“Now, now…” he laughed. “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”
“Do you even have a mother, Grahm? Or did you just come straight from the bowels of Hell?” I gasped, feeling my life slipping away.
Grahm cocked his gun. “You’re sassy, Nina. I like that. Maybe I will show a little mercy…not really my style, but I’ll make an exception for Jack’s daughter.”
I shut my eyes tight and waited, but the end never came. When I looked up, Grahm stood with his back arched, his eyes wide and bulging, staring straight ahead. A string of drool fell from his mouth as he fell forward. Jared stood in his place with a bloody fist.
“Nice,” Claire said, lifting my limp body from the ground.
“I ran out of bullets,” Jared quipped, taking me from Claire’s arms. We surged forward, taking off so fast I thought he had finally sprouted wings.
I tried to focus as he lifted me into the backseat of his Escalade, cradling me in his arms. Claire jumped into the driver seat. “Rhode Island Hospital is closer, right?”
“Yes!” Jared cried. “Go, Claire, Go!”
“I’m going to bleed on the seat,” I mumbled.
Jared laughed nervously. “I don’t care about the seat…you just stay with me.”
“I’m cold,” I whispered. My body shivered uncontrollably even against his warm body.
“Claire,” Jared warned, holding me tightly against him.
“Two minutes,” she said as the SUV jerked with a sharp turn.
“She doesn’t have two minutes,” Jared groaned.
“Jared?” I called into the dark.
I felt his warm hand on my cheek. “I’m here.”
“Jared?” I cried. I was so tired, and I was afraid. I didn’t know if I was strong enough to keep us both alive.
“I’m here, Nina. You stay with me, do you hear me?” I heard his voice break. “I’ve got plans for you.”
I felt the Escalade screech to a halt and the door flew open. Jared scrambled from the back, holding me tightly in his arms.
Jared yelled for help, and then a large group of people surrounded me.
“Sir, I need you to put her on the gurney,” I heard a woman say.
I felt Jared’s warm lips on my forehead and his grip tightened.
“Sir!”
“You promised me,” Jared choked. “Keep your promise, Nina.”
Jared lowered me onto a hard mattress and his hand squeezed mine before he let go. “I’ll see you soon.”
I searched for Jared’s face with my unfocused eyes as the doctor’s and nurses’ voices blurred above me.
“Jared?” I called to him.
“You need to leave the room, sir. Sir? You’ll have to leave!” I heard as I reached out for his hand with the last bit of strength I had left.
When I rose to the surface again, the early morning sun was peeking through the blinds. I looked over to my right hand that was tangled in Jared’s large, warm fingers. His head rested on the hospital bed beside me, his face still and peaceful. It was such an extraordinary sight to see him sleeping, so I let him be. I sat completely still, keeping my breaths even, watching the shadows dance down the wall with the rising sun.
When the sun lit up the room, Jared stirred. His eyes blinked and he lifted his head, looking up at me.
“Good morning,” I smiled, running my fingers through his tousled hair.
“You kept your promise.”
“I always keep my promises,” I said, arching my back against the bed, wincing with the pain that ensued.
His face tensed. “You had me worried there for awhile. We lost you a few times.”
“Really? I feel cheated. I don’t remember a single white light. My life didn’t even flash before my eyes.”
He pressed his lips together. “Leave it to you to joke about dying.”
“Are you okay? When that happens and they bring me back…that doesn’t hurt you at all, does it?”
“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine,” he shook his head both in answer and in disapproval at my question.
“How’s your shoulder?”
“Good as new,” he said, making a show of patting the point where the bullet had entered.
“Yeah…I think my leg is going to take longer than your shoulder to heal.” I looked down, seeing the thick layers of gauze wrapped around it.
He nodded, but his face was pained.
I touched his cheek with my fingers. “What is it?”
Jared shook his head, trying to keep the corners of his mouth up. His smile faded to a compressed frown and his eyes glossed over.
“Jared,” I said, trying to think of something comforting to say. I couldn’t imagine what he had gone through, letting someone else try to save my life.
He sucked in a breath and held my hand against his cheek. “I thought I lost you…,” he cried, his eyes closed, “...I thought I lost you.” His voice was agonized, and he groaned as he buried his face into my stomach.