Chapter 3 Two

The first person Lauren Drew saw in the wreckage was him; the man from her dreams. She should have known he was real. She swallowed deeply and pushed any emotions aside. She had a job to do. Her fingers shook as she pressed them against the side of his neck. He had a pulse. The rest of the crew landed behind the wreckage and the tugged off the chutes and rushed inside. They each took one of the other men as Lauren pushed her way toward the cockpit.

Neither pilot made it. She turned around and carefully made her way back to the cabin, muttering, "shit."

"The passengers were badly injured, but they are alive," said Airmen Acquino. After the Airmen had checked their pulses and began wiping blood from their brows and checking for internal injuries.

She nodded slowly as she made her way toward the one man she had been dreaming of. She pulled out the satellite phone. "The four souls are in very critical condition need immediate evac. She spoke rapidly as she glanced down at him. The dark-blue depths were filled with so much pain, even though his eyes weren't open completely; they were merely slits. For some unknown reason, Lauren brushed back a lock of dark-brown hair from his forehead.

"It's all going to be alright," she assured him.

He nodded as he continued to look at her with those eyes filled with pain.

She pulled back her hand and grabbed hold of the straps of her bag to begin pulling out the items she needed. A helicopter will be returning soon. Her first step was to get a large white pad and put peroxide on it. " I'm not going to lie but this will sting like a bitch." She wiped at his huge forehead wound. Lauren knew right away that the gash would require stitches. Coughing, he groaned and wrapped his arms around his waist.

Lauren carefully placed white tape along with gauze and then carefully examined his waist. Her hands were grabbed as he stopped her. He never took his eyes off of her.

Inhaling several deep breaths, he started, "Who.."

The woman whispered. "You should save your breath. You've been injured badly." She glanced at the airmen. 'tafuri!" She called out. The young man turned to her. 'take point on the helo." The man nodded then stepped out of the wreckage. "Morgan covered the other two," Lauren ordered the other airman. She pulled her hands free and rummaged the bag again. She stood and walked over to the other men. The airmen were taking good care of them. "We need to get them out of the harnesses and onto the boards to be carried out.

A member of the air force grabbed one of the boards brought by the other airmen. They carefully placed the passengers on the board. The two airmen began carrying them out. Lauren glanced at the man she had been dreaming of. While she wanted to hurry over to him to make sure he was okay, she had duties to attend to first. The helicopters are approaching, and Lauren can hear them. Priority should be given to those in the worst condition but which one. They all were severely injured from the crash.

~ * ~

Pain. He had never felt so much pain and he hurt everywhere. What he didn't expect was to open his eyes to find the one woman he had been dreaming about standing over him. Or maybe he was dreaming about her again. Instead of her wearing a pale-pink sundress she was wearing a military uniform. A United States uniform. He looked at the name and only saw L. Ryder. Nik grabbed her hands and held onto them. Not wanting to let go. Even through his pain-filled mind, he noted how soft her hands were and the sound of her voice was soothing.

Bugger it. As he tried to see her face, everything went dark around him, and she moved away from him.

When Nik woke up again, he had no idea how much time had passed. When he opened his eyes, he was still in a lot of pain, and he realized he was in a hospital. He placed his hand on his forehead and noticed that there was a large band-aid covering it. "Fuck," he muttered. His room door opened, causing him to turn to see who was there. Having hoped it would be the woman he had dreamt about, he was greatly disappointed. That wasn't the case. The person was his sister.

Sienna gasped, "I see you are wide awake." Leaning out of the door, she gripped the handle. "He's awake!" She called out.

Nik cringed as the sound of her voice bombarded his head. As Nik groaned and covered his eyes, he said, "Bugger, Sienna. Not so loud." He raised his hand to his head.

"How are you feeling?" Sienna asked as she approached the bed.

It felt like Nik was drained. "Drained," he finally replied. "I think I drank too much last night."

