Chapter 18 #2
Mike shrugged. “He’s your brother. A lot of cops like to draw that clear black-and-white line between bad guys and them, but there’s a verse that says ‘and such were some of you’ that’s there to remind us that we aren’t any better than any other sinner.
We’re all the same at the foot of the cross, no matter what we’ve done. ”
Luca nodded. “Then there’s guys like Jenkins, who don’t think they need redemption. Kind of like I didn’t think I needed it. Not for years.”
“Me either. Took a lot of hits to make me take a hard look at myself and admit I couldn’t do this on my own.” Mike clapped him on the shoulder. “Glad everything today turned out all right.”
“It will have after we locate Dr. Torres. Make sure he’s good.”
Mike frowned.
“He was missing from his house. It would be good to locate him and check he’s safe.”
“I’ll call the station and get an update.” Mike jogged off again.
Luca turned back to see Kira slide off the stretcher, holding something to the back of her head. The ice pack she’d asked for.
The EMT frowned. “I really think you should go in and get checked out, Dr. Yassan.”
“I’m okay,” Kira said. “Just give me something to sign.”
Luca wasn’t sure what the big hurry was.
Before he could ask if she was certain, she said, “We need the police to go to the shelter. Seeing Mike reminded me.” She shook her head, which made her wince.
“Stuart told me the deal was that he killed Jenkins while someone else took out his revenge on Frankie.”
“The woman you helped get to the shelter?”
She nodded. “It might’ve been compromised. They could all be in danger.”
“I’ll tell Mike.”
Kira touched his arm, clinging to his biceps. “I want to go there and make sure they’re okay.”
He stared at the woman he loved and found he had a hard time telling her no. The police could take care of it. Luca and Kira didn’t necessarily need to see for themselves. But still…“Okay.”
She lifted onto the balls of her feet and touched her lips to his. “Thank you.”
Kira made it about a mile away from the prison before she bent forward in the passenger seat and had to take deep breaths. Luca’s hand touched her back, and she took solace in the smooth strength of it, anchoring herself to the feeling so she didn’t flip out more than necessary.
You protected me.
Yet again, God had proven Himself. She didn’t need Him to do that in order for her to believe He would show up in her life, but looking back and seeing it built her faith.
She never had to be sufficient on her own, strong enough or brave enough.
God was always with her, even in the craziest situations.
She sat back up, breathing hard and wiping the tears from her cheeks. She popped the glove box door down and found some napkins—because that was where everyone kept them—and cleaned up a little. “Sorry.”
“It’s really normal, so don’t worry about it.” He squeezed her knee. “You should’ve seen me after my first firefight.”
She brushed the hair back from her face, feeling the sting at the back of her head. And the stiffness in her hand. Other than a few bruises, she was all right. Definitely not in need of a doctor’s assessment.
“It could have been so much worse.” Her mind was having trouble catching up. “Now I’m all worried about Frankie and what might be happening there.”
“Cops are on the way, and we’ll be there in ten.” He steered with one hand and reached over to hold hers with the other. “If there’s something going down, we’ll make sure it’s resolved. All right?”
She shifted in the seat to face him. “That was really your brother?”
He nodded, glancing over. “Did he say anything?”
“Not to me,” she said. “I didn’t do anything to let Stuart know we knew each other either. I mean, not that we’ve met, but that I knew who he was.”
“Didn’t matter if you’ve never met him. He would’ve stepped in front of a bullet for you, no question.”
“We should visit him.” Then her mind flashed her right back to the prison, and her body washed cold. She instantly started sweating. “Maybe in a while.”
He squeezed her hand. “It won’t always feel like this. But for what it’s worth, I’d love to go visit him with you after you’ve had some time to heal. When you’re ready.”
“I’m not hurt.”
“That’s not the kind of healing I meant.”
She sighed. “I was a covert agent. Sort of. I shouldn’t have been so scared. I should’ve known better how to handle myself and been all cool and calm under pressure.”
