Nothing Left to Lose (94 page)

His eyes
widened. “You want to get married?”

“Um, yes, sir.
Though Anna’s probably going to give me hell for coming out with it
like that,” I winced, thinking of the scolding she would give me
for blurting it out to her parents, and while she was in a coma to
top it off.
Great job, Ashton.

He laughed.
“That’s okay, Agent Taylor, we knew you were serious about her when
you refused to get treatment after getting shot. But I’m sure
you’re right, Annabelle’s probably going to kick your ass,” he
teased, grinning and looking at his daughter lovingly. “Can I ask
now though, why did she ask me to transfer you? Did you two have a
fight or something?”

I sighed and
shook my head. “We didn’t have a fight. I think it was Anna’s
stupid way of protecting me. I couldn’t understand it at first, but
today she was so upset when I got there. She kept saying she
couldn’t watch it again. I think this is deep rooted issues from
Jack, and she didn’t want history to repeat itself.” I looked down
at her peaceful face. I knew it would have destroyed her to see me
murdered just like Jack, and I’d almost put her through that.

The President
sighed and shook his head, rubbing at his temples. “That sounds
like Annabelle.”

I nodded and
shifted my weight on the bed, wincing because it felt like someone
kicked me in the side. My whole body was aching now; I could barely
think of anything else but the pain.

Melissa put her
hand on my knee, squeezing affectionately. “Ashton, go and get your
treatment now. She’s not going to wake up; they’ve drugged her so
she can’t. You need to make yourself strong for her,” she
suggested, looking at me kindly.

I sighed. I
knew she was right, but I didn’t want to leave Anna, I didn’t want
her out of my sight. “Yeah, I guess,” I nodded, and bent to kiss
Anna’s forehead. “I love you, Baby Girl. I won’t be long,” I
whispered in her ear, before pushing myself up and forcing myself
to walk out of the room.

It took over an
hour for all of the necessary treatment. I had x-rays to check
there was no remaining shrapnel in my arm, and a splint for my two
broken fingers, some strapping for my three broken ribs, and some
more painkillers. They changed the dressing on my gunshot wound and
added some more permanent stitches once they’d confirmed there were
no foreign bodies inside. Once I was done, I walked back into
Anna’s room and dragged another chair next to her bed so I could
hold her hand.

I sat watching
the rise and fall of her chest until one of the agents came in with
a report pad. I sighed and looked regretfully at Anna. I didn’t
want to leave her, but they wanted my statement.

“You can do it
here if you want, Agent Taylor,” President Spencer offered, waving
the agent in and pointing to a chair.

I smiled at him
gratefully and went running through my statement. Everything that I
saw heard or did from the point of hearing she was taken, to
carrying her to the door. The only thing I left out was about her
being married; she hadn’t told anyone for almost four years, so she
obviously didn’t want it to be common knowledge.

When I’d
finished, the President was staring at me in shock. “You took out
twelve hostiles on your own?” he asked with wide eyes.

“Actually,
eleven. Carter shot one himself,” I corrected.

He shook his
head, looking at me in awe. “You truly are a gifted agent.
Annabelle was lucky to have you watching out for her, and the
agency is darned lucky to have such a fine agent working for them,”
he stated. I smiled gratefully; the President of the United States
had just given me a huge compliment.

“Thank you,
sir.”

“Tom,” he
corrected.

“Right sorry,
sir, I forgot. I mean… Tom,” I answered, stumbling over his name.
It just doesn’t roll off the tongue for someone like me, who had
been taught for four years to respect authority, to call the
President by his first name.

He laughed and
shook his head, patting my knee. “You’ll get used to it
eventually.”

“I hope so. I
plan to be around a long time,” I replied. “Well, as long as she’ll
have me for,” I added, smiling and looking at her beautiful
face.

“You’re so good
for her. From the moment you two met, we were all shocked at what
she was like with you. You were holding hands and making her laugh
and smile. It was so strange to see her smile after so long being
heartbroken. Thank you. I owe you a debt of gratitude,” President
Spencer said, smiling warmly at me.

