15. Gabi
FIFTEEN
GABI
I traced lazy circles on Daniel’s chest, watching the candlelight flicker across his skin. The storm raged outside, but in here everything felt still, suspended. My body hummed with satisfaction, muscles loose and relaxed in a way they hadn’t been in months. Since he’d left me.
“You okay?” Daniel’s voice rumbled under my fingertips.
I nodded against his shoulder. The physical connection had always been easy between us—passionate, electric. That wasn’t what broke us.
“This doesn’t fix everything,” I whispered.
“I know.” His hand stroked down my back, the familiar touch sending shivers through me.
My mind drifted to all those nights in New Orleans, tangled in his sheets or mine, while the humid air pressed around us. How simple it had seemed then, before reality crashed in. Before he’d made choices that showed exactly where I ranked in his priorities.
Thoughts churning, I pressed closer to Daniel’s warmth, breathing in the scent of salt air and that hint of cedar that always clung to him. I wanted to melt into him, to pretend the past months of hurt and anger never happened.
But they had happened. The sex was incredible—always had been. Yet in the quiet aftermath, doubt crept back in. Could I trust him not to bulldoze over my dreams again? Did coming here mean he finally understood why this place, this life, mattered so much to me?
“I missed you,” he murmured into my hair.
“I missed you, too.” The words slipped out before I could stop them. True, but dangerous. Missing someone wasn’t enough of a foundation to rebuild on. Neither was stupendous sex. We’d both need more than that to turn this into something real.
The wind howled outside, rattling the clinic’s reinforced windows. I shivered, despite the still, humid air inside the clinic. Daniel grabbed one of the thin cotton blankets I’d gathered from patient rooms and draped it over us. His arms felt like home, and that terrified me almost as much as the hurricane bearing down on us.
A loud bang jolted me from my thoughts. Daniel’s body went rigid beside me.
“What was that?” I whispered. My heart hammered against my ribs.
Daniel relaxed a fraction. “Probably just debris from the storm.”
That was the most logical explanation. Hurricane winds would be tossing around anything that wasn’t secured outside.
But what if it wasn’t debris?
“What if someone’s trying to break in again?” The words tumbled out before I could stop them. The memory of the jimmied lock from yesterday morning flashed through my mind.
Daniel was already moving, yanking on his cargo pants. I scrambled for my clothes, fingers fumbling from the adrenaline coursing through my system. I managed to yank on my jeans and shirt just as another bang echoed through the clinic.
My hand found Daniel’s arm, gripping tight.
“Stay here,” he hissed.
“Like hell.”
Eyes narrowed, he indicated I should stay close behind him as we crept out of the break room and into the hall. Emergency lights lit the corridor. Our bare feet made no sound on the tile floor as we eased down the hall, listening.
Another crash sounded, closer this time. Daniel pressed me back against the wall and we waited for endless seconds. At last, he backed off, and we eased down the hall, peering around the corner to the back entrance.
The metal door swung on its hinges, slamming against the wall with each gust of wind. Rain sprayed inside, forming puddles on the floor.
That door had been locked. I’d checked it myself when we’d done our final security sweep. It was conceivable something could have struck it and knocked it open, but I didn’t see evidence of a tree or other large debris in the darkness just outside the open door.
Daniel gestured to something on the floor. I squinted, angling my head until my mind made sense of the splotches in front of me.
Wet footprints. Someone else was here.
Daniel’s hand wrapped around mine, tugging me back from the footprints. His lips brushed my ear. “Where are the drugs kept?”
“Central hall, a room across from Exam Three. Steel door, no windows, keypad entry.” My voice came out barely above a breath.
He nodded. “Anyone else have the code?”
“Just Dr. Sibley and our head nurse. But the keypad won’t work with the power outage.”
Meaning the intruder likely wouldn’t be able to get to what he came for. Assuming the drugs were why he’d broken in.
We crept down the hallway, my heart pounding so hard I worried the intruder might hear it. The emergency lights cast eerie shadows, turning familiar corners into potential hiding spots.
Daniel moved like a predator, each step calculated. I tried to match his careful movements, but my bare feet stuck slightly to the cold tile floor with each step.
A clatter from the supply closet froze us in place. Daniel pushed me behind him, pressing us against the wall. He held up three fingers, then two, then one.
We burst around the corner. Empty. But the closet door stood ajar, supplies scattered across the floor. Someone had been searching for something specific.
“They’re working their way toward the exam rooms,” Daniel whispered.
My stomach clenched. If they found the drug lockup…
A shadow moved at the end of the hall. Daniel’s arm shot out, shoving me into a shallow alcove where we took patient vitals. His body pressed against mine, shielding me as footsteps approached.
The power flickered, plunging us into darkness for two terrifying heartbeats before the emergency lights sputtered back on.
The footsteps stopped.
I held my breath, feeling Daniel’s muscles coiled tight against me. Ready to move. Ready to protect.
The metallic thud of something striking the drug lockup door echoed down the hallway. My fingers dug into Daniel’s arm as we listened to repeated impacts, each one more frustrated than the last.
“Damn it!” A male voice growled. More strikes against the door, then silence.
Daniel’s breath was warm against my neck as we stayed frozen in the alcove. The emergency lights cast strange shadows, making it impossible to see clearly down the hall.
Another crash, followed by cursing. “Why’s the fucking backup generator not on?”
My decision to save the generator might have just saved our drug supply. But we were still in here with a criminal. Daniel’s body remained tense against mine, ready to move at any moment. But moving meant revealing our position. As long as the intruder focused on the door, we were safer staying hidden.
Footsteps paced in front of the drug room, wet shoes squeaking against the tile floor. “There’s gotta be another way in.”
Daniel’s hand found mine in the darkness, squeezing once. A silent question: ready to move if we need to?
I squeezed back. Yes.
The sound of doors being thrown open grew closer. He was methodically searching each room, working his way toward us. The alcove wouldn’t hide us for long.
A beam of light swept past our hiding spot—flashlight. Daniel’s muscles tensed against me, his body coiled like a spring. The intruder’s footsteps squeaked against the floor, drawing nearer to our alcove.
A shadow fell across us. The moment the figure stepped into view, Daniel exploded into action. He drove his shoulder into the man’s midsection, tackling him backward. The flashlight went flying, spinning across the floor, casting wild shadows as it rolled.
I pressed myself flat against the wall, heart hammering as the two men grappled. Fists flew. Bodies slammed against walls. The intruder was shorter but stocky, matching Daniel’s height advantage with raw power.
They crashed into a supply cart, sending it clattering across the floor. The emergency lights cast everything in surreal shadows, making it hard to track their movements. A grunt of pain as the intruder caught Daniel with an elbow to the face.
He stumbled, his grip loosening. The man seized his chance, shoving Daniel hard. Daniel’s feet tangled in the fallen supplies, and he went down hard.
The intruder bolted, shoes squealing on the wet floor as he sprinted for the exit. Daniel scrambled up, blood trickling from his nose.
“Stay here!”
Before I could say another word, they’d both disappeared through the open door, straight into the belly of the hurricane still raging outside. Lightning flashed, illuminating their silhouettes for a split second before darkness swallowed them again, and I was left alone and terrified.