Taking a deep breath as he spotted the tree limb skewering the windshield of Honor’s car, his stomach dropped when he realized that it had impaled Honor. Fighting to move through the churning water faster, he finally reached the submerged car. Half in and half out of the water, the car was in a precarious position as he reached it, vaguely hearing Abel’s raspy voice calling to Patience as he circled to the other side of the vehicle. Getting a good look at Honor’s still, unconscious body, he flinched.
~***~
“Shit, Abel! The goddamn tree is stabbing straight through her side,” Zeke yelled at the other man over the roof of the car, his gray eyes desperate as he tried to open the car’s door. Glancing at the hood, he noted the bright orange flame glowing underneath the wrecked metal as the acrid aroma of smoke filled his nostrils. “The damn engine’s on fire!” he growled, redoubling his efforts to get inside the vehicle to Honor as Ice, Jake and Diego joined them in the water. Glancing to his left, he saw his brother offer him a large metal wrench.
“Try to pry it open with this, man,” Ice suggested, dropping the heavy tool into Zeke’s outstretched hand.
Desperately trying to wedge the tool into the door, Zeke shook his head as he heard Honor moan inside the vehicle.
“Hey, sweetie,” Zeke heard Patience croon to her sister. “I know it hurts, but you’ve gotta stay still. The guys are trying to get us out of here.”
“Wh-what?” Honor grunted in pain as she tried to lift her bruised face away from the pillow of the air bag.
“Honor, stay still, baby,” Zeke ordered sternly, grimacing when she turned her face toward him. Christ, she looked like hell, he thought as he saw Diego bust the back windshield of Honor’s wrecked car.
“Get into them this way, amigo,” Diego ordered, jerking his head toward the busted rear window as Zeke moved to the back of the car and made quick work of sliding through the glass into the back seat.
“Zeke?” Honor whimpered from her slumped position in the front seat beside her sister. “Why can’t I move?” she questioned, growing more panicked as she began to squirm around.
Zeke’s heart stuttered in his chest as he heard Honor’s unnaturally high voice call for him as he quickly scooted across the broken glass, barely aware of the sharp edges dragging against his legs. “Hang tight, Kitten,” Zeke grunted as his soggy boots finally made contact with the back floorboard of the car. Leaning forward, he pushed his hand over the front seat to carefully feel for Honor’s pulse.
“Zeke? I don’t underst-stand,” Honor stuttered as his fingers found the cold skin on her neck.
“Baby, you were in a car accident. I need you to keep real still for me now. Calvary’s here and tryin’ to get you girls out of this,” he explained with a look toward Patience. White-faced and shaken, the pregnant woman’s worried eyes met his.
“Hey, Sheriff,” the expectant mother greeted him with a tremulous smile. “Nice night, huh?” she queried brokenly, a tear running down her cheek as Abel cursed roughly outside her jammed vehicle door.
His heart went out to the scared woman. “How you doin’, honey? Those babies okay?” he asked, glancing down at her swollen belly.
“I think we’ll be okay,” Patience assured him shakily. “But then none of my body is bein’ impaled on anything,” she whispered, her concerned gaze glued to the tree branch stabbing through her sister’s midsection.
“Oh, dear God,” Honor gasped, her head jerking as she tried to turn toward her sister. “The babies! Ezekiel, don’t just sit there! Get Patience out of here,” the injured woman demanded frantically, crying out in pain as she shifted in her seat. “Patience can’t be in here, Zeke! Help her! Get her out!” the younger woman screamed as she tried to push the tree limb away from her.
Reaching forward to capture her hand before she could do any more damage to herself, Zeke hissed as he saw the blood flowing freely from the puncture site. “Damn it, Kitten! Stay still before you make it worse,” he instructed as her struggles became noticeably weaker.
“Peanut, listen to Zeke,” Patience urged her sibling. “Listen to those voices outside. All the guys are workin’ hard to get us out of here, but you have to listen to what they say and stay still.”
