"I am, but I'm with someone who's not. Tell Hayden to bring his medical bag."
"Okay. I'm not sure what he'll say."
"He'll ask you a million questions, and he'll complain, but he'll come. Thank you, Jess. I'll explain later."
"You better. Take care of yourself."
A text came through a second later, and she changed her GPS to that address. "Hang in there," she told Max, who gave her a weak smile.
"Told you I'm fine," he said. "I've been worse."
She hoped that was true, but she wasn't convinced.
Fifteen minutes later, she parked in front of a drugstore. She hated to leave Max for a second, but she needed supplies. She ran into the store, grabbed a first-aid kit and bandages, then threw some random food items and drinks into the cart before racing to the self-checkout. She didn't want to talk to anyone if she didn't have to.
When she got back in the car, Max's eyes were closed, but he was still breathing. And she was more than grateful for that. She pulled out of the lot and drove to the house, which was exactly as Jess had described. It was set away from the road, and the nearest neighbor was on the other side of a patch of trees. She pulled into the drive, opened the garage door with the code, then got back into the Jeep and drove inside. As the door closed behind them, she took her first full breath.
"We're safe," she told Max. She just didn't know for how long.
Chapter Eighteen
An hour and a half later, she'd thrown a blanket over the top of the king-size bed in the primary bedroom and helped Max off with his jacket. The bleeding had slowed down thankfully, but both her shirt and his shirt were soaked in blood.
She removed her shirt and tossed it onto the blanket, then took some scissors out of the first aid kit and cut off his shirt. She cleaned his wound as best she could. It was still seeping, but the heavy bleeding had eased. She applied more pressure and a bandage, which caused Max to groan in pain. She felt terrible about hurting him, but she felt better that she'd cleaned him up a bit.
"Cold," Max mumbled.
She found another blanket and covered him, then went to the kitchen for ice and more towels. The house was beautifully appointed—granite counters, stainless steel appliances, a fully stocked wine fridge. The owners clearly had money. She unpacked the few groceries she'd purchased, grabbed a soft towel, which she ran cold water over, then went back to Max.
Putting her hand on his forehead, she realized he was blazing hot. Damn! He had a fever now. That wasn't a good sign. She pressed the cool, wet towel against his forehead, praying that her brother would show up, that Jess had reached him, that he was on his way. She'd turned off their phones long before they'd gotten to the house so that no one could track them. But now she felt lost without a way to contact her brother, and the more minutes that passed, the more worried she became. Maybe she needed to take Max to the hospital because he was getting worse instead of better.
Finally, she heard a knock at the door. Three quick knocks, silence, then a fourth. She checked the window and saw Hayden on the porch. She quickly went to let him in.
"Thank God," she said, looking past him to the quiet street. "Where's your car?"
"Two blocks away, by a park."
"Good job." She closed the door, looking at her younger brother with immense gratitude.
"I learned from the best. What's going on? You don't look hurt."
"I told Jess to tell you I wasn't."
"She did. I didn't quite believe her."
"It's my…partner," she said, stumbling a little over the word. "He was shot. And it looks like the bullet went clean through, but he's lost a lot of blood, and now I think he has a fever." She led him into the bedroom and waved her hand toward Max.
Hayden moved to the bed and sat down on the mattress next to Max. "What's his name?"
Max's eyes opened at the question. "Who are you?" he grumbled.
"I'm a doctor."
"I said no doctors," Max said, his gaze moving to hers.
"He's my brother," she said quickly. "This is Max."
"Hayden Reid," her brother added. "Let's see what you've got here, Max." He removed the temporary bandage she'd applied and checked both the front and back of his shoulder.
