Except it’s not.
And now I’mpissed.
Not just angry, like I was before, but furious.
How dare he?
Come in here, on Christmas Eve, no less, and threaten all these innocent people?
How dare he call Willow a liar? How dare he refuse to help her?
I’ve never been a violent man. I’ve always wanted to heal, not hurt.
But right now?
I want to hurt him. I want to punish him for what he’s done.
Except I know that’s not the most important thing.
Protecting Willow is.
Now I understand why Ben ran into a burning building to rescue Thea, even at the risk of his own life.
Sometimes, life makes you realize just how important someone is.
And with that realization comes another.
I’m not waiting for the police to talk him down anymore.
I’ll figure out a way to stop him myself.
CHAPTER 3
WILLOW
I have a very bad feeling about this.
Before I opened my big mouth and told Ryan about my patch, I was already worried he’d try to take on Daniel himself.
Ryan didn’t say he was thinking about it, but I could tell he was by the way he kept sneaking glances at the shelves behind us whenever Daniel wasn’t looking. I had a hunch Ryan was considering a confrontation by the angry set of his features and the way his hands kept clenching into white-knuckled fists.
Would it be dangerous? Absolutely.
But could I see Ryan doing it? Yes.
Ryan’s a protector, through and through. Maybe he’s not out there chasing down criminals or rushing into burning buildings, but he’s driven to protect people, just the same. He takes time out of his busy schedule every week to volunteer at the Ambulance Corps. And he doesn’t just dispense medications at the pharmacy, he actuallyhelpshis patients. He counsels them on safety. If a patient can’t afford their medication, he figures out a way to cover the expenses.
So a situation like this, with twelve people in danger, it makes sense that he’d want to do something about it.
But I don’t think he’d actually decided to act until my recent admission.
And now I’m filled with a suffocating sense of dread.
If Ryan makes a move on Daniel and ends up hurt, God forbid,killed, I’ll never forgive myself.
Because it’ll be my fault. If I’d lied about my blood sugar and the stupid patch, he’d still be contemplating instead of actively planning. We would wait this out together, side by side, and I’m sure everything would be fine in the end.
Well, unless this hostage situation goes on for hours longer. If I’m stuck here another four, six, eight hours without insulin, then I mightreallybe in trouble. And not the shaky, thirsty, lightheaded kind of trouble, but the kind that can land me in the hospital.
