Hunting (37 page)

He leaned over her. “You’ll
be ok. We’ll get you taken care of, then we’ll go get Ruthie, and
go home. Then we’ll talk about tomorrow.”

She didn’t hear him; he
looked at her face. Her pretty, pretty eyes were closed.

“
Sir, sir. You need to step
back. Give us room to move!” The female EMT shoved him out of her
way. Blood was everywhere. Had Nate shot her?

“
Julia? Julia, come on,
sweetheart...come on. Open your eyes and cuss at me.
Something...”

Al took the backstairs out
of the crime scene and had just enough time to hop into the
ambulance with Paige. As the doors closed on them, she saw Malachi
coming out the house’s front doors, Jules clutched against his
chest.

Paige hadn’t woken, and the
EMTs on either side of the gurney were concerned. Al didn’t need to
question them to know that.

It was a long ride to the
hospital. She’d requested the same hospital where Mick had been
taken. Paige hadn’t moved, not so much as a moan had
escaped.

She was completely limp.
Had she ever seen Paige so still? Al didn’t think so.

She prayed for most of the
trip, sitting there holding her friend’s free hand. They’d IV’d
her, prepping her for whatever it was they were doing to her. Al
wasn’t a doctor, she didn’t have a clue.

She ran with the gurney,
holding the younger woman’s hand, until the EMTs pushed Paige
through the ER entrance. There Al was pulled aside to handle the
paperwork on a loved one for the second time in twenty-four
hours.

She took the clipboard into
the waiting room. Her parents were still there. They looked up when
she entered.

All attention was on her;
Carrie was there, Georgia, Ana, Marianna and Ed Dennis. Dan and
K.D., Norton. She recognized most everyone in the room. And it was
packed.

Her parents rose, her
mother took her hand. “Sweetie? Malachi?”

“
Mal’s
fine. I road
in the ambulance with Paige. And Mal’s with Jules. Nate’s dead.
He’s been the UNSUB all along. I need to fill this out for Paige.
She...she can’t do it for herself right now. Carrie, I’m going to
need your help.” Carrie would know the details of Paige’s life
better than anyone. “How’s Mick?”

“
Your brother is in
recovery. He made it through surgery just fine. Small caliber
bullets against a big man. Bullets didn’t stand a chance.” Her
dad’s arms around her were warm and comforting. And safe. The way
it should be. “Sweetie, how bad is it for our girls?”

“
He drugged Paige. We don’t
know with what, or what lasting side effects there will be. Or how
much. I don’t know about Jules. There...there was a lot of bl—-” Al
cut herself off. Georgia was in the room, the closest thing to
family to Jules. This wasn’t the way to tell her. “She was awake
when Malachi carried her out. And...and...she and Sebastian are the
ones who took Nate down. Jules fought him
hard
.”

But had that come at the
expense of her friend’s life?

Al just didn’t
know.

The sounds of shouting came
from the ER’s entry and Al was one of the first through the waiting
room door. She knew who it was. Knew the second ambulance had been
just minutes behind the first.

Malachi ran at Jules’ side,
and Jules wasn’t moving.

And there was just too much
damned blood for it to be good.

They took her away from him
within seconds of entry into the ER. He’d known it was going to
happen, but that didn’t keep the terror at bay.

He tried to go with her,
but they stopped him. His dad was there, his arms holding Malachi
back. Ed Dennis was there as well, in front of Malachi to bodily
stop him. Malachi wanted to fight them, but gained control of
himself at the last minute. It was one of the hardest things he’d
ever done.

He turned to his dad.
“Mick?”

“
Will be fine, son. Sit
down. Tell us what happened.”

“
Later. I can’t now. I need
to...I need...” To be with Julia. The cold metal doors of the
surgery bay were all that stopped him from being there. That, and
the knowledge that he’d serve more as a distraction than an asset
for those who were helping her.

Georgia was there, her face
pale with worry. “You need to change clothes. Those are evidence.
And you’ll feel better in clean clothes. I’ve got Hell’s ready bag.
He’s got jeans and a sweatshirt in there you can borrow.” She held
out the gym bag. “Go. Change. Dad and I will be here if they have
any questions about Jules’ history. I am her NOK. We’ll handle it
until you get back. Go.”

Her words were firm, no
nonsense. Malachi went.

Five minutes later he’d
washed the blood from his arms and bagged up his ruined shirt and
pants. His shoes. It was all evidence and he knew IA would want
it.

Julia’s rings and his
grandmother’s necklace were still in his pants pocket. He slipped
them into his borrowed jeans.

He’d keep them out of
evidence. He wasn’t letting Julia lose her rings. That wasn’t going
to happen.

He rejoined the group in
the waiting room, fighting the urge to pace and to hound the nurses
at the information desk.

A child was crying
somewhere. The sounds of a little one tired and hungry. And scared.
Oh, so very scared.

It took him a moment to
realize whose child it was.

She was in
his
mother’s arms, and it was obvious she’d just woken. Just realized
she was not at home in her own bed, realized
her
mother
wasn’t anywhere to be seen. No wonder she was scared.

He held out his arms and
she lurched toward him. He wrapped his arms around Julia’s little
girl and he rocked her until she quieted. They’d wait for her
mother together.

She woke to the sound of
the most annoying beeping sound in all of creation. It took her a
moment to realize where she was. Hospital. Again.

She was alive then. Why was
she here?

It was several long minutes
before the events returned to her. She tried to sit up, her mind
too full of unanswered questions to remain in a hospital
bed.

Galahad slept in the chair
pulled up next to her bed.

