“Everyone else is already in the waiting room, but I wanted check in with you and see how she’s doing.”
No one had come back out of those damn doors. Not even to give him an update on her status. Olivia could be gone for all he knew, but—
No. He couldn’t think like that. He had to stay positive. For Liv.
Jake opened his mouth to tell him what had gone down in the chopper when both men heard footfalls. They turned to see Trevor walking down the hallway.
“How is she? Have they told you anything?”
Worry and guilt were written all over Trevor’s face. Jake knew what he was thinking, because, hell, he’d thought it, too.
If Trevor had stayed just a little longer, he’d have been with Olivia when Jake got the call from Ryker. He would have stayed there until Jake could get to her, most likely deterring Cetro from making his move.
None of what had happened was Trevor’s fault, but Jake knew his friend was shouldering some of the blame anyway. A part of Jake wanted to comfort him. As Trevor’s boss—and more importantly, his friend—he knew he should say something to ease the other man’s guilt.
Jake simply couldn’t form the words. He couldn’t find any words, for that matter.
All he could think about, all he kept seeing was Olivia lying lifeless in that chopper. He could still hear the alarms. Could see Santos frantically pumping her chest.
And Jake still felt as though he’d just lost the love of his life forever.
She was his soul mate. His other half. Against all odds, they’d found their way to each other.
Then, because he’d been a complete chicken shit and hadn’t had the balls to come clean about her brother sooner, there was a good chance he’d lose her forever.
Jake’s chest suddenly felt tight, like a giant vice had grabbed hold of his heart and was squeezing the life out of him. He rubbed at the skin there, and tried to force air into his lungs, but couldn’t seem to get in more than a tiny breath at a time.
Overwhelming panic was spreading through every cell in his body, and he couldn’t seem to stop it.
“Jake?”
Coop sounded worried, but Jake could barely hear him over the sound of blood surging past his ears. More voices travelled from down the hall.
“Boss, I’m so sorry.” This came from Mac. “What can we do?”
“Hey, boss. How is she?” Derek asked anxiously. “She’s gonna be okay, right?”
The whole team was here, now, practically talking over each other, with the exception of Grant. He remained stoically quiet, his big arms crossed in front of his chest.
Jake couldn’t hear any of them. Jesus, what was happening to him? Was he having a heart attack? Is this what that felt like?
He was losing the last bit of control he had, and needed to move, before he completely lost it in front of his entire team.
“Hey, man. You okay?” Coop asked warily.
“I...” Was that his voice? “I need to...”
Christ, he couldn’t even form a coherent thought. Desperate, he looked around for a place to go. Somewhere to hide because, sure as shit, he couldn’t let them see the breakdown he knew was coming.
There!
At the other end of the hallway were two doors. One with the universal symbol for ‘Men’s Room’ on it.
Jake his rusty throat. “I just need...a minute.”
Ignoring the worried looks of his team, Jake practically ran to the bathroom, thankful no one followed him. He pushed the door open with such force it slammed into the wall behind it.
Jake was heaving into one of the three toilets, before the door had closed completely.
