“Breathing appears to be normal,” Lettie said, but each word came out on a labored exhale, indicating the same could not be said for her. “Layla?”
“Nasty gash on her forehead, and she seems to have hit her head pretty hard.” He looked Lettie over. One of the large exposed beams from the ceiling was across her midsection, along with a good portion of the wall and what Lucas assumed from the shingles, part of the roof. “We need to get you out of here.”
“I can’t move.”
Lucas began shifting debris off her until she let out a scream.
“Lucas, get Layla and the baby out and come back for me,” Lettie said through a clenched jaw. “It’s going to take time to get me free. If you get them out, they can get medical care while I get out from under this.”
He shook his head, every fiber of his being yelling at him that this was not a good idea. He glanced over his shoulder where Layla still sat, dazed and confused.
“The guys are outside,” he finally said. “I’ll get Layla and the baby to them, and come back for you.”
Lettie nodded, lifted the baby as much as she could, and dropped her head to the floor once the baby was safely tucked against Lucas’s body. “I’ll be here,” she murmured.
Lucas darted across the debris covered floor, bent over, and wrapped his arm around Layla’s waist, lifting her to her feet. She pushed against him, shocked, almost combative. That wasn’t good. His knowledge from Mick and Lettie, and experience in the field, told him that people with closed head injuries often went ballistic when being treated.
He tightened his grip around her, cutting down her ability to squirm out of his hold, and made his way to the front of the house. The door burst open just as he made his way through what was once the living room.
Mason stood at the front door, his hulking mass filling the entire open door frame. He glanced at the bundle in Lucas’s arms, his eyes widening with recognition of what was inside the towel. He pulled Layla toward him, and snatched the baby from Lucas. “You okay?”
“Yeah, but Lettie is trapped under heavy debris. I’m going back for her.”
“Not a good idea, man,” Mason said. “Another explosion could take down the rest of the house. We need to wait for an expolsives unit to get here. Fire trucks are enroute.”
“I can’t leave her in there.”
Mason pursed his lips into a thin white line, but nodded at Lucas before turning and darting across the front yard.
The second explosion blew Lucas across the yard. He landed with a thud on his back. All the air from his lungs burst from his chest. HIs eyes watched the bright orange fireball plume over the house.
He couldn’t move. He was paralyzed.
Lettie.
His vision flooded with memories of their first date, their engagement, their wedding. The night they spent together less than twenty-four hours earlier. When life felt almost new again. Like he could finally breathe after all the uncertainty of the past year.
And now…it could all be gone.
She could be gone.
His brain kicked into gear. He inhaled deeply, his lungs filling with air. He sat up. The fireball was turning to black soot.
“Lettie,” he yelled, jumping to his feet. Without a second thought, he ran toward the burning house, bolting through the flames. When he got to the bedroom, he dropped to the floor, and crawled to the area where he had last seen her. Last spoke to her.
Please don’t let that be the last time I hear her voice.
He reached his hand out in front of him, unable to see anything through the smoke and flames overhead. His fingers felt strands of silk. He scrambled to her body, pushing the hair from her face. Her eyes were closed, lips slightly parted. He remembered how seeing her like this the previous night had made his heart swell. If he didn’t know better, he would’ve thought she had drifted off to sleep. But he did know better, and his gut was telling him that Lettie was in trouble.
“Baby?” He leaned his head over, his cheek almost grazing her lips, and held his breath. The slightest trace of warm air tickled the fine hairs on his cheek. She was breathing, but just barely. And he doubted she had much time if he didn’t get her medical attention.
Running his hands down her body, his hand struck the large beam still resting on her midsection. He pushed against it, but it was anchored on the other end by debris from the wall and roof, and wouldn’t budge an inch. He stood, grasping the beam from underneath. Bending his knees, he used every ounce of energy to lift the beam.
Nothing.
He dropped to his knees. “Fuck!”
Placing his hands on either side of her face, he kissed her gently on the lips. “Don’t leave me, Lettie. Don’t you dare give up.”
“Lucas,” someone shouted behind him.
He looked over his shoulder and could barely make out dark figures coming toward him. Mason and Ben came into view, and Lucas nearly wept at the sight of them.
“She’s trapped under the beam,” he said. “I can’t get it to move.”
Mason shoved Lucas aside. He and Ben positioned themselves a few feet apart and grasped the large piece of wood. “Three, two, one.”
The men grunted. The beam shifted slightly. Lucas grasped Lettie and pulled, but there was not enough height to get her clear.
A guttural roar came from Mason. The beam lifted. Lucas yanked on Lettie’s lifeless body, and dragged it through the debris. Ben stepped to the side as Mason thrust the beam away from them.
Lucas stood and scooped Lettie into his arms. Ben looped the end of a rope around Lucas’s waist before securing it around his own. Mason grasped Lucas’s shoulder, bringing up the rear. Carefully and as hastily as he could, Ben led them out of the smoke-filled house.
The fresh air hit them like a Nordic blast. Lucas relished the icy crystals assaulting his lungs. Paramedics raced toward them. Someone tried to take Lettie from him, but he refused to let go of her.