“Patience goes first,” Honor insisted, struggling for breath as her face tightened in obvious pain, her watery blue eyes finding Zeke’s. “Please…important to me, Zeke,” she whispered as her eyelids fluttered. “Do this for me,” she said faintly before her body went limp.
“Fuck! Kitten, don’t do this to me. C’mon, sweetheart, show me that pulse,” Zeke begged huskily as he desperately searched for the pulse of the woman he loved. “Damn it!” he roared. “Guys, you need to move your asses,” he ordered, his eyes wild as he exchanged a look with a terrified looking Abel over Patience’s head. “We need to hurry,” he informed the other man harshly as he finally found the barely detectable throb of Honor’s pulse against his chilled fingers. “I can still feel her pulse, but it’s barely there, Abel. I’m not losing her like this, damn it!”
“Nobody is gettin’ lost today,” Zeke heard his brother’s voice grit out as Ice slid beside him in the back seat behind Patience’s seat. “The doors are stuck down in the mud below the water’s surface. Zeke, turn loose of Honor’s neck, man, and push against the driver’s side door while Diego pulls on it from outside. EMS is here and their job will go a lot damn faster if we can get these doors broke open. You work on your woman’s side, and Abel and I will work on Patience’s.”
The next several minutes were some of the longest of Zeke’s life. Relief flooded him when he heard Ice and Abel’s shouts of triumph when they finally broke through the impacted mud and got Patience’s door open. Hearing the paramedics, Ice, and Abel working in tandem to get Patience out of the car gave him the burst of energy he needed to get Honor’s door pried open as well.
Seconds later, when he’d managed to climb over the seat to get to Honor’s side while they waited for the saw that would carefully separate her body from the tree branch impaling her, he met his woman’s eyes. Over the years, he’d seen all kinds of looks on her. Frightened. Angry. Pained.
But this look… this bone deep weariness that shined in her gaze… it scared him to death.
“Baby, you hang on for me,” he ordered tightly as she slowly blinked at him and bit her lip. “We’re almost out of here,” he reassured him, coughing as the smoke from the engine began to invade the interior of the car and the flames began to climb higher. He could hear men yelling outside, the situation for the emergency workers becoming even more critical.
“You need to go, Ezekiel. You all do,” Honor managed to say between shallow breaths. “Too dangerous now. Let me go.”
Stiffening as he realized what she was telling him to do – to abandon her - he automatically shook his head as his face darkened. He knew she was in a substantial amount of pain, but surely she understood that there was never a chance on Earth that he’d leave her side. “Like hell I will. Where you lead, I follow, Kitten. Whether it’s to the hospital, into the pits of Hell, or straight through the Pearly Gates of Heaven, I am always going to be one step behind you. You’re never gonna get away from me, Honor. Never. Understand?” he growled, lifting a hand to wipe the single teardrop that had slipped from her glassy eyes.
“Zeke,” she whispered, fighting through the agonizing pain to focus on him. “Can’t put you in danger. You have to go,” she repeated, coughing a little as the smoke thickened. “Tell my family…”
“Fuck that,” Zeke swore. It felt as if a cold hand had reached into his chest to grip his heart. “You don’t give up on us. We’re going to get you out of here and get you all fixed up. Whatever you wanna tell your family, you can say yourself,” he continued, watching as one of the firemen’s gazes met his eyes as he held up the saw in front of him.
“We need to do this fast, Sheriff. We’re not sure how much time we’ve got before the engine blows.”
“Oh, God,” Honor panted.
“You need to go, Zeke. Go, go, go!” she cried, lifting one arm to push at his arm as she hissed in pain.
“Damn it, Honor! I told you. Stay still,” Zeke bit out as he watched her face grow impossibly paler. “Please, baby. For me. Just stay still and let us get you free. This guy is gonna cut you loose, baby. Just keep those pretty eyes on my face,” Zeke directed, cupping her jaw as her pain filled eyes met his. “I love you, Honor. You just fight a little bit longer for me and I promise we’ll get you out of here.”
“Okay, Zeke,” Honor agreed softly as she blinked back tears. “I believe you.”
