Chapter 38
Ren stood over them, phone in hand, looking grim. “I already did. They’re thirty minutes out.”
Her heart dropped into her stomach. She was no medical expert, but she’d say Cole’s fast, labored breathing and the way only one side of his chest was rising was highly problematic for that timetable. “I don’t think we have thirty minutes,” she whispered.
Ren grimaced. “That’s for sure a sucking chest wound. There’s nothing I can do for him. He needs someone with better training than me.”
Desperation was clawing at her as her mind raced. Who the hell could they call that would get him the help he needed faster? Think, think, think, she berated herself. But it was no use. Panic was in the driver’s seat now and she had no idea what to do.
Cole grabbed her hand. “Hadley…”
“Don’t try to talk,” she said. “Just focus on your breathing, OK? You just have to hang on until the paramedics get here.”
He swallowed with great difficulty. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but…I love you.”
Her jaw clenched of its own volition. “Don’t you dare give me some dying love declaration. You’re going to live, you hear me? You’re going to be fine.”
“So…bossy…”
“You’re damned right, I am. And I forbid you from dying in my arms, you hear me? I forbid it.”
He tried to chuckle, but it quickly turned into a weak, wet cough that made her nauseous. When he was able to pull in another reedy breath, he said, “Just let me say this, OK?”
“Say it,” she croaked through the lump that had settled in her throat.
“I knew you were special the moment I saw you.” He smiled, closing his eyes like he was indulging in a particularly sweet fantasy. “Looking at you was like having the sun shine on me for maybe the first time ever. And that scared the shit out of me.”
Oh, God, he was killing her. “Why would that scare you?”
“Because you’re too good for me. I’ve done terrible things, Hadley.”
She shook her head furiously. “I don’t care about any of that.”
Another weak cough. “I know. And that’s why I would’ve spent the rest of my life trying to be worthy of you. I would’ve done anything. No one would’ve ever worked harder, because I love you, Hadley.”
“Stop using past tense! I love you, too, Cole. Don’t you dare leave me!”
His gaze moved over her tear-streaked face like he was memorizing the lines of it before shifting over to Ren. “Plan B,” he said, his voice barely a whisper.
A muscle in Ren’s jaw tensed, but he nodded. “I’ll take care of it.”
That must’ve been all Cole needed to hear, because his muscles went slack and his labored breaths turned even more shallow.
“Cole?” she cried. “Cole! Wake up! Please!”
“Hadley, we need to go,” Ren said.
Her eyes flew to his. “Are you crazy? I’m not leaving him!”
“Yes, you are,” he said grimly. “Because the only people who can get here faster than 911 are CIA, and I already called them.”
“Why the fuck would you do that?! He’ll end up in prison for the rest of his life!”
“I need you to trust me, Hadley. Can you do that?”
“No!”
“Then I need you to trust Cole,” he said gently, “Because this was his Plan B.”
Her eyes flew back to Cole’s face. “I can’t leave him,” she whispered. “Don’t make me leave him.”
He let out a deep sigh. “I’m sorry. I truly am. And I hope you can forgive me one day for this.”
Wait…what? “Forgive you for w—”
Whatever she was going to say next ended in a shriek as he scooped her up, tossed her over his shoulder, and took off at a jog, taking her away from Cole. “No! Put me down! Cole!!”
She pounded her fists against his back and kicked and struggled with all her strength, but it was useless. He was too strong.
Her scream of pain and rage and frustration echoed through the empty warehouse as she got farther and farther away from the only man she’d ever loved as he lay dying on the cold, hard concrete.