Springing into another gear as I raced down another slope, I slid to a stop just feet away from Dale Galloway,who stood over Hattie, rage twisting his features as he pulled back his fist to punch her.
My gun was already out of the holster as the chief paused and turned to me. Hattie was alive, but her movements hardly registered now. In the background, Wade was already calling out to me. My shot caught him right in the head where I intended. Dale’s body dropped hard and final into the pine needles right next to Hattie’s, the gore staining her hair. Rolling him away from her, and sinking to my knees, I trembled as I saw how badly she was hurt.
“Jesus. What the hell? We need that stretcher down here!” Wade sank to his knees next to me, next to Hattie. “What happened, Kipp?” His eyes flicked to Galloway. “It was him all along, then?”
“He did this. That’s all I know. He had his hands on her.”
Shaking my head, I couldn’t even answer as the paramedics came down the slope with the stretcher. I wasn’t even sure the words would come until we got her to the hospital. What happened was, my world was lying in the dirt, bleeding. My whole reason for breathing.
CHAPTER 43
Kipp
Hospitals weren’t anyone’s favorite place, but they had become my least favorite since Hattie was currently lying broken in front of me. Yesterday, when she’d been brought in, she’d been unconscious, and they stabilized her, but they’d immediately had to take her for surgery on her ankle.
She’d been on some pretty heavy-duty pain meds and had faded in and out all morning, not really waking up. She had a laundry list of injuries from head to toe, some from the beating she’d taken and some from the auto accident. There was a concussion from either the accident or something in the altercation, but the doctors weren’t sure.
All of her cuts and scrapes were stitched, cleaned, and bandaged. It was better to do that while she was out anyway. Her ankle needed a pin, and her shoulder was dislocated. Then her throat was nearly crushed by that fucker. No doubt about it, she was in bad shape.
My chair was pushed against the side of her bed, where I had dragged it, so my hand could stay wrapped around hers on the thin sheets. Maggie had brought her a quilt from the farmhouse so she didn’t have to use a scratchy blanket.
Hattie looked smaller than she should in the bed. Her blonde hair looked limp on the pillows and, even though we had cleaned it the best we could, I could still see flecks of blood in it. There was only so much you could do without a good shower or soak. Bruises bloomed on her throat and her collarbone like splashes of watercolor pansies, fingerprints burned into her skin. Bandages wrapped her shoulder and her ribs, thick and clinical.
The hallways buzzed with the voices of nurses and staff as they pushed carts or spoke with doctors. Rubbing my thumb between my eyes, I lowered my head into my hands. My siblings were supposed to come by soon, but nothing felt real. Outside, summer was winding down, but inside it felt too cold, the artificial air conditioning and the fluorescent lights dulled by the evening shadows creeping in through the window.
Her fingers moved first, tightening gently around mine. Her eyes were clearer this time as she came to. They’d lowered her pain meds and said that she’d be coming around. Thank fuck. As I pressed the call button for the nurse, just as instructed, I started talking to her. “Hattie? I’m here, baby. You’re okay. We’re at the hospital.”
Eyelashes fluttered over her gorgeous eyes, opening slowly, initially unfocused, then locking onto my face. A crooked smile tugged at her mouth, stubborn even now with her lips all swollen from where he’d punched her in the mouth.
“You look like hell,” she rasped.
A rough laugh escaped before it could be stopped, forehead lowering until it nearly touched her hand. “You should see the other guy.”
Her grip tightened again, grounding everything good in my life. “Galloway?”
“Dead.” She nodded, her eyes fluttering, and I prayed that she wasn’t fading back into sleep again, but they’d told me to expect it.
Movement bustled around me as the nurse came in and fiddled with all of the buttons and dials, humming under her breath. “I’ve notified the doctor that you’re awake. He’ll be in shortly.”
Not ten minutes later, a doctor came through the door, followed by Wade and Chloe, who looked like they had chased the poor guy down. “Someone tells me that our patient has woken up?”
Hattie barely seemed to be registering, other than managing to take one breath at a time while we discussed her injuries, but she was trying. Hattie nodded grimly asthe doctor reviewed her injuries, trying to explain the treatment they had given her and the pin they had to put in her ankle.
“When can I go home?” Her voice wobbled.
The doctor wasn’t unkind when he said, “We can talk about it tomorrow. Let’s see if you’ve stabilized a little after waking up. Let’s take things a day at a time. You’ve had some traumatic injuries. The hospital is the best place for you right now.”
“How are you feeling, Hattie?” Chloe came up on her other side, and for a second, I was mad at my little sister before I got a hold of myself. The rush of protectiveness pulsing so hot that it was overpowering. “Are you uncomfortable? They’ve started to cut back on the pain meds so you can be more alert.”
“No. I’m okay. It’s manageable.” She tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace.
Stroking her hand, I found comfort simply knowing she was here and safe, where Galloway couldn’t reach her anymore. If possible, I’d like to kill him all over again. The shooting hadn’t been exactly justified from a police standpoint, but I wasn’t sorry. Maybe I could have gotten Galloway to surrender to custody, but putting him in the ground was what he deserved.
“Did Casper pick up Barry?” Hattie asked, suddenly startling us.
“Casper’s going to talk to you later to see if you have any information about why Chief Galloway attacked you like that.” Wade’s words were careful.
The truth was, I hadn’t had much time to worry about the legal details of the Finch case, and we knew who had attacked her. Hattie’s eyes were wild now, and she was trying to shift in the bed, groaning as she realized this wasn’t a good idea. We all quickly sprang into action.