The young woman sat next to him. "You shouldn't be." Sienna said sympathetically. She saw him freeze when she said, "You've been in a coma for two weeks. The manager canceled the concert and all the others for the year. The concert tickets were refunded. Another thing, the news media wants interviews with all of you about the plane crash. He told them, "no."

"What about the rest of The Empire?"

"They're fine. Ethan and Rhylie are still in the hospital. Within a few days, they'll be out."

Her sad eyes caught Nik's attention. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"The pilots didn't make it," she whispered tightly.

Nik closed his eyes as a new wave of pain overtook him. Despite not knowing the pilots personally, he was still saddened by the loss.

Sienna leaned back in her chair. "Mom is staying with dad because of his illness. You know how that works."

She ought to be there with him. "I understand." Nik shifted on the bed as he replied. "Where am I?" The room he was in was unfamiliar to him.

Sienna crossed her legs as she replied, "You're on the base in Ohakea. Due to the injuries you all sustained, it was deemed best to keep you all on the base instead of moving you to another location. The fans had lined up at the gates wanting to get in, but the military would not allow them in." She looked up when the door opened and a nurse walked in.

As she looked over at him, she smiled. "How are we doing today?" She asked. The nurse walked over to the machines he was hooked up and began looking at the numbers. She wrote notes down in his chart.

The man told the nurse, "I'm in a lot of pain."

Nodding, she said, "how would you rate your pain, from one being a dull pain to ten being the worst?"

"Ten." If he could, he would say a twenty on that scale.

As the nurse checked his vitals and changed his bandages, she remained silent.

Sienna told him, "You were severely injured along with Ethan and Rhylie." She reached out to pat his hand. "Levi was able to recover quickly and return home."

He grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

"The situation was touch and go for a while, and there was some internal bleeding If the Air Force hadn't been out on drills, as they called them, and was nearby..you wouldn't have made it." Sienna continued.

There was nothing Nik could do but nod. "I would like to thank them personally." There was only one person he wanted to thank personally, and it was the woman in his dreams he thought was real but not. He wanted to be sure that she was who he thought she was.

"I will inform the doctor. I think they're off somewhere doing whatever they do." Sienna glanced over her shoulder as the door opened and the doctor walked in.

~ * ~

As she lowered the newspaper she was reading, Emily said, "I still can't believe it was you and your team who saved them."

Lauren replied with a wave of her hand, "We were just doing our job and doing what we were trained to do." When Lauren heard about the men they rescued and Emily's tickets to see the band live, she looked them up and began listening to their music. She enjoyed the music. A lot. Those songs would keep her company all day long. Especially, Nik's voice.

"Several reporters are interested in interviewing us."

Lauren exhaled. Interviews were not on her agenda. This is why she stayed close to the base besides the military doesn't like it either but it didn't stop some of the team members from speaking up and she told them not to mention her name other than that she is a captain. She wanted her private life to remain private. "Taking pictures is intensely uncomfortable for me. Furthermore, there wasn't much to tell." Therefore, she did what any reasonable person would do-she researched them. Once she found out whom the men were on the plane and she wanted to know more about them. So she did what any normal person would do-she researched them. It puzzled her even more because she couldn't find out anything about them; it was as if they kept their private lives a secret.

Emily gasped, "Except for the fact that they are the most popular rock band in all of New Zealand and you and your team saved them all."

Lauren wasn't interested in talking about it. Two weeks have passed since the plane crashed and the man who invaded her dreams has finally shown up. The Empire's frontman, Nikau Kaur. She should have known from the dreams and the way he sang the one song to her. At least he's mending and is awake. The nurse, Bertha, she asked to keep her informed of his condition had texted her just before Emily walked into her room at the officer's barracks.

When Emily stared at her, her head was tilted to one side. "Is there something going on that you want to share?"

Lauren walked away from her friend a few paces, "There's nothing to share."

With a tone that suggested she didn't believe her, Emily replied, "Okay. Do you want to get away for a weekend from this base?"

