Page 11 of Guarding Her Love

“Dawson!” She races over to me and all the color drains from her face when she sees the state I’m in.

“What are you doing here?” I growl. “I told you to stay home!”

“I couldn’t!” she cries as tears begin to drop from her eyes. “I couldn’t let something happen to you!”

“Take this!” I tell her, putting the USB drive into her hand. “Take it and get out of here!”

“I’m not leaving you,” she says, putting her hands over my wound.

“You have to, Joy,” I tell her, grunting against the pain. “You have to get that information out. It’s your only chance!”

“And leave you to die!?” she asks, as though I’m asking her to do the impossible.

“Yes,” I tell her. “You have to! They’ll be here soon, Joy, and if anything happens to you—”

“Shut up!” she snaps. “What do you think I am? Some helpless woman? Do you have any idea what it took to get that information? You saved my life, Dawson, and if you think I’m going to just walk away from here and let you die, then you have no idea who I am!”

Despite the pain, despite the fact that I’m bleeding, I have to smile. What a woman! She ducks underneath one of my arms, and like she’s doing a squat at the gym, lifts with everything she’s got. The pain is unreal in my side, and I grunt as I put all the strength I have left into my legs, and as the sound of the sirens grows nearer, I make it to my feet.

“Come on,” she says.

“How did you get here?” I ask, looking around for a car.

“I biked.”

“You biked!? That’s like four miles!”

“I told you,” she says with a smile. “I’m no helpless woman.”

“I guess not,” I reply as I stagger forward, leaning on her harder than I wish I had to. She stops at a black Range Rover and I lean against it.

“Stay,” she says. “I’ll get the keys.”

“So we’re adding grand theft auto to tonight’s adventure?” I call after her. She looks back at me, her eyes flashing beneath the lights, before vanishing into the office. She returns seconds later with the keys, and with great difficulty, helps me into the passenger side.

“You good?” she asks.

“Yeah,” I grunt. “Let’s go.”

The sounds of the sirens are getting closer. Joy rushes around to the driver’s side, hops in, starts the SUV and floors it. I brace for impact as she slams into the gate, knocking it straight off its hinges, and blasts out into the night. She takes a hard turn right, causing my side to scream with pain, then floors it.

The lights above start to blur as she drives; I can feel my strength slipping away from me. I’ve lost too much blood…

…I’m not gonna make it…

“Stay with me, Dawson!” Joy snaps, rubbing my leg. “Stay awake!”

“Ugh…” I groan. “I—I’m sorry, Joy…”

“No! No, you’re not, Dawson!” I can hear the pain in her voice, but there’s nothing I can do. I’m slipping away…

The last thought in my mind before I lose consciousness is what my life could have been like with her.

“Joy, I…”

“Dawson!”

8

---