Page 105
Chapter Thirty-Five
Travis
“Sir, you can’t come with us,” the paramedic says, placing her hand on my chest to stop me from climbing in there with Rowan. It’s not going to fucking work though. There is not a damn thing on this earth that could keep me from her right now and I turn to stare at the paramedic, making that damn clear as I shake my head.
“I’m going with her.”
She sighs. “No, you’re not, sir. You can follow behind us in your own car.”
“Absolutely fucking not. That is my woman in there and she fucking needs me so I’m going.”
“Just let him come,” the other paramedic calls from inside the ambulance where she’s treating Rowan and Justine, the one holding me back, sighs as her hands falls away.
“You best not give me any damn problems.”
I hold up three fingers. “Scout’s honor.”
She hums in agreement and moves out of my way, mumbling something about me never being a scout as she walks to the driver’s door and slips behind the wheel. I jump in the back and grab the doors to close them as Tate and Kodiak come running up.
“You got her, brother?” he asks and I nod, meeting his gaze. After a second, he nods and Tate grabs his hand as she turns back to their cars.
“We’ll follow behind you.”
Nodding, I slam the doors shut before turning to look down at my girl as she lies in the middle of the stretcher, her skin too fucking pale. She’s passed out fucking cold and I watch her chest to make sure she’s still breathing for a second before sighing in relief. Laura, the other paramedic, points to the bench behind me and arches a brow.
“Sit there and stay out of my way. She’s the patient and I don’t have the time or patience to put up with any shit from you, ya hear?”
I nod and sit down, grabbing Rowan’s hand in both of mine and bringing it to my lips. “You just keep her breathing.”
She gets to work, moving around the back and grabbing things out of cubbies before focusing back on Rowan. The ambulance starts moving and I press my lips to her hand, begging her to come back to me.
“I love you, Travis.” Her voice whispers in my head again and again. They keep playing on a loop, repeating endlessly as I try to wrap my mind around everything that just happened. When I heard that first shot go off, I ran around the house so fucking fast, not a goddamn care in the world that I was running straight toward the danger but she was already gone. It took me a minute to find Tate, who told me the last place she saw my girl and I just went from there. Most of the fucking time, I was certain I was going in the wrong direction but something, deep down in my gut, told me to keep going so I did. I searched those woods for what felt like an eternity, screaming her name and begging every deity I could think of that she would call back to me. The relief I felt when I heard that stupid fucking stick banging against the tree almost made me pass out but it was nothing compared to the sight of her, gagged, shot, stabbed, and tied to a tree.
Staring down at her, I shake my head.
She loves me?
Thinking back over the past month, a riot of emotions rocks through me and as I run through the past ten days, everything snaps into place and smacks me in the chest. If I wasn’t already sitting, I would have fallen on my ass.
Fuck.
She loves me.
I don’t know how to feel about her admission because it’s all so much more complicated than she realizes but as I try to think of my life without her, I know I can’t fucking walk away. Let’s just hope she feels the same way once she knows the truth about me.
The ambulance stops and the front door opens as Laura stands up and begins tucking things into the stretcher and making sure it’s safe to move again. When the back door opens, Justine points to me and orders me to stay until they get the gurney out and I nod, releasing Rowan’s hand and setting it on her body. They wheel her out and I jump down after her, my hands shaking as I follow them into the emergency room. A team of doctors and nurses rush up to her, taking over for the paramedics and one of the nurses directs me to wait in the family area off to the side but I can’t move. With my feet planted to the floor, I watch them wheel her into a trauma bay and begin checking her over as my heart races.
“Sir.”
I glance down at the tiny old woman in blue scrubs as she flashes me a no-nonsense look.
“You need to go sit down in the waiting area and someone will come talk to you when we know more.”
I nod, raking my hand through my hair before meeting her gaze again. “Just take good care of her, ‘kay?”
“Of course,” she answers, her eyes softening, and I take one last look at Rowan before turning to go to the waiting area. It’s empty when I walk in and I hope that means no one else is here tonight so that Rowan has the best of the best working on her. Sinking into one of the chairs, my knee shakes like fucking crazy and I look down at my hands, my stomach rolling when I see Rowan’s blood all over them.
“Fuck.”
