“You okay, bud?” Buster questioned him.
“No.”
“Do I have to hug you?”
“Had plenty of that already,” Jake said, looking to the doors as they opened behind Buster.
“Dr. McBride?”
“Yes,” both he and his mother said.
“Miss O’Donnell is doing well. She’s stabilized and the bullet went straight through the arm.”
“Can I see her?”
“I’ll have a nurse come and get you as soon as she’s out of recovery.”
Jake paced around the room, while everyone sat silently staring at either their hands or the walls. Belle, who was sitting beside Declan, cried into his shoulder and Jake heard Branna’s father speak softly to her.
People pushed cups of coffee into his hand and Jake drank without tasting a drop. Newman arrived with Mikey in his arms. The boy was crying and looking terrified, but Jake couldn’t do more than place a hand on his head and kiss one damp cheek before he continued his pacing. His mind was on her, Branna, his love. Finally, after what felt like hours, a nurse finally arrived.
“Mr. McBride, if you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to Miss O’Donnell.”
He looked at Declan, who nodded that he wanted Jake to go to her first and then followed her from the room.
She had her eyes closed when he walked into the room, lying there in the blue hospital gown, looking small and vulnerable connected to machines with her heartbeat beeping on the monitor. Bending over her, he placed a kiss on her lips, and kept it there for long, drawn-out seconds.
“Jake?”
Her eyes were unfocused, still coming out of the anesthetic. “Hey, Rosebud.” Stroking her cheek, he tried for a smile and failed.
“You okay?” She lifted her good hand and touched his cheek.
“I am now that I know you are.”
“Is Macy all right?”
“Yes, she and the baby are doing okay.”
He couldn’t stop touching her, running his hands over her hair and stroking her face. He could have lost her today.
“I’m all right, Jake, really.” Her smile was soft and sweet.
“Jesus, Branna.” He bent at the waist and got as close to her as he could without causing her pain. “Seeing all that blood and you lying there—”
“Shhh, Jake, I’m here with you now, everything’s okay.”
It would take him awhile to get that fact into his head, because right now all he could think about was that she could have been taken from him tonight.
“Did they get him… Macy’s husband?”
“Cubby got him, and he and Buster put a few in for both of us, plus a few for Macy, before he locked him up nice and tight.”
“Good, now Macy is really safe,” she whispered as her eyelashes began to lower.
“I need you to know how much I love you, Branna, and how much you mean to me.” He kissed her again.
“I know,” she whispered as sleep pulled her under. “And ditto,” she added, and then Jake felt her body grow weightless as she succumbed to the sleep her body so desperately needed. He stayed there, breathing her in, feeling her heart beat until he had himself under control. Only then did he go and tell the people who loved her almost as much as him that she was going to be all right.
