"I got you, brother," Cole grunted, his face twisted with effort. "I got you."
Cole hauled him up the bank. He dragged Ryder through the mud like a sack of feed, laying him out on the grass next to Leo.
Ryder lay on his back. The rain washed the mud from his face.
He turned his head.
Leo was crawling toward him.
"You came back," Leo whispered, touching Ryder’s face with a freezing hand.
Ryder coughed water. He smiled. It was a weak, broken smile.
"I told you," Ryder wheezed. "Pirates are tough."
Then the blackness took him, but this time, it wasn't lonely.
CHAPTER 10: THE LONG RIDE
I. The White Flag
The beep of the monitor was steady. Rhythmic. Boring.
Elena Rosales sat in the plastic chair next to the hospital bed in Billings. She had been sitting there for fourteen hours. Her scrubs were rumpled. Her hair was coming loose from its bun. She was drinking coffee that tasted like burnt battery acid.
She didn't care.
She watched the chest rise and fall under the thin hospital blanket.
Inhale. Exhale.
It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
Ryder Stone looked terrible. His face was scraped raw from the mud. His bad shoulder was immobilized again. His left leg—the one that had acted as an anchor—was elevated, the cast cut off and replaced with a fresh splint.
But he was warm. And he was pink. And he was breathing.
Elena reached out and touched his hand. It was rough, calloused, and covered in small cuts.
"You idiot," she whispered, a tear slipping down her cheek. "You magnificent, stupid idiot."
Leo was safe. He was at the ranch with Maya, traumatized but physically unharmed, currently being spoiled with ice cream and cartoons. He hadn't stopped talking about how the "Pirate" had jumped into the river.
Ryder stirred.
His eyelids fluttered. He groaned, a low, gravelly sound.
"Water," he croaked.
Elena was moving before the word was fully formed. She held a cup with a straw to his lips.
"Slowly," she murmured. "Small sips."
Ryder drank. He blinked, focusing on her face. His eyes were glassy with pain medication, but the recognition was instant.
"Elena," he whispered.
"I'm here."
