Читать книгу Hazardous Holiday - Liz Johnson - Страница 14

FOUR

“I’m okay.” As soon as he said the words, Zach knew they were a lie. Blood was still seeping from his arm, and his vision was already starting to go gray. If he didn’t do something soon, he’d wind up flat on his back with a slew of doctors and nurses hovering over him.

He clamped his hand over Kristi’s, pressing her sweater harder against his wound and squishing her slender fingers in the process. She didn’t even flinch. Her eyes deep pools of concern, she leaned over Cody, closing the space between them.

“You’re going to be all right. Help’s on the way.”

He pinched his eyes closed and nodded. “Swhat I said. I’m goo’.” Was it just him, or did he sound like he’d gone a few too many rounds in a boxing ring?

Focus.

He had to stay alert. Stay in the moment. He had to keep them safe.

Kristi shifted her hand, her finger digging into his wound, and he nearly shot to his feet. He would have if her other hand hadn’t cupped his cheek, her thumb taking a slow stroll along his cheekbone, sending his heart pounding.

No, that was the strain of the scenario. Had to be.

He leaned his uninjured shoulder into the cement planter and took a sharp breath. Just focus on the pain. Don’t think about silky hands. Or pretty brown eyes.

Think about the shooter.

Vaguely he heard feet pounding toward them. Someone squawked into his radio. “Three civilians.”

“He was hit!” Kristi cried.

Zach waved his hand to cut her off. There was no need for this kind of fuss. But before he could say anything, a tall black police officer squatted right beside them.

“How many times were you hit?”

“Once.” Zach gave himself a moment to catch another breath and make sure he hadn’t missed another injury. Legs? Fine. Abs? Okay. Chest? Still there. “Just my shoulder.”

The officer nodded, repeating the news into his shoulder radio. When he turned to Cody, who still hovered beside his mom, the cop’s voice turned gentler. “Were you hurt?”

The little boy shook his head before pointing. “Zach’s bleeding.”

“I know, and help is on the way.”

The ringing in Zach’s ears turned sharper, and he turned to lean his head against the planter, but Kristi caught him, cradling him against her shoulder and resting her cheek against the top of his head.

“How long does it take to get help? We’re at the hospital.”

The police officer seemed to understand that it was a rhetorical question. They were at the hospital—but at the cardiac unit. It would take a few minutes for the police to secure the area so the emergency responders knew it was safe to move in.

“Did you see the shooter?”

Kristi shook her head, her curls tickling the back of his neck. “I didn’t see anything.”

Zach tried to sit up a little straighter, but it turned into more of a slump. “He was on the building—” he flopped his good arm in the general direction “—across the parking lot.”

Both the police officer and Kristi whipped their heads around as though they would catch a glimpse of the gunman.

The cop swung back just as quickly. “How do you know?”

“Saw his scope reflecting. On top of the car.”

Shock crossed the cop’s face. Zach guessed that most civilians didn’t pay attention to strange reflections. Well, he wasn’t a civilian.

“I’m a SEAL.”

The surprise was replaced by something that could only be identified as respect. “I didn’t realize.”

Why should he have? Zach was out of uniform and out of sorts. On the ground and mentally fuzzy wasn’t his usual stance.

But his family was safe. At least for the moment.

The cop turned his head and spoke into his radio, relaying Zach’s information. “SWAT’s going in to clear the area. It’ll be just a few minutes.”

“But he’s been shot.” Kristi’s voice cracked under the strain. “Can’t we get him inside?”

“Not without leaving him—and anyone helping him—exposed.” The cop offered a half smile and tried for a little humor. “Besides, he’s probably been hit before.”

“Actually, no.” Zach could remember a whole lot of pain in his years with the teams, but this particular discomfort was new. Getting shot hurt. With a capital H.

The blood loss wasn’t much better. It was making him woozy and far too focused on the gentle slope of the underside of Kristi’s chin. The urge to touch her surged through him. He caught his hand at the last minute and forced it back to his shoulder.

Nope. He wasn’t allowed to do that.

But she’s your wife. Your very, very pretty wife.

Not exactly.

She signed the license.

But she hadn’t agreed to anything more than a marriage in name only. Because she was scared and on her own and he’d offered to help. And he’d rather shoot his other arm than do anything to break her trust. Besides, he wasn’t the kind of man she wanted. He never had been, and he didn’t know how to be.

