by Nikki Rose
We turned the corner and stopped so suddenly that Lacy ran into the back of me. Drywall and beams covered the end of the hall, blocking our path while a small fire was beginning to spread along the side of an exposed stud in the wall.
“Shit, we’ll have to go back through the main warehouse and out the front door.” Liam turned us around and began running back where we came from. “It’s more dangerous. We’ll be exposed to any of Mikhail’s men still around so stay close.” He yelled over the loud crashing noises all around us as the building began to give way piece by piece.
Smoke burned my lungs and made me cough. It was hard to see more than ten feet ahead of us. I coughed as Liam continued to drag us through the hall.
My coughing got too bad and Liam stopped to let me catch my breath. “You okay?”
“It's getting too bad. The fire has to be close. We need to find another way.”
“There’s not another way.” His voice was laced with worry.
We heard a loud creaking noise from just behind us. Aleksey shoved the three of us on ahead, lunging forward with us as the ceiling collapsed right where we had all been standing.
“Shit,” Liam yelled as we all turned to look at the rubble we would have been under. “Thanks, man.”
Lacy and I were the first ones off the floor and the men followed. “Well I guess turning back isn’t an option now anyways.” I coughed, looking at the piles of sheetrock, wood, and metal.
“We really have to get out of here. Try to stay low, it will help with the smoke and cover your faces like this.” He held the front of his shirt over his mouth and nose and crouched low as he led us through the gray smoke.
We ran down the hall toward where the auction had taken place. “We’ll have to make a run for it.” Aleksey said as we reached the door to the main room.
The room was dim but with the front door open, the air was clear. We stayed close and ran as fast as we could toward the front door. I was almost out the door when a grunting noise caught my attention.
The others were already out the door. “Hailey, what are you doing? We have to get out of here.” Liam grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door.
“Wait. Don’t you hear that?” There was the same sound again - grunting.
I ran behind the stage where the curtains and a couple of rafters had fallen during one of the explosions. The noise was louder there so I began digging through the black fabric and debris.
I moved more debris, finally uncovering Drew’s handsome face, smudged with dirt and ash.
“Drew,” I cried out. He was barely moving. There was a large red spot growing on the right shoulder of his white shirt. “You’re bleeding,” I gasped, falling to my knees beside him on the floor.
I managed to rip a piece of the sheer curtain from the jumbled pile and press it against his shoulder to try to stop the bleeding like I’d seen in the movies.
I looked him over for more injuries and stopped when my gaze reached his leg trapped under a beam from the stage. I scrambled on my knees to get to the beam and slipped my hands on either side of his leg. I tried to lift the large piece of metal but it was too heavy for me.
“Hailey, get out of here,” Drew mumbled, barely managing to get the word out as he struggled to keep his eyes open.
“Shit,” Liam said as he came up behind me.
I desperately tugged on the beam but it didn't budge. "It's too heavy,”
“Aleksey, come help,” Liam yelled out behind him.
Aleksey ran from around the front of the stage back to where we were hidden. “Damn, Drew,” He exclaimed and immediately took action, grabbing the beam.
They hurled it off Drew who was barely coherent.
“Show-off,” he said weakly as Liam and Aleksey each draped an arm over their shoulders and carried him toward the door. “Get her out of here.” Drew looked at me before his head fell to the side, finally losing consciousness.
“We gotta get him help.” Aleksey hurried us along out the front door.
Emergency lights flashed in the dark from several parked police and swat vehicles accompanied by ambulances and firetrucks a little farther back.
“There,” I yelled and motioned toward one of the available ambulances.
We rushed Drew over to them. Two paramedics ran to meet us and helped carry him to the stretcher.
“Get him on there.” One man ordered as they placed him on the hard stretcher.
Nearly half of Drew’s white shirt was red. My stomach twisted. How much blood could someone lose and still be okay?
They immediately loaded him into the ambulance and started working on his limp body. He was so pale — so lifeless.
Chapter 29
I stood frozen as they loaded Drew into the back of the ambulance. I’d never seen him look so helpless. My heart ached in my chest. I couldn’t breathe. Time seemed to stand still as I stood there staring with tears stinging my eyes. There was an almost magnetic pull drawing me closer to him.
“We gotta get him out of here.” One parametric grabbed hold of the large back door, waiting for me to move out of the way.
“I’m riding with him,” I demanded.
The younger of the two paramedics nodded and I climbed into the back of the ambulance. The door slammed shut, making me jump. The older paramedic pointed me toward the front near Drew’s head. Everything moved so fast. I hurried to sit beside Drew and took his hand. I was scrunched up on the side of the ambulance opposite where one worked on his shoulder to stop the bleeding while the other hooked him up to monitors.
“Drew?” I choked back a sob.
“I’m still here.” I could barely hear his gravelly voice over the commotion of beeping sounds and men barking instructions.
“I can’t believe you got shot.” I squeezed his hand and tears stung my eyes. I was still in shock. This can’t be real.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to get you through the auction. I told you I’d be there.”
