Page 79 of Serve and Protect
Chris, my love, what have you done?
I realize there are a pair of strong hands clutching my shoulders. I glance back to see Ruth crouching behind me, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Several people crowd around Chris. Killian applies pressure to Chris’s right shoulder as Micah bandages the wound.
“He’s going to be all right, isn’t he?” I ask through a throat clogged with tears. But no one answers me. I grab one of Chris’s hands, which feels unusually cold. “Please tell me he’s going to be all right.” Because I can’t live with the alternative.
I glance around at everyone standing in the clearing. Their expressions are glum as they watch Micah administer first aid. He’s a former Army medic. If anyone can help Chris, he can.
My heart is shredded.Chris!He’s my best friend, my lover,my everything.He can’t leave me now, not when we’ve come so far. We’re supposed to have a future together. It’s not fair.
“It should have been me,” I murmur, although I don’t think anyone is paying me any attention. “It should have been me.”
Ruth pulls me into her arms and rocks me. “Shush, honey.” She strokes my hair. “Shush.”
She doesn’t even lie and tell me everything’s going to be okay.
Chapter 31 – Jennie
Time slows to a crawl as I watch Micah work on Chris. There’s a loud ringing in my ears, and I’m so cold my muscles are shivering.
“We need to get him to a hospital,” Micah says. “God, I wish I had my chopper here.”
“We called for a medevac,” Jace says as he stands watching the grim proceedings. “But we’re going to have to move him to the main house. There’s not enough clearance to land a chopper here.”
Killian pulls up in an ATV. “It’s not the safest mode of transportation, but it’s our only option.”
Micah stands. “We don’t have a choice. He’s losing too much blood.”
“The idiot,” Jace says affectionately, and everyone nods. “God love him.”
It’s decided that Killian will drive the ATV back to the house. Micah will ride with him, and they’ll sandwich Chris between them.
“It’s going to be rough going,” Killian says. “This machine wasn’t designed to carry the weight of three grown men. It’s going to be off balance and liable to tip. We’re going to have to take it slow.”
“We don’t have time for slow,” Micah says.
Ruth sits with me on the grass as the men arrange themselves on the black vinyl seat of the vehicle. Chris is still unconscious, so they use ropes to strap him to Killian’s back. Micah takes up the rear, barely managing to fit on the seat. He does his best to hold Chris steady.
“Try to take it easy,” Micah says to Killian. “The rest of you follow on foot.”
“Wait!” I race up to the vehicle. Chris’s head is resting on Killian’s back, his eyes closed. “I’m so sorry,” I whisper to him. I lean in and kiss his blood-splattered lips. My heart is pounding. There are so many things I need to tell him, but there’s no time. There may never be time. “I love you, Chris.”
Ruth gently pulls me back. “Honey, they need to go.”
Hannah kisses Killian as he revs the engine. “Good luck,” she says.
Killian nods at his wife, and then the ATV moves forward. Slowly at first, as Killian tries to balance the machine. A few moments later, they pick up speed, and suddenly they’re around the bend and out of sight.
Immediately, I turn and race for the cabin. I shoot up the porch steps and rush past David’s body, which is covered with a blanket as two officers stand beside it.
Ruth follows me into the cabin. “What are you doing?”
“I’ve got to get my shoes.” I hunt around frantically for my sneakers. I find them under the bed and quickly put them on. I grab Ruth’s hand and tug her with me toward the door. “We have to hurry!”
“Jennie.” Ruth pulls me gently to a stop. “There’s no way we can keep up with them. They’ll make it back to the house long before we can, and they won’t waste a second transporting Chris to the hospital. They won’t be able to wait for us.”
As I turn back to face her, all the energy leaches out of me. I’m running on sheer adrenaline now, and that’s waning quickly as the stress of today catches up with me. “But I won’t get to see him al—again.” The unspoken word—alive—hangs in the air between us.
