Just as I was about to launch at her, Tuck strode through the door, looking disheveled and dirty. “What the hell is going on in here?” He caught me around the waist and moved me back. “What did you say to her?” he accused the officer but didn’t wait for her answer. He kept pushing me towards the door.
By the time we reached the hallway, my entire body was shaking, and I could barely walk. Tuck gave up trying to guide my movements and instead lifted me up in a bridal-style hold. I shoved my face into his neck. The tears came now. Hot and angry and terrified.
Tuck set me down on a bench at the end of a quiet hallway, still keeping one arm curved around me. “He’s a fighter, Taylor. He’s going to make it.” Tuck’s voice was thick with unshed tears.
I said nothing, just clutched the shirt of Walker’s closest friend with a ferocity that scared even me. I had to turn it off. All the emotions threatening to overwhelm me, I had to shut them off. I couldn’t do this again. I ground my teeth together, squeezed my eyes closed, and prayed for a release from the pain. Exhaustion must have overtaken me, because the next thing I knew, my eyes were blinking open at the sound of Tuck’s and Andrew’s hushed voices.
“I went to the scene,” Tuck started, a hardness to his tone now. “Tried to track the bastard, but he’s good. I lost him in the creek.”
Andrew ran a hand through his disheveled hair. “I can’t believe something like this is happening in Sutter Lake.”
I pushed off Tuck and moved into a sitting position. “Is there any word?”
Andrew gave me a gentle smile. “I was just coming to tell you. He’s out of surgery. He’s in rough shape, but they expect him to make a full recovery.” The tears wanted to come again, but I refused to let them. Andrew pulled me to my feet and into a tight hug. “He’s going to be just fine. We can go in and see him once they’ve settled him in a room.”
I nodded against Walker’s father’s shoulder and then pulled back. “What happened? Do you have any details?”
Andrew’s jaw went hard. “He was shot in the chest, right above his heart. An inch lower, and I don’t think he would’ve survived.” I shuddered violently. “Amazingly, the bullet missed all the important stuff. His heart, any arteries, his clavicle, all fine. He does have a collapsed lung, but that should be fine with some rest.”
An inch. One single inch was all that had come between me and total devastation for the second time. I forced those thoughts from my mind. “When can we see him?”
“They’re moving him to a room now. He’ll be out of it for several hours, though. Jensen and Sarah are going home so they can check on my mom and Noah. Hopefully, they’ll get a couple hours of sleep. You should do the same. Come back after you’ve had some rest.”
I shook my head fiercely. “No. I’m staying. I know I might not be able to see him right away, but I’m staying.”
Andrew patted my hand. “We’ll make sure you can see him.”
Andrew, Tuck, and I followed a maze of hallways until we found the correct nurses’ station. A portly woman with a kind face showed us to Walker’s room. “He’s all settled in. Now, he looks a little battered, but I assure you, he’s going to pull through just fine. Just push the call button and buzz us if you need anything.”
The beating of my heart quickened as we approached the doorway. When I crossed the threshold, that horrible burning in my chest came back. The fire that threatened to take me to my knees. I sucked in an audible breath, trying to force air into my lungs.
There were tubes and machines everywhere. And that damned sound of a heart monitor beeping away. I reminded myself I should be glad I could hear the beeps. Walker’s heart was doing its job. It was strong, and he was going to be just fine. I let Andrew and Tuck approach him first. I was the interloper, after all. The new addition to Walker’s life. They’d been with him practically since he’d breathed his first breath.
Tears tracked down Andrew’s face as he bent to press a kiss to his son’s head. The gesture was so tender, it had me taking a step back and staring at the pattern on the linoleum floor. When he was done, Tuck took his turn. Taking the time to whisper what looked like a vehement promise in Walker’s ear before backing away.
I was up. My eyes locked on the rhythmic rise and fall of Walker’s chest as my feet brought me closer and closer. Suddenly, it wasn’t Walker I saw lying there, but my mother. Her weak heart slowly giving out as the rise and fall of her chest grew shallower and shallower. I squeezed my eyes closed and shook my head to clear the image. Walker was alive. He was alive. I repeated it over and over in my head. He was alive, and that was the only thing that mattered right now.
I let myself sit in the chair next to his bed because I didn’t trust my legs not to give out on me. I scooted it as close as possible. Carefully, oh so gently, I lifted his limp hand, the one that was free of tubes and wires. I traced the rough tips of his fingers, soaking in their familiar sandpapered feel.
Emotions warred within me. Half of me wanted to crawl into the bed with him and get as close as possible. Force his heart to keep beating. The other half of me wanted to run. Run fast and far and never stop. I hated myself for that second piece.
I focused on the feel of Walker’s hand in mine, the beeping of the heart monitor. I forced myself to be strong. I stayed. I didn’t run. Even though I was scared spitless.
Minutes turned to hours, and still, I didn’t move from my spot. Finally, fatigue began to war with my eyelids, and I laid my head down on the side of Walker’s bed, not losing my gentle grip on his hand. Sleep claimed me within seconds.
A feather-light sensation on my head woke me. My eyes fluttered open, taking a moment to adjust to the light. A hand brushed along the side of my face. I shot up. “Walker!”
There he was, eyes fully open though ringed in dark circles. He looked as though he’d been through a war, and I guess in a way, he had. He was still the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen. “Hey, Short-stack,” he said, his voice even rougher than usual.