“I got out of the main room before the raid started like you said. Now I wish I hadn’t. I left and you got shot. If I’d have stayed, I might have found you sooner — stopped the bleeding faster...” I swiped a hand across my wet face to fight back more tears.
“I need to start an I.V. on that arm.” The younger paramedic said, making me scoot down but I still held onto Drew’s hand like a life-line.
“You were doing what I told you to,” Drew’s voice was strained. “You made sure you got out and got somewhere safe. I’m proud of you and...” Drew’s voice faded. His eyes fluttered closed.
“Drew? Drew,” I shouted and squeezed his hand tighter.
“He’s losing too much blood.” One of the paramedics said with urgency and applied more pressure to his bloody shoulder. The other guy knocked on the cab of the ambulance and suddenly the sirens grew louder. I could feel us accelerate, flying over bumps in the road as we sped toward the hospital.
“Drew, wake up,” I demanded almost falling out of my seat when we took a turn.
His eyes opened to tiny slits which I could tell took too much of his strength. “I love you, Hai...” His eyes closed again. The strength faded from his grip on my hand as his head dropped to the side.
“Drew? Drew, no. Wake up. I love you too. I love you so much. Drew please? Please wake up,” I shouted and shook his hand as the ambulance came to a stop. “Why are we stopping? He’s dying. Do something,” I yelled in desperation to the two men.
“We’re here.” The back doors swung open loudly. “Ma’am move out of the way so we can get him into the hospital.”
I moved out of their way, hesitant to let go of his hand but having no choice as they rolled him out of the ambulance. I jumped out and hurried to follow them into the emergency room.
“Drew? I’m still here,” I yelled after them, trying to keep up.
They wheeled him through the double doors and into a stark white hallway. A nurse pulled me back as doctors rushed him down a long corridor. “Miss, I’m so
rry but you can’t go back there. Let the doctors do their job. Please have a seat and we’ll let you know as soon as we hear anything.”
As fast as everything happened in the ambulance, it was now in slow motion. I turned around and ran to the bathroom barely making it to the toilet before throwing up. I splashed cold water on my face and swished some in my mouth before looking up into the large mirror and just staring at the mess of a woman reflected back at me.
My auburn curls were a mess, mascara smudged around my eyes and black streaks covered my cheeks. I looked paler than I’d ever been and the white of my eyes were pink from crying.
I wet a paper towel and attempted to clean up my face. With the black streaks and racoon eyes faded, I just looked ghostly. I walked back into the waiting area feeling numb. Something was missing. I grasped at my hip where my emergency bag had been hanging. It was gone.
I want you to keep this with you all the time until this mission is over... I just want you taken care of in case anything happens.
Nothing’s going to happen.
I know. But, just in case.
Drew told me to keep it on me at all times. It had everything in it I would need in case something happened. In case of an emergency. An emergency...like this? Had he known he might get hurt — or die?
My body was suddenly too heavy for my legs. I crumbled, barely making it to a chair. I held my face in my hands and cried. My shoulders quaked with the force of each painful sob as they ripped from my throat. He couldn’t die. He just couldn’t. Not after everything. All those wasted years I spent being mad and hating him for breaking my heart when he’d never done anything wrong at all. I sobbed harder as I thought of all the time we’d lost and all the time we might never have.
“Ma’am?” A soft male voice timidly drew me out of my sorrow enough to hold back the sobs.
“Yes?” I looked up to see the younger paramedic standing over me.
“I believe this is yours?” He held out my bag. I took it eagerly, hugging it to my chest.
“Thank you,” another sob escaped me.
“Do you need anything? Is there someone I can call for you?”
I shook my head. “I’m sure they’re already on their way.”
“Okay, well, good luck with everything.” He looked at me with such pained sympathy that it only made my heart hurt worse.
“Thanks.” I forced a smile and looked down at my bag.
He left and my breath trembled with more tears streaming down my face. I couldn’t lose him. Not after we just made it back to each other. Not after everything we’d been through. I couldn’t lose him. I refused.
I opened my bag and desperately dug through until my hand finally grasped the small velvety ring box. I held the small black box in my hands, just staring at it before I finally opened it to get a better look at the diamond engagement ring inside.
The diamond was small. Drew had bought it when he was just out of the police academy. There was no telling how many of those tiny paychecks it took to pay for the ring. That in itself made it worth more to me than the biggest diamond on the planet.
How could I have ever been afraid of getting hurt by being with Drew? It was being apart from him that was killing me. I needed him. I couldn’t breathe without him. That’s when it hit me. Like a train colliding full force. No pain from letting myself love him could ever compare to the pain I’d feel without him. Loving him wasn’t an option. I would love him whether I was with him or not. I was only hurting myself more by keeping myself away.
I took the ring from its box — its home for the past five years — and slipped it on my finger. It fit perfectly. I had no idea how Drew had known my size but he had. I sat there staring at my hand. I tilted it from side to side, watching the tiny diamond sparkle under the fluorescent light. It was almost hypnotic and I found a small sense of calm when I looked into the endless facets.