The cop’s radio squawked, the words a jumbled mess, except for the crucial phrase “All clear.”

In an instant, three nurses pushing a gurney charged into the open, their tennis shoes slapping against the cement and nearly covering the low squeak of one of the gurney wheels.

“Can you get up?” A formidable blonde leaned over him, looking like she’d pick him up herself if he wasn’t able.

Everything in him wanted to stay where he was and fall into oblivion. But a stupid bullet in his arm wasn’t going to keep him down. Not when the shooter was still at large, leaving his family in danger.

As he settled onto the gurney, Kristi grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “We’re right behind you.”

He closed his eyes and nodded but called out just before the nurses pushed him away. “Wait. I forgot...” His voice trailed off, and he sucked in a quick breath, snatching at as much air as he could get before quickly releasing it, trying to remember what he’d forgotten. “Bad shot.”

“What?” The cop stepped closer to him.

“The shooter. Had a scope but couldn’t have been a pro. Was a bad shot.”

Kristi shook her head frantically. “Bad? He hit you.”

“But he was aiming for you.”

* * *

Kristi couldn’t stop pacing after the nurses wheeled Zach away. During the interview with the police officer, she covered a four-foot space innumerable times. While his cardiologist checked on Cody, she marched back and forth across the exam room. When Cody looked up at her with confusion in his wide eyes, she tried to stop. But the pull was too strong, and she took a quick side-to-side step.

“Mom?” Cody’s voice was clear and strong, and she snapped to attention, noticing that the doctor had even halted his charting.

“Yes?”

“Are you all right?”

“Yes.” Her second response sounded more like a question than the first, so she cleared her throat and tried again. “I’m fine. Everything’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.” Cody wasn’t being disrespectful or snide. He was just stating the fact, and it tore at her chest. He was so innocent, and she wanted to keep him that way. But she couldn’t deny that someone had shot Zach, or that that meant everything was very much not okay.

Combing his hair with her fingers, she tried for a smile, but her mouth seemed to have forgotten how to shape it. “You’re right, buddy. I’m scared.”

He was aiming for you.

Zach’s words rang in her head, terrifying and true.

“Not me.”

Dr. Guthrie smiled as he pulled his stethoscope from around his neck. “You’re pretty brave.”

“Don’t need to be.” A smirk fell across Cody’s face. “Zach promised he’d take care of us.”

Zach.

He had the skills and training to protect them, and he cared about their safety. But even a SEAL could be brought down by a bullet.

Any man could be.

In an instant, she was back on the ranch while a uniformed officer, holding his hat in both hands, said, “I’m so sorry, ma’am.”

“Sorry?” She nearly choked on the word.

Cops didn’t come to your front door when the cows got loose. Still...she hoped. She prayed. “We’ve fixed that fence a half-dozen times. Silly cows. We’ll get them rounded up.”

“It’s not your cows, ma’am.”

Her mouth went dry, a fist in her chest twisting everything inside. She could only shake her head.

The cop’s face crumpled. “It’s Aaron.”

She put up both hands as though she could stop him from breaking her heart. “Don’t. Don’t say it.”

He didn’t comply. “I’m sorry to have to tell you, he’s been killed.”

Ice covered her until she was too frozen to even shiver.

“He was shot at the gas station.”

She hadn’t even been able to cry. Instead, she’d sunk to the floor and blacked out. The rest of that day had been a complete blank, not a single memory of her mother-in-law arriving and caring for Cody. Not the endless cups of tea pushed into her hands.

But when she staggered out from that stupor, her nightstand had been full of empty mugs, her bed turned into a cocoon of wool blankets.

She’d dressed in black and held Cody close as Aaron’s casket was lowered into the ground.

It had been a fluke. People didn’t just walk around and get shot. She understood that.

At least she thought she did.

But now her second husband had been shot, too. And men died from bullet wounds.

She wrapped her arms around her middle, trying to keep her mind from wandering down the hall to the ER, to where Zach was being treated for his wounds. The ER doctor had been very firm. She and Cody couldn’t go with Zach while he had his procedure, so she might as well take Cody in to see his cardiologist while Zach was being taken care of.

Only she couldn’t seem to focus on Dr. Guthrie’s words as he jotted notes into Cody’s chart.

