Page 21 of Infinite
Ben raises his hand, and Charlie rushes over. I want to go, but I feel as though my incision is on fire. Slowly, I get myself to standing as the two of them talk. She heads back to me. “Come on, they’re coming out.”
“Alive?”
“I don’t know.”
The urge to cry is threatening to overtake me, but I hold back. I can’t fall apart. He needs me to be strong, and this isn’t the time for me to lose it. That part will come, and I am dreading it ever so much.
Jackson emerges first, his eyes are unreadable from this distance, but his posture is loose, almost relaxed. He stops and turns back toward the building as Liam exits, holding someone who appears to be limping. Jackson’s other arm wraps around the man’s torso, and I realize it’s Aaron.
I start to walk, forcing myself to ignore the pain. I just move. Quinn is somewhere. He’s either hurt or dead or perfectly fine, and no matter what, I need him. My pulse is racing as I keep moving, not hearing or concentrating on anything going on around me.
My focus is only on what could be behind that steel door.
It flies open.
I stop moving, waiting, as my legs feel like they could give out.
Then I see him.
His eyes are dark, his skin is dirty, and he’s still wearing the same clothes he left in that day. Mark holds him up, and then his gaze meets mine.
Quinn pushes Mark off and starts toward me, but in some recess of my brain, I remember to control myself, and I don’t move. As soon as he’s within my grasp, my hands move to his face. My God, he’s alive. He’s here, and I can touch him.
“Fragolina,” he says as a prayer. Never before has his voice sounded so perfect.
I touch his cheeks, moving my thumb across the bones below his eyes. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again,” I say the words with tears falling.
“I’m too much of a bastard to die.”
A half-laugh that turns into a sob escapes my throat. “I’m glad for it.” My hand continues to touch his face, his neck, his shoulders. “Are you hurt?”
“No, sweetheart, I’m okay.”
“The gunshots?”
Quinn turns to look at Aaron, but I pull his face back to me. I don’t want to go without seeing his eyes. “He got a shot off, but I was able to do what those three didn’t want to do.”
“You shot him?” I ask.
“I have really good aim and incapacitated him.” His dirty hands cup my face, wiping away the tears. “Are you okay?”
This is where I should tell him, but it isn’t the right time. I want to feel him, touch him, stay in this little slice of happiness before it’s gone. We’ll have to mourn our loss, live it all over again. I’m not ready.
Time is what we need.
Only we’re short on it. “Can we get you checked out before we talk about everything that’s happened?” I ask, hoping that he’ll give me just a sliver of what I ask.
“Are you okay?”
I nod. “I am now.”
He brings his lips to mine, giving me the sweetest kiss that is filled with his relief and flavored with tears.
When he pulls back, Quinn searches my eyes. “Then let’s get checked out so I can take a shower. Then I need you to reassure me that I haven’t lost you.”
I pull his mouth back to mine. “You haven’t.”But we’ve lost our child. I think to myself, hating the words as a new round of tears fall.
* * *
