Free Off Limits by Lindsay McKenna Page A

The questions were unanswerable, and Alex’s torrid dreams turned dark and threatening.
    * * *
    â€œHow many days has it been?” Alex asked as she leaned against the tunnel wall. Jim sat opposite her as they ate their daily ration of rice.
    â€œSix.” He pursed his lips. “Your wound’s doing much better. I don’t understand why the infection won’t leave.”
    Alex felt much improved, with some of her old strength returning after the sulfa drugs had cut back the fever. “Probably debris still in the wound,” she guessed. She continued to run a fever that would spike over a hundred every twelve hours or so. It was at those times, when she grew chilled and began to shiver, that Jim would hold her in his arms. For Alex it was when she felt safest—even happy.
    A chill racked her, and she groaned.
    Jim looked up and frowned. “The fever back again?”
    Upset, Alex nodded and set the wooden bowl aside. She had counted on the sulfa drugs getting her stabilized enough to make it to the marine firebase.
    Jim put her bowl away. Shadows showed beneath Alex’s glorious gray eyes, and her cheekbones seemed to jut out from her increasingly gaunt face. Jim’s conscience gnawed at him more with every passing hour. He had to get Alex to U.S. lines for medical assistance.
    â€œHere,” he offered, “I’ll hold you till they stop.”
    Alex nodded and gripped the blanket, wishing mightily for a hot bath and a bed to rest upon instead of a dirt floor. But she kept her wishes to herself. Jim was doing the best he could under the circumstances. As he slid over and settled his back against the wall, Alex moved into the circle of his awaiting embrace. He drew the blanket up over her shoulders and gently placed his lanky arms around her.
    â€œThere,” Jim sighed, “that’s better.” How he looked forward to these rare times with Alex in his arms. The last six days had worked a miracle of sorts upon him. Alex was a fighter, there was no doubt. She never whimpered or complained about the pain he knew she tolerated. When the VC were nearby, she huddled in his arms, face pressed against his damp shirt, trembling, but never uttering a word that might give them away. There weren’t many with her kind of courage.
    With a sigh, Alex relaxed completely in Jim’s embrace. She pressed her cheek against his chest and closed her eyes, the beat of his heart reassuring beneath her ear. “I always feel safe with you,” she uttered tiredly.
    Jim whispered, “I feel whole with you in my arms, gal. Ma always said that when I found a woman who made me feel complete, I’d know how she felt about Pa.”
    â€œI like what we have.” Alex laughed slightly. “Despite the circumstances.”
    â€œYeah, I sure never met anyone like you in the real world.”
    Alex nodded. “I’m sorry this happened, but I’m not sorry I met you,” she admitted softly.
    â€œNo?” Jim smoothed down strands of her sable hair. Alex’s face was waxen and glistening with sweat. He could feel her trembling, but she didn’t complain.
    â€œNo.”
    It was his turn to laugh, only it was a strangled sound that came up his throat. “Gal, I’m a sorry lot in comparison to the men at your college.”
    Despite the racking chills, Alex drew away just enough to look up into his shadowed features. The day was waning, the dusk casting a grayish light through the tunnel. Raising her hand, she pressed it against his chest where his heart lay. Risking all the trust they’d built in the last week, Alex said, “Tell me what happened to you, Jim. What was so awful that you think you’re the worst human being on earth?”
    He looked down at her small hand resting against his chest. Her touch was wonderful, healing. “I—I can’t, Alex...you’ll think—”
    â€œHasn’t the last week shown you