Page 126 of Rescued Heart

Another cop car pulled in, and Olivia nodded. “We’ll find them.” She pulled her radio to her mouth and issued a series of commands, but all Eddie heard was the truck’s siren as they drove away.

Eddie chased after the truck. He needed to be next to her. What if…what if she didn’t make it? He’d never get to tell her how much she meant to him.

A horn blared from behind him. The captain’s truck.

Macon rolled down the passenger window. “Get in.”

Eddie didn’t have to be told twice. His heartbeat and the truck’s siren were the only noises filling the ride to the hospital. When Macon slowed down enough in front of the hospital door, Eddie jumped ship and ran inside.

Ridge and Zack met him before he could tackle the lady behind the welcome desk for information.

But it was Zack who grabbed Eddie by the shoulders. “Bianca’s in surgery.”

He didn’t like the look in his friend’s eyes.

Eddie gripped Zack’s shoulders right back. “Tell me, what did the doctor say?”

Zack winced as Ridge clenched his jaw next to Eddie. “She’s lost a lot of blood.”

“Look!” A girl he hadn’t noticed stood on top of a chair and pointed to the television hanging in the corner of the entryway. “It’s live.”

A helicopter was circling treetops on the television screen, a spotlight set on what looked like Kelson as he ran toward a half-constructed cabin.

“One down.”

Macon, who had come up beside Zack, put his hand on Eddie’s shoulder. “Why don’t you guys both find Eddie a drink?” Macon steered Eddie away from Ridge and Zack in the opposite direction of the television.

Eddie waited for Macon to sit across from him. His captain’s gaze met his, and Eddie dropped his to the shined floor. “I’m not ready to let her go yet.”

“Good. Because I’m not here to make you.” Macon cleared his throat. “But I’ll be here for you if she’s?—”

“Where is she?” A woman dressed in a wrap cheetah dress and heels raced in from the hallway and roared at the lady behind the welcome desk.

He remembered that tone. “Mom?”

Mary looked like she’d aged since the last time he’d seen her, with extra-deep circles under her eyes. She rushed to him, her necklace banging against her chest. “I saw on the television. Did someone really shoot her? Bia can’t be…”

Macon moved beside Eddie. “Mary, why don’t I help you find a glass of water?”

His stubborn mother shoved past his boss. “Who shot her? I pray it wasn’t one of those creeps who stalked Joel. Joel was the one who pointed at the television when it came on upstairs. Come on, Eddington, we have to go check on her. You shouldn’t have to sit by your loved one’s side alone.”

Her words sucker punched him.

He’d left her alone at this hospital when she’d been afraid of losing the one she loved.

Because he’d been angry. At what had been said at dinner, and from what had happened so many years ago. It was past time to surrender it all to God. “Mom, I forgive you. I don’t understand why you had to give me away, but it doesn’t help anyone for me to hang on to my anger. I don’t always understand God’s plan, but His plans are for His glory, even when I can’t see it. He offered forgiveness, so I need to as well.”

His mother pulled him into a hug. “You’re going to be the best big brother.”

Eddie closed his eyes. He couldn’t stop her from adopting a child, but he could be around at least a little to make sure the child was loved.

With a sniff, his mother released him. “Let’s go get your girl.”

At the check-in desk, the lady picked up a paper map and unfolded it. “Are you lost?”

Thankfully, no longer. Eddie gripped the counter. “I need to see Bianca…I mean, Bia Pearl. What room will she be in?”

The woman pushed up her glasses and frowned. “She already has a waiting visitor. I doubt she’d want to wake up to her ex and her fiancé fighting over her.”

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