“Instead, it turns out that you’re a human being.”
“You only say that because you’re a superhero.”
He chuckled. “I’m a what?”
“You heard me.” She tugged her hand from his and folded her arms. Being irritated—or just acting like she was—made her feel better, because she could push back. This wasn’t about her inadequacies anymore.
He was still laughing. “I could train you, you know. If you want.”
“We tried sticking together, and look how that worked out.” She pushed out a big breath. “You probably should. Just in case. Not for superhero missions. I don’t want to go on any of those.”
“Noted.” He glanced over, smiling at her. “It would be good for you to be able to protect yourself, and your family.”
She wondered what family he was talking about.
“When you have one.”
This handsome man beside her, this superhero, a warrior who would lay down his life for the people he cared about, was the person she wanted to do that with. She wanted to ask him if he was available.
Instead, she bit her lip.
Spending her life with a man who gave his time and energy to make this city safe for the people he cared about was everything she’d ever wanted or been looking for. The kind of man who would do that for his family.
“We’re here.” He cleared his throat.
She’d been about to ask him if he wanted a family when he pulled the truck over to the side of the road. Kira had given him the address, because if bad guys had found the shelter, then it would definitely need to be moved. But first, they needed to make sure everyone was safe.
The white farmhouse was set back from the street and barely visible through the trees that lined this side of the road. Down a short dirt lane, the house had a big front yard but not much except a patio at the back. The red metal roof could be seen through the trees.
Two gunshots sounded in quick succession.
Luca met her at the front of the truck, wearing a bulletproof vest. He held a second vest out toward her. “Put this on. But you’re still going to stick behind me.”
“Nowhere else I’d rather be.” She spotted more than one cop car beside the house, in front of the separate garage, and lowered the vest over her head.
Luca didn’t head toward danger. He turned to her, fixing the straps on her vest, then slid his arm around her back—his gun in his other hand—and leaned down with his face close to hers.
“I love you. You face what comes at you with grace, and you have this ability to stand strong and still be vulnerable at the same time. It’s amazing.
You’re sweet and beautiful and stronger than you know. ”
“I love you.” She slid her hands from his chest to the sides of his neck. “Thank you for making me feel safe. For understanding who I am when sometimes I don’t even understand it.”
He tugged her close and touched his lips to hers, tipped his head to the side and asked her to accept everything he felt for her.
Kira received it like the best kind of gift.
Something she hadn’t expected at this point in her life, and yet, how good was it to be blessed by God this way?
All of it wrapped up in a surprise that blew her away.
She matched him every step of the way, showing him right back how she felt about him. What she wanted and what she hoped they could be.
Luca pulled back and kissed her one more time quickly. “Stay behind me.”
They headed for the house, running toward the front door, which stood open. Up the porch steps. He slowed as they approached the door.
Kira ducked behind him, holding on to his belt. Grateful she usually lived a life where she didn’t need to own a bulletproof vest in her size. Did they come in sizes? She wouldn’t ever need to know, hopefully.
She was going to stick with this man and her job at the hospital. Take the blessing God had given her and work on it, building something beautiful that she would never want to let go of.
Luca entered the house, and she kept pace with him, watching on the sides for people she could help. Another gunshot echoed through the house, followed by three answering shots.
Kira winced. God, keep them safe.
She heard running feet, then a thud. Luca tensed. “Stop!”
A bullet fired in their direction, and she felt Luca brace. The shot embedded in the wall to her right. He fired, and there was another thud.
“Clear!” Luca’s yell echoed through the house.
“Clear!” The yell came from upstairs, followed by “We’ve got an officer down!”
Kira let go of Luca’s belt. She spotted the man he had shot, a bullet in the center of his forehead. Lying in the hallway, jeans and a dirty white tank. Tattoos and a chain around his neck. Gang members like him came into the emergency department often, so she’d dealt with his type plenty of times.
