BULLETPROOF BRIDE

by Diana Duncan

  The tiny blonde planted her fists on her hips. "You got a problem with that?"

  He looked down at the green cotton shirt she'd put on him. She had matching pants draped over her arm. "Surgical scrubs? Where did these come from?"

  "Sometimes you're better off not knowing." She arched her elfin brows. "You're freezing, your jeans are soaked and necessity is the mother of invention. You going to shuck those pants, big guy, or do you need help?"

  "This isn't an audience participation event."

  "If I recall, you didn't have any qualms about hanging around in the ladies' room." In spite of the pain shadowing her eyes, she smiled. "All right. If you can handle this on your own, I'll be in the waiting area."

  She left, and he changed into the scrubs. She'd even found him a pair of those slipper-type shoes surgeons wore into the operating room. Feeling a little warmer and less stunned, he trekked back to the waiting room. "Any word about—" His throat closed up.

  "No." She rose. "Sit down, before you fall down." She stood on tiptoe, placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed him into a chair. She shoved a steaming cup of coffee into his right hand and a giant-size candy bar into the left. "Drink. Eat."

  "Bossy little thing, aren't you?"

  "Tess needs us. We've got to be strong for her."

  His throat constricted again. He'd seen drownings before. He knew what happened to the brain when the body was deprived of oxygen for too long. Bile churned in his gut. He carefully set his coffee and candy bar on the table beside him.

  "She will make it." Melody's chin wobbled, then firmed. "I refuse to believe otherwise." She thrust the coffee back into his hand. "You look terrible. Get something in your stomach or I'll rustle up an IV. I'm quick to pick up new skills, but I'd probably have to jab you at least half a dozen times."

  "Aye-aye, ma'am." The corner of his mouth quirked. "Far be it from me to take on the pint-size blond tornado who whipped Steel Lucille's butt." He managed to drink the coffee and choke down half the Snickers bar. "Did you—" he swallowed down a lump that wasn't a peanut. "Call her mother?"

  "Yes. She was in L.A." Melody's fists clenched in her lap. "She's too busy to come. She said the doctor can phone her." Her slender body vibrated with fury. "She doesn't care about Tessa, she never has."

  He covered her hands with one of his. "Tessie has us. We're here for her."

  "But, Gabe. I am—was—an attorney." Melody bit her lip. "Vivienne is the only person legally entitled to make decisions regarding Tess. And she won't hesitate to put her convenience first. If Tessa's situation deteriorates to a life-or-death decision, Vivienne will be the one making it."

  He squeezed her hands reassuringly. "We won't let that happen."

  "We can't stop her."

  He narrowed his eyes. Nothing was going to happen to Tessa on his watch. Especially not when he'd finally realized that his fear of loving her was minor compared to the soul-shattering agony of losing her. He inhaled a ragged breath. He couldn't lose her. Not now.

  She'd stared at her worst fear when she looked over the railing into the cold, unforgiving Pacific Ocean. Yet she hadn't hesitated. She'd gone over … with remarkable courage, and a message of love in her eyes. A message for him.

  I love you.

  Facing down his own fear was the only way he would be worthy of her love. He was willing to bear any kind of pain, willing to risk anything—risk everything—to be with her. "I'll handle Vivienne if the need arises."

  The E.R. doors swung open and a young, dark-haired nurse walked toward them, her face carefully neutral. Gabe started to shake again.

  "You're the man who brought in Tessa Beaumont?"

  At his nod, she continued. "We still can't get a core temperature, and her heart won't establish a regular beat." The nurse gave them a sympathetic look. "We're not giving up, but I have to be honest. Even if she rallies, there's a chance of brain damage. We'll do all we can, but you should probably prepare for the worst."

  All the air slammed out of his lungs, and the room spun. Through a thick, red haze of pain, he watched the nurse hurry away.

  Melody grabbed his hand. "Are you a praying man, Gabe?"

  "I am now," he whispered.

  Sixty endless minutes crept by.

  Then sixty more.

  Gabe sat frozen in the uncomfortable chair, bargaining with God, not sure if he wanted the doors to open again or not. As long as they stayed closed, it meant Tessa was still fighting. Still alive.