She picked up the remote control and turned on the TV. "I don't know." Lauren replied with a sigh. She didn't know what she wanted to do and there wasn't much to do on the base even though there were a couple of bars and a recreational center and a movie theater.

"Go see him in person and make sure he's okay," Emily said after she took the remote from Lauren.

Her hesitation came from a sense of fear. Having a dream of him was one thing, but to know he was real was another. "Why?" Lauren finally said it out loud.

"Maybe he wants to thank the person who saved his life personally," Emily said with a slight grin.

She turned to face her friend. "What makes you think that would be possible?"

Lauren turned to Emily once more as Emily placed the remote on the table. "That's what he told his sister. He would like to thank you personally. Who knows what will happen."

"I'm not interested in a relationship right now, Emily. There are a lot of things on my mind. Besides, I am an American and he's...what are the locals calling themselves...Kiwi's. Lauren said, "It's not going to work." She wasn't sure who she was trying to convince, Emily or herself or both. There was no chance of it working. She was in the Air Force and who knows where she might go next. He's a rock star in New Zealand.

"Who said it had to be a long-term relationship," Emily said standing up. "Why not just a right here, right now, type of fling?" Emily walked up behind Lauren and placed her hands on her shoulders. "When was the last time you had a man in your life?"

Lauren silently responded, How about never. She was still a virgin at the age of twenty-six. It was a decision she made for herself and not for her mother. Lauren had no idea what others would think about the little gift that ran through her family tree.

Taking a step back, Emily shrugged her shoulders. "It was only a thought. "There are a lot of women out there who would jump on his back at any given moment, and I am one of them." Emily's cell phone began to ring. Emily's cell phone began to ring. "Just think about what I said." Before answering the call, she said, "Remember what I said."

Suddenly, Lauren's cell phone began to ring, as well. She was on call this weekend in case of any emergency, and it appeared there was one.

Help me, A voice called out from the world of clairvoyance. It was a small child.

Somewhere, she was lost. It was urgent that Lauren find her.

Lauren and Emily arrived in Kuripapango three hours later. Lauren's heart went out to the little girl who had gone missing earlier that day. She glanced at the girl's parents who were frantic about their missing child. What was supposed to be a simple camping trip turned into a disaster. It took only a minute for the parent to look away and the three-year-old took off.

"We must find her, Captain," Emily said.

Lauren nodded in agreement. "We'll do it, Lieutenant." Lauren pushed her pack aside. The situation was quickly brought under control by Lauren, who rallied everybody to her side. With her map in hand, she began giving orders to her crew.

~ * ~

Sienna entered her brother's room. "I am sorry but she's not coming right now."

Seeing his sister, Nik raised his gaze. "Who?" He asked, but he knew who she was talking about.

"The woman who saved your life, the Air Force captain. Currently, she's on a mission to find a missing sprog. Sienna changed the channel to the local news station." Sienna turned on the TV and changed the channel to the local news outlet. On the TV, he saw the woman who had been in his dreams. There was a missing child that she was searching for. His breath was taken away by her even on the news. It was a relief that his sister hadn't noticed.

"she's the one, isn't she?" Sienna asked as she watched her brother closely.

Nik's attention was drawn away from the TV and to his sister. "What are you talking about?"

"The woman who saved your ass that day on the mountain," Sienna said. "Who did you think I was talking about?" She pointed at the TV. "Take a squiz."

While the news report zoomed in on her face, Nik turned his attention back to the TV. The woman was exactly the way he remembered her on the mountain. He softly inhaled as he felt her smooth skin under his hands. That day, it made him feel alive. She didn't seem to realize that he had been in the cold before she brought him out of it.

When Sienna informed him as they watched the news program that she kept herself out of the news, he found out who she was difficult to figure out. "If you'd like to know her name, it's Captain Lauren Ryder; that is all that I could find out about her."

"That's a bit of a surprise. The vast majority of people would do anything to make headlines," Nik said. "And much more."

