Chapter 46
...then Harry breathed.
The three of them froze in astonishment at the short, ragged intake. Then nothing. Fiona was almost sure she had imagined it when there was another gurgle.
A gasp.
Then Fiona was at his side again, slapping his face and calling his name.
He coughed and almost gagged, so with Colin’s help, Fiona rolled Harry to his side and pounded his back.
He heaved weakly and struggled to drag in another labored breath.
Another hacking exhale, and the next intake came easier.
Letting him roll back over, Fiona took his head in her lap again and patted his cheek more mildly. “Harry? Harry?”
His eyelids flickered and closed. “Why must you always beat me so?”
Fiona could barely hear the weakly spoken words but chuckled through her tears and sniffed, running the back of her hand across her eyes. “Why do you make me? I try so hard to be nice to you.”
Harry’s chest quaked with what might have been an attempt at laughter but then groaned and tried to roll to the side. Fiona urged him to lie back. “Careful, Harry, you’ve been shot.”
He stilled and sighed. “Have I? I can’t...” He lifted a hand to his chest. “I don’t think so.”
“You’re covered in blood!”
Harry drew in another breath and relaxed. “His.”
Colin and Connor were bent over him then, opening Harry’s jacket, vest and shirt. “He’s got one. Looks like it got him in the ribs.” Colin probed, and Harry cried hoarsely in pain. “More than a few broken ribs, I think. Two are bad. I hope he didn’t puncture a lung.”
“He fell on me. Damn near crushed me. Couldn’t breathe.”
“I think you’ll live, Aylesbury,” Colin said, though relief was evident in his voice.
“Oh, Harry,” Fiona moaned, cradling him against her. “How could you do this? How could you risk yourself like that?”
“Because I love you. Always will.”
“Oh, Harry,” she whispered, pressing her lips to his forehead. “I love you, too.”
Aylesbury released a breath that might have been a laugh. God it hurt to breathe, to move. To think. But he wouldn’t have traded that moment for anything. “You sure I’m not dead?”
Fiona laughed, too, between her tears. “You heard me. I love you, Harry Brudenall. It’s always been you.”
Aylesbury closed his eyes again. “’Bout time.”
Bending her cheek next to his, Fiona murmured her love to him over and over. As if once said, she couldn’t say it enough. She would never lose the opportunity again. “I love you, Harry. I’m so sorry. So sorry I took so long to admit. I was just so afraid.”
“Afraid?”
Fiona nodded, framing his dear face between her hands. “Afraid that we wouldn’t be able to find everything I longed for together. Afraid that it wouldn’t be perfect. I know now that it won’t be perfect because we aren’t either.”
Aylesbury made a choking sound close to laughter. Fiona sniffed back her tears with a watery chuckle. “All right, you’re perfect, but I’m not. I argue too much. I’m too independent. I’ve made so many mistakes, and I almost waited too long to try and make them right. I’m so, so sorry.”
“Stop apologizing. Can’t take it. Just not right coming from you.”
“I’m sorry.”
They shared a smile, and Fiona brushed the tears from her cheeks one last time. “I love you, Harry. I truly do.”
“I love you, too, darling girl.”
“I know you said you wouldn’t mention it again, so I have a question for you, Harry.”
“Yes.”
“I haven’t even asked yet!”
“Just put the ring on the right finger and kiss me, won’t you?”
To his amazement, Fiona did what he asked without an argument.
“Now, will you get me out of this blood bath?”