Page 132 of Last Light

“I didn’t want to run.”

“Guess not.”

“If I’d have run, you wouldn’t be alive right now.” The sentence starts lightly, but the timbre changes as I realize how true it is.

How close I came to losing him.

How much that would have stripped from my heart.

“You think I don’t know that?” His face twists briefly. “Never gonna forget it. Not for my whole life. The sight of you whirling around and taking down two men like a little warrior.”

I swallow hard. “You’d already shot two of them. That’s the only reason I was able to do it. And I think they must have been drunk or something.”

“They were. Had terrible aim. Otherwise they would’ve pumped me full of bullets. But still... You saved my life. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” I squeeze his hand. I really want to hug him, but that’s impossible in his current condition. I have to settle for his hand. “You’ve saved my life every single day since I found you trying to steal my motorcycle.”

“Wasn’t stealin’ it.”

I giggle. “If you say so.”

His breathing is slow and even, but he’s still sickeningly white. His face is damp with perspiration and occasionally twists in pain.

His eyes never leave my face, and the look of them makes my heart clamp down tight.

“Is the dog okay?” Travis asks after a minute. “He did real good too. Where is he anyway?”

“He’s fine. One of those guys must have kicked him, but he’s just bruised a little. He’s outside the door with his nose against the crack. They won’t let him in.”

“Why not?”

“They’re worried about germs. Infection and all that. I told them he’s a very good dog and wouldn’t try to jump on the bed or lick your wounds, but they didn’t want to risk it.”

Travis scowls, clearly as displeased with that fact as I’ve been.

“They barely even letmein,” I add.

“What d’you mean?”

“I mean they wouldn’t let me in the room while they were taking care of you. They only let me in when you started calling out for me deliriously.”

“I wasn’t doin’ that.”

“Yes, you were. I heard you. I guess it convinced them that you’d be better off if I was here. You should have called out for the dog. Then maybe they’d have let him in too.”

“Who are all these people, telling us what to do?”

I shrug. “Everyone. The doctor and this woman named Patty who used to be a nurse and has decided she’s the boss of everyone. Bobby Fraser sticks his head in occasionally to supervise. And even Mack keeps stopping by and telling me what to do. All this bossing is getting annoying.”

“You’re tellin’ me. I’m the one who got shot. If I want you and the dog in here with me, I should be able to have you.” Travis sounds rather bad-tempered, and it makes me smile. “Don’t need everyone in the world tellin’ us what to do.”

“Well, they did help. Stopping the bleeding and taking out the bullet and stitching you up probably saved your life.”

He grunts.

“So I guess we shouldn’t complain.”

I hear voices outside the door and wait to see if someone is going to come in. But no one does, and the voices gradually fade.

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