Page 134 of Wish You Were Mine

Connor glanced up, ignoring my gratitude. But then, emotion always made him uncomfortable. “The paramedics are here. Are you ready to transfer her onto a stretcher?”

Part of me didn’t want to leave her care in anyone else’s hands, but she needed more than I could give her.

“We’ve got her,” Georgie, one of the paramedics, said as they set down a stretcher beside her. She directed us to each take a corner of the blanket and, with her guidance, we lifted Summer on. Georgie gripped one end, and her partner grabbed the other. They lifted the stretcher and began to walk back toward the road.

I fell into step beside them. “Where will you take her? I want to come.”

“An emergency helicopter will be at the medical center shortly,” Georgie said. “She’ll be flown to Christchurch from there.”

Then that’s where I’d go too.

“Have you been hurt?” Georgie asked, scanning me, no doubt noticing the blood that streaked my arms and torso.

“A little graze.” I held out my forearm to show her.

“That will need to be cleaned and bandaged.”

“I know. I can do it myself, as long as I have the supplies.” The wound had bled a lot, but it was hardly more than a narrow cut.

“You can do it in the ambulance. That way you’re not getting in the way during the flight.”

“Thanks.” I’d hoped they wouldn’t argue against letting me come with them. It was frowned upon to allow loved ones to ride along in case they tried to interfere, but they must trust me not to do that.

When we reached the ambulance, they loaded Summer into the back, and I sat in the passenger seat while Georgie passed me a few supplies and drove us to the medical center. She had to go slower than I’d have liked because of the snow on the road and the fallen trees blocking parts of it.

People must have already been out, getting started clearing the roads because a couple of trees had been sawn into pieces and moved aside, and grit and salt had been laid down to reduce the number of accidents.

I cleaned out my wound, layered gauze over it and taped a bandage on top. Only as we pulled into Destiny Falls did it occur to me that I wasn’t wearing a shirt. Biting the inside of my cheek, I reminded myself that my naked torso was nothing any paramedic hadn’t seen before.

Georgie pulled into the medical center and drove around the side of the building to the helicopter pad out the back. The helicopter was already there, as was Max, who was leaning inside to speak to the pilot.

I jumped out and strode over to them.

Max turned toward me immediately. “How bad is it?”

“GSW to the gut,” I told him. “Possibly a through-and-through, but I’m not certain. She’s lost a lot of blood.”

He nodded, his brows furrowed, and thrust a bag into my arms. “This has a change of clothes for both of you, as well as a few spare toiletries I had on hand.”

I cocked my head. “You’re coming with us, right?”

“Yes, but I’ll be busy. I need you to take this and update the family. My phone is in the front pocket.”

“Got it.” Of course, Summer’s parents must know by now. Three of their sons were already involved. Surely one of them had called Heather and Eugene. They’d be frantic. I was surprised they weren’t here, to be honest.

I hoisted myself into the helicopter and slunk away to the back, where I donned a set of headphones. Georgie and Max loaded Summer in, and then Max jumped in with us and shut the door. The pilot spoke through the headset and performed a few last-minute checks. Less than a minute later, we rose into the air above Destiny Falls.

Max’s phone vibrated as we were circling around Destiny Peak. I unzipped the front pocket and pulled it out. Liam was calling. I couldn’t answer, but I sent him a quick message to let him know I had the phone.

Liam: We’ll be close behind. Kennedy chartered a helicopter to Christchurch.

I almost laughed. At this point, Kennedy might as well buy a helicopter with how much trouble the Braddocks managed to get themselves into.

Asher: I’ll keep you updated.

The flight was over quickly. I found myself ushered into a hospital waiting room while she was whisked away to surgery. Max went with her to update the surgeon on her condition. I slumped onto a chair beside a vending machine and watched the minutes tick by on the clock on the wall.

The short time it took Max to return seemed to last forever.

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