Chapter Nine
P iper’s life flashed before her eyes…her life with Ty.
She remembered vaguely hearing an engine, but it wasn’t until Ty’s face had lost all color and he was running her way at full speed that she’d seen the vehicle heading straight for her.
Not again , she thought a second before Ty pushed her out of the way and was hit by the car.
Oh, God. He was face down, half on the grass, half on the sidewalk.
“Ty!” She scrambled to her knees and crawled the three feet separating them. “Ty!”
Don’t be dead. Don’t be dead.
Her hands shook as she touched his arm, then tears spilled down her face when he stirred and tried to sit up.
“No! Don’t move,” she said in unison with his brother who was now kneeling beside them, speaking into a gadget on his collar.
Ty sat up anyway. “I’m okay. It’s my shoulder again. Go get that son-of-a-bitch, Gabe!”
The sheriff looked torn between staying with his brother or chasing down the bad guy.
“Go, Gabe!” Ty insisted. “I heard you call for an ambulance. We’ll be okay. Go do your job, dammit!”
The sheriff glanced at her, and she nodded.
By this time, her entire body was shaking.
“It’s okay.” Ty cradled his arm while reaching for her with his other hand, then pulled her close. “Piper…thank God you’re okay.” He trembled against her. “I didn’t think I was going to make it to you in time.”
“You could’ve been killed,” she whispered, emotion clogging her throat.
“So could you, but we weren’t.”
But she barely heard him as the word killed resonated in her head. Her heart squeezed, and God, it hurt so bad.
“Piper…Piper, look at me.”
She felt a hand on her cheek, and she blinked a few times until Ty’s face came into view. He was still pale, and worry cast a shadow over his eyes.
“Did you hit your head? Where are you hurt? I pushed you out of the way really hard. I’m sorry, I had to.”
She blinked again and inhaled. “It’s okay. I’m okay. Only my hip is sore where I hit the curb.”
He closed his eyes and muttered a curse before opening them again. “I’m so sorry.” His gaze was dark, and she knew part of it was from pain and part was from concern. “Come here,” he said, and pulled her against his chest again. “It’s okay. We’re okay.”
She wasn’t sure if the embrace and words were for her benefit or his, but she wasn’t complaining. His heartbeat was strong and elevated, but it soothed her nerves, and lessened enough of her anxiety for her mind to clear. She remembered something.
Piper drew back. “Oh my God, Ty. It was the same guy as before.”
“Which one?” he asked, fishing the phone out of his pocket with his uninjured hand.
“The guy who stopped.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I saw the scar on his cheek.”
Ty muttered another curse as he put the phone to his ear. “Carter, the bastard tried to run Piper down again. It’s Joel Meyers. No, she’s okay. He hit me instead. Just my shoulder. In front of Rosie’s. He went east down Main. Gabe is in pursuit. Pinpoint Meyers’ movements and inform Gabe. No, the ambulance is already on its way. Actually, it’s here. Will do.”
He hung up and met her gaze. “They’ll get him. He won’t be able to hurt you again.”
“Hurt me? God, Ty, it’s not me I’m worried about. It’s not me he almost killed…”
Her stomach rolled and she fought to keep from bringing up her breakfast. “I almost got you killed twice now.”
“Hey, hey. That’s not true. Get those thoughts out of your head,” he said, cupping her face. “This is all Meyers’ doing, not yours.”
“But it was me he tried to kill both times, not you. And now you’re hurt because of me. And could’ve been—”
“Piper. I’m fine,” he insisted, but God, he was awfully pale. “It’s just a couple of broken bones.”
She inhaled. “What do you mean a couple? I thought you said it was your shoulder?”
Which was bad enough, especially since it had barely finished healing since the explosion he was in last year.
“Pretty sure I can add a rib or two to that list, but I’ll be fine,” he rushed to say.
Her chest squeezed tightly at the pain she could only imagine he was in. Pain that was her fault, no matter what he said.
Rylee, Dex, Mac, and Hunter arrived right before two ambulances.
Tears were in Rylee’s eyes as she hugged her brother then her. “I’m so glad you’re both okay.”
“I’ll be better when Meyers is off the streets,” Ty muttered, giving a pointed look to Hunter. “In the meantime, keep Piper safe. Pretty sure I’ll be in the ER awhile.”