“Sir,” I
started, then stopped and grinned sheepishly, “sorry, I mean, Tom.
You don’t owe me anything. I love your daughter. If anything, I
should be thanking you for choosing me to guard her; otherwise I
might not have met her.” I bent my head and kissed the back of her
hand, stroking my fingertips up her arm, just waiting for the time
when she’d open her beautiful, brown eyes and my world would
suddenly fall back into place again.

That night was
easily the most uncomfortable and pain-filled night I had ever
spent. Every muscle in my body hurt, and I couldn’t sit in the same
position for more than ten minutes at a time. Thankfully, her
father had insisted that I be allowed to stay with her – he told
the doctors that it was guard duty, but everyone knew that it
wasn’t, so at least I got to sit in the chair in her room and hold
her hand all night long. I had barely been able to take my eyes off
her for more than a few minutes at a time. Bruises covered her
arms, face, neck, shoulders, and I daren’t even think about what
her stomach and chest looked like, but she was still the most
perfect thing I had ever seen in my life.

It was past
four in the afternoon when they started to reduce the sedative that
was in the IV so that she would start to wake. Her parents and I
were all sat around the bed in silence, just waiting. Finally, her
eyelids fluttered, and my heart leapt into my throat. President
Spencer leant over and pressed the call button on the wall to alert
the doctors of Anna’s awakening.

“Anna?” I
whispered.

She made a
small groan and turned her head towards me. “Mmm, hi,” she croaked,
her voice raspy and sore-sounding.

Unable to
resist, I bent over her and planted a soft kiss on the egg-shaped
bump she had on her forehead. “Hi, Baby Girl. Are you feeling
okay?”

“I have a
stomach-ache,” she moaned, moving her hand to her stomach.

I quickly
grabbed her hand, stopping her from touching her stomach in case
she hurt herself. “That’s okay. They can give you something for
it,” I assured her.

“Who can?”
Finally, her eyes fluttered open. “Holy shit, Ashton! What the hell
happened to your face?” she cried, looking at me horrified. I
winced, she was right, I did look a mess.

I placed my
hand on Anna’s shoulder, holding her in place as she tried to sit
up. “Take it easy, Anna, I’m fine. Just stay lying down please,
you’ll hurt yourself,” I instructed. Panic rose in my chest as I
thought about her stitches breaking. The door opened and the doctor
came in. I looked at them worriedly. “I don’t think she remembers
anything,” I said, running my hand through my hair.

“Remember what?
Ashton? What’s happening? What happened to your face?” Anna cried,
ignoring everyone else in the room and holding her hand out for
me.

I sighed.
“Anna, Carter found you, do you remember?” I asked, gripping her
hand tightly.

She gasped and
closed her eyes. “Oh God,” she groaned, shaking her head as she
obviously remembered. “Dean. Peter. They were all killed, they were
all killed,” she whispered.

I sat on the
edge of her bed and bent over her so my face was only inches from
hers. “I know, Baby Girl. But it’s over now. I nearly lost you.
Don’t ever do that to me again, you hear me?” I rasped, dipping my
head and capturing her lips in a soft kiss. She whimpered against
my lips and her hand lifted, tangling into the back of my hair,
holding my mouth to hers when I went to pull back. The kiss wasn’t
exactly the chaste, sweet kiss that I had intended it to be in
front of her parents.

When the kiss
broke, she winced and hesitantly touched my cheek. “Are you
alright? You were shot! And your face.”

“I’m alright.
Stop worrying about me,” I scolded, shaking my head
disapprovingly.

“I can’t. I
never will,” she answered, smiling at me tenderly.

The doctor
cleared her throat to make her presence known. “Hi, Anna, how are
you feeling?” she asked softly, taking hold of Anna’s wrist and
checking her pulse. I moved off the bed but Anna gripped my hand
tightly as if she was frightened to let go.

“I’m fine. My
stomach hurts, and my face is a bit sore,” she told the doctor, her
worried eyes still locked on me. “Did you have someone look at you,
Ashton?”

I nodded in
confirmation.

“Well, are you
alright?” she queried.

“Anna, I’ll
talk to you in a bit, okay? Just let the doctor look at you, Baby
Girl,” I pleaded. She sighed and finally turned her head to look at
the doctor.