Those words were music to Zeke’s ears. Nodding wordlessly to the firemen that waited, he focused on the woman in front of him as the loud saw began to do its work at her waist. Honor’s trusting gaze didn’t stray from Zeke’s as he held one hand against her face and clutched her fingers with the other.
The firefighter had managed to cut the tree limb away seconds later, and the next several hours had been a blur of frenetic activity. He’d held his breath through the breakneck ride to the hospital as he watched Honor lose huge amounts of blood in the ambulance. He’d held her hand as orderlies had rushed her gurney through the endless hallways when they arrived at the hospital. And he’d paced the narrow corridor outside the operating rooms where both his woman and her sister had been taken.
He’d had company; Abel had been as lost as Zeke while they’d waited for news of their loved ones. Neither man had any idea how extensive the damage to Honor or Patience had been. The only thing either of them had known for sure was that Patience was indeed giving birth via a C-section. Other than that, both men were in the dark.
Finally after what felt like an unbearable wait, Dr. Mack Daniels, Patience’s obstetrician, came out of the OR with some good news. Patience and her kids had come through surgery with no lasting complications. And as an added bonus, the twins she’d been expected to give birth to had actually been triplets.
Zeke grinned as Mack gave Abel the good news, clapping the other man on the back in congratulations. Waiting to address the doctor about Honor until Mack had given Abel all the details, Zeke waited until the man finished speaking.
“Doc, I know you’ve had a busy evening, but you don’t happen to know anything about Honor’s condition, do you?” Zeke questioned the green scrubs-clad man worriedly. “I know you were in there with Patience, but…”
Nodding, Mack held up a hand. “I had a feeling the family would want an update, so I looked in on her before I came out here. You both know that Cain is in there with her, right?”
“Yeah, he said he’d send someone out with updates when he could, but so far we haven’t heard shit,” Zeke stated gruffly, unhappy that he was still waiting to hear word about the woman he loved.
“Listen, Sheriff, they’ve been pretty busy in there,” Mack shared quietly, his deep voice cautiously. Grimacing, he stared down the empty corridor, obviously torn over something. “Look, this is a difficult situation. Technically, neither of you are family to Hon-…”
Jaw hardening as he caught the gist of what Mack was saying, Zeke shook his head. “Don’t say another fuckin’ word,” he spat. “Honor’s mine. She’s been mine for years. And since you’ve been in my town more than five fuckin’ minutes, I’m pretty sure you know all about my feelings where the woman inside that OR is concerned, Mack,” he shouted, jabbing a finger toward the heavy door that separated surgery from the hallway as he advanced. “Understand this, every single thing about Honor McKinnon is my business, and not even God will change that.”
“Zeke, stand down, man. He’s just trying to…” Abel began, catching the lawman’s arm when Zeke would have reached for Mack’s throat.
Shrugging off Abel’s hand, Zeke shook his head and growled angrily, “Due respect, Abel, but FUCK THAT noise. You heard him. Not technically family?” he asked the man in front of him. “Shit, maybe you’re right. Maybe I haven’t gotten my gold band around her finger yet, but you should know I’ve been in love with that woman since she turned eighteen years old. One of the most memorable days of my fuckin’ life in all the best and worst of ways. See, it was the first time she ever looked up at me with those big blue eyes that still have the power to break my fuckin’ heart every damn day and told me that she was just too broken to ever be fixed. It was also the first time I held her in my arms while she cried.” Seeing Mack drop his gaze to the floor, he forged ahead. “Yeah, I held that sobbing woman against my chest while she cursed me for not letting her die the night those bastards stole her innocence, Mack! I promised her then that I was gonna make her life worth living again if it took me the rest of my life. I made my vows to her eight years ago and believe me when I tell you that they mean as much as any marriage vow I’ll give her in the future. She stole my motherfucking heart that afternoon, Doc. I knew right then – in those moments – that there would never be another woman for me. There would never be ANYONE that would hold my heart the way Honor has a grasp on mine. So, for the sake of your safety and my sanity, do not ever tell me that I’m not Honor McKinnon’s family again. Because while you’re right and while she may not claim me as hers, make no mistake - she is for damn sure MINE!”
