Recon 6

Part 22 Ana: Recuperation

Kayo carried me through the woods, all the way back to the helicopter. I was still stunned by what happened in there. I hadn't said a word since and my legs felt numb. Something about him seemed primal but now he was back to his normal and kind self.
Kayo threw me off his shoulder and onto the ground I went. I grunted as my head smacked the dirt for the second time today.
"Welcome back! I'm surprised you survived as long as you did." Phantom chuckled.
Phantom extended his hand and I took it instinctively but let go wincing in pain, once again landing on the ground. I felt the glass that was stuck in my palm get pushed deeper from Phantom's grasp and it started bleeding worse.
"Fuck." I said under my breath as the pain radiated from my hand to my arm. My body felt lifeless and lazy. Phantom grabbed my hand gently looking at the wound with his flashlight.
"Bloody hell Marek, do you ever have a moment where 'ya don't get hurt?" He joked. I could tell he was joking but also serious. I did get hurt a lot, even at my last base.
"Oh, fuck you Phantom." I groaned. He laughed taking a better look at my palm.
"You have a lot of glass in there. It looks like the glass splintered." He said going back to the helicopter and breaking into the first aid aboard. While his back was turned Kayo finally spoke up.
"Liebling you didn't tell me you were hurt." He whispered.
"We were... busy." I whispered back. I could see the faint lines of crows feet crowding in the corners of his eyes as he smiled under his hood. Phantom came back with gauze drenched in antiseptic and wrapped it around my hand for the time being.
"You'll get patched up when we get back." Phantom said signaling for the helicopter to get started up. I took a step forward and my knees wobbled. Kayo chuckled behind me and scooped me up under my thighs in a bridal fashion. He strapped me up in the back of the aircraft, seating himself next to me. We took off quickly and Kayo rested his hand on my thigh, squeezing softly.
We landed and Kayo walked me to medical where I was met with Jonesy once more.
"Marek what are you doing back here?" He asked.
I held up my palm that was crusted in dried blood and glistened from the glass shards.
"Ahh.. you got field tested today." He laughed. "How did you do?" He motioned for me to sit down and spread my palm out while slipping on latex gloves.
I looked up at Kayo, searching for an answer before he cut in.
"She lost." He chuckled.
"Hey! I was only a few minutes from victory and was doing just fine!" I said. My retort made him laugh harder, even putting his hands on his stomach to embellish it. I rolled my eyes and he placed a firm hand on top of my head.
"Don't roll your eyes at me." His tone felt harsh, almost as a warning. I kept my mouth shut after his words. Jonesy tweezed glass shards out of my palm piece by piece and Kayo stood only inches from me the whole time. Once the last shard was removed my wounds were wiped clean, sanitized and bandaged.
"Thank you.. again, Jonesy." I gave him a quick half smile keeping my eyes down.
"Anytime, it's what I'm here for." He replied stripping the gloves from his hands.
Kayo led me out of the room, making sure I was in close proximity. He steered me towards his room and just before entering he leaned down meeting my eyes.
"You're staying with me tonight, mein preis." He smirked.