Page 19 of Booking Burke
Cisco set a hand on Burke’s shoulder. “The same words you’re wishing you’d said to him.”
Burke took a shaky breath. He’d almost lost the opportunity to say those words. He wasn’t going to miss his chance again.
9
Elias
Eli felt like he was floating on a cloud. The only problem was that Burke wasn’t with him. There also weren’t any harp-stroking cherubs either, so maybe the fact that he was alone was a good sign.
The nurses had assured him he was going to be fine, but they didn’t have any news about Burke to pass along. Eli knew he managed to push Burke out of the way of the bullet that hit him, but that didn’t mean the gunman stopped firing once they’d hit the ground.
He wanted to hit the call button and ask for his things. He needed his phone so he could call Burke. Everything would be fine when he saw Burke.
As the minutes ticked past, Eli started to worry. What if the ER nurse had delivered his message and it had sent Burke running? What if Burke had been shot too?
He was just about to press the call button when the door to his room opened. Burke stepped in, wearing a pair of blue hospital scrubs. He looked nervous. Nerves turned to relief when their eyes met.
“Jesus, Eli!” Burke practically ran to his boyfriend. He pressed a kiss to Eli’s forehead before squeezing himself next to Eli on the bed. “Are you okay?”
“You mean aside from the bullet hole?” Eli had meant it as a joke, but knew it had been the wrong thing to say when Burke’s eyes went glassy.
“I’m sorry I didn’t protect you. When I saw the gun pointing at my face I was relieved because he wasn’t going to hurt you.” Burke’s bottom lip quivered. “But then when the gun went off and you tackled me and then didn’t move. Oh, Jesus, Eli.” Burke shook his head.
Eli reached out to touch the side of Burke’s face. “You’re safe. Unhurt. I wouldn’t change a thing.” Although he looked tired, Burke was as good as new.
“What did the doctor say?” Burke didn’t seem like he was concerned at all about himself.
“I was lucky.” Eli managed a smile. “They said the bullet hit under my collarbone and went out through my back.”
“How is that lucky? Luck would have been if the Kevlar caught the bullet.” Burke was shaking his head.
“It’s lucky because the shot was a through and through. If the bullet had hit my collarbone, it could have ricocheted around inside me. It could have hit a lung, my heart, an artery. It would have been all over for me if that happened.”
A single tear slipped down Burke’s cheek. “I was in front of you for a reason. Cisco said it was my job to protect you. Why did you shove me out of the way?”
Eli brushed the tear away. If Burke was asking why he did what he did, there was chance that the ER nurse hadn’t passed along his message. Why would she, since he’d lived? “I love you, Burke.”
Burke buried his face in Eli’s hand.
“If anything happened to you, I wouldn’t have survived.” Eli took a shaky breath. “I thought I’d never get over Jensen not kissing me back, but I did. I spent all those years thinking he was the love of my life. I was wrong.”
“You were?” Burke’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“Yeah. He couldn’t have been the love of my life because it’s you, Burke.” Eli’s thumb rubbed against the side of his face.
More tears slid down Burke’s cheeks. “I’m such a mess. I’m sorry.” He swiped at the tears that didn’t seem like they were going to stop anytime soon. “I love you too. It’s all I could think about when the paramedics were loading you into the back of the ambulance. That I might not ever get the chance to tell you…”
“That’s why I told the ER nurse how I felt about you. So much was happening all around me. I didn’t know how serious my injury was, but I made this nurse promise to tell you how much I loved you.”
“She found me in the waiting room while you were still in surgery. She said she had a message for me, but since you were going to be okay, she wasn’t going to tell me what it was.” Burke was grinning like a fool.
Eli barked out a surprised laugh. “We’ll have to share that story at our wedding.”
“Our wedding?” Burke squeaked. His dark eyes widened.
“Not today or tomorrow.” Eli hoped he hadn’t scared Burke off with those words. If Burke got flighty, Eli would just say the blurted out half-proposal was the morphine talking. It wasn’t, but that’s what he’d say.
“So, you’re saying your free the day after that?” Burke was smiling through his tears.
