Page 67 of Shielding Instinct

“Of course not. My goodness,” Petra whispered.

“There were a few of our saves that might be touch and go,” Hawkeye added. “Just all around, not a good situation.”

In the far back seat, Melissa had laid her head on Terry’s stomach, crying.

Terry was conked out asleep—not just the exhaustion of survival but the drop in adrenaline sucked the energy right out of his body, Hawkeye guessed.

“Okay, let’s get a plan together,” Hawkeye pointed toward the emergency sign. “Petra, the place is going to be packed. But coral can be dangerous. You’ll need an antibiotic. You go in andget in line with the triage. If it looks like it’ll take too long, we’ll figure something else out.”

“And you guys?” She reached past Hawkeye to scrub her nails behind Cooper’s ear.

“Dogs and hospitals aren’t a sanitary mix. We’ll wait outside. The rest of our team is here. We need to find them and get an update. I can communicate with you via cell phone.”

“Here we go,” Levi flipped on the blinker, pulling up under the emergency awning next to an ambulance.

A nurse was waiting outside with a gurney.

As Levi and Hawkeye helped Terry transfer from the SUV, Hawkeye heard the nurse say, “Back again, huh? Your eye is looking better.”

“Thank you for remembering me,” Petra said.

“Were you involved in this too? You’re going to need an antibiotic. We’re slammed. Crazy day. The hospitals are full. How about you find a seat in the waiting room?” the nurse asked. “I’ll corner a doctor as soon as I can and get you a script. Remind me of your name? Hermione?”

“Yes, Hermione Armstrong.”

“You’ll be in our system. I’ll find you.” She grabbed the end of Terry’s gurney and was racing through the automatic doors. She caught Hawkeye’s gaze and added, “The fewer people inside, the better. It’s a zoo. Do you mind waiting out here?”

Hawkeye leaned down and gave Petra a kiss. “I’ll meet you out here when you’re patched up. Okay?”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Petra

What was it that Tamika said to Petra the morning they were supposed to fly out of D.C.? “A body in motion tends to stay in motion.”

Her time with Hawkeye had been one crisis after another. Was that the kind of chemistry they swirled when they were together?

Petra hated crises, though she thrived in them.

When something terrible was afoot, she was energized from beginning to end.

The problem was that they came to an end, and she always crashed hard.

She thought of past relationships when she’d try to explain it. She wasn’t ghosting them; she was hibernating, trying to recover. But unless someone knew how burnout felt, yeah, it wasn’t something easily imagined.

No, it wasn’t a matter of eating more protein or hitting the gym harder.

It wasn’t a matter of mind over matter or putting the pedal down on her inner drive.

She. Shut. Down.

And the last time she didn’t listen to her body and pushed and pushed, she ended up in bed, unable to do even the rudiments of personal hygiene for months on end.

That was the end of her last long-term relationship.

And probably the end of all long-term relationships.

Petra had adapted herself to the idea of doing life solo.

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