“Yes, sir. We’ll get her to the hospital.”
“Luke, she’s in the best hands,” Sami said beside him, but still Luke didn’t let go.
Castello stepped into his view. “You’re wasting time that Abigail doesn’t have.”
His words cut into the pain and anger coursing through Luke. He released the kid and stepped back, watching as the helicopter took off.
“Let’s go,” Frank said. “The others can clean up this mess. You want to be there when that lady wakes up in the hospital.”
He ran after Castello and jumped into the front seat of the sedan they’d arrived in just as Frank hit the gas, tearing across the grass of the estate towards the exit.
He just prayed she was alive when he got there.
“She said she loved me,” he whispered.
“I know.”
“I didn’t get to tell her…” he swallowed, unable to finish.
“You will, kid. You will.”
He prayed Frank was right.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
By the time Luke and Castello arrived at the hospital, the staff had already taken Abby into surgery. His ass was going numb from sitting on the damn fake leather couches in the waiting room. Castello had been the only one with him at first.
Thank God, Frank knew not to talk. He couldn’t take useless prattle or meaningless reassurances. Not now. Not with the vision of all that blood Abby had lost still fresh in his mind. All he could think about was how she’d thrown herself in front of him and how he’d never told her how much she meant to him.
Slowly his family started to arrive. First Matt and Katie, who’d taken the time to get the women admitted to the emergency room to be checked out and help the local cops get statements from the ones less drugged from the ordeal.
Next came Dave, who handed him a coffee. “Drink it, you look like shit. Abigail doesn’t need to wake up and see you looking like this.”
Kirk F. Patrick arrived with a bag of sandwiches from the caterer, Paolo. He handed one to Luke, who took a few bites, not really registering what was in it, but wanted to prevent Dave from forcing it down his throat.
Sami and Detective Jeffers walked in next. They’d stayed with Brianna all the way to the hospital. She’d given them all the information she could about her attack in the condo, her torture and what she’d discovered about the slavery ring. She still hadn’t told anyone where she’d hidden the flash drive she supposedly left for Abby. The hospital team had quickly sedated her upon her arrival so they could begin fixing her broken arm, nose and clean her various wounds.
Finally, Jake came in with a report on the senator. “He’s going to need surgery to repair the torn ligaments and nerves from the knife wound. Abigail had one hell of an aim with that knife. It knocked off his aim and probably saved your life.”
At that point Luke left the nearly claustrophobic waiting room to get some fresh air.
Lucky wasn’t what he was feeling. Scared shitless was more like it. Guilty for not keeping her safe. Abby’s actions might’ve saved his life, but if he lost her, would it really matter?
“She’s one brave woman,” Castello said from behind him.
“The bravest,” he said without turning around.
“Smart, too.”
“The smartest.”
“Too good for you.”
“Damn straight.”
“Best to walk away and let some other smart guy have her.”
“No way in hell.” He turned and stalked into his friend’s personal space, fists clenched and ready for a fight. “She’s mine, and if she’ll have me, I’m never letting her go.”
A slow grin split the older man’s face. “Good. I’d hate to have to kick your ass for being stupid.”
Some of his anger and frustration dispelled, they went back inside just in time to meet the surgeon coming to talk with them all.
The doctor took off his green scrub hat and rubbed his hand through this thinning hair, then down over his haggard face. Luke’s stomach sank and his knees went wobbly.
“As you know, due to HIPPA laws I can’t really give you much information. The surgery went well and we did get the bullet out in one piece,” the surgeon said, focusing on Luke. “For now Ms. Whitson is stable and in recovery.”
“Can I see her?” he asked, desperate to see for himself that she was okay.
“Not just yet. As soon as she’s in her room in the Surgical Intensive Care she can have visitors, but no more than two at a time.”
* * * * *
Abby lay so still in the hospital bed.
Watching her chest rise and fall in a steady rhythm, Luke held her limp hand in his, running his thumb over her knuckles, wishing she’d grouse at him to stop.
At least her vital signs were steady as they beeped across the monitor screen above the bed. The surgeon, as well as Sami and Katie, had all reassured him that she was stable and that it would just take a little while for her to wake from the anesthesia. When he’d asked how long, no one could give him a damn answer.
And here he sat, finally at her bedside, waiting for her to wake up.
“Sometimes it helps if you talk to her,” the nurse said, coming in to check the blood dripping into one of her IV’s. Sami told him they’d had to start a second one to give her the blood, something about it not being able to mix with the other IV solution.
“Not really sure what to say.” He knew what he wanted to say. He wanted to rail at her for getting hurt. He wanted to fuss at her for putting him before her own safety. He wanted to tell her he loved her, but not with an audience of medical professionals walking in and out of the room, and certainly not with Abby not awake to hear it.
