by Becca Van
Leo and Ivan were by his side as he carefully lifted her into his arms. The smoke from the fire was making it hard to breathe and he needed to get Gypsy out into the fresh air. Hopefully the paramedics weren’t far away.
“Secure her head against my shoulder,” Perry ordered and then started coughing. The smoke was getting too thick and it was nearly impossible to find any fresh air to draw into his lungs.
Ivan gently tilted Gypsy’s head until it was resting in the crook of his shoulder and then the three of them started toward the broken glass door. He stepped out into the yard first, Ivan and Leo right behind him. He could hear the screech of sirens as they got closer and as he hurried around the side of the house to the front his eyes searched for the medics.
Just as he and his brothers neared the road the sheriff, fire department, and the paramedics came to a halt nearby. The firemen scrambled as they got to work but all Perry was interested in was getting help for Gypsy. She hadn’t stirred at all and he was becoming really worried.
He reached the ambulance before the paramedics could remove the portable gurney from the back and stepped into the van before gently placing Gypsy on the bed. He quickly moved out of the way, back down onto the road, and watched as they did their jobs.
Perry was aware of the sheriff talking to Ivan and Leo but he wasn’t about to take his eyes off of Gypsy until she knew she was going to be all right. He caught one of the medic’s concerned gazes as he looked at the other guy, but neither of them said a thing.
When they pushed an IV line into her small, delicate hand Perry groaned and held onto the door to stop his legs from collapsing. She looked so pale, delicate, and fragile, and the cut on her head was still bleeding profusely. If she died because of him he would never be able to forgive himself.
One of the men scrambled into the front seat of the ambulance and the other guy reached out to close one of the doors.
“I’m coming with you.” Perry didn’t give him a chance to deny him but climbed into the back of the van. “Are we going to the local hospital?”
“Yes, San Angelo Community Center.”
Perry looked over at Leo and was pleased when his brother nodded that he’d heard. He was so scared for Gypsy he felt sick to his stomach and had to swallow to keep the bile down.
He kept out of the medic’s way as he began to clean Gypsy’s cut, but he clung to her hand and silently willed her to be okay.
Chapter Thirteen
Gypsy came to awareness slowly. Her whole body ached and her lungs felt tight, but the worst of the pain was in her head. The pounding in her skull was making her feel ill and the spot above her left ear and up to her temple was burning. She had no idea where she was or what had happened and she tried to remember but it hurt her head too much to think. The incessant beeping she could hear was driving her insane and only compounded her headache.
She heard a rustle to her left and even though she tried to open her eyes her lids were just too damn heavy. When she shifted, she moaned as her aching muscles protested. That was when she realized she was in a bed. She couldn’t even remember getting into one and the more she tried to think the more her stomach churned. She gagged and knew she was going to be sick. She wanted to get up and go to the bathroom but her whole body was so heavy.
“It’s okay, baby, we’ve got you.”
Gypsy knew that voice but she couldn’t think straight. Gentle hands turned her onto her right side and then she was heaving. She couldn’t even see where she was throwing up and hoped like hell it wasn’t on herself, in the bed, or on whoever was holding her head up. When her stomach was empty and her muscles stopped spasming, her head was carefully lowered to the pillow. She moaned with appreciation when a cool damp cloth was wiped over her face and mouth.
“Open your mouth and take a sip of water, darlin’.”
A straw was held against her lips and she drew on it. After swishing the water around her mouth, another man spoke to her. “Spit the water out, sweetheart. You can swallow the next mouthful.”
She did what she was told and then relaxed back on the bed and sank down into a blessedly pain-free world. The next two times she surfaced she was sick again but was pleased to have those hands helping and soothing her.
Gypsy had no idea how much time had passed the next time she roused, but her head wasn’t pounding as much. She still felt a little queasy but she felt a lot better than before. Both her hands were being held and she wondered who was with her. She forced her eyelids up but was cautious enough to only open them to narrow slits. And she was glad she did when the light in the room hurt her eyes. She took a few deep breaths and when her churning stomach calmed and the pain in her head subsided to a dull ache, she opened her eyes more.
She took in the white ceiling and then carefully turned her head. Perry was sitting at her side, his hand clutching at hers with his upper chest and head resting on the bed. After slowly turning to face the other side, she saw Leo in the same position. Movement across the room drew her gaze and she saw Ivan sitting in a chair with his head tipped back and his mouth open as he slept. He looked so uncomfortable she wanted to tell him to get in bed with her. Again she looked around the room and that was when she saw all the monitors and the IV lines. She followed the plastic tube until she looked at the back of her hand.
Why am I in the hospital? What the hell happened? Was I in an accident?
She frowned as she thought back and then it all came rushing back. Perry had been angry with her for putting in a bid for a new job and she had left the rehab clinic with a broken heart. She’d gone home to her dad’s place and was sitting at the kitchen counter.
She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand as she remembered someone throwing something through the kitchen window and whatever it was had been on fire. It had hit the saucepan rack above the counter with enough force to bring it crashing down on top of her. A whimper of fear escaped and horror escaped her mouth when she wondered if her dad’s house had burnt to the ground.
