Chapter 26
twenty-six
“Call it out. Anybody injured?” Breaker shouts. My ears ring harshly, the consequence of so many rounds going off in such a confined space.
“All good,” Everett says, patting his torso down to make sure.
“Yeah, we’re fine,” Elijah says, rolling Aaron over. A bruise blossoms across his cheekbone, but otherwise Aaron is unharmed. Unfortunately.
“Angel, are you okay? Are you hurt?” I say, pushing myself up so I can see her face. Her eyes are closed and panic grips my chest. “Magnolia? MAGNOLIA? Wake up, baby. Look at me.”
I stand, finally feeling a wet spot on my chest. Blood pools beneath her and a strangled sound comes from my mouth.
Not Magnolia. Not my woman. Not when we haven’t had nearly enough time.
Tunnel vision takes over and I cut her dress up the middle, searching for the wound. Blood pours from a gunshot just below her collarbone, and I feel the sting of tears welling up in my eyes. I can’t lose her. I won't.
“Ev, there's a medic kit in the bronco. Run, tell the girls to call 911,” breaker orders and he obeys. I can’t focus on anything else besides holding pressure against her chest.
“Break… I can't… I don’t…” Full sentences just won’t formulate in my mind. I want to tell him we have to do anything and everything possible to fix this, but I can't.
“I know, brother. She’s gonna be okay,” he says, pulling Elijah to the side and mumbling something before Eli nods and takes Aaron out the back door.
I should be asking what's going on, should be maintaining my composure and control in such a chaotic situation.
I've been in the middle of mortar fire, a thousand miles from home, wondering if my next breath would be my last. But that fear is nothing compared to the thought of losing the woman in my arms right now.
The action around me is all a blur. Everett comes back into the room and tries in vain to pry her from my arms, but I can’t let her go.
I won’t. Finally, he gives in and treats her wound as best he can without taking her from me.
At some point during the commotion, an ambulance arrives.
It takes all three of my friends to pull us apart long enough for the paramedics to take her.
Breaker pushes me into Rory’s Bronco, instructing her to follow the ambulance straight to the hospital.
I know they’re gonna have a hell of a mess to clean up with Magnolia’s mother and explaining things to the police, but I can’t find it in me to give a shit right now.
All of my training, every one of a hundred missions I’ve completed before now, didn’t prepare me for this.
If I lose her, that will be the end of me.
“She’s gonna be fine, Dalton. We’re almost there.” Rory says, but I barely hear her over the sound of blood rushing in my ears.
I’m out of the car before Rory even parks, rushing into the emergency room behind the paramedics wheeling Magnolia in.
There’s an IV in her wrist and defibrillator pads stuck to her chest. I try to follow them as they rush her behind an “Employee’s Only” door, but security stops me.
Before I can rationalize what I’m doing, I swing, landing a hard punch against the officer’s jaw.
He curses as I slam my body into the door, willing it to open.
“Fuck! Let me in! Magnolia!” I scream as more officers arrive, dragging me back outside the ambulance bay.
“Dalton, enough! You can’t help her like this!” Rory shouts as I struggle against the men holding me back.
“Easy now, son. You won’t come back inside until you calm down.
Make another move and you’ll be banned from the building all together.
Won’t do much good to your lady then.” The officer holding my shoulder back breaks through the fog, and some of the fight leaves my body.
I want to get to her. I need to. But I won’t do it this way.
She would be disappointed in me, and I know it.
“Take a few minutes and clear your head. Once you’ve calmed down enough to realize the doctors are doing all they can to help her, then you can come back inside to wait.
” The man says, and I nod as they shove me back.
I collapse onto the curb next to Rory’s truck, the adrenaline finally crashing and pure unadulterated fear seeping in.
Tears sting my eyes as Rory sits next to me, wrapping one arm around my shoulders.
“Everyone is on the way. We’re all here for you, Dalton.
She’s gonna make it out of this. If there’s anything I’ve learned since meeting this friend group, we don’t fear the reaper.
She won’t give up that easily. Not when she’s got you waiting for her when she wakes up.
” Rory’s words take the edge off, but nothing can take away the fear.
I think about all the things I’ve accomplished in my life, all the things I still want to do.
I’d love to own Pop’s. I’d love to be so successful I can give Magnolia the life she deserves.
But right now, I’d live the rest of my life in a box under a bridge just to see her gorgeous green eyes staring back at me again.
“I need her, Aurora. I can’t…I can’t imagine a future without her in it.” I say, letting the tears spill from my eyes.
“Luckily, you will never have to.” She says reassuringly.
“Princess,” Breaker’s gruff voice draws our attention across the parking lot. My friends all walk towards me, each one still in their formal wear, and I thank God I have these people in my corner. I wipe my eyes, meeting the group halfway to the door.
“Everything ok back at the beach house?” I ask.
“Not in the slightest. But I’d like to see my daughter,” Magnolia’s dad steps out from behind Elijah and for a moment I’m shocked.
“Mr. Monroe, I-I don’t…I’m so sorry. I was supposed to protect her, and I didn’t.” I apologize, but he holds up a hand to silence me.
“You aren’t responsible here, son. Patricia caused this.
I should’ve seen it years ago, should’ve stopped her before she caused so much damage to my daughter’s lives, but I was blind.
I didn’t want to see what was right in front of me.
” I can tell he’s been crying. His eyes are red-rimmed and heavy as he battles with his own demons.
“She’s gonna be okay, sir. She’s gonna wake up and we will both have so much more time to make sure she knows just how truly loved she is,” I tell him, turning to walk back into the waiting room.