Chapter 28 #2
My fingers wrapped around the cold, steel handle of the gun at the same time he got hold of me and flipped me to my back. I didn’t hesitate to squeeze the trigger as he lunged. I fired over and over until the deafening boom turned into rapid clicks.
Shock filled his eyes and his body jerked unnaturally before he slowly fell to his knees. I rolled quickly when he started coming down, getting out of the way as he collapsed face first on the floor.
I braced on my hands and knees, sucking in ragged breaths as blood started to pool out from beneath him, slowly crawling across the dingy floor.
I wanted to burst into tears, but that wasn’t an option. Adrenaline carried me back across the room to where Charlie was.
“No, no, no, no, no,” I chanted as I pressed my hands over hers on her belly. She let out an agonizing cry as I increased the pressure. Fear radiated from my chest as blood seeped through our fingers.
“Hey, look at me,” I pleaded. That one good eye came to me, and I offered a wobbly smile. “You’re gonna be okay, all right? I’m gonna get you out of here.”
Her voice was small and thin as she asked, “You’re Hayden, aren’t you?”
“I am. And you’re Charlie. I need you to stay with me, okay?”
She pulled in a breath that rattled unnaturally in her chest. That wasn’t good. “He told me about you,” she said with a small, weak grin. “You and your little girl. Talked about you a lot.”
I let out a watery laugh as tears spilled from my eyes. “He told me about you too, sweetheart. So I know how tough you are. Stop talking and save your strength, okay? I’m gonna get us out of here. But I need you to hold on for me.”
As much as I didn’t want to leave her, I wasn’t going to get us out of there if I didn’t move. Scrambling back to Greg’s body, I felt around in his pockets and hit pay dirt when I heard the jingle of keys.
“I got it!” I cried when I yanked the keyring from the dead man’s pocket. “I have his keys, we’re gonna get you in the car, and I’m gonna drive us out of here. Deal?”
“You know, I really like you for him.” There was more rattling as she laughed, followed by a cough that made blood splatter past her lips. “You’re feisty.”
“That I am. I’m also determined. So what I need you to do is put your arms around my neck and try your best to hold on, okay? I’m getting us the fuck out of here.”
I was sitting in one of the hard waiting room chairs, curled into a tight, shaky ball. I rocked back and forth as I thought back to that drive. What had only taken ten or so minutes had felt like an eternity, especially when the rattling sound coming from Charlie’s chest had stopped.
Tears welling in my eyes and I gave my head a shake.
I couldn’t let myself go there. I couldn’t.
I kept repeating over and over that she was going to be okay.
But I didn’t know that for sure, and it was killing me.
Worry over a girl I didn’t even know, over a girl who’d saved my life, eclipsed everything else.
I didn’t even feel the pain in my own body.
I sniffled and batted away the freshest stream of tears when I heard his voice.
“Where is she? Hayden!”
Shooting to my feet, I bolted for the door, slipping on the tile as I ran. I jerked to a stop just outside the waiting room doorway when I saw Micah barreling down the hall. Leo was at his back, as were a few other men I recognized from Sylvia’s cookout. There were also faces I hadn’t seen before.
His name came out as a garbled sob. He started running as soon as he spotted me.
“Christ, baby. Jesus Christ,” he rasped as his hands skated all over my body.
I couldn’t blame him for the reaction, after all, I was covered in blood.
“Fuck, where are you hurt? We need to get a doctor in here.” He turned, prepared to shout the place down, when I finally managed to get the words out.
“It’s not mine,” I told him, my voice raw and thready. “It’s not mine, Micah.”
His eyes returned to me, and I gave him the hardest part, losing hold of my tears as I said, “It’s Charlie’s. She was there. He was—” I squeezed my eyes closed and gave my head a vicious shake. “She saved me. B-but h-he shot her.”
His voice came out in an agonized whisper that tore me apart as he asked, “What?”
“I took his keys and got her to the car and drove her here. S-she’s in surgery.”
“Jesus Christ,” he repeated, yanking me against him and holding so tight it was a struggle to breathe.
