Capri rushed up on the other side of me, dropping to her knees. “Oh, sweet girl. Jett is close; he’ll be here soon.” She touched my cheek, her hand warm and comforting.
“Let’s get her on the stretcher,” I heard Lake tell the other paramedic.
With fluid grace and tender care, I was lifted onto the flat surface before being moved toward the ambulance. Capri followed, and as we passed the other ladies, they fell in behind her.
“I gave my statement; now I’m going to the hospital,” I heard Dusty say. “You need more, come find me there.”
Later, when my mind wasn’t a mess and terror no longer gripped me, I knew I’d remember what a badass my tiny sprite of a friend had been.
Trepidation took hold as we reached the back of the ambulance. My gaze frantically scanned the faces, but none were the one I wanted to see. It was an awful thing to think when my beautiful, amazing friends were right there surrounding me, but I needed?—
As my hand shot out to grab Lake’s wrist, I heard him.
“Patience, baby. I’m here.” The frantic tone in his voice and the fear in his eyes as he rushed to my side made me feel bad for scaring him. But once his gaze met mine, his features softened.
The moment he took my hand in his, that’s when I felt it.
Safe.
While precautions were good, the only place I wanted to be was home with my family.
Hours must have gone by as I was checked out, cleaned up, and wheeled to another room for a head and neck CT scan. Jett hadn’t left my side except when they took me for a scan, and even then, he threw a conniption fit as he tried to demand he go with me.
Thank God his sister was working. Ruby had cut back her hours at the hospital, but it was a blessing she’d been on shift because if she hadn’t, my husband may have been thrown out of the hospital on his behind.
He’d been almost hysterical when they wanted to take me out of the room without him. I might have been exhausted, shaken up, hurting, and still reeling from the attack, but I could sense his distress. And while I knew he was worried about me, I had a feeling it was a lot bigger than that.
Jett hadn’t told me many details of what had happened to him when he’d been captured overseas. Yet, I’d seen firsthand how much torment lived in his head when I witnessed his nightmare, and heard his anguished voice telling me he couldn’t save his friends.
There was something in his gaze when Ruby held him tight as they took me from my room that told me he was reliving something else in his mind.
“I’ll be right back,” I whispered, trying to be strong for him, even though I would have liked him to have gone with me as much as he seemed to want to.
His chest was heaving, his eyes filled with despair, and my heart broke for him.
The visible relief I saw on his face when they brought me back to him was almost as heart-wrenching as when I’d left. Because I knew he’d lost three men all those months ago.
Ones that weren't ever coming back.
I lay in the hospital bed, barely able to keep my eyes openas we waited for the results, Jett’s hand never letting go of mine.
“I can’t lose you too.”
His broken voice had my eyes drifting sideways to look at him, the stupid collar making it difficult to move. It was doing its job, but it was a pain in the butt. His head was hung, and I squeezed his hand to get his attention.
When he met my stare, I told him, “I don’t know why that happened or what the man wanted. He didn’t get to say but three words. But I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere.”
It must have been some random thing; maybe he wanted money? I was still confused about the events that took place when he released me—nobody had told me anything yet.
Jett opened his mouth to say something just as Ruby walked in with the doctor. With them, I received good news. The CT scan showed that my head and neck were okay. I had a mild concussion, along with some bumps and bruises. The best part of it all was that they were clearing me to go home.
Though as we waited for discharge papers, the headache that was already in place had gotten worse with the arrival of two police officers. They’d been waiting like vultures to descend on me and get a statement. I knew that wasn’t fair; they were doing their jobs. It was just that thinking at that moment hurt and talking about what happened sparked fear inside me again.
As I recounted the events of the evening as I remembered them, anger radiated off Jett in waves. By the time I’d finished, I felt like I was being beaten over the head with a sledgehammer.
It was also beyond frustrating to know that since the attacker wore gloves, a mask, and had taken off running, which meant there was no car to visibly track, there wasn’t much to go on.
There were cameras in the area of the stores that may have picked him up before he dragged me out of view, but they couldn’t see him. He didn’t get to say enough to know what he wanted.
