Page 74 of Special Agent Jennie

Chapter Fifty-three

Jennie’s throat hurt and so did her head. The lump under her hair proved she’d taken quite a hit and when the EMTs insisted she needed to get checked out at the hospital, she only argued for a short while.

“Fine. But only if you bring Lisa along and make sure she’s okay. There’s a bad burn on her hand that should be taken care of.”

“Yes, ma’am. We’re on it.”

If seeing Kane hadn’t been so important, she probably would have just laid back and let them take care of everything, but she’d known the danger she’d placed him in and metaphorically kicked herself for thinking her help would make a difference.

Thank goodness Lisa had heard back from Lance and according to the message, the good guys had ruled and both him and Kane were fine. In fact, the main reason she’d given in to them taking her to the hospital was because Kane would be meeting them there.

Guess he had enough pull with his brothers in blue that he could pretty much have his way. Seems once he heard they were heading there, he pushed for them to change their route so they could meet up.

Glad of the oxygen in the ambulance, she laid back and let Lisa release her anxiety by ranting on as was her norm. Whenever the kid got into a pickle, both her and Baba would have to let her rant. Jennie remembered one time when Lisa had been hit on by a lesbian in her college dorm. She’d gone on for so long about not sending the wrong signal that Jennie caught Baba sneaking out. Catching her, she questioned, “Baba, where do you think you’re going? Lisa’s telling us about her situation.”

“Gotta go bathroom.” The twinkle in her eyes became more pronounced. “Maybe after that, I take taxi to Poland. You her mother, you listen. I go.”

Tonight, Jennie didn’t blame her daughter for most of what she blabbered on about. After all, she had handcuffed her to the car. And she had gone into a dangerous situation without knowing what to expect.

Thing is, Jennie would probably do it again to save Kane from being hurt. After all, wasn’t that what one did when they loved another? Try to protect them in dangerous situations? It’s what she’d done for Lisa all her life… guard her. Smooth the rough edges and make her life easier when the hard stuff happened.

Sighing, she admitted now after her harrowing experience that she loved the son of a bitch – always had and always would. Thirty-seven years old and here she lay, sighing over seeing him again soon like a teenager in heat.

***

Kane made them drop him off at the hospital and no one had any intentions of denying him or refusing to take his orders. The man was a legend and every cop there felt happy to see him alive after knowing how dangerous the earlier situation had been.

Once officer Joe Walker had shared the facts of what had gone down inside the house, how Kane had put himself in the line of danger to stop more bloodshed, not one man there would have argued.

Letting him and Lance out at a side entrance, both wearing bogus arm slings as the reason for them to be there, Kane waved his thanks and rushed into the hospital.

They’d given him and Lance the side-by-side room numbers for both the ladies and once on the appropriate floor, they split up. “I’ll just give you a minute with Jennie and check on Lisa.” Lance didn’t look to see the grin on Kane’s face.

“You do that. I’ll be around to say hi in a few minutes.”

“Take your time. I know you want to make sure Jennie wasn’t badly hurt.”

Kane nodded, hiding his glee from the other man’s pretended nonchalance, and opened the first door.

She was in a hospital gown but rather than lying down, she was perched on the side of the bed, her legs dangling over the edge as she seemed to contemplate life. The minute she saw him in the doorway, she jumped down and ran, her arms open wide.

He scooped her close and kissed her like he’d never get enough. His rough voice belied by his gentle hands kept saying over and over again, “Are you okay? Where does it hurt? Did you get burned?”

Voice tender and filled with gravel, she urged him to stop. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. Just a bit of smoke. My head’s okay. Stop being such a worrywart. That’s my job.”

He forced her away so she could see his truth. “If you had died because of me, I’d have ceased to exist too. I thought my life was over before when I lost you, but this time would be twice as hard. I-I couldn’t bear it again.” He wrapped her tightly in his arms without hurting her and strangely he moved side to side as if the delight of having her so close was just too big to stay still.

Or maybe it was her forcing the movement. All he knew was that she welcomed him. What more could a man want?

“You love me, right… as much as I adore you? Jesus, woman, put me out of my misery.” Kane had to hear those words from her lips… said in her wonderful soft voice. Hopefully, then he’d believe it.

“Of course, I do, Kane. In some strange way, I always have. So, you know, there’s never been another man who even came close. You can check that with Baba. She’s lived with me all these years and has recently told me I’m a one-man woman.”

“Very intelligent, your grandma. Always thought so.”

“Don’t be buttering her up. She’s my ally in this relationship.”

He laughed in delight. “I just have to arrive hungry, and she’s butter in my hands.” He kissed her smiling face and got serious again. “Guess the past has been the same for me. No one has ever come even close to you.”

“Then let’s put the horribleness of those years behind us and start fresh. I’m Jennie Sarnowski and I have a lovely twenty-year-old daughter who recently found the wonderful father she’d yearned for all her life.”

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