Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Blake
The so-called father shoves his boy to the ground, and the kid bolts, crying, straight into the arms of a state trooper. Relief flashes through me—then it’s gone.
Because the bastard pulls a gun.
I plant my feet, raise my arm, take a deep breath, then squeeze the trigger. My round finds him at the same time his finds me.
Fire tears through my arm, hot and brutal, dropping me to the pavement.
“Officer down!” Sully shouts. “Get the medics here now!”
Boots pound against the asphalt. Sully drops beside me, yanking his belt free. “Hold on, Blake. Stay with me, bro.” He cinches the leather tight around my upper arm. My vision blurs. The edges of the world fade.
“There’s a lot of blood. I think he nicked an artery. But you’re fine. You’re gonna be fine.”
I nod—at least I think I do. But my head feels weightless. I blink hard, trying to keep my eyes open. The last thing I see before the darkness swallows me is Cassie’s face. Her smile. Her green eyes. Her long, wavy hair.
Then nothing.
I wake to the steady beep of a monitor and the faint hiss of oxygen. My throat’s dry, my body’s heavy. There’s a weight on my hand—warm, gentle.
I force my eyes open.
“Grammie.” My voice is a croak. “How long have you been here?”
She smiles, her weathered hand holding mine. “All night, Blakey. The surgery went just fine.”
“Surgery?” I try to push myself up, but pain slices through my arm. “What kind of surgery?”
“Anastomosis,” she says matter-of-factly. “That’s another way of saying arterial repair. You’re going to be just fine. The vascular surgeon says you can be back to work in about a month.”
“A month?” I tip my head back against the pillow. “That’s a long time.”
“You could choose a different line of work, you know. There’s no shame in that.”
I shake my head. “I’m a police officer, Grammie. It’s who I am. It’s what I was born to do.”
She pats my hand, her eyes glistening. “I know, sweetheart.”
I glance around the room. “Has anyone else been here?”
“The chief thinks just about the entire Love Canyon Police Department. They’ve been taking turns outside your door, keeping watch. You’ve never been alone.”
Emotion swells in my chest, choking me up. “That…that means a lot.”
Her smile deepens. “And Cassie. She was here all night, too. Poor thing asked the surgeon a thousand questions. When she heard you’d be back to yourself in no time, she finally let me send her home for a few hours’ rest.”
Relief, gratitude, and something deeper wash over me all at once. She stayed. She cares.
“Thanks, Gram,” I murmur, my eyes already slipping shut again. “That’s all I needed to know.”
And this time, when I drift back to sleep, I dream of Cassie.