Perry bolted upright beside her and met her gaze. “Gypsy. Thank God you’re awake, we’ve been so worried about you.”
Leo sat up on her other side and squeezed her hand. Ivan pushed himself upright in the chair and rose to his feet, blinking a few times as if to dispel the sleep haze from his eyes.
“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” Ivan asked as he came over to the bed and sat on the side near her hip.
“My head hurts.” Gypsy tugged her hand from Perry’s grip and lifted it to the side of her head. She cringed when she felt stubble where her hair had been shaved off and then carefully followed the line of sutures up to her left temple. Tears formed in her eyes and then spilled over onto her cheeks. They’d shaved her hair off.
Perry reached for her hand again but she snatched it away. “Don’t touch me,” she said angrily and then felt terrible because of the pain she could see in his eyes, but he’d hurt her, too, and although she knew she was being a bitch she wanted to lash out and hurt him back.
“Gypsy, you need to talk to us, baby. Can you remember what happened?” Leo asked, looking sad and concerned. She’d pulled her hand away from his, too.
She crossed her arms over her chest and nodded slightly, then cringed when her head beat out a painful throb, but she sighed when it settled down to a dull ache again.
“Don’t move around too much, sweetheart. We don’t like seeing you in pain.” Ivan looked just as forlorn and dejected as his brothers, but that was just too damn bad. She wasn’t in a very forgiving mood. She ached from top to bottom and wondered if she was bruised all over. She probably fell onto the floor when she was hit in the head and knocked unconscious.
The door to her room was pushed open by a nurse and then the sheriff wheeled her dad into her room.
“Daddy?”
“Pumpkin,” Rick said in a voice full of emotion, and she could see tears in his eyes. “I’m so glad you’re awake, honey. We’ve all been worried sick about you.”
L
eo stood up and pulled the chair he’d been sitting in out of the way so her dad could get closer to her.
“What are you doing here, Dad? Are you allowed to be out of the rehab center?”
“There’s no way I was letting anyone stop me. I love you, Gypsy.” He grasped her hand and then brought it to his mouth, kissing the back of it.
“I love you, too.”
“I need to get a statement from you, if you feel up to it, Gypsy,” Sheriff Casey Ferry said as he looked at her from the bottom of her bed.
“Okay, but I need some privacy.” Gypsy glared at Perry, Leo, and Ivan pointedly.
They all nodded. She heard Perry sigh and then he ran his fingers through his hair, but he didn’t say anything as the men left her room. They didn’t close the door behind them and even though she wanted to call out to them and tell them to do that she didn’t want to face them again right now.
She loved them so much and had thought they were different from some of the other men she’d worked with, but it seemed that she’d been wrong. She figured that they were gone for good. Her heart ached and she wanted to rub the pain away but she knew that wouldn’t do any good. There was no way she could get over being emotionally hurt like she could a physical injury. She just hoped that one day soon she could think of them without pain piercing into her chest.
Tears burned the back of her eyes but she took a deep breath and blinked them away. She’d already cried enough over them, she wasn’t about to waste any more tears on them.
Gypsy started at the moment she realized that Guy couldn’t have been the person threatening her. She ran through the event step by step, even telling the sheriff and her dad how hurt she’d been by Perry’s anger. By the time she was done she was exhausted and her dad was looking pissed, but he kept his thoughts to himself.
“I’m sorry, Dad.”
Rick squeezed her hand. “You have nothing to be sorry for, pumpkin. None of this was your fault.”
“How much of the house burned down?”
Rick glanced toward the sheriff and then back to her. The sadness in his eyes clutched at her heart. “The house is gone, honey.”
“Oh God,” Gypsy whispered and then wiped the tears from her face. If she hadn’t put in a bid to win that contract none of this would have happened. What she was thinking must have shown on her face because her dad stated railing at her.
“Don’t you dare blame yourself for what happened, Gypsy! That asshole has been trying to one up me forever.”
“Who?”
“Charlie Shield.”
“You mean Shield Construction?”
“That’s the one.”
“But why would he…”
“He’s the man your mother ran off with. He’s been trying to compete with me for years. Apparently his company is struggling and at the brink of bankruptcy. He had all his hopes pinned on that bid.”
“How did he find out that I had even put a quote in?” Gypsy asked.
“He flirted with the secretary and ended up having an affair with her. He got the information from her.”
“Bastard.” Gypsy snarled. “Is Mom still with him?”
“No. She left years ago. No one knows where she is.”
Gypsy nodded and squeezed her dad’s hand when she saw the pain in his eyes, but then he smiled at her.
“I’ll leave you to talk,” Sheriff Casey said. “You won’t have to worry about Charlie coming after you. He’s behind bars and confessed to everything.”
“Thank God.” Gypsy sighed with relief. At least that was one thing she didn’t have to worry about.
“How did you get to the hospital?”
Her dad’s face turned red and he glanced toward the door. “Jeanie, come on in.”
Gypsy smiled at Jeanie when she entered the room. She’d liked her the first time they’d met. She glanced at her father and there was so much love in his eyes. When she gazed at her dad’s friend she could see just as much emotion. She hid her smile when he dad cleared his throat nervously and looked at her sheepishly.