“Don’t worry,” Mac reassured. “We’ll take care of this guy. You two go to the hospital and let them do their thing.”
Piper found it interesting that Mac said “We’ll take care of this guy” instead of the sheriff will. Either way, she didn’t care, as long as Ty didn’t get hurt ever again.
Everyone moved back and allowed the paramedics to work on them. Piper answered questions while her vitals were taken, her body and mind working on automatic.
“Can’t Piper come with me?” Ty asked when they loaded him onto a gurney.
“No. Sorry. One patient per ambulance. She’s going to get her own chariot.” Tanner smiled at her. He was the same paramedic from last week, and Piper had since discovered he was also a firefighter and married to the sister of one of her friends from the Poconos. “Don’t worry. We’ll make sure she meets up with you.”
“Piper,” Ty said, holding out his hand.
Everyone watched as she walked over to him. She took his hand, and his fingers closed around hers. “Make sure you find me there, okay? Don’t leave without me.”
How had he known she’d been contemplating that?
She inhaled. She didn’t want to add to the anxiety manifested in the darkness of his gaze. “Okay.” She squeezed his hand. “I’ll see you there.”
That seemed to dispel some of his misgivings. He gave her hand one last squeeze before he was forced to release her so they could load him into the ambulance.
Piper arrived in her chariot only a few minutes behind Ty. But it was several hours before she was released, and Rylee had whisked her to her brother.
Apparently, the one visitor per patient rule didn’t apply to Ty or his association with ESI and the sheriff, because half of ESI was around as was Gabe.
“We got Meyers,” he told her. “You don’t have to worry anymore.”
“Why’d he do it?” Carter asked.
The sheriff frowned. “Don’t know yet. I’ve got my guys questioning him now.”
“If that doesn’t work out, give us a call,” Mac said, his gaze serious and dark.
Gabe’s mouth quirked. “Not gonna happen, Mac. I’ll get the answers out of him.”
The tension was palpable until Rylee cleared her throat. “If you guys aren’t done, then take it outside. Ty has enough on his plate.”
“Sorry,” the men said in unison.
“What do you say I ride to the station with you, Sheriff? Mac asked.
Gabe nodded then they left the room.
“Piper.” Ty reached for her hand. “How are you? What did they find?”
“A bruised hip and a bruised elbow.” She held up her bandaged arm and shrugged. “I didn’t even realize it was hurting.”
“That happens when you’re in shock.”
“But they’re only bruised, not fractured?” Ty asked, a flicker of worry reflected in his eyes.
She squeezed his hand. “Correct. The x-rays showed no fractures. They’re just bruised. I get to take Tylenol and compresses for pain. Now, what about you?”
Ty wasn’t as lucky.
As he’d predicted, his clavicle had fractured again, and he had two broken ribs, a bruise on his temple, and a slight concussion.
“Oh, Ty.” She sucked in a strangled breath caused by the heart lodged in her throat.
“It could’ve been worse,” Rylee said, blinking an overbright gaze.
Exactly what kept going through Piper’s mind ever since it had happened.
She’d dealt with the worse once before. Piper couldn’t do it again.
And the incident kept replaying through her mind. The car racing for her, Ty pushing her out of the way, then…
For two hours, Piper managed to sit by Ty’s bed before the sounds and smells of the hospital became too much. The walls began to close in. Her hearing was fading in and out, her stomach nauseous.
All the fear, sorrow, and negativity from the many times she’d sat by Zane’s bedside came flooding back.
Although she wanted and had intended to do the same for Ty, she couldn’t. She needed air. So when they wheeled him away to take a second x-ray of his shoulder, Piper excused herself, claiming to need the bathroom, but she rushed past them and headed straight outside.
The cool air was heaven in her lungs as she inhaled long and deep. After a few moments, she moved to the side, out of the way of the doors, and leaned against a pillar.
How was she going to walk back in there?
She wasn’t.
Piper already knew she couldn’t, and she wasn’t sure if she could go back to Ty either. He’d almost been killed. If she learned anything from today, it was that she couldn’t go through that pain again.
That left only one choice, and God, that hurt just as much.
“Don’t turn around,” a man said from behind as a hand clamped around her arm and something cylindrical was shoved into her back. “Don’t make a sound, or I’ll shoot you right here.”