PART 7
By morning, military investigators secured the hospital footage.
Eli’s gear was placed under guard.
The surviving Special Ops team gave statements.
The evidence he carried exposed a contractor tied to the old Raven leak and a new attempt to erase the last witnesses.
Nancy’s review uncovered its own smaller battlefield.
Bullying complaints.
Ignored staff reports.
Retaliation against younger nurses.
A pattern everyone had learned to survive.
She was removed from the ER by the end of the week.
Not because she insulted me.
Because when the moment came to choose between pride and a patient, she chose pride.
Three months later, Eli walked back into Mercy Ridge on a cane.
The entire ER stopped.
Not from fear this time.
From joy.
He wore civilian clothes, a healing scar under his collar, and the same crooked grin he had carried through war.
“You look terrible,” I said.
He smiled.
“You always say the sweetest things.”
Dr. Patel laughed from the nurses’ station.
The lead operator, whose name was Cole Ramsey, came in behind him with the rest of the team.
No weapons.
No mud.
No blood.
Just men who had survived long enough to say thank you properly.
Eli stopped in front of me.
“You saved me again.”
I shook my head.
“You made it inconvenient to let you die.”
His eyes softened.
“You coming back?”
I knew what he meant.
Back to the life.
May you like
Back to the shadows.
Back to being Valkyrie.