Not men who looked the part but held down jobs and took care of their kids. This one was the kind who was angry at the world, dealt drugs, and didn’t care who he hurt.
She raced up the stairs after Luca and saw the residents of the shelter huddled in a wide room with double doors, the main bedroom, which had bunk beds all around.
Between the beds, a collection of women and a few kids stood in a group, huddled together.
Fear stark on their faces. She spotted Frankie, but there wasn’t time to talk to her now. That would have to wait until later.
“Is anyone else hurt?” She crouched beside the officer with blood on the left side of his chest. She did a quick assessment.
The other officer, kneeling on the other side of his friend, had sweat running down the sides of his face. “No, no one.”
“You called it in?”
He reached for his radio, but his fingers slipped. Luca crouched by him. “I’ve got it.” He squeezed the sides of the radio and called for an ambulance while she studied the patient.
“We need to put pressure on this.” She looked at the residents. “Frankie, I need a towel!”
The young woman broke off and raced out of sight.
Kira leaned down and listened to the officer’s breathing. One side, then the other. “His lung collapsed. The bullet let air in outside his lung that is crushing it.”
“Here.” Frankie shoved the towel at her.
“I need a straw.”
“What?” Frankie didn’t move.
“And a knife. Can you get me both of those?”
Luca pulled something out of his pocket and flipped it open. The blade of the knife glinted in the light.
“I need a straw. Something sturdy.” She looked at Luca. “And some tape. Duct tape, electrical tape, anything like that.”
“How about physical-therapy tape?” A young woman held out a roll of athletic tape. “Would this work?”
“Yes. Thank you.” Kira leaned down and listened to his breathing again, then she used Luca’s knife to cut the man’s shirt open. “That needs to be cleaned now.”
Luca stood in one fluid movement and headed into what looked like a bathroom. She heard him rummaging in the cupboard.
Kira pushed back the sides of the shirt to reveal his chest, the officer struggling to breathe. Air bubbles escaped the wound, red with blood from the gunshot.
He stared at her, blinking. In shock and unsure what was happening. She looked at his name badge.
“Officer Walters, I’m Dr. Kira Yassan, and I’ll be treating you today.” She smiled at him. “We’re going to stabilize you so you make it to the hospital. They can fix you up and put you back together. All right?”
He nodded, a jerky movement.
“This isn’t going to be the thing that kills you.”
The residents huddled at the door. Beyond Luca and the cop on the other side of the injured man, she saw another gunman lying dead on the floor.
These two officers had walked into an unknown situation and put their lives on the line for strangers.
Kira wasn’t going to let any of them down.
Frankie raced up the stairs. “Here.” She handed Kira a wide metal straw.
“Perfect.” Kira said, “If anyone is squeamish, don’t watch this.” She took Luca’s knife when he held it out, and cut the wound just enough to comfortably get the straw in. As soon as the straw was seated in the wound, she wrapped tape around it, holding it in place.
He let out a wheeze, then took a full breath, both his lungs filling. The labored breaths began to equalize, and the officer started to breathe steadily.
“There we go.”
“What happened?” Frankie asked, still beside her.
Kira said, “The air in his chest needed somewhere to go, so it escaped out the straw and his lung was able to reinflate. He can breathe now.”
“You saved his life.” Frankie’s voice was full of awe.
“He needs to be at the hospital, ASAP. This is only a temporary fix.”
Luca motioned over her shoulder. “The ambulance is here.”
Two EMTs rushed up the stairs with their gear. Kira ran down all the particulars and handed the man off to them. She scooted across the floor to sit with her back to the wall. Luca moved over and sat beside her, gathering her into his arms.
“You’re amazing.”
She smiled to herself. “I’ve been thinking the same about you.”
“Seems like God knew what He was doing, putting us together. We fit.”
The EMTs rolled the officer to their backboard, and the other cop helped them carry him down the stairs.
Luca was right. They complemented each other in some of the best ways. She lifted her chin and looked at him. “Yes, we do.”