“Micah.” My whisper was almost impossible to hear. Burying my nose in his chest I inhaled his scent, letting it soothe me as I admitted, “I killed him.”
Then I broke down.
Micah
Between Dalton and Hayden both refusing to leave her bedside and demanding answers every time they came in, it was a wonder the whole nursing staff hadn’t quit.
Charlie had pulled through her surgery, but she wasn’t out of the woods. She’d been in ICU for two days before she started showing enough signs of improvement and they were confident enough to bring her out of the medically induced coma.
She’d been moved to a regular room just yesterday. She’d been in and out of it since then, only coming to for a minute before the medication kicked in and she passed out again.
I stood at the window, looking out at the mountains beyond our little valley, lost in thought when a small gasp, followed by a low groan, pulled my attention back to the figure in the bed.
“Shit,” Charlie hissed in pain.
I moved across the room quickly, careful to walk on quiet feet so I wouldn’t wake Dalton or Hayden, who’d both been going on no sleep for more than forty-eight hours.
Exhaustion finally set it, causing both of them to crash only hours ago.
Dalton was stretched out on the poor excuse of a loveseat, his head and feet hanging off the ends.
Hayden was in a recliner, curled into a ball with her head on her knees.
“About time you woke your lazy ass up,” I said once I reached the side of the bed.
Her lips pulled into a grimace as she attempted to adjust her position. “Remind me to never get shot again. This does not feel good.”
I helped her sit up, then braced my hip on the bedframe, crossing my arms and glaring down at her furiously. “You ever get shot again, I swear to Christ, I’ll kill you myself.”
Her eyes grew glassy and her chin began to wobble. “I’m sorry,” she croaked as one tear broke free and trailed down her battered cheek. “I’m so—”
I placed my hand on hers and gave it a squeeze.
“Stop it. I’m just glad you’re okay. That’s the only thing that matters to me.
” She closed her eyes for a second and pulled in a breath to get control of herself before looking back at me.
“Why’d you do it?” I finally asked, that question had been plaguing me for days. “Why’d you run, Charlie?”
“I didn’t have a choice,” she whispered, her voice small and weak from everything she’d endured. “He called me. He’d found out something from my past and was using it against me.”
My fingers around hers clenched. “What did he have on you?”
“He—he found out about my sister.”
The air expelled from my lungs as my muscles locked up. “You have a sister?”
“I haven’t seen her in years. I don’t even know where she is. But he found out somehow, and he threatened to track her down if I didn’t find a way to meet up with him without Dalton knowing.”
I shook my head, trying to comprehend what I’d just heard. “Charlie, I—”
“You can’t tell anyone,” she insisted. “I don’t want anyone knowing. If they do, they’ll go looking, and I’ve stayed away all this time to keep her safe. She didn’t grow up the way I did. She had a good life. I don’t want to screw that up for her.”
God, that killed. “Darlin’, don’t you think she’d want to know you? You’re her family.”
“I’m no good,” she gritted, that steel and stubbornness returning right before my very eyes.
“Charlie, you aren’t—”
“Just promise me, Micah. Swear you won’t tell anyone.”
I hesitated, my gut twisting painfully. It was a promise I didn’t want to make, but I’d do it anyway. Because it was for her. “All right, sweetheart. This stays right here.”
Relief flitted across her features, and slowly, the Charlie I’d come to know and love reappeared. “I met your girl, by the way.” She smiled as best she could with most of her face still swollen. “Just in case you’re wondering, I totally approve.”
It was my turn to pull in a calming breath. “I know what you did,” I told her on a husky whisper. “She told me you saved her, and for that, I owe you everything.”
“Micah—”
“You’re absolutely incredible, and I’m so thankful I get to know you,” I stressed. The quiver in her chin came back, but I wasn’t done. “For the rest of my life, Charlie. You’ll hold a special place in my heart no one else will ever be able to touch as long as I live. You got me?”
She sniffled and nodded her head.
“You have family here, darlin’. Whether you want us or not. You’re stuck. You’re the best person I know.”
A tear broke free. “The feeling’s mutual.”