Page 159 of Always Be an Us

Outside of my panic, I can hear someone talking to a 911 operator. Monty probably. There are more gunshots which means the gunmen are either dead or gone. I don't care about them. I only focus on saving Declan.

"Please." The plea tears out of my throat followed by a sob when Declan doesn’t wake up. No matter how much I pump. No matter how much I beg.

Hot tears pour down my cheek. Pain lacerates my chest. "Please, Declan. Please."

Then, almost impossibly, his eyes pop open and he heaves a nasty, wet cough.

Water gurgles out of his mouth and he continues coughing and I back away allowing him to roll over. He sits up and flops weakly but then he blinks at me, "Emma?"

I throw my arms around his neck and just hold him, inhaling him. I can't believe he woke up. I shake my head as the sobs choke out of my throat.

His hand weakly pats my back. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving you." Monty's voice comes from behind me. "I know I wasn't supposed to bring her but she insisted."

I pull away slightly to find Declan looking confused. He attempts to rise, but I shake my head. "Stay down. You may have lost a lot of blood, and I don’t want you passing out."

"My daughter…"

"Amelia is safe. She’s in the car with Micah." We found Amelia on our way up and she told us Declan was still there. When we heard gunshots, we told Micah to take her back to the car and stay low until we returned. "We told her to stay hidden until we come back."

He swallows. "Micah is here?"

I nod. "He just showed up. More importantly, we need to wait for the cops to get here.".

"Rick." Declan shakes his head. "I don’t know where he went. And there were more men there. This thing might be bigger than what we thought."

"It’s fine. We’ll deal with it later, but for now, we need to get you out of here and back."

"I can walk." He gets up. "It will take too long to wait for an ambulance. I want to see my daughter now."

I want to say no, but he’s already moving. Monty and I share a look and Monty shrugs.

I sigh. Declan is partway right. It’s already raining and by the time an ambulance gets to us it might be too late. We might get trapped in these woods for the second time and that really would be the worst-case scenario.

"Lean on us," I tell him, then tell Monty, "Hold his other side. Watch your step." The journey down is by no means easy. The path is rocky and slippery, and the rain obstructs our vision.

But eventually, we emerge from the forest to the sound of Amelia crying out for her father.

Declan is a terrible patient. The entire time the doctors fuss over him, trying to get him to stay overnight for observation, but he only grouches and insists he’s fine. But then again, he said he was fine too back in the car when he was two seconds away from passing out. He said he was fine even as they wheeled him in because he stumbled getting out of the car. And now, on strong pain meds, barely stitched up, he still says those cursed words, "I’m fine."

"Stop saying that," I finally snap. "You’re not fine, none of this is fine."

The thunder cracks outside. I was standing by the window watching the rain, but now I turned to him. I wait for him to say anything, but he merely smiles.

He reaches out his hand. "Come here."

I shake my head.

"You’re shaking," he says. "Let me hold you."

"You’re too weak."

"Don’t insult me."

Unable to resist, I take his hand and he draws me closer into his arms.

"You know the one thing I regretted back when I thought I was going to die?" he says and the words make me flinch.

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