“Mrs. McCloud?” The doctor sounded like he’d called her name several times, but she still jumped when his words broke through her consciousness.

“Yes? Yes.”

Dr. Guthrie pointed at Cody. “How many hours a night is he sleeping?”

“About ten or eleven.” She bit her lip, hoping that didn’t mean more bad news. At his frown, she hesitated to add more, but it had to be said. “And napping three to four hours throughout the day.”

He nodded, scribbled more and pinched his nose. “Well, young man, your oxygen levels are getting lower, which is making you pretty sleepy.”

Even now, Cody’s eyes drooped, as if the effort of remaining upright on the exam table was just too much.

“What can we do?” She sounded defeated already. And she hated it.

Except...well, this was her son, her only child, her last connection to Aaron. She couldn’t lose him. But as long as someone was trying to kill her, she would be distracted from Cody’s needs, always wondering when Jackson Cole’s lackey would pop up again.

It wasn’t fair.

None of this was fair.

She grabbed for a tissue from the box sitting on the blue counter but had to physically restrain herself from picking up the whole box and chucking it at the wall.

Dabbing her eyes, she squared her shoulders and tried to keep her focus squarely on Cody’s care. “What can we do?”

“I want you to talk with the transplant coordinator again. You know Denise Engle.” It wasn’t really a question, but Kristi nodded all the same. “Just make sure that you have everything in place if a match becomes available.”

“Am I at the top of the list yet?” Cody asked. Kristi grabbed at his pointy shoulder to shush him. Cody sounded far too excited. Especially when she and the doctor both understood that his best day would be someone else’s worst.

“I’m afraid not,” Guthrie said. “But you’re getting close. For now, you can stay at home, but...”

She knew that but. If Cody’s condition continued to deteriorate, he’d need to be admitted until his transplant. Dr. Guthrie had warned her of that during their first appointment.

He’d have to leave his car models and his quiet room and his very cool night-light. And he’d probably miss most of the Christmas season.

Cody would hate it.

So she shook her head at the doctor. “Please. There must be something we can do.”

He nodded slowly. “For now we’re going to set you up with a portable oxygen tank.” As he wrote a quick note on his prescription pad, he directed her to a medical supply store. “I want him to use this all day and at night.” Turning his attention to Cody, he motioned long, narrow fingers toward his nose. “The oxygen will help you feel more awake, and it’ll come through a tube that fits over your ears and right into your nose. Think you can keep it on all day?”

Cody shrugged. “I guess.”

“You mean, ‘Yes, sir,’” Kristi corrected.

Ducking his head in chagrin, Cody agreed. “Yes, sir.”

Dr. Guthrie leaned in, a soft smile on his usually firm face. “If you have a hard time with it at first, take it out for five minutes every hour until you’re used to it.”

Suddenly Cody’s face lit up, and Kristi had a feeling it had nothing to do with the doctor’s five-minute reprieve.

“Zach!”

She spun so fast that her neck popped, but she hardly noticed when her gaze settled on the broad form leaning against the exam room doorjamb. His hazel eyes were bright and alert, and some of the color that had drained from his lips had returned. But his left arm was in a black sling, held tight against his body.

She sailed across the room, and before she could even process her own intent, she’d thrown her arms around his waist. It seemed to release a burst of a chuckle, which ended on a soft groan.

“Oh!” She jumped back in time to see him physically working to relax the lines around his mouth. “I’m sorry. Did I hurt you? What are you doing here? We were going to go to the ER right—” She waved toward the doctor. “We were going to go find you as soon as we were done.”

He managed a strained smile. “No need. They patched me up and gave me some fluids and sent me on my way.”

Dr. Guthrie eyed Zach with a heavy dollop of suspicion but said nothing. It didn’t help the knot in her stomach. Zach swayed just a bit, and she almost grabbed for him before he leaned his good shoulder against the door frame.

His gaze never moved from hers, but there was a flickering in his eyes, a moment where he wasn’t as focused as he wanted her to believe he was.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

“I’m not.” Little lines took up residence around his eyes, even though the rest of his face didn’t move. “Better me than you.” His gaze traveled across the room. “Or Cody.”

Her stomach churned. Cody had been only a few inches away from that bullet. She’d come far too close to losing the person she loved most in the world, and her only response was a three-word prayer. Thank You, God.

But what would happen if Cole found his mark the next time and Cody lost her?