Page 89 of Total Eclipse of the Moon
"Are you going back there again?"
"Probably."
"Then, no."
"You’re such an asshole."
"I am, but I’m an asshole who’s right."
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Shane rememberednothing of the trip to the airport. But he was alive. Thanks to whatever Madeline had done. He’d heard her as if down a long tunnel. He’d felt her near him.
They’d put him lying down across an aisle of seats with his head on a makeshift pillow of jackets. Uncomfortable. Breathing deep, he inhaled, trying to find her scent. Madeline. He picked her up a few seats away and concentrated on the steady beat of her heart, which his sensitive ears could pinpoint. He followed the even ins and outs of her breathing that confirmed she was okay. Although injured, her heart didn’t struggle. It wasn’t long before sleep took him. The combination of exhaustion, blood loss, and the need to bliss out carried him into a dreamless sleep.
He woke to the sensation of being lifted. Bright light burned his retinas to the point he tried to cover his eyes but his hand wouldn’t obey his brain’s command. Too weak.
Roman carried him through a concrete building with bright lights and blue walls, and then he was in a car. He wanted to vocalize concern at being separated from Madeline, but the passing of city lights outside the car mesmerized him back into sleep.
Until there were voices. Quite a few of them. Doors opened and shut. A whole lot of white light blinded him again.
"He’s having the arrhythmia again." Dom’s tone was level as he leaned away after listening to his chest and removed the stethoscope tips from his ears to drape the device around his neck. "Get Madeline over here."
Madeline’s face came in close above him. Shane held her gaze, although she looked worn out. She said, "Hang in there."
"Shane?" Dom’s voice came from the left. "I’m going to give you an IV to help stabilize your heart. You got shot through your chest and it’s not happy healing that area. It’s not healing well at all. You’ve lost too much blood, there’s a heart arrhythmia, and rib fractures that we’re contending with. No clue if any of the ribs punctured your lungs. Probably. Hell, there’s a big hole in your chest. I’ve got to restore normal air pressure to your chest."
He tried to speak but the pressure in his lungs hurt too much to try. Had to speak.
"No drugs," he forced out as a raspy whisper. "Pain okay." Saying that much hurt his chest from the ribs that were shattered and the lack of inflation of all lung lobes. There’d been other moments like this when he’d been injured to the brink of death. His body could resolve this, but it would take time. What he despised was being sedated and unable to control his own body.
"You’ll want me to give you something," Dom said evenly. "I have to retrieve the bullet that’s right next to your heart and causing this arrhythmia."
"Use magic to pull it out,"he thought to Dom. Would the mage hear him? Talking became impossible. No oxygen. Had to breathe. No matter how much he sucked to get in more air, it wasn’t enough. He felt as if a one-ton elephant sat on his chest. An attempt to look down at his chest failed. The room around him shifted and wobbled as if his brain was about to force him to pass out.
Nope. Staying flat was the only thing possible.
There was a soft touch stroking his hair. From his peripheral vision he saw her next to him, parked in a rolling chair. Madeline.Don’t leave me.He wondered what he looked like with a big crater in his chest or how it was possible his heart hadn’t exploded with the impact.
If this was how he went to the afterlife, then so be it. He wanted her here like he wanted her beside him forever.
* * *
"He passed out,"Dom announced. "Madeline, go to the kitchen and get your leg patched up. I’ll take care of him from here."
"No. I want to stay. To be here. I need to see—"
"Go. I got this." Dom pointed at the door. "You have to take care of yourself now."
"I thought you couldn't use magic on him."
"I can't, but I'm good at medicine. I got this."
Madeline slowly stood. The world wobbled. She caught herself on the wall and waited for the dizziness to pass.
"Let me help," Antonio offered, moving forward.
She waved him off and limped out the door.
