Marcus

Chapter Fifty One

Marcus ~

Bravo and Delta teams loaded into the chopper along with Hunter, leaving Alpha and Charlie teams to wait for the helicopter that was still a good thirty minutes away.

Medics had swarmed Caleb, undressing his wound so they could get a better look and stabilize him.

Marcus pulled Caroline into his lap, letting her sit between his legs. Her injuries were spaced just right to make sitting extremely painful and there wasn't enough room for her to stretch out and lay on her stomach. The gashes on the backs of her thighs meant she had to sit straight up with her knees bent, but the gash on her back meant she couldn't lean back and relax.

It was going to be a forty minute ride back to base and Marcus hated that Caroline was so uncomfortable.

Everyone watched as the medics worked tirelessly on Caleb, only speaking to each other as they ran IVs and tended to the bullet holes on his abdomen and back. Thankfully they didn't seemed panicked, but their hands moved quickly and efficiently so Caleb would be ready for a secondary transport to a military hospital for surgery. It was difficult to watch, so Marcus kept his attention on Caroline.

Resting his hands firmly on Caroline's hips, Marcus held her in place between his legs. She was leaning forward but he noticed her head bobbing every so often as if she were dozing off or about to lose consciousness.

"You okay baby?" Marcus asked loudly.

She nodded, but her eyelids were heavy and fighting against her. All of the adrenaline that she'd been surviving on was now gone and she was crashing - hard.

Caroline's body was exhausted and spent. She was dehydrated and injured and desperately needed to rest, but she couldn't fall asleep at the angle she was sitting, which left her head bobbing restlessly on her neck every few seconds.

I fucking hate this. She's fighting so hard and just needs to shut down.

Marcus felt helpless and just wanted to fix it. He looked to his teammates for assistance or advice, but they were rightfully focused on Caleb. Declan, Pierce and Hunter stayed within close proximity of Caleb, but Logan must have picked up on Marcus' sudden desperation.

Logan moved to Marcus' side to see what was wrong with concern in his eyes.

"She okay?" Logan asked.

"She needs to rest, but she can't lay down or lean back - she can only lean forward." Marcus said.

"I got her." Logan said instantly as he unstrapped his vest and lifted it over his head. Marcus watched as Logan unclipped his bulky gear and weapons before moving himself in front of Caroline.

"Lay on me sweetheart, rest those eyes a little while." Logan said in a soothing voice.

Caroline gave him a sluggish nod, desperate for any kind of relief.

Turning around with his back toward her, Logan moved himself backwards until Caroline was able to lean forward onto his back, resting her upper body and the side of her cheek against him.

That's it, relax baby. Let Logan and I take your weight so you can rest.

Caroline's body moved and fidgeted slightly trying to steady and balance herself against Logan's back.

"Grab hold of me if you need to sweetheart, I'm not ticklish." Logan said over his shoulder.

Finally Caroline was able to find a position that allowed her to relax enough to find sleep. Her muscles loosened and she went deadweight between Marcus and Logan.

Logan lifted his head and swept his hand across his throat in a kill motion, indicating that Caroline was out against his back.

Thank God for Logan.

The rest of the ride was uneventful and both teams including Hunter and James thanked their lucky stars for that.

James kept in constant communication with Lainey who was doing a damn good job of concealing how truly terrified she was for Caleb's safety. She was calm and collected, but Marcus knew her heart was screaming for Caleb no matter how composed and professional she was.

Once the chopper landed, the medical team quickly loaded Caleb into a second helicopter that was bound for an operating room in Germany.

Declan, Pierce and James headed toward the medical transport, but stopped and turned to search for Marcus.

"Mac, you good brother?" Declan called out.

"Go!" Marcus screamed back, knowing his teammates were torn, wanting to be everywhere at once. "Both of you - go!" Marcus yelled, waving them on with one hand.

Declan made a hand gesture of a phone to his ear as he, Pierce, and James loaded onto the transport indicating he'd call and give Marcus updates on Caleb.

"Red? Baby? We're here. Logan and I are going to move you okay?" Marcus said as Caroline started to wake and stir.

"How you wanna do this Mac?" Logan asked as Hunter, Slater and Kincaid joined the discussion.

Caroline was conscious but groggy and uncoordinated and they needed to get her to the small medical unit to get an IV, some stitches and some pain meds.

"Let me get out, then lay her across my shoulders she's gotta go face down." Marcus said.

"Copy that." Hunter said.

The three large men helped move a very unsteady Caroline, laying her across Marcus' shoulders in a fireman's hold.

"Got her?" Logan asked.

"Yeah I got her" Marcus confirmed.

"I can...walk." Caroline said in a groggy voice.

There's my stubborn girl.

"I know that baby, but let me help you anyway." Marcus said as he headed toward the small medical building.

As they neared the entrance several team leaders and high ranking officers gathered to greet them, having heard what happened to Red.

Marcus went down on a knee and righted Caroline on her feet as Logan took hold of her on the other side.

Two medics rushed out toward them and Marcus breathed a sigh of relief until he felt Caroline claw her nails into the side of his arm.

"Oh my fucking God." Caroline said as her shoulders slumped forward in terror.

"What's wrong?" Marcus asked frantically.

Caroline squeezed her eyes shut and started shaking her head back and forth.

"No, no, no, no." Caroline repeated as she spoke her head.

Marcus desperately looked around for help, motioning for the medics to hurry up when he suddenly found the source of Caroline's panic.

There were several high ranking team leaders standing near the medical unit and right in the middle of them...was Fox