Page 24 of Shattered

“I’m so sorry,” Briar murmured, skillfully zipping her way in and out of traffic, doing everything she could to get Taya to the hospital as fast as possible.

Unable to answer, Taya nodded. She pictured Nathan on the operating table, his beautiful, strong body torn and burned. Cut open while the surgeons fought to repair the damage to his internal organs. She struggled to remember what she’d said and done before he’d left this morning. Had she kissed him? Told him she loved him?

Time dragged until Briar sped up to the Emergency entrance doors. Taya’s fingers were so cold she fumbled to get the seatbelt undone, and by the time she had, Briar was right there, opening the door for her. “Come on. They’re all inside waiting for us.”

Panic and dread sluiced through her. She didn’t think she could take seeing the rest of the team right now, the pity on their faces. Seeing them all healthy while her husband was fighting for his life in the operating room.

Briar took her hand. Taya closed her numb fingers around Briar’s, her body on autopilot as she followed the other woman through the large automatic doors.

The musky, slightly sweet smell of the hospital made bile rush into her throat. She swallowed hard, her heart beating like the wings of a frantic, trapped bird beneath her ribs. The overhead lights seemed overly bright, casting a glare over everything.

When they rounded the corner, she stopped dead, her feet refusing to carry her any farther. The low murmur of male voices stopped, everyone falling silent as the five remaining members of Nathan’s team stood and faced her.

All five of them were dressed in the same tactical uniforms that Nathan had been wearing when he’d left this morning. All five of their faces streaked with smoke and grime, their uniforms smattered with blood. A few of the women were there as well.

Rachel was pressed into Jake’s side, her dark hair mussed, eyes swollen.

Summer had her arms around Adam’s waist, her skin blotchy and her nose red.

Celida clung to Tuck’s hand.

Zoe stood next to Clay with a serious case of bedhead going on and not a drop of her usual dramatic makeup on, her husband’s powerful arm draped over her shoulders in silent comfort.

They all stared at Taya in utter silence. And the weight of all those sympathetic eyes on her was more than she could bear.

A cry of fear and hysteria shot up into her throat. Taya bit it back, somehow kept it from bursting free even though she wanted to scream, wake up from this nightmare.

Tuck stepped forward, his deep brown eyes full of sorrow. “Taya.” He lifted a hand as though he would lay it on her shoulder.

Taya retreated a step, unable to stand him touching her. Tuck lowered his hand and didn’t say anything. She wrapped her arms around her torso, freezing inside, and found her voice. “Are they still operating?” The words came out hoarse, as though she’d been screaming. And she had been, inside.

He nodded, his face lined with concern. “He’s been under for over forty-five minutes now.”

So he was still alive. “Did they tell you anything else?”

“No. Nothing yet.”

“Was he conscious at all?”

Tuck shook his dark blond head. “I got to him as soon as I could. But he wasn’t conscious.”

She prided herself on staying calm. On looking at the positive. Except her husband had never fought for his life like this. She’d never been on the verge of losing the man she loved with all hear heart.

Staring into Tuck’s sorrowful eyes, she broke. Her face crumpled. She buried it in her hands, at once embarrassed and overcome. Her shoulders jerked, the first hard sob tearing free from between her clenched teeth. It came out ragged. Raw. The cry of a mortally wounded animal.

Strong, yet gentle hands gripped her shoulders and tugged her forward. She was powerless to resist as Tuck drew her to his chest, wrapping her close in his arms. “He’s a fighter, Taya,” he murmured, his tactical shirt smelling of smoke and sweat. “You know how stubborn he is. And he’s going to do everything in his power to pull through this, because he’s got you and the baby to live for. He’ll fight for you.”

He knew about the baby. Nathan must have told them this morning, before boarding the plane.

Taya leaned her forehead on his chest and battled to stem the tears, but it was so hard when her heart was fracturing into a thousand jagged shards of glass.

She became aware of another hand rubbing her back gently, realized Briar was still there. Taya sucked in a shuddering breath and straightened, wiped at her eyes with the heels of her hands. “I want to talk to a doctor,” she choked out. She needed to know what was happening, and she needed to know itnow.

“Okay.”

Tuck and Briar steered her over to the row of plastic chairs that lined the hallway wall. Clay’s hard face seemed carved from granite when he gently clasped her shoulder as she passed. The others murmured to her, words of sympathy and encouragement, and stepped out of her way. Then Tuck put her into a chair with the promise of bringing back someone to update her on Nathan’s condition.

Zoe crouched down in front of her, her turquoise-streaked black hair hanging lank around her shoulders. “Hey, sweetie.” She took one of Taya’s hands, folded her warmer ones around it gently, and squeezed. “No matter what happens, we’re all here for you, okay? Every last one of us.”

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