I don’t understand why these men don’t seem more concerned.
Blood is pooling beneath Tanner’s body, he’s unconscious, and without waiting for a response from the masked men who are apparently saving me, I shove at the dead man lying across him. He’s heavy, and as I whack my elbow into his side, I hear a crack that should make me cringe. I know I should feel something about the fact that I just added another body to my own personal murder count after shooting the man, but it was kill him or watch him kill Tanner.
I honestly don’t give a fuck, though. This corpse is making it impossible to see where the blood is coming from and I need to know how badly Tanner’s hurt, that I did everything I could to save him. Pure adrenaline is fueling my actions, pushing me to get this done, but I need to keep at least one hand on Tanner’s face and there’s a screaming sound blocking out all other noise.I don’t care where it’s coming from, I just care about helping Tanner.
The weight of the dead man suddenly eases and he’s practically lifted to the air and thrown across the room. I turn to look through blurry, tear-filled eyes to one of the masked men and the screaming stops, my stuttered breaths and sore throat making it near impossible to thank him. Instead, I wipe at my face and nod before dropping my forehead to Tanner’s.
Lifting my head again, I scan his body for wounds but come up short, only finding blood that I’m now assuming came from the dead man. More tears fall in some kind of relief, but he’s still unconscious. A man like this doesn’t fall and pass out for no reason.
I palm the sides of his face, wiping away the blood splatter from his cheeks with my thumbs.
“Wake the fuck up, Tanner. You’re not allowed to die while I’m still mad at you.” I press my forehead against his and close my eyes. “Dying won’t get you out of explaining the stalking.”
I hear a snort from behind me and steel myself, softly kissing Tanner between the eyes before giving the snorter my attention.
“Is this funny to you?” If looks could kill, then my glare would have blown this guy’s head right off within seconds.
Raising his hands in surrender, his eyes widen and he shakes his head. I can’t see the rest of his face but I suspect there’s a grin hidden beneath the mask.
Before I can demand to know why he’s just fucking standing there, the other masked man rushes in through the door with someone new. The new man crouches down beside me, his kind eyes being met by my suspicious ones.
“I need to check him over before we move him, okay?”
Why is he asking me if it’s okay?
“Darlin’, that means you need to stop gripping him like he’s your lifeboat.” The snorting masked man holds his hands up one more as I glare at him again. “Just sayin’.”
“Hey, ignore him. My name’s Pierce. I’m a medic. Can I check him over?”
I bring my attention back to the new man, Pierce, and nod as I slowly unfurl myself from Tanner. There’s still contact, though. I refuse to let him go completely. He came to save me, the least I can do is stay with him.
I watch Pierce as he scans Tanner’s body, checking his pulse, lifting clothing to check for holes, I’m assuming, then he gets to his head, lifting each of his eyelids and shining a small light into them.
“Most of this blood isn’t Bravo’s. His chest is bruised from a large impact and he has a small laceration at the back of his head I can stitch up.”
“Who the fuck is Bravo and why won’t Tanner wake up?” It takes a lot to ask the question without stuttering my breath, but I’m allowing my anger over the situation to fuel me.
“Because he was knocked the fuck out.” Another glare toward the snorter.
“Ignore Bones. Bravo is the code name we use for Tanner. I’m sure he’ll explain the rest to you some time. The impact to his chest did knock the wind out of him, and he’s gonna have a headache for a few days, but I’ll fix him up and he’ll be fine.” Pierce smiles and it’s a little disarming, but it reassures me.
My heart begins to beat at a more acceptable rate, my panic eases, and my adrenaline is close to giving out on me, but I need to see Tanner wake up for myself before I can fully relax.
As if the universe is answering my wish, there’s movement. An arm twitch, a sharp breath, then the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen are staring at me as his lids flutter open. They’re at half mast, but I’ll take it.
A lazy half-smile spreads across his lips. “Sweet Bee.” My name is followed by a soft sigh before his eyes close again.
It’s everything.
The stalking, the homicidal mania, the danger…none of it matters as long as he’s still around.
That doesn’t mean he is getting out of the apologies I deserve, but I’ve already decided to forgive him—although I won’t make it easy.
Time seems to move at a rate I can’t quite keep up with. It feels like I’m just an observer to my own life as the men put Tanner on a stretcher, take him outside, and load us onto a helicopter. My hand doesn’t ever leave his, I need the contact and I like to think that Tanner needs it too.
The helicopter ride is surreal, continuing with my out-of-body experience, and Pierce manages to stitch the head wound while we’re moving. Now, Tanner’s head is in my lap because I refused to sit anywhere else, and the warmth of his rough skin is soothing me. He’s my only focus.
“Can you drive?” The question brings me out of my head and I turn to look at who I think is Bones. He’s staring at me as though he’s been waiting for an answer for hours, which I know isn’t true, but he comes across as a little dramatic.