  Three of the longest hours of his life dragged by before the doors opened and the same nurse approached. Her facial expression revealed nothing, but instinct warned Gabe she brought crucial news. He dug deep for every ounce of strength he possessed. He stood to meet her.

  The nurse stopped in front of him. "We managed to raise Tessa's temperature. At four-thirty, we got one heartbeat. After more effort, we got a few in a row, then at four-forty, she developed a pulse." She smiled. "Your friend is quite a fighter. She surfaced briefly, but not long enough for us to determine if there's any brain damage. Her lack of consciousness is due to a concussion and not a coma, and she is breathing on her own, which is a very good sign. We're moving her to intensive care."

  Gabe's knees gave out and he collapsed into the chair. Melody burst into tears. He slid his arm around her slender shoulders. He couldn't distinguish her tremors from his own.

  The nurse sat down beside them. "Tessa's not out of the woods yet. We're going to have to watch her carefully for the next few days until she's stable. There's a good chance she'll flatline again."

  "But she's alive," Melody sobbed. "She's not in a coma. She'll beat this."

  Gabe swallowed the panic the nurse's words had caused. "I want to see her." He'd drag her back to him with both hands. With everything he had.

  The nurse nodded. "ICU is on the fifth floor."

  Melody headed upstairs, and Gabe spent a few minutes in the head to splash cold water on his face and get a grip on his shredded equilibrium. As he strode into the elevator, he continued bargaining with God. Please. Please let her be all right.

  He watched the red numbers flash in the panel above his head. Tessa had said she loved him. After everything he'd put her through, after he finally came clean, would her love still stand? His gut clenched. In his experience, words didn't mean anything. People said "I love you," then strolled away without a backward glance. Leaving you mute with pain and terror.

  But damn it, he'd kept love at arm's length all his life. It was time to take a stand, to stop running away from love and run toward it. Living without Tessa just wasn't an option.

  The elevator glided to a stop and the doors slid open. Determinedly setting his roiling thoughts aside, he strode to the nurses' desk at the end of the corridor where Mel waited. She looked up at him, her elfin face pinched. "They're only allowing one visitor at a time, for ten minutes. I thought you might want to see her first."

  He patted her slender shoulder. "Once I get in there, they're not going to be able to blast me out with C4. I know how close the two of you are. Go ahead, Mel. I can wait a few more minutes."

  She gave him a wobbly smile. "You know, for a Y chromosome carrier, you're pretty sweet. I might even have to change my lowly opinion of the male species." She stood on tiptoe, bussed a light kiss on his cheek, and then hurried down the hall.

  Gabe again walked to the windows, staring out at the gray landscape. Menacing clouds hung over the city, bringing premature twilight. Sharp wind gusts drove spatters of rain against the windowpanes like shrapnel. Yet lights from downtown office buildings pierced the gloom. Small, bright beacons of hope in the darkness. Tessa was a fighter. Not bold and in-your-face, like Melody, but with a deep, quiet strength. She possessed an inner core of iron-clad resolve. She would make it.

  "Gabe?" He turned in response to Melody's shaky inquiry. Fresh tears shimmered in her solemn blue eyes and clung to her blond lashes. "Your turn. But be prepared. She drifts in and out, but she's not fully conscious." Mel swallo
wed hard. "She looks awful."

  He drew the trembling woman into a hug. "That's to be expected after what she's been through."

  Steeling himself, Gabe gathered his courage in both hands. He stalked down the corridor and pushed open the door to Tessa's room with the same resolute purpose as when he'd followed her over the ship's rail. Either he was walking out of here with her, or he wasn't leaving.

  In spite of Melody's warning, he took one glance at her and dropped into the chair beside her bed, his knees wobbly, his chest tight and aching. God, she looked like someone had beaten her nearly to death. Her auburn lashes fanned over pale cheeks whiter than the pillowcase. Deep purple shadows smudged her closed eyes, and tiny, ruptured blue veins traced under the swollen, frail skin of her eyelids. Blood had seeped through gauze bandages wrapped around her torn wrists. IV tubes had been stabbed into her badly bruised right arm, clear liquid dripping into her veins from a bottle overhead. Mottled bruises ringed the tender skin at her neck where a faint pulse throbbed in her throat. A heart monitor beside the bed beeped in the same slow rhythm.

