Chapter 28
Jude
The ironyas I rush into Fairview Valley hospital, the place I brought Frankie the first day I saw her, isn’t lost on me. I park Corjan’s SUV in nearly the same spot, feeling a similar uncertainty pump through my veins.
“Powell, Frankie, Franklynn Powell, shit, I mean, Frankie Zelmen. She came in with Aiden Powell. My brother and.. and… she’s my fiancée.”
I don’t know for a fact they came in together, but I know there’s no way my brother would have left her alone. Someone had to call Cortney, which means the rest of my family might be here too.
“Fourth Floor, Room 413,” the receptionist says.
I run down the hall to the bank of elevators and repeatedly stab the button with my thumb. When one doesn’t open quickly enough, I burst through the door to the fire escape stairwell.
As I take the stairs two at a time, my lungs burn with the effort. My quads feel like a fire resides deep in the muscle. My heart beats so hard I can hear the throbbing in my ears. None of it matters.
All I care about is getting to her.
Frankie’s smile flashes in my mind. The sensual tilt of her lips. The trust in her brown eyes as she lay in my bed this morning. The way her white-blond hair fans across my pillow while she sleeps in my arms.
She’s going to be okay, and I’m never going to take another second with her for granted again.
I burst through the door on the fourth floor with an almighty bang and continue my path down the hall. The double doors next to the reception open as I slap the automatic button.
“Whoa, Jude.” Someone touches my arm. I flinch and whirl around.
Jack stands behind me. His face is pallid, and red rims his eyes.
“Where is she?” I know I look wild, but I couldn’t give a fuck. The raging storm of emotions inside me won’t settle until I see her.
“She’s in the room with Aiden,” he rasps.
Christ. They both must have been hurt.
“Hey, wait!” someone yells as I take off.
I dash through the open doors and down the hall, nearly tripping over myself at 413. I grab the doorframe for leverage and throw myself inside the room.
My chest deflates like a pricked balloon.
Frankie sits in a recliner beside a hospital bed, feet in the seat, knees tucked up to her chin, eyes closed as she rests her head.
“Baby,” I choke. I don’t stop moving until I drag her into my arms, and together, we sink to the floor. My kneecaps crack against the linoleum, but I don’t feel anything.
“Jude,” she exhales, burying her face in my neck.
My limbs begin to shake, the overdose of adrenaline leaking from my system. I shake so hard that my teeth chatter, and my breath stutters from my lungs.
“Goddammit, Frankie.”
The weight of her in my lap, the warmth of her, I bury my nose in her hair and just breathe her in.
Her palms cup my cheeks. She brushes her thumb against the bone, spreading wetness along the skin.
I cast my eyes at the ceiling, looking for the source. Not finding one, I meet her red, raw eyes and realize it came from me.
“I love you.”
Frankie’s breath catches, and her fingers convulse against my face.
“I love you so damn much, and I thought I’d never get the chance to tell you. You’re my entire world, Frankie, and I thought I lost you.” I brush my thumb along her cheek. “I can’t lose you.”
“You won’t lose me. I’m yours, remember?”
A shudder runs through my body. “Say it again.”
“I’m yours, Jude. I love you too.”
I let time slip away and touch her mouth with mine.
“You’re okay?” I ask as I pull back.
“I’m fine, honey.”
When I open my eyes, I still. Patches of brown and maroon are splattered across her white shirt.
“You’re covered in blood,” I snarl.
“It isn’t mine.”
Aiden.
I pivot my stare at the top of the bed.
Aiden waves, his cheeky grin extra wide on his pale face. Dirt and blood stain his forehead beneath his blond hair. “Hello, there. Don’t let me interrupt. It isn’t like I’m the one lying in a hospital bed or anything.”
“I’m sorry.” My arms convulse around Frankie. “I spent the past hour thinking my future wife had just been shot.”
Frankie’s instant touch turns me back to her. “You thought I was shot?”
I rest my forehead against hers. “There was a problem with the connection. I could only make out a few words.”
“Fucking hell, Jude, you didn’t tell us you thought Frankie was shot,” Lee bites out and glowers from the doorway. He shoves off and walks into the room with Corjan at his back. Only when I turn do I notice Jack’s in the room too.
“How’d you two get here so fast?”
“Do you really think we’d let you just take off on your own like that? We knew you’d be too much of a stubborn ass, so when you left, Corjan ripped up the floor board, stuck his hand in the hole, and dragged the girl out of there.”
“Did you get bit?”
Corjan holds up his intact hands. “Not a scratch. But I’m pissed as fuck at you, you bastard.”
“Does anyone care about me?” Aiden calls from the bed, tucking his hands behind his head as if he’s relaxing in a seaside hammock on vacation.
“Yeah.” I swallow hard against the lump rising in my throat. “I care a hell of a lot. I don’t know what you did, but thank you, Aiden,” I tell him sincerely. “You didn’t only save her life. You saved mine as well.”
“It was nothing. Though I think I’m calling dibs on being your best man.”
“Done.” I meet Jack’s eyes and he nods. Once the shock of the moment passes, I relax back on my ass with Frankie still in my lap. “Who’s going to tell me what happened?”
“It was that fucking ex of hers,” Aiden starts, dropping the grin.
“Where did he find you?”
“He showed up at the Sanctuary,” Frankie supplies, fiddling with the hem of my shirt. “We were walking the dogs two at a time along the trail, when he stepped out of the woods with a gun.”
“How did you get away?” My voice dips lower and my arms convulse around Frankie’s back.
“Oh, Jude, I’m so sorry. The leash slipped out of my hand.” Frankie covers her face and collapses into my chest.
“The dogs attacked him. Bit him fucking hard, and the gun fired. I shoved Frankie and got hit with a graze, but there was so much blood and the dogs took off. We don’t know if they were hurt.”
Fuck.I came so close to losing her. And my brother. “Who?”
“We don’t know anything yet,” Jack says.
“Who?” I tighten my hold on Frankie and ask again.
“Ashe and Remy,” Jack answers. “Once the cops secured the scene, Cortney was allowed on the property. She found them and brought them to her clinic.”
I stoke my hand over Frankie’s hair. “Shh, baby. It’s okay.”
“Oh thank god, you’re here!” Cortney barrels into the room. She slams into my back, rocking both me and Frankie forward as she wraps us both in her arms. “I got here as fast as I could.”
“How are the dogs?” I ask, bracing against Frankie for the answer.
“They’re fine. Both of them. The blood on their fur belonged to that asshole. Neither of them had a scratch. I gave them extra big treats for their troubles.”
Frankie chokes on a ragged sob, and bucks against me. “Oh, thank god.”
“Did the cops pick him up?”
“I suspect he’s somewhere in this hospital before heading off to jail,” Jack answers. “From what I heard from Sutton, his injury was pretty serious.”
“Good.”