<P>"Yeah, thanks," he muttered to himself.
<P>
<P>Tough girl. Beautiful, too. Not too many of those. He liked that.
<P>
<P><JC>--- --- --- ---
<P>
<P>Jaime was nervous.
<P>
<P>They were leaving for Hong Kong the next day. Jock, Alex, and himself had been formulating a plan for how to slip away as quickly as possible. It'll be a piece of cake, Jock told them, as long as we have our timing right. Slip out before they have a chance the lock onto the chopper and things'll be fine. As long as nobody gets suspicious or they don't have any heads up about or departure, it'll be a piece of cake.
<P>
<P>Pretending not to be nervous was not a piece of cake.
<P>
<P>I could use some chocolate cake right now, Jaime thought.
<P>
<P>Reyes did not handle stress well. It was visible. He wore it like a suit. He wasn't nervous for himself, really, he was nervous for Jock and Alex. Jaime was taking a public flight to Hong Kong, so he was really out of the danger zone. But Jock and Alex... they had to leave in the chopper. Alex could've taken a public flight, he just insisted on going with Jock. Jaime didn't understand him.
<P>
<P>Jaime also did not like taking risks.
<P>
<P>"Doctor?"
<P>
<P>Reyes snapped back to reality and looked at the eyes of the patient he was treating. He felt dazed. He had lost himself in his train of thought for a moment.
<P>
<P>"Sorry..." Jaime murmured.
<P>
<P>"You okay, doc? You don't look so good. Maybe you should see a doctor."