It wasn’t rain.
It was... blood?
My senses came back slowly. The Fallen Saint had something jutting into his throat. His eyes were wide, and he was choking, trying to breathe. Kaitlyn stood over him, shoving him to the ground. She...
She had killed the Fallen Saint. She’d driven what looked like scissors through him.
I quickly stood up, intent on ending this once and for all. But Kaitlyn put her hand against me and had me stand down. I understood when I saw the look in her eyes.
This Fallen Saint was the one that had killed her sister. Jason. She wanted the satisfaction of the revenge. Not me.
Her.
I watched as Jason drew his last breaths before dying. As soon as he drew his last breath, Kaitlyn turned to me and collapsed into me, bawling her eyes out. I held her as tight as I could.
She had to know now what I had learned earlier that morning. We couldn’t change the past. She couldn’t bring her sister back, even though she had killed her killer. I couldn’t bring my friends back, even though the CO that had betrayed us had been put to death.
We could only move forward.
But it wasn’t like justice didn’t help in other ways.
Thanks to her efforts, we’d just gotten rid of one of the most dangerous Fallen Saints in the area. Springsville could breathe a little bit easier.
“You okay?” I finally said.
It was a stupid question. Of course, she wasn’t okay, but she was alive.
“Enough so,” she sobbed out.
That was all I could ask for right now.
We were all alive. We were all going to live. We were going to be all right.
* * *
We got Devon and Kaitlyn to the hospital right after. Devon had suffered a deep puncture wound, but she would live. Kaitlyn had only suffered some bruising. Fortunately, she had avoided the worst of the damage.
But once she and I were alone and away from the other nurses and doctors, she had to make one thing very clear.
“When I get out of here,” she said. “I’m going to the medical chief here. And I’m going to request that anyone caught working directly with one of the MCs, outside of the hospital, should be fired.”
I couldn’t argue the point.
“It’s too risky. Both of us could have died today if things hadn’t worked out, and it was a miracle that they did. I know now that you guys are good. I know that you guys are much better than the Fallen Saints. But as long as they exist, you will always bring us into trouble. I’m sorry, Michael. But I can’t put myself or anyone else on the staff here at risk.”
I understood. And in a weird way, it might have been the best choice. The Fallen Saints wouldn’t want to come here, but if we had good relations with Kaitlyn, we would have no problem getting admitted to the hospital. The biggest concerns were delays, cost, and red tape, but we feared that far less than the Reapers. Those could be negotiated.
“I don’t think Lane is going to like that very much,” I said. “But I don’t care. All I care about is that you’re safe.”
Left unsaid at that moment, though, was that I didn’t know if her words carried over to me as well. Obviously, she could not have a relationship with the Black Reapers. But could she have one with me, Michael Giordano?
The thought that I loved her had popped up in the middle of the battle, and I was absolutely convinced of its authenticity. Maybe I didn’t have the experience or the rationale to explain it, but to me, it was easily explained by one simple fact. Kaitlyn was the only person to know the full story of what happened in Ramadi.
If that didn’t say I loved her then nothing did. I hadn’t told Axle, I hadn’t told Lane, I hadn’t told my ex-wife, and I probably wasn’t going to tell anyone else.
“Thank you,” she said, smiling. “You’re a great guy, Michael. You really surprised me.”
As sweet as that is, that doesn’t sound like the kind of thing that someone would say to someone they want to be with.