Sienna leaned close to her brother. "Her actions speak volumes about who she is. The job is part of her responsibilities as an American Air Force officer. She's staying professional, at least. It's not unusual for Sheila to spin a tale about the entire experience."

Nik knows that part to be true. He wondered how many women would take advantage of the situation. When they arrived, they would make it sound like an orgy had taken place instead of a plane crash.

Sienna patted his shoulder. "I have to go. Visiting hours are over. I have classes in the morning so I'll come by in the afternoon. And mom says to call her."

Changing positions on the bed, Nik nodded, he turned the TV off. "Lauren." He remembered reading her name tag and it said "L. Ryder." He was knackered and closed his eyes.

"How's it going, mate?" Ethan said from the doorway to Nik's room. Rattle your dags, he's awake!" he shouted over his shoulder.

Fully awake, Nik sat up. The clock on the wall showed that it was still early. "Damn, Ethan it's still fucking early."

Ethan wheeled his pram over to Nik and said, "Don't give a shit right now. I am ready to get out of this place." He stopped at the bed as Rhylie entered the room in his pram.

Nik rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hands. "Damn." He lowered his hands.

"I've been here two weeks and nothing has changed," Rhylie said. "And they won't let Mona come see me. They won't let her on the base even though I told them it's okay."

Nik said, "It's understandable."

Rhylie replied, "Not for me."

"I told them it was fine for her to be here." Levi uttered again.

Ethan concluded, "They don't think so."

Rhylie frowned. "They know what they can do."

Ethan leaned closer to Nik, "He's still pissed off."

Nik knew right away. He would be pissed off he someone wouldn't let him see his fiancée. There was only one woman he wanted to see. "Can you turn on the news? I want to see if they found the missing sprog in Kuripapango."

"A sprog is missing?" Ethan and Rhylie said the same thing at the same time.

Nik nodded as Ethan turned the TV on to the all day news channel.

~ * ~

She kept moving. Lauren was walking along in the north section of Kuripapango. Nyree just wouldn't stop where she was. "How is it possible that a three-year-old can walk this far?" Lauren asked Emily.

"I'm not sure. We've been at this since last night." Emily waved her hand in front of her face when a bug flew by.

Lauren knew they were heading in the right direction. After seeing a picture of Nyree, Lauren honed on her location. By the time they got there, she was gone. The little girl moved.

"Nyree!" Emily shouted. Their call was answered by a voice on the other end of the line. There were none. "I hope.." Emily began but couldn't finish.

Lauren said, looking at Emily, "She's still alive."

Lauren knew the little girl was still alive. "We need to believe it," she said. Lauren would know if she wasn't. She wouldn't be able to pick up on her essence.

While she and Emily rested in the wild, Lauren kept Nyree on her mind. Nikau kept creeping into her mind now and then and she pushed him away. In searching for Nyree, she kept Nyree foremost in her mind and main focus. They were getting close. Lauren could sense it; she could feel it on the clairvoyance place.

Emily stopped and admitted that maybe she wasn't going that way. She was tired and hungry but they needed to ration their supplies.

"Just one more step," Lauren said as she stepped around Emily. "She's close. I can feel it."

"You've been saying that all day yesterday." Emily followed.

It took them ten minutes to find her, curled up next to a rock, sleeping. Emily let out a deep breath as Lauren smiled widely. "Nyree," Lauren softly said as she approached the sleeping child. Lauren smiled widely as Emily let out a deep breath.

Nyree returned to her parents less than an hour after she had been checked out by the doctor. Her parents were very happy to have their little girl back at home with them.

Seeing the news crew not too far from where she stood, Lauren looked around. As opposed to going to them and giving an interview, they were waiting for behind the barricade, she climbed into one of the helicopters instead. She was glad the girl was found safe; safe but hungry. However, it's a bit strange that the little girl walked so far from her parents and campsite. The little girl didn't even know herself when questioned. As the helicopter took off, it returned in direction of the base.