manning, but you guys deserve all the credit.”

“We couldn’t do it without you.” I hang up and finish getting dressed. I head straight to Aedon’s room, but she’s not there. I call for a ride and head to the MASH unit. Wren is packing up some boxes.

“Sorry about breakfast.” I take a box from him.

“It’s okay, you needed your sleep.”

I look around the tent but don’t see her. “Where’s Aedon?”

“She said she wanted to stick her feet in the Pacific Ocean while she was here.”

I chuckle. “She has always loved the ocean.”

He places the box back on the table and looks down. “That makes two things she has always loved,” he says quietly and then looks up at me.

“How about you, are you in love with her?” I finally ask him.

He shifts from foot to foot. “I love her, but not like you think. I gave up on that a long time ago. She’d rather be lonely than be with any other man. As much as I would like for her to love me, I’d never have her heart the way you do.” He picks the box back up. “I suggest you’re careful with it this time. If you leave it lying on the floor again, you will never get another chance, especially with a woman like her. And you’ll have to deal with me.”

Damn, she must have told him what happened between us. I need to find her before we get on that plane. “Do you know where she went?”

“No, but that guy over there took her.” he says, pointing to one of the soldiers.

“Thanks.” I shake his hand and take off toward the soldier. I know it must have been hard for him to bow out of the picture. As my best friend, I kind of feel sorry for him because I really think he loves her as much as I do.

He drives to the edge of town where there is a bridge left standing. A boat ramp runs underneath it. White sand lines the area. Off in the distance I see her in the water, sitting near the rocks. Dark sunglasses cover her eyes and her hair shifts lazily back and forth in the sea breeze. As I get closer, I can see her white t-shirt is wet and clinging to her body. She doesn’t have a bra on and her nipples can be seen clearly through the material. Her faded cut-off blue jeans are several shades darker than normal from the saltwater soaking through them. She looks sexy as hell sitting there, lost in thought. I stand back and admire her for a few minutes before she senses me.

A small smile plays on her face. She splashes the water. “Come sit with me.”

I don’t hesitate. I remove my shoes and sit next to her in my blue jeans. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

“I’ve always been told if you touch it, it becomes part of you, part of your soul.” Her hand plays in the water.

“Is that why you’ve always loved the water?” I brush her hair off her shoulder.

“Yeah, I guess it is. This place…” She waves her hand in the air and water splashes in my face. “I’ve touched so many things since we’ve been here. I’ll take it all with me, the good and the bad.” She wipes water off my chin.

I lean back on my hands. “We’ve done a lot of good here. I just hate that I lost the kid.”

“He would’ve died either way. You know that, right?” she says, turning in my direction.

“I know. What I really want to know is if you and I have a chance? I don’t know what you’re thinking in that beautiful head of yours.”

“I don’t think I have any other choice. I can’t seem to get you out of my heart. I’m scared to love you and I’m scared not to love you.”

I see a tear escape from behind her glasses. “Are you scared to not love me because you’re afraid I may lose it again?” I brush the tear away.

“No, I’m scared to not love you because if I don’t, I’ll never love another man and my heart will always be broken.”

“Why are you scared to love me, doll?” I kiss her lips lightly.

“I don’t want to lose myself again with you. I can’t watch you fall apart.”

“You’ll never have to watch me fall apart, I promise. And, I’ll never break your heart again. I love you. I have since the day we met. I am the man that I am because of you. There has never been and never will be another woman for me.” I grab her to me, kissing her hard. I feel her nipples harden further under her shirt. Her eyes are invisible behind the sunglasses, but I can feel her intense gaze on me.

“I love you, too.” She sniffs and laughs. “Can we just go home? I can’t wait to be in your arms again.”

I stand, taking her with me. I wrap my arms around her shoulder and we walk back to the cab together. Once we are in the back, I take my shirt off and pull it over her. She snuggles into my shoulder, right where she belongs. Her hand rubs the back of my hand and I kiss the top of her head. This is my happy place, with her in my arms.

Back at the tent, I find a scrub shirt and dry pants. We work for a few hours helping to get instruments back in place. Most of the surgeries now are being sent directly to the hospital, so the majority of the remaining supplies will go back with us.

Heading back to the hotel, Aedon walks next to Wren and I fall in behind them. The two of them are always laughing and poking fun at one another. For the first time in a long time, I’m okay with it. Even though Wren professed that he loves her, I know that he has loved her enough to let her go, to let her love me.

We separately go to our rooms to pack up the few things that we brought. When I’m done, I head over to Aedon’s room to see if she needs any help. “Knock, knock,” I say, rapping my hands on the door as I walk inside.

“I’m almost ready,” she yells from the bathroom. She walks out with her hair in a high pony, rubbing lotion on her face. Her light pink top hangs loose over one shoulder. Her skinny jeans form to her sweet body. She sits on the side of the bed and slips a pair of tan sandals on, then stand and grabs her bag. A smile plays across her lips when her eyes meet mine. “What?” she asks.

“You look beautiful no matter what you wear. I love the fact you can look classy as hell and then strut out here in no bra and a t-shirt and look equally as hot.” I pull her into my arms, kissing her bare shoulder. “I can’t wait to get you back home.”

“I can’t wait to get you back home either, but if we don’t get a move on it, we’re going to miss our plane.” She swats me in the ass as she walks by me.

“That is one thing that I’ve always loved about you.” I grab her hand and pull her back into me.

“What’s that?” She puckers her lips for a kiss.

“You give as good as you get.” I smack my lips to hers and grab her ass roughly with both my hands.

She reaches behind and removes my hands. “Come on, let’s go before Wren walks in on us.” She giggles.

Wren is about to knock on the door as we open it to go out. “Ander has a cab waiting on us,” he says.

Aedon sits between us in the backseat. Her hands lay on my leg and she seems really happy, almost comfortable. We quickly make it to the tarmac. I grab my bag and hers from the trunk. Wren throws his over his shoulder.

The plane takes off and I curl up on the bottom bunk knowing we have a long flight home. A few minutes later, Aedon’s feet land on my bunk as she climbs into the one above me. Her hand dangles down for mine. I reach up and hold it. I decide that’s not enough contact with her. I climb out of bed and into the top bunk. She moves over and lays her head on my chest and a hand low on my abs. I ignore the swelling of my cock, and we both fall asleep.

Wren wakes us both up when we get close to landing. “You guys need to get buckled in,” he says, wiping his tired eyes.

We all sit and buckle ourselves into our chairs. “When we get back, I’m going to run by the office to drop off some things and make a couple phone calls. You go home and I’ll meet up with you in the morning.” I tell Aedon.

She looks at the time on her phone. “I’ll meet you at my place at midnight.”