  Fragile and broken, against formidable odds she clung stubbornly to life. Her even, persistent pulse gave him hope, gave him strength.

  "Hey, Houdini." He leaned forward, his voice unsteady. "You're taking this power nap to extremes. How about if you wake up and I'll get you a nice cup of Earl Gray tea? I'll even bring it in your Elvis mug." He grasped her limp hand in his, caressing her silky, cool skin. Too cool. "Tessa? Can you hear me?"

  She didn't respond.

  "Come on, sweetheart. Come back to me."

  Not a breath of sound, not a whisper of movement.

  "I'm here for you. Everything is going to be all right." He continued speaking quietly and stroking her hand.

  All too soon, a young blond nurse slipped inside the room. "Time's up."

  He stood and walked to the doorway where she waited. "I'm not going anywhere. There's no harm in letting me stay."

  The nurse, whose name tag read Hailey Matthews, frowned. "If you don't cooperate, I'll have to call security. You seem like a nice guy. I know you don't want to cause a scene and upset your friend."

  "Look, I understand you have rules and all, but I'm not leaving." He held her gaze, his own steady and determined. "I owe this woman my life. In more ways than one. I won't do anything to endanger her care or get in your way, but I will not leave her."

  Ms. Matthews hesitated. She studied his face for several tense heartbeats, then nodded. "All right. As long as you're quiet and don't obstruct us in any way. And if she flatlines, you get out immediately and let the team do their work."

  "You got it." She left and he returned to Tessa's bedside.

  He talked for nearly an hour, pleading, cajoling and downright threatening dire consequences if she didn't wake up. She stirred and whimpered a few times, but didn't open her eyes. Wanting to howl, he tipped his head back, swallowing his anguish.

  Finally, he took a deep shuddering breath and gripped her hand more tightly. "No way, baby! I am not gonna let you go. I won't sit here this time, helpless and mute. I've never told anyone about this, but…"

  Desperation drove the words out of him. "You wanted to know about my nightmares? This is it. My worst nightmare come true." He stopped to clear the thickness from his throat before continuing. "One summer morning when I was five, I got up, and my mom told me we were taking a trip. I'd never been anywhere except around the block, so I was thrilled. I ran and got my red backpack, and she packed my things."

  He took another fortifying breath. "I remember that day so vividly. The clear blue of the sky, the bright sunshine, the birds singing in the trees. Mom was real quiet. I stopped to pet Mrs. Mendoza's black Lab and asked if I could have a puppy when we got home. Mom said sure. It was a long way, and my legs got tired, but she said we didn't have enough money to take a city bus. I held her hand all the way to the bus station."

  Gabe stared blindly at the wall, seeing it all again, living it all again. "When we got to the bus station, she sat me on a tall wooden bench. My feet didn't touch the floor. The hard wood hurt my back. She looked down at me and said, 'Stay right here, Gabe. Don't move. No matter what happens, don't move from this spot. And don't talk to anyone. Anyone, you hear?'

  "Then she stared at me for the longest time. She finally said, 'I have to do this, because I love you.' Her face looked blank. It made my stomach ache."

  His voice dropped to a whisper. "When she turned away, I knew. Somehow I knew she was never coming back. I didn't say anything. I couldn't. Inside, I screamed and screamed. But I watched my mother walk away and didn't say a word. I just sat there. I sat there all day on that hard bench, clutching my backpack, hungry, thirsty and so scared I wanted to die. I didn't move an inch. I didn't cry. But she didn't come back.

  "And I didn't speak again for over a year."

  His voice broke. "Maybe if I'd been able to call out to her. Maybe if I'd been different, been better, she would have stopped. Turned around. Stayed." He squeezed her hand. "I'm calling out to you, Tessie. Don't walk away from me. Don't leave me. Please."

  His heart shattered inside of him, fear and hurt and betrayal that had been locked up hard and tight and safe for so many years. "If you come back, I promise I'll be with you, always. I'll spend the rest of my life making you happy." He clenched his teeth against the pain, but a helpless cry broke from the back of his throat. "Fight, Tessie. Find your way back to me. I need you."

