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“Good, I’m glad her pain is under control. So, I’ll get right to it. We will need to remove the bullet in surgery. It’s very close to a large blood vessel, and we don’t want to risk compromising the vessel by removing it manually at the bedside.”

Keegan grimaced. “I wish Gabby was able to translate.”

“The hospital has translators. Do you need one?” Dr. White asked.

“Oh, no, that’s not what I meant. Gabby’s a nurse and will soon be a nurse practitioner. She speaks medical, and I don’t.”

“Oh, my apologies,” Dr. White said. “Let me try again. The bullet is very close to a large vein and a large artery in her shoulder. If we try to remove it at the bedside, we could easily hit one of those vessels and cause her to bleed excessively. There is still a risk of hitting one of those vessels during surgery, but they have the tools necessary to stop the bleeding right away if that were to occur. In Gabby’s case, surgery is the safer option.”

“Thank you, doctor,” Keegan said sincerely. “What about her hands?”

“She has multiple fractures on each hand. I don’t think any of them require surgical intervention, but I’m going to ask the orthopedic doctors to come by and see her. In the meantime, we’ll wrap her hands to stabilize and protect them until Ortho makes their recommendations.”

“When will she be going to surgery?” I asked.

“I don’t have a solid answer to give you. I believe there’s only one emergency surgery ahead of her, and it’s already in progress. If I had to guess, it’ll probably be within the hour, but don’t hold me to that,” he said.

Keegan breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, good. That means Patch will be out soon.”

“The man currently in surgery is our friend. He and Gabby were shot by the same person,” I clarified.

He gasped in surprise. “She’s the one who helped Patch?”

“Yes, she is,” I confirmed.

“She saved his life,” he said seriously.

“She did?” Keegan asked. “I’m not doubting her by any means. I just didn’t realize his injuries were life-threatening.”

“Yes, she did. And she did a damn fine job. From what the paramedics said, she stopped him from bleeding to death by squeezing the vessel with her fingers until EMS arrived and clamped it with hemostats.”

“That explains a lot,” I said. “Thank you.”

“Last I heard, the surgery was going better than expected. They should be finishing up soon. I’ll be sure to keep you guys updated,” he said and left the room.

“Why did you say, ‘that explains a lot’?” Keegan asked.

“When I got there, she was laser-focused on Patch. She asked me to help him move to the exam table. Then she never left his side. They were quietly talking back and forth, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. She also had me busy securing Lauren and making phone calls. It didn’t occur to me until just now that she was keeping me busy, while I’m sure her and Patch knew exactly what was going on. Then when EMS arrived, she rattled off all kinds of medical jargon. I was watching her closely when they took over. It was almost seamless the way her hands moved out of the way and were replaced by a new set of hands. Seconds later, they rushed out the door with Patch. Then, Gabby collapsed. She really was running on pure adrenaline.”

“That’s why she keeps asking about him,” Keegan said quietly. “She knew it was much worse than they let on. Why didn’t she tell us?”

“He asked me not to,” Gabby mumbled. “He didn’t want anyone to worry if they didn’t need to.”

“They said you saved his life,” Keegan told her.

“So he’s okay?”

“He’s still in surgery, but they said it was going better than expected and should be over soon. The doctor we spoke with said you did a damn fine job. The paramedics did, too.”

“Will you let me know when he’s out of surgery? Even if you have to wake me up?”

“About that. Once he’s out of surgery, it’s your turn,” Keegan said gently.

“Damn it,” Gabby cursed. “I knew it. I fucking knew I’d have to have surgery. Why? Is it lodged in the bone? Am I going tobe able to predict the weather based on the way my shoulder aches?”

“The doctor said the bullet was near a large blood vessel, and they need to remove it during surgery in case they hit the vessel and cause it to bleed,” Keegan explained. “And I don’t know how to answer your question about the weather.”

“Oh, well, that’s not as bad as I thought. It must be near the axillary artery and vein. They’re being cautious. I’m okay with that. What about my hands?”

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