Burns looked over at him sympathetically. “We need to move her. I’m not gonna lie; it’s gonna hurt.”
Jake spoke through his teeth. “Can’t you give her something more for the pain?”
The older man shook his head. “Not without knowing the full extent of her injuries.”
The thought of her enduring even more pain cut Jake to the quick. “She’s hurting, goddamn it!”
Jake knew the man. Hell, Burns had even treated him a few times after he’d been injured on the job. That didn’t keep Jake from wanting to rip the guy’s head off, just then.
He started to protest some more, but a soft touch to his arm stopped him.
“S’okay, Jake.” Olivia’s eyes were still closed, but she’d definitely spoken to him.
“I can’t stand to see you hurting, sweetheart.” It was one hell of an understatement.
“I know”—she opened her good eye—“h-heart rate...already...s-slow. Pain meds could...m-make...worse. Probably p-pass out...anyway. Be...okay.”
She closed her eye again, the effort behind her choppy words simply too great for her to bear.
Olivia had been beaten within an inch of her life, was barely able to even speak, and yet, she was trying to comforthim. Jesus, he was gut-shot.
More tears escaped the corners of his eyes. “I’ll be right here. I’m not going anywhere, and neither are you.” Jake leaned down and gently kissed her swollen lips. “You hang on, okay? This thing between us isn’t finished. Not even close. So, you have to hang on, even if it’s just so you can kick my ass later. You hear me, Liv? You. Hang. On.”
“’K.”
He could have sworn she tried to smile, but then, they were rolling her to her side and sliding the backboard beneath her.
Olivia’s agonizing cry of pain gutted him. It was a sound he’d never forget.
As predicted, she lost consciousness. Jake was actually relieved that, at least for the moment, she’d found a short respite from the pain.
He and Trevor helped load her into the chopper, then Jake climbed in after. Trevor lifted his chin to the road where two black, heavily tinted, non-descript SUV’s were pulling up.
Yelling over the chopper’s growing roar, Trevor said, “There’s Ryker. I’ll handle things with him and meet you at the clinic.”
Because these were Ryker’s guys, Jake and his team knew Olivia wouldn’t be going to a public hospital.
Homeland used a private healthcare facility located on the outskirts of Dallas, which only a select few knew about. The staff included some of the most brilliant doctors and nurses in the country.
Jake nodded and turned his attention back to Olivia as the younger medic slid the bird’s door shut. Burns wasted no time getting them off the ground.
While he flew, Santos began checking her vitals again. She lay on her back, quiet and still, until Santos began wrapping a splint around her broken wrist.
Olivia groaned, her brows turning inward with pain.
“Jake?”
She spoke so softly, Jake would have missed it had he not seen her lips move.
He leaned down closer, speaking loudly so she could hear him over the chopper’s loud humming.
“I’m right here, baby.”
Liv was quiet for so long he thought she’d gone back under. Then, he saw her lips move again.
He got even closer, his ear tilted just above her mouth. “What, sweetheart? I couldn’t hear you.”
“L-love...y-you.”