“We had to
operate to stop the bleeding. Your spleen was damaged too, so we
had to remove part of it. You lost a lot of blood. It was
touch-and-go for a bit, but the surgery went very well. You need to
rest now, no sudden movements, just try to relax and let your body
recover,” the doctor explained, examining her stomach. Anna’s eyes
widened at the news, almost as if she hadn’t realised she was that
hurt. The doctor scribbled some notes on her chart. “Well, if you
need me, I’ll be doing my rounds. I’ll get someone to come and give
you something for the pain. If you get tired, Anna, sleep. And
absolutely no getting out of bed,” she instructed before heading
out of the room.

Anna’s parents
cooed over her for a bit, hugging her carefully. Anna didn’t let go
of my hand the whole time, it was as if she was scared to in case I
would run away or something. There was not much chance of that
happening though, I wasn’t going anywhere.

“Well, I think
we should let you two have some time on your own. We’ll come back
after dinner to see you again, honey,” Melissa said, kissing her
daughter’s cheek. President Spencer kissed her and shook my hand as
he left the room.

Once we were on
our own Anna turned to me and her eyes filled with tears. “Come lie
with me,” she whispered, trying to shift over for me but not really
getting anywhere. I climbed on the bed, being careful not to show
her that it hurt me to move, she didn’t need to know that. I lay
down next to her, and we looked into each other’s eyes for a while
before she spoke. “Are you really okay?” she asked, trailing her
fingers over my face.

I nodded.
“Yeah, Baby Girl. I have a couple of broken ribs and fingers, but
other than that I’m fine.” None of that mattered though while I was
looking into her eyes.

She groaned.
“Stop being such a badass, Ashton! You were shot for goodness’
sake, don’t pretend like it doesn’t hurt,” she scolded, rolling her
eyes at me.

I smiled,
trying not to laugh at her little outburst; I honestly did love it
when she was all feisty like that. “Alright, alright, it hurts, is
that what you want to hear?” I confirmed. “But I don’t care as long
as you’re safe and here with me.”

She smiled
weakly. “You’re so damn sweet, Pretty Boy,” she whispered.

A tear slid
down her face and I sighed, wiping it away gently. “Please don’t
cry. Everything’s okay now, nothing’s going to hurt you ever
again.”

“I don’t know
how to thank you,” she muttered, finally losing control of her
emotions and burying her face into my chest, sobbing.

I scoffed,
stroking the back of her head. “Why on earth would you feel the
need to thank me? Not only was it my job as your guard, it’s also
my job as the guy who’s hopelessly in love with you.”

She gripped my
shirt tightly as if I was going to run away. “You were so brave.
You saved me.” Her body trembled so I held her tightly against me,
waiting for her tears to subside. I didn’t need her gratitude, but
I wasn’t going to say no to the hugs! “All those guards were
killed. I can’t think what their families are going through. Oh
God,” she mumbled, crying harder. My heart hurt because of how sad
she was, and there was nothing I could do about it. She pulled
back; her bloodshot watery eyes met mine. “Does it make me a
horrible person that, deep down, I’m glad it was them and not you?”
she croaked.

I sighed and
shook my head slowly. “No, it doesn’t,” I assured her. I felt
exactly the same. Of course, no one wanted anyone to die, but there
would always be relief that it was someone else and not the one you
loved. That was human nature. “Please don’t start trying to take
the blame for their deaths. Carter Thomas and his men did this, not
you.” I gritted my teeth when I said his name. The anger hadn’t
subsided an inch, even though he was already gone.

She sniffed,
wiping her face on the back of her hand. “There was no warning,
there were so many of them. If you were there, you would have been
killed too,” she muttered, clutching my shirt tightly. “I know I
hurt you by sending you away, but I promise I was doing it for your
own good. I didn’t want you to get hurt. The only reason I made you
leave was because I love you so much. I’m sorry. Please forgive
me,” she begged.

I cupped her
face in my broken hands. “I understand why you did it, but you
shouldn’t have sent me away from you. We should have worked through
it together.” Her chin trembled as I spoke and her hand covered the
back of mine on her cheek. “You don’t need my forgiveness though.
Everything worked out in the end; however we got there.” I bent and
kissed her lips. “But you don’t ever send me away again,
understand? Because I won’t go. You’re stuck with me now.”