“Sir, you need to give her to us.”
That was the last thing Lucas was going to do. He finally had her back—and he truly believed he had all of her back—heart, body, and soul. No way was he giving her up now.
Ben stood in front of him, staring him in the eyes. “Lucas, you can’t help her. Let the medics take her to the hospital.”
Lucas shook his head, disbelieving what his friend was saying.
“Look at me, Lucas. You know me—you know what I’ve been through. I was right here, in the very same position. I wouldn’t tell you to do this unless I knew it was for the best.”
Ben slipped his arms under Lettie and gently lifted her body. “Trust me. I promise I won’t let anything happen to her. You saved my girl once. It’s time I repaid the favor.”
Lucas dropped his arms, every ounce of fight in him was gone. He trusted Ben. But he just wasn’t sure if anything could be done to save Lettie.
And he would have to learn to live without her all over again. Only this time, he knew he wouldn’t survive without her.
Chapter 17
Lucas shifted the bouquet of red roses from one hand to the other, and back again. He had no idea why he was so fucking nervous. It wasn’t like he and Lettie hadn’t been together every day since she woke up in the hospital.
A shiver coursed through his spine at the memory of seeing her hooked up to machines, a tube sticking out of her mouth to help her breathe, and the constant bleating of the heart monitor. But it was the unknowns that bumped up against Lucas’s thrid rail. Anxiety and worry were his constant companions during those days when he wasn’t sure what her condition would be when she finally came out of the coma.
If she came out of it.
Layla had come by once with the baby, and that had helped pull him from his funk temporarily. But as soon as she and the baby left, Lucas slipped further into a black hole of depression, sad that Lettie hadn’t been awake to see the beautiful child she helped bring into the world. To see that she had saved the girl from death when the house exploded.
And he was more afraid Lettie would miss out on seeing the girl grow up.
The day he had woken from the chair he was sleeping in beside her bed—her gorgeous brown eyes staring at him—was the greatest day of his life. When she whispered his name, he nearly dropped to his knees and wept, knowing she would be okay.
They would be okay.
So, what was his problem? She was about to get released from the hospital. Their lives were about to get back to normal. But something was still niggling at the back of his brain. Some loose string attached to his heart he was nervous was the start of everything in his world unraveling.
He knocked lightly on her hospital room door before walking inside. She was dressed, sitting on the bed, cell phone to her ear.
“Yes, thank you,” she said. Her eyes met his, a small smile played across her lips, but she seemed suddenly nervous at the sight of him. “I’m looking forward to working with you, too. I’ll let you know when I get there.” She pressed a button and ended the call, placing the phone beside her on the bed.
Alarm bells started clanging in his head. The thread attached to his heart gave a hard tug, and he felt his heart begin to break into a thousand pieces. She was leaving him again.
“Hey,” she said. She pointed to the bouquet in his hand. “Are those for me?”
“Yep.” He stepped beside the bed and thrust them toward her. The pit of his stomach hardened, and sweat rolled down his back. “Who was on the phone?”
She lifted the flowers to her nose and inhaled deeply. “Mmm, they smell so good.” She reached for his hand and coaxed him to sit next to her on the bed.
“So, I know we agreed that I wouldn’t make decisions without first discussing things with you first—”
And here we go…
He shifted uncomfortably next to her, rage simmering just below the surface.
“But an opportunity came up that I was worried wouldn’t last long, so I took it.”
He rubbed the bridge of his nose, wondering how he could’ve been so stupid as to have believed she had changed. To her credit, she had become a very adept liar and had given an Oscar-worthy performance of how she loved him and was never leaving again. “Where are you going this time and for how long?”
“Um, well…back home.”
His mind went fuzzy for a moment as the words did there best to make sense. He looked at her, her eyes slightly narrowed.
“Home?” he asked.
“Yeah, Newport.”
He shook his head, a lame attempt to clear the cloud of confusion from his brain. “I’m not following.”
“The head of Pediatrics here came to see me a couple of days ago, after hearing how I had delivered Layla’s baby, survived the explosion, yadda, yadda, yadda. Anyway, a good friend of hers from medical school has a family practice in Newport. She made a call to him, and—what do you know—he is looking for another doctor to join the practice.”
She laid the flowers on the rolling table and clasped both of Lucas’s hands in hers. “Now, I had originally thought I could just start my own practice back there, but the more I thought about it—I don’t actually have any patients in Newport, except for Layla and her baby. Anyway, that was him on the phone. I had no idea he was going to offer me a job, but then he did…”
The smile on her face lit up her face. Hell, it lit up the entire damn room. Lucas would’ve given her anything she wanted in that moment, seeing how happy she was.
“Please don’t be mad at me for not talking to you first before I took the job. I was just really nervous he would find someone else, and the opportunity would be gone.” She was quiet for a moment. “Are you mad?”
Guilt wrapped around Lucas like an angry wave threatening to drown him. How had it been so easy for him to think Lettie had been stringing him along? Lying to him, when every indication was that she wanted exactly what she had been saying. Their marriage. A life with him. A family.
“Of course, I’m not mad, baby,” he said, lifting her hands to his lips. “I’m happy if you’re happy.”