“Jeanie has been looking after me for the past three weeks as you know. She asked to be transferred to the rehab clinic when I was.” He glanced at Jeanie and she gave him an encouraging nod. “We love each other and want to get married.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful,” Gypsy said and smiled at them both. She was happy that her dad had finally found love again and was glad she wouldn’t have to worry about him being on his own anymore. “I’m so happy for you both. What are we going to do about the house?”
“I was insured, pumpkin. I’ll be staying with Jeanie in her apartment while the house is being rebuilt, and then we can move in when it’s finished.”
“You’re welcome to stay in my spare room, Gypsy,” Jeanie said.
“Thank you.” Gypsy nodded, although she wasn’t sure what she was going to do yet. She didn’t want to move in with her dad and Jeanie, because she had a feeling she would be putting a damper on their new relationship. But she didn’t have to worry about that right now, at least not until she was let out of the hospital.
“We need to go, Rick.” Jeanie walked over and placed a hand on her dad’s shoulder. He reached up and patted it affectionately.
“We’ll come see you tomorrow,” her dad said as Jeanie started wheeling him toward the door.
“You don’t have to, Dad. I’m a big girl.”
“Humor me, pumpkin. You almost died.”
Gypsy nodded and watched as her dad and Jeanie left. She was happy for her father but she was also envious. Her relationship with the three Chadwick brothers hadn’t worked out and she didn’t know if she would ever feel whole again. Her heart felt like it had broken in two.
She looked toward the door when she heard movement and her heart stuttered in her chest when Leo, Perry, and Ivan entered the room. She wanted to tell them to get out but she couldn’t form the words to tell them so. Plus she couldn’t take her eyes off of them. She loved them so much, and even though she was hurting she didn’t want them leaving her.
Perry walked over, sat on the bed, and took her hand in his. “You were wrong about why I was angry with you, darlin’. It had nothing to do with you bidding for that contract.”
“You were listening?” she asked angrily and blinked when tears pricked the back of her eyes.
“Yes, and I’m damn glad we did,” Leo said coolly.
“How could you think we’d be so shallow, Gypsy? Why did you think that we would be threatened by you because of that project bid?” Perry asked.
The tears she’d been trying to hold at bay trickled down her cheeks and she swiped at them angrily.
“A lot of the men I’ve worked with have always felt threatened by me. I’ve learned that I will never really be accepted. A woman working in a man’s world is never going to be acceded with. There are always going to be a few assholes who feel intimidated by that.”
“We aren’t like that, baby,” Leo said.
“God but you’ve got a chip on your shoulder,” Ivan snapped.
“We love that you are so strong and determined to be a success. You are a successful career woman, a successful construction worker, and don’t let anyone tell or make you think differently.” Leo scrubbed a hand over his face.
Gypsy began to feel hopeful. Do I have a chip on my shoulder because of what I’ve had to deal with? Am I the one who screwed up?
She looked at Perry when he nudged her chin up. “I was angry with you because you didn’t tell me, us, about that threatening letter you got. My anger had nothing to do with that proposal. We needed to know everything that was going on to keep you safe, damn it. Don’t you realize how much I fucking love you?”
The pain in her heart eased and began to fill with warmth. Was it really possible that Perry loved her? She looked deeply into his eyes and when she did she could see all the love, hunger, and emotion, and she realized it had been there all along. She was the one who had closed herself off because she had never ex
pected to be accepted for who she was and what she wanted.
She met Leo’s eyes and saw the same feelings blazing out at her, and when she met Ivan’s, he was looking at her with an identical expression.
Leo leaned forward and placed a light kiss on her lips. “I love you, baby.”
Ivan took Leo’s place when he moved aside and he kissed her on the forehead. “I love you, Gypsy.”
Gypsy started crying again. She’d never cried so much in her life. She usually held all her emotions inside and pushed them down deep, but these three men had tapped in her heart and the tears she shed now were because she was so happy.
“I’m sorry.” She took Perry’s hand in hers and threaded their fingers together. “I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions. I’m sorry I hurt you all. I’m sorry for being so obstinate. And I’m sorry for not telling you how much I love y’all, too.”
“You love us?” Perry asked in a choked voice.
“Yes, very much.”
“Oh darlin’.” Perry pressed his lips to hers and gave her the sweetest emotion-filled kiss.
It turned her insides to mush and then she wrapped her arms around his neck, clung to him, and deepened the kiss. It was a wild, hot meeting of mouths and if the doctor hadn’t come in and cleared his throat, Gypsy may have been even more embarrassed. She’d already started pushing her hands up beneath his T-shirt.
“I’m glad to see you’re feeling better, young lady. You can go home tomorrow but only if you have someone to stay with you twenty-four-seven. You were hit on the head very hard and were quite sick. No physical activities until those stitches come out. All right?”
“Yes, sir.” Gypsy looked away when her face turned red but smiled when the doctor chuckled.
He looked at her men and sighed. “Now that she’s awake you don’t need to sleep here anymore. You’ve distracted my nurses enough for the last three days. Go home and get some rest. You want to be at your best to take care of your girl.” The doctor hurried from the room without looking back.