Page 105 of What Hurts Us

“Zahreh mar!” she groaned, eyes clenched in excruciating pain. Her hand reached down toward the knife.

I wasn’t a medic, but I knew enough about stabbings that I knew not to remove the object.

“Don’t—”

Layla pushed off the ground and rolled onto her back. “That motherfucking shithead dick weasel!” The hilt bobbed back and forth in the air. Blood spatter was sprayed across the side of her face. Streaks of red coated her cheek, neck, and collarbone, but not her stomach.

She reached up and tugged the zipper of her flight suit down.

Kevlar.

Air rushed out of my lungs, and I collapsed on top of her, pressing my lips to her forehead. “I love you, honey.”

“Someone bring a fucking evidence bag and get this thing off of me!” she snapped.

“I love you, honey,” I whispered against her temple. “Don’t ever fucking scare me like that again.”

She lay still as I stroked her hair. Lauren hurried over, pale as a ghost, as she snapped on a pair of gloves and gingerly worked the teeth of the hunting knife out of the snares of Kevlar fibers. The moment the knife was out of Layla’s body armor, I was stripping her down.

“Callum Anthony Fletcher!” she argued as she swatted my hands away. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m making sure it didn’t go through the vest, you stubborn, irrational woman. Lay down.”

Layla was just going to have to deal with me being an overprotective ogre for the foreseeable future.

Or for forever.

I peeled back the side of the vest and inspected her thermal shirt. No blood. Not a drop. I rolled the hem and smoothed my hand over her soft stomach. Not a scratch. “I thought you stopped breathing,” I said on an exhale.

“He knocked the air out of my lungs,” she rasped. “Can I get dressed now?”

“Fine,” I clipped as she slapped the sides of the Kevlar vest back together and zipped up her flight suit. “But just so you know, this isn’t over. When we get home, I’m going to stri—”

“Ay!” Lauren called. “Body cam’s on, Fletch. Don’t want your bedroom plans coming up in court documents, do you?”

She had a point.

“You said it,” Layla murmured as I wrapped my arm around her and escorted her to the ambulance. She’d have to take a ride in the Band-Aid box since Shane and AB left in the chopper. Not that she had any chance of getting out of a detour to the hospital. I wanted the cuts on her neck and cheek to get looked at.

“I did.” I pressed a kiss to her temple as we sat on the lip of the open ambulance. “You wanted me to say it to you when it meant to you as much as it meant when you said it to me.” I let out a breath. “You said it when you knew it would save me from myself. I said because I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you to someone else.”

Half of the Falls Creek PD had shown up at the report of shots fired. They bagged and tagged anything of interest. Photos were taken, and evidence was stored. The coroner showed up, a white body bag in tow.

Thank God it was only one.Today could have been so much worse.

My hands were stained pink as I caressed Layla’s cheek, cradling her head against my chest. “I love you, honey.”

A tear slipped down her cheek, glimmering like a falling star. “I love you, too.” The adrenaline coursing through our systems had hit its peak. Now, we were in free fall.

* * *

I waitedin Layla’s bunk as she met with the AirCare business manager and talked through what had happened. The door swung open as two flight nurses in matching AirCare uniforms strode into the crew quarters. Their patches noted that they were from the base just over the Virginia border. I studied the backs of their helmets. The man’s read,Easy Mac, while the woman’s read,Bigfoot.

Alright. The Falls Creek first responder crew calling Layla “Dubs” wasn’t so weird after all.

“Hey,” Layla said softly as she walked in. “I can go. AB and Shane are almost back. The Collinsville crew is covering the rest of the shift so AB and I can go early.” I held her bags while she packed up her bedding and stored it neatly in the corner.

Before leaving the scene, Mia had taken a look at Layla’s cut, cleaning and sealing them with butterfly bandages. She’d have a few small scars but nothing major.

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