I swallowed hard around the lump in my throat and fought to stop the tears. He’s going to be okay. He has to be.
“I’m looking for the family of Drew Caraway.” An all-business sounding voice drew my attention back to the double doors Drew had disappeared through.
I jumped up from my seat. “What is it? Is he okay?”
“Are you a relative, Miss?”
“Yes.” I said without giving it a second thought. My index finger brushed over the ring on my ring finger. “I’m his fiancé.” I stated boldly, spinning the ring on my finger as I said the words.
“Mr. Caraway is out of surgery now. It was touch and go there for a bit and he lost a lot of blood, but he’s stable now. He’s strong and I expect he will make a full recovery.”
“Oh, thank god.” My shoulders slumped and I let go of the breath I hadn’t known I was holding.
“Hailey,” Rebecca called my name from across the waiting room. I looked just in time to see her and Jason running toward me.
“How is he, doctor?” Jason said while Rebecca wrapped me in a tight hug.
The doctor cleared his throat, “As I was telling his fiancé, here...”
“Fiancé?” Rebecca whispered to me in bewilderment.
“I’ll explain later.” I whispered back to Rebecca while Jason talked with the doctor. Once he was done, I turned my attention back to Drew’s doctor. “I need to see him.”
“Not just yet. He’s very groggy from surgery and weak from the blood loss.”
“Please? I just need to see that he’s okay.”
“I don’t —” He must have seen the desperation in my face because he suddenly changed his mind. “Alright, I’ll give you five minutes. But just you and you need to keep him calm. This way.”
“Thank you.” The doctor turned away without another word and led me down the hall. I hurried to keep up with his large stride until we stopped in front of a small room with the door open but the curtain pulled closed.
The doctor held open the curtain for me. “Five minutes.”
I nodded and timidly slipped inside.
Drew laid in the hospital bed, sleeping. He looked so peaceful. I hated to wake him, but I had to make sure he was really okay.
I whispered softly as I stepped closer to him. “Drew?”
He stirred slightly but didn’t wake so I tried again as I made it to his side and took his hand, “Drew.”
“Hey gorgeous,” no sound had ever sounded as wonderful as his gravelly voice did at that moment.
“Oh, Drew,” I threw my arms around him and held my head against his chest. The sound of his heart beating gave me so much comfort. Tears streamed down my eyes again and the sudden realization that I might be hurting him finally hit. “Oh no, did I hurt you?” I shot up from my position over him.
“I’d take a hundred bullets if it meant getting to feel you clinging to me like that again.”
“You don't have to take one. I’m going to hold onto you and never let go again,” I squeezed his hand.
“Good because I made a decision when I was laying there fighting to keep conscious after I got shot.”
“What decision?” I looked up at him but kept my ear to his chest, relishing in the steady beat of his heart.
“I decided that I don’t care what you say. I’m not letting you go again. I’m not going to let you run away no matter how scared you are. You’re mine. You always have been, even when you didn’t know it.”
The doctor reappeared in the doorway and taped at his watch to signal my time was up.
“Give us a few more minutes, doc.” Drew said. His voice lacked his normal charisma and strength. The doctor reluctantly nodded and disappeared again.
Drew turned back to me, looking me in the eyes as another series of tears began to flow. “Hey, what are those tears for?” He lifted his hand to wipe them away but I could tell it was a struggle.
“You scared me back there. I thought I’d lost you.”
“Aww, you didn’t think you’d get rid of me that easily did you?”
“I —” My voice cracked.
“I love you,” I whispered against his chest.
“I love you too.” Drew took my hand in his and froze as his thumb brushed over the ring, “What’s this?”
I froze, suddenly feeling embarrassed that I had put it on without saying anything to him first. But he told you to put it on when you were ready. My mind reminded me. “It’s my ring,” I looked up into his eyes as my cheeks warmed.
“Yes, it is,” he smiled down at me with so much love in his eyes that it made my heart swell until I thought it might burst. “Does that mean...?”
“Yes. The answer is yes.” New tears started to flow. Happy tears.
Drew’s hand cupped my cheek and pulled my lips to his. He pressed his mouth tenderly against mine and poured all his love into that one kiss. In that moment, every last one of the walls around my heart came crashing down.
Chapter 30
“So, how’s the wedding planning going?” Jason asked Drew before taking a sip of his wine.
“We were actually talking about eloping.”
“Eloping? Why?” Rebecca said, almost spitting out her sparkling cider.
“I want to hurry up and get her locked in on this before she can change her mind.” Drew smirked. “Especially now that I’ve been cleared for active duty again. I should be all set for the honeymoon.” He wagged his eyebrows.
I slapped Drew’s arm but couldn’t help laughing. After being afraid of hurting him for the past few months, I would be glad to get back to normal now that he was completely cleared.
“The only problem with eloping is, there are some people who really want to be there with us. So, we’re going to have a small ceremony. But it's going to be kept very simple and small.”
“And soon.” Drew added.
I gave Jason and Rebecca a pleading look.
“We wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Rebecca beamed.