Chapter 45
45
Ayla would never forget when the stretcher rolled her in to the ER, Gunn right next to her. He would need stitches in his shoulder, but thankfully, the wound on his shoulder was superficial. She was really hurting now, and was on her way to her sister’s handy-dandy ER to get checked out fully. Everyone—namely Gunn, Emerson, Sheriff Addy, and Pastor Wil—had insisted she be looked at. So she was humoring them.
She’d even told them, it wasn’t like she didn’t have a personal physician of her very own to take care of her, if needed. But Gunn was fussing.
The man was very good at it, too.
She’d also never forget the look on Genny’s face when she saw the condition her older brother was in. Genny came running. “What happened?”
“Dude from a cult tried to drown me and shot your brother. He needs stitches, but keeps insisting he’s going to stay with me. Can you take care of him for me? Until I can assume custody of him again?”
“Ayl—I’m going to page your sister. She’s upstairs, with Guthrie, talking to Dr. Alvaro.” Genny was at her side, doing all the nurse-type things.
“I’m going to be just fine. They are just being a little overprotective. I’m going to be sore and bruised and I really need some clean clothes here, but… I’m alive. And well… the dude tried to drown me, Gen—but he couldn’t swim. He got the worst of it, honestly. I just had to wait until your brother and Emerson could help me get out of the river and everything. Considering. Make sure Aubs doesn’t freak, okay?”
“Gotcha.” Genny called out a bunch of things to a tall hot blond doctor guy coming up behind her. Telling them the situation and what she knew about Ayla’s condition. “This is Dr. Laird. Dr. Laird, Ayla Fisher—Aubrey’s little sister. Attempted drowning?—”
She rattled off other things Ayla didn’t keep up with. “Mostly, I’m just cold. The air conditioning is working really well here, you know.”
Just like that, she was wheeled into an exam room. Genny stayed with her. “Chad was at the desk. He saw you all come in, too. He’s going to stay with Gunn, since I can’t work on my brother.”
Genny helped her get into a gown, and covered her with a blanket. But… Ayla really wanted… “I need a shower, Gen. I feel really grubby.”
Then Aubrey was there, in overprotective Ayla-psuedo-mother mode, and it was as chaotic as she’d thought it would be.
The rest of the event was a blur.
Until, she was being loaded into Guthrie Hiller’s truck—courtesy of Guthrie himself, of course—with one Gunn Hiller right next to her. Aubrey climbed into the front seat.
It was back to the ranch time. But first…
“Reverend Hiller, truth. How bad?”
“Less than twenty stitches, set by Dr. Alvaro. Antibiotics—they insisted on strong ones, just in case. And I have to wear this for a while. A small price to pay for having you safe. And for… finding the truth.”
“No more wild adventures,” Aubrey ordered from the front seat. She’d been a wreck since she’d stormed into the exam room. “I can’t take it.”
“I’m with you there,” Guthrie said. “Baby brothers aren’t supposed to fight bad guys, Gunn. You are just not.”
“I did what I had to do. I’m just glad you and Gene taught us how to throw a punch or two as kids. It came in handy.”
“Glad I could help. So what was he really after? I’ve always despised that guy, and his punk kid. Ever since he was bothering Genny here.”
“He was a major part of the JD Rei cult,” Gunn said, quietly. “He just got away three years ago. He saw Emerson and… thought Murdoch was Cam, at the barbecue, I think. Cam was involved in the raid on the church in Nebraska. Coincidence, I think. He saw Cam and Emerson and Leina at the hospital and thought they were there for him. Nothing more than that.”
That reminded her of something. “He said… when he was outside with me… that Aubrey messed something up last week at the hospital. For him. So I don’t think it was just the cult. He was probably doing other bad stuff, too.”
“I’ll tell the Laughlins,” her sister said, quietly. The Laughlins were a pair of brothers who worked for the owner of the hospital, investigating medical crimes. Ayla told her what she knew, as her eyes drifted closed. Genny had given her a shot of a muscle relaxer, and it was really starting to work. She’d hoped she’d get back to the ranch first before it hit. But… maybe not. She pressed against Gunn’s uninjured side.
His arm went around her. And he kissed her. “We’ll be home in just a few minutes.”
The Hiller Ranch. It did feel like she was going home, didn’t it? “Home. I really like the sound of that.”
“Me, too. You are my heart, Ayla Fisher. Don’t you ever forget that.”
When he kissed her this time, it was just as perfect as the first.
Ayla suspected it always would be. And she was looking forward to finding out…