Chapter 21 #2
“It’s not your fault, Damien. Please don’t blame yourself. Live your life. Find love again. Save other people. Keep on living. Don’t let me dying stop you from doing that.”
“You’re not dying on me, beautiful.” He looked over his shoulder. “Where the fuck is that helicopter?”
“Helicopter? That’s a weird dream. Where are we going? Are we going somewhere amazing? Ooh, a beach. You are hot without a shirt on. I’d have to fight off all the other women, though. They’d be chasing you around. But you’re mine.”
“Yes, sweetheart, I’m all yours. No one else. I love you, Harmony. Only you.”
“And I love you. I got to love you for the rest of my life. That’s a pretty great thing.”
Damien touched her chest. “She’s lost a lot of blood. You have to save her.”
“Who are you talking to?” Harmony asked, her eyes falling closed.
“Harmony, stay with me. Don’t leave me. Harmony!”
Damien shouted as Harmony passed out. She was talking to him a second ago, then she was gone.
“What the hell happened?” he demanded.
“She passed out, Damien. We need to get her onto the helicopter and to the hospital. She’s lost a lot of blood,” Holden Cross said. He was a flight paramedic and a friend, and the best damn person around to help Harmony.
“I’m going with you,” Damien demanded.
Holden didn’t answer, just nodded as he and his partner transferred Harmony to a gurney. Holden slid an IV into place while his partner cut her shirt wide open and stuck pads to her chest.
“She wouldn’t want everyone to see her exposed like that,” Damien said, hating how tight his throat was.
“We need access to her wounds. We will cover her up as soon as we get control of the bleeding.”
Her pants were sliced away from her body. Jude collected the fabric scraps of bloodstained cotton quickly and slid them into an evidence bag.
Damien knew how all this worked. He’d been to more than his fair share of crime scenes. But fuck. He’d never been in love with the victim before.
“We need to go,” Holden said.
“I’m going with you,” Damien reiterated.
“You don’t want to see this, Damien,” Holden said.
Damien turned on the man he knew more socially than professionally. “Would you let Mackenzie go alone?”
Holden nodded to his partner, then looked Damien dead in the eyes.
“If you get in our way, you could cost her her life. She’s not okay right now, Damien.
This is going to be a quick flight. We will do everything in our power to save her, but if we have to fight you, we will not be able to save her. ”
“Understood.”
“Do you?”
Damien hated that he was being questioned. He wasn’t an emotional person. He knew the professionals needed space. But he knew he couldn’t leave Harmony. “I will stay out of your way.”
“Then let’s fucking go. Now.” Holden and his partner ran the gurney to the waiting helicopter.
Damien hesitated long enough for Jude to shove him out the door. “We will stay here and manage the scene until Marcus can get here. This sick fucker will not get away with what he did to her. Go be with her.”
Damien nodded his silent thanks to his teammates, then ran after Holden, climbing onto the helicopter seconds before the doors were shut and they took off.
“Can I hold her hand?”
“As long as we don’t have to shock her,” Holden said.
Damien watched Harmony’s face. She looked peaceful. If you didn’t count the broken nose and blood that coated her skin.
He wanted to clean her up. To make her look more like herself. He would get the chance. Once she was okay. Once they made sure she was going to survive.
Holden worked on the wound in her chest while his partner focused on the one in Harmony’s leg.
“Through and through,” Holden said. “It’s bad, but she can survive this.”
“Same with the leg. She’s lucky it didn’t hit anything vital. Less than an inch and it would have hit her femoral artery,” Holden’s partner said.
“She’s going to need surgery for both,” Holden said. “The hospital knows we’re coming. They have a trauma team ready to meet us on the roof. When we land, you stay put and let them get her out first.”
Damien nodded. “I will.”
“They know you’re with us. Someone will escort you to the waiting room,” Holden continued.
“Is she going to be okay?” Damien asked.
Holden looked at him. There was no smile, no easy platitudes. “She hasn’t coded yet. There is still blood in her body. The surgeons will have some work to do, but if they get everything repaired quickly, then yes.”
Damien swallowed roughly, squeezing Harmony’s hand. “She’s going to be fine. She has to be.”
“Don’t lose that faith. Don’t ever lose it.
I’ve seen amazing things happen. In this job, we have to believe in miracles.
Patients who shouldn’t survive do. Harmony is young and strong.
She’s a hero. Mackenzie and the Curvy Vigilantes are all waiting to hear she’s okay.
There are a lot of people praying for Harmony. Don’t give up on her.”
“Never. I love her. I’m going to marry her.”
“Good for you,” Holden said just as the alarms blared.
“What’s happening? What’s wrong?”
“Her heart stopped. We need to shock her. You need to let go, Damien.”
“No. I need to hold on to her.”
“You promised you would let me do my job. Now let go if you want me to save her fucking life!”
Damien released Harmony’s hand.
Holden shoved him back against the side of the helicopter. “Clear!”
The other paramedic lifted his hands, and Holden pressed a button.
Harmony’s body jerked, then laid back down.
Holden watched the monitor. “Again. Clear!”
Damien fought against panic and pain as he watched Harmony’s body jerk again. When she settled, the soft beeping returned.
“Okay, she’s back. You can hold her hand again, but don’t make me push you off her if that happens again,” Holden warned.
Damien nodded, taking Harmony’s hand in his.
“Don’t leave me, Harmony. I love you. I want to marry you.
We’re going to have a beautiful life together.
Maybe some kids. You said you were thinking you might want kids.
How do you feel about a cat? We can do a dog, too.
As soon as you’re feeling better, I want to introduce you to my family.
They’re going to love you as much as I do.
They might be a little much, though. Maybe I should wait a little while so they don’t scare you off. ” Damien chuckled to himself.
“Keep talking to her,” Holden said.
“We can go to that beach you mentioned for our honeymoon. Whatever beach you want to go to. Somewhere warm so I can see you in a bikini. I’ll chase off all the men who look at you.
Because you belong to me just like I belong to you.
I love you, Harmony. And we’re going to get Grant Pickens and his brother and anyone else who was involved in what happened to you.
I promise you, my team is out looking for them right now.
They’re not going to get away with what they did to you. ”
“We’re landing,” Holding said just before the helicopter pitched to the right. “Hold on.”
Damien held Harmony’s hand and braced himself as the helicopter positioned itself for the landing. They slowly lowered to the roof, a jolt telling Damien they had landed.
“Stay put. Let them get her,” Holden said.
His partner opened the door, stepping out and talking to the team racing toward them.
Holden pushed the gurney out of the helicopter and followed the team onto the roof.
Damien heard medical words that scared him. He tried to slow his panic. She was in the hands of the professionals. She was in the best place she could be in. He got to her in time. He saved her. Now it was up to them to do the rest.
“Mr. Joseph?” a woman with dark hair and a kind smile asked.
“Yes.”
“I’m Lily Ford. My husband is Archer Ford.”
“I know Archer,” Damien said.
Lily nodded. “He called me. Asked me to meet you when he heard you were coming with Holden. I work here, and I’m going to stay with you until the rest of your team arrives.”
“Did they get Grant Pickens? Did they get the asshole who tried to kill her?”