His hand was wrapped around
the railing, and she raised her left hand to brush the back of his
knuckles. But she couldn’t. Her hand was wrapped in gauze. Her
entire arm was.
Both
arms. Her right hand was immobilized on
a board, heavier bandages over it than her left. And it burned like
the blazes. She remembered what had happened and suspected what
damage waited beneath the gauze.

She shifted slightly,
wincing and taking stock. More bandages covered her chest and
stomach, but from what it felt like, they were much smaller than
those on her hand. Defensive wounds, where he’d tried to take the
shard from her. How much blood had she lost?

And...what day was
it?

The sun was shining through
the windows, surrounding Malachi with an aura that she thought
ironic. They’d fought a devil, and won.

She pulled herself up as
gingerly as possible. She counted the bandages on her stomach. She
was wearing pajamas—most likely Georgia or Ana’s doing—but the
buttons were only half done. Probably so the medical staff could
check her injuries. She took advantage of that to inspect for
herself.

Nothing major, though a few
gashes had probably been deep enough to lead to significant blood
loss when combined. Her right hand had definitely suffered the
worst. She managed to pull the tape and gauze away from her right
hand using the exposed fingers of her left.

She cataloged the injury.
She’d nearly sliced her hand in half, in four lines—the edges of
the porcelain. She’d need corrective surgery. That was almost a
given. And chances were good that she’d not regain full function of
that hand for a very, very long time. If ever.

But she was alive. And the
bad guy was not.

The threat to Malachi was
gone now.

Malachi.

He was awake and watching
her. “Always the M.E., aren’t you?”

“
There are always
questions. I’m too lazy to count, how many stitches?”

“
Eighty-six. Plus glue. Did
some damage.”

“
Yes. I figured it would
when I planned it.”

“
But you did it
anyway.”

“
Would do it again. He was
going to kill you. And
you
were unarmed.”

“
I had it
covered.”

“
I didn’t know that. For
all I knew you’d Galahad-ed right in all by your lonesome. I didn’t
know Lorcan was in the hall.”

“
No. You didn’t. And you
did what you had to do to stay alive. I’m proud of you.”

“
He was watching us, wasn’t
he?”

“
Yes. We found cameras in
my house, my parents’, Paige’s apartment...and your house.” He
looked at her, his eyes serious. “And his own bedroom. He recorded
what happened. What he tried to do to you.”

Jules remembered the feel
of the bastard’s hands and mouth on her. Fought the bile suddenly
in her throat. It would take her a long, long time to forget that.
If she ever did. “Oh.”

“
Yes. Oh. He wouldn’t have
done that to you if it hadn’t been for me.” Pain, anger, guilt—it
was all in his eyes.

Jules straightened. “No.
No, you are not going to take his actions on. He did it. Not you.
You can’t control everything. You can’t control anyone else but
yourself. What he did, what happened, was not your fault. I won’t
let you think otherwise.”

“
He targeted me, Julia. And
through me, you. And Paige. And my brother. I can never forget
that.”

“
No. You won’t forget. But
you’ll learn to live with it. Just like I’m living with the
knowledge that had I not suggested, not pushed, Bryan and Rick to
take Georgia and me shopping that day they’d both still be alive.
I’ll never forget that. I’m just as responsible for what happened
to them as you are for what happened to us. It was not something
that could have been predicted. For either of us. All we can do is
move on.”

“
God, woman, I love you. I
didn’t know how much until I realized he’d taken you. I even forgot
about my own brother for you.” Tears were on his cheeks, and she
wished her hands weren’t trussed up. She needed to touch
him.

“
How is Mick?
Paige?”

“
Both are just down the
hall. Al suggested we put them in the same room so they could keep
each other entertained. We…uh…declined that suggestion. Paige was
drugged and is still a bit sluggish. Mick will take a while longer
to return to his normal self. But he will, eventually. He awoke
this morning.”

“
How long was I
out?”

“
Two days. They had to give
you some blood.”

“
Figured I was on empty.
But I’m better now. Where’s my kid?” Fear hit her. Had social
services taken Ruthie? Had they ruled Jules was an unsafe
environment? “Where’s Ruthie?”

He smiled, and then kissed
her forehead. “Relax, momma, she’s with my parents.”

“
What? They don’t need the
added burden right now. They’ve been through enough.” They should
be focused on their son, not Ruthie.

“
They asked for her. I
think they needed her just as much as she needed them.” His tone
deepened. “They told me they wanted to get started being
grandparents. I didn’t think you’d mind.”

“
Excuse me?” Jules’ breath
rushed out.

“
They wanted to spend time
with their new granddaughter. They seem to think you and I have a
few things to work out to make that happen. But they’re confident
that we’ll figure things out. At least that’s what my mother
said.”

“
And do you always do what
your mother says?” She could have resented him making that move,
but why waste the energy? She’d have made the move if he hadn’t.
Her resolution was still strong. Jules was through being a coward.
“Come here.”

He leaned forward. Jules
lifted her left arm, too scared of reinjuring herself to lift her
right. “Kiss me. Erase him from my memory.”

“
I can do that.” But he
didn’t. He just leaned over her, staring.

“
What? Do I have something
in my teeth? Bad breath? I’m sure I do on that one...”

“
I’m just glad we’re
getting this chance. Julia...Jules...”

“
It’s Julia. To you, that
is.” Something special between the two of them. She didn’t mind it
now.

“
Julia Bellows, promise me
you will never scare me like that again.”

“
I’ll do my damnedest not
to gain the attention of another madman. It’s too trying of an
experience.”

“
Thanks. That’s
reassuring.” He stood, so suddenly she stared. “Julia Bellows, I am
only going to do this once. So pay attention.”