“Sheriff…”
“She’s my life, Mack. My fuckin’ sun and the only goddamn moon in my sky. My beginning and my end. The center of the whole damned universe. Do you understand, man? Are you getting the picture yet?” Zeke barked. “Now, please, tell me how she is or I swear to God, I’m gonna tear that motherfucking door off the hinges and find out for myself.”
“If you’ll shut up for a minute, maybe I can finish a thought here,” Mack snapped, glaring at where Zeke stood rigidly in front of him almost shaking with rage. “What I was going to say was that while you aren’t technically family, nobody that knows any of you crazy folk would deny that you are very definitely next-of-kin. So, I’m gonna tell you straight, Honor’s had a hard time in there. Cain and Dr. Sanderson…”
“Dr. Sanderson?” Zeke echoed in a hard voice, not recognizing the name.
“He’s a colleague, Sheriff. A good one, too,” Mack assured him steadily.
“As good as you?” Zeke questioned tersely, more than ready to shove Mack into Honor’s operating room if necessary.”
“Definitely. He’s a very well respected OB-GYN in his own right, man. At any rate, Cain and Dr. Sanderson had to remove her left ovary and fallopian tube. The tree limb just did too much damage to repair it. Add that to the fact that she began to hemorrhage, and it was an easy decision to make. Her life or her ovary? Cain didn’t waste any time choosing Honor’s life.”
The color leeched from Zeke’s face at that information and he couldn’t help his flinch. “Jesus,” he choked, feeling as if he’d been sucker punched in the gut. There was no doubt in his mind that once Honor got over her fear of intimacy, she’d want children… a family. Hell, he dreamed of it himself.
“She’ll be okay, though. Honor can live just fine without those things, can’t she?” Zeke heard Abel ask as he forced himself to focus on the fact that his girl was going to live. Yeah, he wanted a family with Honor, but he damn sure needed the woman more.
“Listen to me, both of you,” Mack continued, drawing Zeke’s gaze back to his face. “If this had to happen to Honor, it was better that it happened on her left side than her right because her left ovary was the one that was the more severely damaged of the two after her rape. The scar tissue on the left fallopian tube alone probably would have prevented a conception from that ovary. The good news is that Cain said her right ovary and tube look good. She should be able to conceive easily when she’s ready to have a baby.”
“So, why are they still in there?” Zeke inquired worriedly, jerking his chin toward the operating room. “Is Honor still on the table?”
“She was when I stepped out. As I shared with you, she’s had some bleeding issues. They’ve had to give her more than a couple pints of blood. In fact, when you guys go back through the waiting room,
you might wanna ask the family if they’d be willing to donate… replenish the blood bank.”
“We’ll do that. Later. For now, I wanna know how much longer we’re looking at out here, Mack. And what kind of recovery is Honor facing?” Zeke continued to ask, firing his questions off quickly. He knew he was probably making a nuisance of himself. After all, Mack wasn’t Honor’s surgeon, but he was her doctor. He would have been with Honor if Patience hadn’t needed him worse. And truthfully, Zeke was a desperate man, greedy for any information where his woman was concerned. Luckily, Mackenzie Daniels seemed to empathize with him and readily answered his questions.
Offering both men a sympathetic smile, Mack clasped his hands together and sighed. “It’s hard to say what recovery will look like for either of your women,” he remarked, looking between Zeke and Abel. “Like Patience, in addition to the obvious injuries, Honor is pretty banged and bruised up, Zeke. I’d say she’s probably looking at a week or so in the hospital, and that’s barring any further complications. Truthfully, we won’t know more until she’s out of surgery which should happen soon. They were beginning to close when I came out here.”
“I wanna be there with her, Mack. As soon as she’s out, I wanna see her,” Zeke warned, unwilling to take no for an answer.
Mack ran a hand down his scruffy jaw as he eyed the sheriff. “You’re determined not to make my job an easy one, aren’t you?”
“If she was yours, would you want to be separated from her? Especially now?”
Man of Honor (Passion in Paradise Book 4) Page 5