Page 118 of Triple Power Play 3
“We’ll be here.” Desi glances at his brother for confirmation.
“We’ll take shifts,” Dante agrees. “They can’t keep us in this room forever.”
Brody bandages my feet and brings some blankets, and I pass out in Jackson’s arms.
Multiple times, I’m roused by Ethan brushing my hair from my face and kissing my temple. I catch him doing the same to Jax in between pacing.
I doubt he wants me to go to New York, but he’s scared. Tonight’s horror has rattled him.
When I wake, I have no idea whether it’s night or day, but a new nurse, Kayla, tells us Reece is in recovery.
“We’ll need you to vacate so the team can make him comfortable.”
Her vague statement churns my stomach, and I have to splash cold water on my face in the bathroom.
“Some orthopedic bigwig was flown in from his vacation in Belize,” Charlie rambles while we sit in the waiting room. “The surgery was twelve hours and required seven specialists. When he was shot before,hewas the specialist. All we had were medics in the desert.”
I furrow my brows. “He was shot? In the military?”
“Oh, yeah. In the leg and knifed in the gut, but I should probably shut up.”
“Holy shit.” Unsure what else to say, I ask, “Is your real name Charlie?”
“No, but that’s a story for another day.” Despite his words, he takes a breath and continues. “After a bombing, I was the onlyperson left from the Charlie Squadron. Instead of Team Charlie, there was just Charlie.”
I gawk at him in astonishment. How freaking sad is that? “I’m sorry.”
Jax peers around me with the same stunned expression.
Charlie thrusts his hand in a dismissive gesture. “I don’t remember any of it. One minute, I was hacking the enemy’s systems; the next, I was lying in the dirt, my skin on fire. If Reece hadn’t rescued me, I’d be dead. We’ve been together since.”
Sorrow hits me. I’m the other woman stealing Reece from his partner. No wonder Charlie is critical of me.
“Did Reece ever tell you how he got his nickname?”
I tilt my head. “Ricky? No.”
“His is harder to explain. It’s a tricky homophone. We were working a makeshift orphanage and wrote our names on tape, thinking the kids could read. They couldn’t. One kid sounded out ‘Reece’ as ‘Ricky.’ He’d correct them, and they’d laugh hysterically. Finally, he gave up.” Charlie averts his gaze, and his voice becomes distant. “It was funny.”
His tone is anything but humorous.
“Sheldon,” Desi calls out. “Stop making her sad. You really are terrible with women.”
Commotion fills the hallway, drawing me from Charlie’s grumbles.
I rise and stand in the doorway. A bed is wheeled off the elevator, and I gasp.
The world beneath my feet tilts on its axis.
I comprehend what I’m seeing, but at the same time,I don’t.
Reece.MyReece is pale and lifeless. He lies with his eyes softly closed, his chest rising and falling in an unnatural, mechanical rhythm. Machines and tubes and half a dozen people surround him.
They come closer, and I will his eyelids to open, to show me those ocean blues, to prove to me he’s okay.
He doesn’t, and I’m left feeling adrift and empty.
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