Page 72 of Searching Blind

“Jesus Christ, Sawyer,” one of their rescuers said. He was a big, intimidating man covered in tattoos. Lucy knew his name, but it had escaped her at that moment. “Why didn’t you invite us to the party sooner?”

Sawyer gave a weak chuckle. “You guys always have all the fun, Van. I thought it was my turn.”

Zak Hendricks crouched down beside them. “You two all right?”

Lucy looked at him, her vision blurring slightly. “Define all right.”

Zak’s gaze was steady, assessing. “Still breathing?”

“Yes,” she said, letting out a shaky laugh.

“Good. But I think we’ll still get you checked out.” He straightened and signaled Connelly over. “Sawyer’s in pretty rough shape. Lucy’s not much better.”

Lucy felt Connelly’s hands on her, checking for injuries. She mostly responded to his quiet questions and gentle prodding with nods and grunts.

Sawyer was lifted onto a stretcher, his face pinched with pain. As they carried him toward the helicopter, Lucy tried to stand up, but a wave of dizziness made her stumble.

“Easy there,” Connelly said, steadying her with a firm grip around her waist. “Let someone else be the hero now.”

She gave him a shaky smile but didn’t reply. Her focus was on Sawyer as he was loaded into the helicopter. “Will he be okay?”

“Oh, yeah. Some rest, some painkillers, and ice for that knee, and he’ll be back to his usual charming self in no time,” Connelly reassured her. His gaze landed on her leg and sharpened with concern. “Jesus. Were you shot?”

“Oh.” She looked down at her thigh and poked a finger at the very obvious bullet hole in her pants. “I don’t feel it.”

Even as she said the words, her vision dimmed. The last thing she heard was Connelly’s curse, and then the world spun out of her control. She was barely aware of the hard grip catching her as she collapsed.

chapter

twenty-five

Deja Vu.

Once again, Sawyer was sitting at Lucy’s bedside. But this time, he had no intention of leaving her. Ever. He was with her when they rolled her into surgery, and he stayed in that sterile waiting room until the doctors emerged with news. The bullet had barely missed her femoral artery, a stroke of luck in an otherwise shitty situation, but she’d lost a lot of blood. Now, she was out of surgery, safe, but still unconscious.

Sawyer ran his hand through his disheveled hair and blew out a breath. Zelda sat by his feet, her head resting on his bandaged knee. She whimpered softly and he reached down, stroking her head in reassurance even as frustration chewed at him. He wished he could’ve seen the danger. He should’ve seen that she was bleeding so heavily. He should’ve been protecting her, not the other way around.

“What are you doing in here?”

He frowned at Ash Rawlings’ gruff voice. “Waiting for her to wake up.”

“Weren’t you discharged an hour ago?”

“Yeah and what’s your point?” Sawyer retorted.

“You need to go home and rest.” There was a moment’s pause, some shuffling of clothes like he was digging in a pocket, then he said, “Yeah, he’s in her room.”

“Calling in reinforcements?” Sawyer asked bitterly.

“Have a feeling I’ll need them to cart your stubborn ass out of here.”

“I’m not leaving.” He reached out until he found Lucy’s cold hand, then tucked it between both of his to warm it. “You didn’t leave when Rose was in the hospital.”

“The difference was I hadn’t sustained your injuries hours beforehand.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m fine.”

Ash’s exhale told him the man was striving for patience. “Look, I talked to her doctor. She’s going to be okay, but she’s on a heavy dose of pain meds and won’t be waking up anytime tonight.”

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