Page 86 of Saved By the Officers

I swallowed down the unshed tears and cleared my throat. Guilt ate away at me for allowing what happened hours earlier. Now I sat in a cold hospital room, waiting.

Outside, a new night had descended, flooding the room in darkness. I should sleep—at least that was what the doctors and nurses told me—but how could I?

Half of my heart lay in the hospital bed just feet away.

Injured because of me, because I couldn’t control the damn SUV or react. And now….

A noise snapped my head up, the quick movement eliciting a hiss from my clenched teeth. Palms pressed to the metal armrests of the basic hospital chair, I stood, giving myself a second before venturing to the bedside.

The blankets shifted, bed trembling beneath the massive body lying on top. Hip to the bedrail, I searched Shade’s face, finding his dark eyes open and locked on me.

“Finally,” I said, forcing a tight smile. “Took you long enough to wake up.”

His face pulled into a grimace, making my fake grin fall. Grabbing the remote on the bed, I pushed the button for the nurse and then tossed it back down to the thin mattress.

“The hell happened?” he mumbled. When he lifted a hand toward his face, the IV tube caught on something, pulling at the needle in his hand. He glanced at it. “What the fuck?”

“You passed out after our minor traffic incident,” I said lightly, though the words added another layer of heavy-as-fuck guilt on my shoulders.

I watched as his eyes flicked, no doubt sorting through the memories. The second it all clicked into place, his dark eyes snapped to me.

“Georgia?”

At that exact moment, the door behind me pushed open.

“Trap?” Georgia whispered. “Stop crowding him. He’ll wake up—” A gasp cut her words off when she paused at my side. “You’re awake.” She vibrated beside me, no doubt holding herself back from launching into his arms.

At the scene, I didn’t have the heart to tell her how bad off Shade was after I’d dragged him from the SUV and left him to find Georgia. I didn’t know how it would turn out. As I held her waiting for the medics, I truly thought I’d lost my best friend.

Before I could explain what happened after he passed out, the door opened again. This time a nurse and Shade’s surgeon stepped into the room, flicking on the lights. I winced, heard Georgia’s groan, and noticed Shade slam his lids shut.

“Little warning next time, Doc,” I snapped. “I don’t want to add blindness to my list of fucking injuries.”

Georgia’s hip bumped against my thigh, no doubt chastising me for snapping at the doctor who saved Shade’s life.

On top of the compound fracture in his right leg, a rib snapped during the car accident and punctured his right lung. It took the doctors a while to repair the damage, though it was a successful surgery, and we were told he’d make a full recovery.

The doctor narrowed his eyes at me, grumbling something under his breath before turning to Shade and assaulting him with questions.

Georgia slipped a finger into my borrowed scrubs and tugged me toward the open door. Once we were out in the hall, she paused just outside the room and wrapped her arms around my waist. “Let’s give them a second to make sure he’s good. You need to call Caradee to let her know he’s awake and okay.”

I sighed, wanting to be in there with him, to protect him since he obviously couldn’t protect himself at the moment, but pulled my phone from the back pocket of the scrubs and frowned at the cracked screen. It sliced the tips of my fingers every time I went to make a call, but it was a small price to pay to let our friends know everyone was okay.

Well, “okay” wasn’t the right word.

Georgia had a concussion, bruises from head to toe, and a sprained wrist. Plus the emotional trauma we’d all sustained from the chase and ensuing shit show. Having a gun pressed to her forehead was something that would be difficult to overcome for Georgia, but we’d be there with her every step of the way.

At least the bastard who was seconds away from killing her was dead.

And her husband, who’d dragged her into all this mess.

Now, though battered and traumatized in various ways, she was free.

Grace too.

Where we went from here, I wasn’t sure, but I knew for a fucking fact that we would all be together. Shade. Georgia. Gracie. And me. An unconventional family, but a loving one, nonetheless.

Swiping the screen, I tapped the icon to call Caradee, who picked up on the second ring.

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