"Besides, I'm calling in the Cade Creek cavalry."
Terry smiled despite the gravity of the situation. "Just be careful."
"You keep your head down."
Something welled up inside of Terry, something he couldn't name. It clogged his throat. "Please, Dan, be careful. If anything happened to you…"
"I love you, too, Terry, and I promise to be careful."
Terry pressed his hand to his mouth when a sob broke free. He was overwhelmed and happy and terrified and… "I love you."
Terry could hear the happiness in Dan's voice when he replied, "See you soon, babe."
Terry didn't even try to put the phone back. He just dropped it on the seat. He really needed to try and get out from underneath Hector so he could find the man's wound and apply pressure until an ambulance got there.
He was a paramedic after all.
Terry pushed at Hector's shoulders as he tried to scoot toward the driver's side door. The shot had come through the front window, so he was hoping whoever shot at them wouldn't see him if he opened the driver side door. He could use the door as a shield.
At least, that was the hope.
With some careful maneuvering, Terry was able to scoot himself out from underneath Hector, but found himself scrunched up on the floor under the steering wheel. He tried to wiggle around so he could climb up on the seat, but the sounds of more gunfire froze him in his place. Ice streaked down his spine, wrapped in a feeling of fear so huge, he could barely breathe.
The sound of a slow-moving vehicle coming closer didn't help a bit.
When his door suddenly opened, Terry let out a very unmanly yelp.
"Hey, baby."
"Dan?" Terry tilted his head back as far as it would go until he could see Dan's face. The man was crouched down in the driver's side doorway. "What are you doing?" he snapped. "Move, get out of here. You'll get hit."
Terry could still hear gunshots going off every few seconds. God, he prayed no one else was hit.
"Baby, we have about two seconds to get you and Hector out of here. I need you to move."
"No, you—"
"Now, Terry."