“Talk about anything. It’s the recognition of your voice that helps them muddle back to consciousness.”
“Muddle?” He couldn’t help the half-grin at her terminology.
“Not a medical term, but patients often tell me it’s like trying to walk through thick fog. So, muddle.” She smiled back, a charming blush on her cheeks—a look that would’ve encouraged him to flirt with her just weeks ago—before Abby. He nodded without saying more, then focused once again on the dark-haired woman in the bed.
Just talk.
“Senator Klein may lose the use of his right hand. Seems someone threw a knife into his wrist severing the nerves and damaging a few ligaments. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”
Nothing.
“Kirk F. Patrick brought cheesecake for all the nurses. Said his nana said they’d give you extra special care if we fed them. Had to run the kid off though, he kept trying to get hook up dates with the younger nurses.”
He smiled at the memory, but Abby still didn’t move.
“Jeffers stopped by. He’s been in your friend’s room all night. Said she had lots of details but still refuses to tell him where the flash drive is hidden. We need that evidence to cement our case. Of course the videos we found in the mansion and Babbette’s injuries cover us for probable cause.”
“Brianna,” she whispered, her eyes still closed. “Her name is Bri-ahn-na. Why can’t you get it right?”
She was awake.
Thank God.
He stood and kissed her on the forehead, smiling through his own tears when she slowly opened her eyes. “Because I didn’t want you to ever think she was more important to me than you are, sweetheart.”
“I already knew that.”
“You did? How?”
She gave him a whisper of a smile, his heart swelling at the sight until he thought it would burst out of his chest.
“Because you dreamed about me.”
“I did, but don’t remind me. You still ended up covered in blood.”
“And you bossed me around.”
He leaned in to kiss her gently. “Someone had to protect you.”
“And you love how my brain works.”
“I do and if I live to be a hundred I’ll never quit thinking how much you fascinate me.” He kissed her again,
then leaned back. “You scared me with all that blood. Why did you jump in front of me? You could’ve been killed, nearly were, in fact.”
She pushed a button on the bed, slowly raising herself up to a forty-five-degree angle. “Because he had line of sight on your heart. Too many people would’ve been sad if you’d died. While I’m more expendable.”
Expendable? What the hell was she talking about?
Before he could correct her misconception, a knock sounded on the door.
It was Jeffers pushing Brianna in a wheelchair.
“Sorry, but she insisted she wanted to see her friend,” Aaron said with a slight shrug of apology.
The smile that lit up Abby’s face took some of the anger out of Luke’s frustration over the interruption.
“Come in. I’ve just been catching Abby up on what happened while she was napping.”
Jeffers wheeled Brianna right up to Abby’s bedside and the two women clutched each other’s hands and the tears started flowing.
Luke looked at Aaron, who appeared just as perplexed, then shrugged as if to say, Women. He nodded and shrugged, too. Apparently they had to cry before they could talk.
“You’re going to be okay?” Brianna asked after a bit.
“Yes. It was just a little gunshot,” Abby said and Luke coughed to cover up the choking sound at her description of her injuries. She cast him a slanted look and he moved to the foot of the bed as she focused on her friend once more. “Are you going to be okay?”
“The doctors fixed my nose and arm, but they think the damage to my cheekbone and eye socket might need more surgery once the swelling goes down.” Brianna looked out the window a minute, then back at Abby. “I’m so sorry I dragged you into this, Abby. I had no idea how dangerous Dylan and his people were. I’d only wanted some advice on what to do with the information I’d found. Then, two men were attacking me in my home and…”
She choked on more tears and Abby reached out to stroke her hair.
“We know, Brie. I was so scared when I saw all that blood and the mess, I knew you were in trouble. But I never found the information you had for me.”
“It was in the picture of me.”
Abby laughed, then caught her side. “Dang that hurts.”
Luke started to her, but she shook her head at him.
“Brie, there were dozens of photos of you all over the place.”
“I know, but only one addressed to you. It was taped on the back. The cardboard backing hiding it from anyone.”
Abby’s eyes shot to his. “We had it all the time and didn’t know it.”
Luke nodded, then turned to Jeffers. “I’ll have Castello get it to the station later today.”
“Appreciate it,” he said. “We’ll be mopping this mess up for some time. All the information on that will help our case.”
“I’d keep that profile up on those websites, too.” Luke gave him a pointed look.
“You think there might be sharks out there we haven’t rounded up yet?”
Jeffers was a smart man. “Could be. Might be worth a little fishing, don’t you think?”
The nurse came in carrying a small IV bag and a cup of medicine. “I’m afraid I have to break this up. Ms. Whitson and Ms. Mathews both need to rest.”
Jeffers moved in behind the wheelchair again, but Brianna still clutched Abby’s hand. “Thank you, Abby. Thank you for not giving up on me. And I never told them who you were, even when I realized they thought Abby was a church.”