She smiled and leaned in, pressing her lips against his. “I’m happy we are together. I’m happy we are going to grow old together. I’m ecstatic to be getting out of this hospital, and excited to go home…with you.” She gave him another kiss that sent hot blood straight to Lucas’s groin. He was happy they were going to try to start a family soon, if for no other reason than he had a lot of practice sessions to make up for since she had been gone for a year.
She hopped off the bed, shoved her cell phone into the back pocket of her jeans, and picked up the flowers , cradling them in the crook of her arm. “I can’t wait to see the baby again.”
“Michaela Scarlett,” he said as he stood.
“What?” Tears sat on the rim of her eyes threatening to spill over.
He stepped into her, swiped at a tear as it rolled down her cheek, and kissed the very tip of her nose. “The baby—Layla named her Michaela Scarlett.”
Also by Anne L. Parks
The 13 Series
•Mia
•Ritt
•Mason – Special Forces World
Lucas - Special Forces World
Military Romance Novella
•Conrad - Brotherhood Protectors
The Return To Me Series
•The Return
•Return To Newport
•Lauren’s Return
•Returning Home
•RSVP
The Tri-Stone Trilogy
•Of Demons & Stones
•Revenge
•Vindication
Standalone’s & Anthologies
•Strangers
•Retribution, A Silent Cove Novel
There are many more books in this fan fiction world than listed here, for an up-to-date list go to www.AcesPress.com
You can also visit our Amazon page at:
http://www.amazon.com/author/operationalpha
Special Forces: Operation Alpha World
Denise Agnew: Dangerous to Hold
Shauna Allen: Awakening Aubrey
Brynne Asher: Blackburn
Jennifer Becker: Hiding Catherine
Julia Bright: Saving Lorelei
Victoria Bright: Surviving Savage
Victoria Bright: Going Ghost
Cara Carnes: Protecting Mari
Kendra Mei Chailyn: Beast
Melissa Kay Clarke: Rescuing Annabeth
Samantha A. Cole: Handling Haven
Sue Coletta: Hacked
Melissa Combs: Gallant
KaLyn Cooper: Rescuing Melina
Liz Crowe: Marking Mariah
Jordan Dane: Redemption for Avery
Jordan Dane: Fiona’s Salvation
Riley Edwards: Protecting Olivia
Riley Edwards: Redeeming Violet
Riley Edwards, Recovering Ivy
Nicole Flockton: Protecting Maria
Casey Hagen: Shielding Nebraska
Desiree Holt: Protecting Maddie
Kathy Ivan: Saving Sarah
Jesse Jacobson: Protecting Honor
Silver James: Rescue Moon
Becca Jameson: Saving Sofia
Kate Kinsley: Protecting Ava
Heather Long: Securing Arizona
Gennita Low: No Protection
Kirsten Lynn: Joining Forces for Jesse
Margaret Madigan: Bang for the Buck
Rachel McNeely: The SEAL’s Surprise Baby
KD Michaels: Saving Laura
Wren Michaels: The Fox & The Hound
Kat Mizera: Protecting Bobbi
Mary B Moore: Force Protection
LeTeisha Newton: Protecting Butterfly
MJ Nightingale: Protecting Beauty
Sarah O’Rourke: Saving Liberty
Debra Parmley: Protecting Pippa
Lainey Reese: Protecting New York
Jenika Snow: Protecting Lily
Jen Talty: Burning Desire
Megan Vernon: Protecting Us
Megan Verno
n: Protecting Earth
Police and Fire: Operation Alpha World
Freya Barker: Burning for Autumn
KaLyn Cooper: Justice for Gwen
Aspen Drake: Sheltering Emma
Deanndra Hall: Shelter for Sharla
Deanndra Hall:Justice for Aleta
Barb Han: Kace
Reina Torres: Justice for Sloane
Stacey Wilk: Stage Fright
As you know, this book included at least one character from Susan Stoker’s books. To check out more, see below.
SEAL of Protection: Legacy Series
Securing Caite
Securing Brenae (novella)
Securing Sidney
Securing Piper (Aug 2019)
Securing Zoey (Jan 2020)
Securing Avery (May 2020)
Securing Kalee (Sept 2020)
Delta Force Heroes Series
Rescuing Rayne (FREE!)
Rescuing Aimee (novella)
Rescuing Emily
Rescuing Harley
Marrying Emily (novella)
Rescuing Kassie
Rescuing Bryn
Rescuing Casey
Rescuing Sadie (novella)
Rescuing Wendy
Rescuing Mary
Rescuing Macie (Novella)
Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes Series
Justice for Mackenzie (FREE!)
Justice for Mickie
Justice for Corrie
Justice for Laine (novella)
Shelter for Elizabeth
Justice for Boone
Shelter for Adeline
Shelter for Sophie
Justice for Erin
Justice for Milena
Shelter for Blythe
Justice for Hope
Shelter for Quinn
Shelter for Koren (July 2019)
Shelter for Penelope (Oct 2019)
SEAL of Protection Series
Protecting Caroline (FREE!)
Lucas - Anne L Parks Page 7
