Page 89 of Reluctantly His

“Rest, Marine. You did your job. Now let the medical team do theirs before they tie you down.”

“They did tie him down. Asshole pulled a knife and cut himself free,” one of the nurses said under his breath.

Sure enough, the frayed ends of the woven nylon straps were hanging from the sides of the stretcher.

“I’m fine. I don’t need medical treatment. It’s just a scratch.”

“Sit down, shut up, and let the nice doctors look at you,” I barked.

“I’m fine. It’s going to take more than one little —”

I cut off his words with one swift jab just below where he was shot, and he made a wheezing sound before falling back on the bed.

“There you go, boys. The patient should comply now.”

“Thanks,” the bigger one said, nodding. The other looked at me with a scowl, then twisted his lips before shrugging it off and moving his patient back behind the same double doors Charlotte had disappeared behind.

“Tell him to come find me once you have him patched up,” I called after them. I saw one nod before the doors swung shut.

I sat back in the same uncomfortable plastic and metal chair beside those double doors.

Until I knew if Charlotte was going to be okay, or until they moved her, this was my post.

Leaning my head against the wall, I took a few deep breaths, ignoring the sterile smell of the hospital, the coldness of the blood that still soaked my shirt, and the itchiness of the few places where it had dried.

I ignored the chatter of the nurses and the beeping of heart rate monitors from various rooms.

I blocked out everything for a moment and tried to focus on Charlotte.

There wasn’t any type of God I could pray to anymore. All I could do was plead in my head over and over, telling Charlotte to be my strong girl. To be my brave girl, to be my good girl.

Call it prayer, call it manifestation. I didn’t care.

All I knew was that if there was any energy left in my body, I would give it to her to help her fight. All while making promises that this would be the last fight she would ever face on her own.

If anything like this ever happened again, I would be by her side the entire time. I wanted to face every obstacle and every challenge with her. She deserved at least that much.

“We demand your best surgeon and there must be a plastic surgeon in the room. There must be no scars.”

“Mummy, it hurts!” whined Charlotte’s former fiancé as they wheeled him into the emergency room.

“Oh, darling. You were so brave.” The women then turned to address the mysteriously present paparazzi. “My son is a hero. He saved a thousand people tonight from a gang of gun-wielding thugs.”

Several flashes went off as photos were taken.

Romney barked, “Get those cameras out of my face. What is taking so long. I need a doctor. I’m bleeding to death.”

Then Mary Astrid appeared at his side. With a strained laugh, she patted his shoulder. “What he means to say is he is here to check on the welfare of his beloved bride, Charlotte Manwarring, whom he bravely tried to save by stepping in front of a bullet.”

Romney lowered his head in dramatic fashion as he gripped his arm. “Unfortunately, my mortal flesh was not able to stop it from hitting her.”

I didn’t give a fucking damn if he wanted to steal the glory.

But there was no goddamn way, I was going to let that bastard claim my girl as his beloved bride.

Fortunately, the paparazzi had already shifted their attention down the hall as Lucian, his son Luc, and daughter Olivia rushed into the hospital with Lucian bellowing at the top of his lungs, asking for a status on his daughter’s well-being.

If I’d learned anything in the military, half the strategy behind battle tactics… was timing.

---