  Shaking, he buried his face in the blanket. He battled the white-hot torment, but he had no defenses left. Sharp claws shredded his insides, ripped him open. His body shuddered. The tears he'd refused to shed all those years ago leaked out and spilled onto the delicate, limp hand under his cheek.

  He didn't know how much time passed before he finally realized someone was stroking his hair. "Mel?" he rasped. Ashamed she'd caught him crying, he jerked upright.

  And met Tessa's amber gaze.

  Clear and lucid, her gaze clung to his. His heart bucked into a wild gallop. "Tessie! Oh, God, you're awake!" He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her cheeks, her forehead, her mouth. "Do you know who I am?"

  Her lips wobbled in a crooked smile. "Bond," she whispered, her voice weak. "Gabe Bond."

  His spirit soared. He grinned at her. "Hang on, honey." He turned toward the door. "Somebody get in here," he roared.

  Gabe's bellow assaulted Tessa's tender eardrums and she flinched. Confused, she squinted at the jabbering crowd that swarmed over her, poking, prodding and peering. A blond woman flashed a bright light in her eyes, sending white-hot spears through Tessa's brain. Her head throbbed as though someone had slammed a sledgehammer into her skull. "Gabe," she cried.

  "I'm right here, baby." He stayed by her side, adamantly refusing when one of the women tried to force him to leave.

  "Where? What?"

  "You're in the hospital. You're going to be fine."

  She clung to his hand. "Make them stop."

  He stroked her face. "I wish I could. But you've got to let them do their job."

  "Get Mel. She'll stop it."

  He gave a crack of laughter. "I'm afraid even Mel is outranked this time. The tests will be over soon."

  Voices babbled, the bed shook and lights whirred by overhead. She focused on Gabe's face, her only security in a sea of confusion. Suddenly, her bed slid forward. She lost sight of him and found herself entombed in a tiny metal chamber. "Gabe?"

  His voice answered. "I'm with you on headphones. They're doing a CAT scan. You'll be out in no time." His voice crooned into her ears.

  "Are you singing?"

  "Yeah."

  "Thought they were scanning the cat. Not killing it."

  His rich, warm chuckles filled her ears. "Hey, don't knock my rendition of 'Blue Suede Shoes.'"

  Tessa closed her eyes.

  "You still with me, Tessie?" Gabe's whisper was soft in her ear.

  She forced up her heavy eyelids and saw his face hovering over her,
his eyes dark with pain.

  "You're back in your room." He stroked her hair. "I'm sorry if I disturbed you. But I wanted—I needed to see you awake. I was so afraid—" his husky voice faltered.

  "What happened?"

  "Do you remember anything at all?"

  She sorted through the blurred images in her mind. "Peter tried to kill you. I stopped him. Fell into your eyes."

  "You fell into the Pacific Ocean." He choked. "With your hands tied behind you." His hand at her forehead started to tremble. "You scared forty years off my life."

  "I hurt. All over. A lot."

  Gabe's breath caught. "I know. But you'll be fine, I promise." He smiled at her. "You'll be tap dancing before you know it."

  Scared, dazed, she stared at him, trying to make sense of the information bombarding her. "You're not hurt?"

  Gabe's smile wobbled. "No. You saved both of us, Houdini."

  He was all right and they were together. Beyond that, her mind refused to function any longer. "I'm so tired."

  "Go ahead and sleep. But promise you'll wake up real soon."

  "Promise." She closed her eyes and everything went black.

  Some time later, Tessa floated to awareness. She heard Mel and Gabe talking, their voices pitched low.

  "The CAT scan showed no brain impairment, thank God." Gabe murmured. "The frigid water sent her body into hibernation, so the lack of oxygen didn't affect her as severely as it could have." Humor lightened his tone. "She's sharp as ever. She gave me what-for about my singing when they did the scan."

  Mel chuckled. "How long is her estimated recovery?"

  "The doctor told me she'll probably be out of here in less than a week."

  Mel sniffled. "It's a miracle."

  "It is at that. Our own personal miracle."

  "Hey, stop talking about me," Tessa said, her voice still too feeble for her own liking. "My ears are burning."

  Gabe and Mel rushed to her side. "Hi, there, Houdini. Welcome back." Gabe tenderly smoothed his hand over her hair. "How do you feel?"

  "Like Wile E. Coyote after a hard day's night."