Chapter 22
After Cole left, Carter stepped out from the tent’s shadow and approached Maya. “Maya, I’m sorry.”
She raised her gaze to look at him. “I heard you. Please leave.”
“No, you didn’t,” he blurted, his eyes damp with tears. “Maya, you don’t know. I’ve liked you from the very first second I saw you. But you were Cole’s girlfriend. I—”
“So you pretended to be Cole and slept with me, then lied and hurt me. Is that what you call liking me?”
she asked, her expression clouded with anger.
“It isn’t like that. I…”
Words failed him. He pressed his lips together, unable to defend himself because there was no defense.
“I just…” he said hoarsely, struggling to go on. “I kept pushing my feelings down. I kept lying to myself.
Every time we were together, I wondered who you thought I was. I…”
He choked on it.
Maya let out a cold laugh. “Carter, every single time, I thought you were Cole. In my view, there was only
Cole.
“Who are you to me? You are just his brother who flew back a week before my wedding. That’s it.”
His face went chalk white. “Maya, I-”
“Get lost!” Her voice was cold enough to cut. “Take your apologies with you. I don’t need them.”
Carter turned and left.
Maya didn’t linger either. She headed back to the dorm. Despite the spike of emotion, she fell asleep the
moment her head touched the pillow.
Across the compound, Cole and Carter stayed up all night, rattled by how she had shut the door on them.
For the first time, they understood there might be no way back.
Maya thought they would leave immediately, yet they stayed and helped at the hospital.
They hauled crates, moved patients, and talked frightened families through the worst moments.
As long as they kept out of her way, Maya refused to care whether they stayed or went.
She focused on her job, day after day. If she wasn’t on a run outside the wire, she was in the ward.
She became thinner and tanned under the sun, but her eyes grew brighter and steadier.
She crossed paths with Jasper a few more times as well, mostly when he brought in wounded from his
unit.
They exchanged quick words and then split, each pulled back to their own duties.
Three months later, Maya was hurt while out on a rescue.
A stray burst cut across a street and caught her in the leg and abdomen. She couldn’t stand, and she certainly couldn’t run.
The drone of an approaching bomber grew louder. For a moment, she thought that was it.
Then, Cole and Carter came out of nowhere, sprinting straight for her.
Cole threw her on his back while Carter shielded them both, and together, they cleared the kill zone just
ahead of the blast.
When she woke, she was back at the hospital with both of them flanking the bed.
A deep, tearing pain pulled through her leg and belly, and she couldn’t hold back a low groan.
They startled awake at once. “Maya, are you okay?”
She shook her head, eased her hand free from Cole’s grip, and drifted off again.
For two days, she spiked fevers and slipped in and out of sleep. Each time she woke, she found both of
them watching her with worried eyes.
Since antibiotics were scarce, they begged to fly her home for treatment, but she refused. After that, they
hustled up a shipment of medicines instead.
On the third day, the fever broke and her mind cleared. She sat up and thanked them. “Thank you for
pulling me out. I can take care of myself now. You should get back to what you were doing.”
They both shook their heads. “We came for you. Let us help, Maya.”
“I can manage,” she said firmly. “If you have nothing else to keep you here, go home.”
She pursed her lips. “I don’t need your care. You don’t need to stay here for me. No matter what you do, I’ll
never forgive you.”
Color drained from both faces, and something twisted hard in their chests.
They didn’t argue, but they showed their resolve to look after her through their actions.
However, Maya kept turning them away. She sidestepped their hands when they tried to steady her,
ignored the water they offered, and pushed the food back toward them.
She would rather grit her teeth and do it all herself than accept even the smallest kindness.
After being rebuffed more times than they could count, they finally learned to stop hovering.
A week later, Maya eased back into light duty.
Two weeks after that, she was fully cleared and picked up her old pace like nothing could touch her.
Cole and Carter still didn’t leave.
Neither did Maya’s stance budge. No matter what they said or did, she kept her distance and refused to let their lives cross hers again.
