Page 93 of Hot Pursuit
He shifted his leg so both of them could see, trying to prove his point.
Bad idea.
Horrible.
Adrenaline must have been pumping through his system, because he could hardly feel any pain, but the wound was a mess. Skin ripped apart. Blood spurting. Like something out of a horror movie. Nate hastily shifted his calf out of her sight, but it was too late. The damage was done.
“Oh my god!”
“Jo—”
“We’re going to have a conversation about this, Nathaniel. Don’t think we won’t.”
He rolled his eyes. “Not now, Jo. You need to get to the hospital.”
“So do you!”
Nate glanced at the paramedic, searching for backup, but the man was already coming at him with a strip of gauze. Hands immediately landed on his shoulders, and before he could mutter a protest, Nate found himself on his back with his leg raised and resting on Leo’s knee as a bandage was applied to stop the bleeding.
“It didn’t hit bone,” Nate argued, fully aware he never would’ve been able to run around in search of that first aid kit if he’d shattered a tibia. “Just muscle tissue. It looks worse than it is. I—”
“Shut up,” Jo and Leo said as one, and then looked at each other, smirking.
Oh, great. That’s just wonderful.
“She needs immediate medical attention,” he said, going a different path. But at that exact moment, another stretcher was brought in by two different paramedics.
“So do you, sir.”
“Oh, for the love of god,” he muttered as they strapped him down. “I’m fine.”
The victorious look on Jo’s face would have been comical if it weren’t turned on him. “Safety first, Agent Parker.”
Words to live by.
Words hedidlive by, until about eight days ago.
Nate sighed, stuck in a web of his own making. Before he could respond, the paramedics lifted the stretchers, forcing him and Jo apart as they carried them from the yacht, down the pier, and into the chopper waiting on the beach.
When they were settled inside, Nate let his head fall to the side so he could watch Jo. Her gaze was hard to read as she looked at the charred remains of her home. He couldn’t decipher which memories raced through her head. Good. Bad. Or unimaginable. So instead, he reached out and took her fingers back in his, squeezing tight, trying to give her all his strength, however much of it she needed. She turned toward him, watching him as though he were her only tether to the earth, as though without him she might float away. But her grip remained loose in his, as though she wasn’t sure if she wanted to stay or go.
All Nate could think about was bringing a speck of joy back to her eyes, a sparkle of mirth. He rubbed his thumb over her skin, tracing a pattern as he spoke. “I have to admit, Jo, when I envisioned riding off into the sunset with you, it wasn’t on matching stretchers. Horseback, maybe. A red convertible, even better. My old beat-up Ford truck would’ve worked fine. But a medevac chopper? That wasn’t high on the list.”
Nate watched his words land, waiting for her response.
See now, that just shows a lack of imagination…
Or maybe,in my dreams, we weren’t so much riding off as sitting on the couch, sharing a cake made for two…or three…or ten.
But she didn’t say any of that. She held his gaze, somewhat somber and subdued, even as the slightest smile wobbled on her lips. “I’ll take what I can get, Nate, as long as I’m with you.”
The blades began to churn, roaring loudly, picking up speed as the pilots settled in their seats and prepared for takeoff. Paramedics slipped foam buds into their ears, muffling the sound. The world shifted to an oddly peaceful sort of silence as the chopper lifted and the air cleared of smoke, and there was nothing but blue sky all around them.
Nate and Jo looked at each other.
They didn’t need to speak.
Not with words.