Anger shot through Luke. Brianna had told the Kleins about Abby, only they hadn’t realized it. He knew she’d put her in danger, but Abby simply blinked and patted her friend’s hand. “I would never give up on you, Brie. You’re my forever friend.”
“And you’re mine,” Brianna said as Jeffers eased her away from the bed.
After they left, Luke sat back down in the chair by her bedside, slipping her hand in his, threading their fingers together as the nurse hung the small bag of antibiotics, checked the end of the blood transfusion, marked down more of Abby’s vital signs, then gave her the medication, warning her it would make her sleepy in ten or fifteen minutes.
He waited for the nurse to leave then brought Abby’s hand up to his lips and kissed it. “You’re wrong, you know.”
“Wrong about what?” she asked, looking at him with those fascinating green eyes.
“About being expendable. If you hadn’t made it through this…” he swallowed, fighting the lump suddenly in his throat. “If you’d died, a hole would’ve been left in my life. One I don’t think I could ever crawl out of…” He paused again, kissing her hand. “I love you, Abigail Prudence Whitson and don’t you ever put your life in danger like that again.”
Tears slipped down her cheeks, but she smiled at him. “I love you, too, Lucas Edgars and I won’t put myself in danger as long as no one points a gun at your heart.”
“Stubborn woman.”
“Bossy man,” she said with a yawn.
“You get some sleep,” he said, pulling up the covers around her.
“Will you be here when I wake up?” she asked, and the slight question in it reminded him how vulnerable she was, even to something as powerful as love.
He leaned in and kissed her, tenderly but with enough heat to promise more when she was up for it. Then he sat back down, her hand still in his. “Sweetheart, I will always be here for you.”
The End
Thank you for reading THE EDGARS
FAMILY NOVELS!
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The Edgars Family Novels
KIDNAPPED, Edgars Family Novels, Book 1
FBI Agent Jake Carlisle is in deep trouble. He’s been shot and if he can’t get help fast, two lives will be lost-his and that of the young witness whom he’s sworn to protect. Desperate, on the run from both the police and the Russian Mafia, he kidnaps a nurse from a hospital parking lot.
ER nurse Samantha Edgars has been living in an emotional vacuum since the death of her daughter. Mentally and physically exhausted following a difficult shift, she’s suddenly jolted from her stupor when she’s bound and gagged, then tossed into the back of her car. Forced to tend a bleeding FBI agent and his injured witness, she’s terrified. But Samantha quickly learns the rogue agent and orphaned boy need more than just her professional skills. Danger is bearing down on them, and she must learn to trust Jake – and her heart – if they’re all going to survive.
****
Hunted, Edgars Family Novels, Book 2
In one fiery explosion Katie Myers' witness protection cover is blown. Unable to trust the Marshals who've been responsible for her safety, she’s on the run from the cult leader she put on death row. In desperation she forces a near stranger at gunpoint to help her hide.
By-the-book patrolman Matt Edgars is shocked when the woman he's come to rescue points a gun at him and demands he help her leave a crime scene. The stark terror in Katie’s beautiful eyes has him breaking rules for the first time in his career.
With a hit man on their trail, Matt must break down the walls Katie has built to guard the secrets of her past. If not the cult leader will fulfill his prophecy and take the one woman Matt has ever loved to the grave.
****
SEIZED, Edgars Family Novels, Book 3
Dave and Judy Edgars have always loved each other – they’ve been married ten years and have three kids. But ever since Dave, a SWAT team member, was shot on duty Judy can’t control the int
ense fear that grips her every time he heads out to work. It puts a strain on their relationship. Dave knows she’s scared, but damn it she knew he was a cop the day they met. His patience is wearing thin.
Until the tables are turned…
One icy winter night, Judy, an operating room nurse, is called into work. She’s taken hostage by a crazed gunman with an agenda. Now with Judy’s life in danger and the SWAT team deployed elsewhere, Dave must face the same fear his wife does on a daily basis. Terrified he will lose her, he and his law enforcement family race to save Judy and stop her captor’s plans.
****
THE EDGARS FAMILY NOVELS, 3 Book Anthology
This boxed e-book set includes the first two Best-selling Edgars Family Romantic Suspense Novels, KIDNAPPED and HUNTED, along with the fast-paced novella SEIZED KIDNAPPED.
****
Other Suzanne Ferrell Books...
CLOSE TO HOME, Westen Series, Book 1
Emma Lewis has a lot on her plate. The single mother of two precocious twin boys and an aging mother who is having trouble getting through each day, the last thing Emma needs is a man in her life, especially a doctor. So when the town’s doctor goes on vacation and his handsome nephew takes over, Emma is shocked to not only find him standing in her bedroom, but accusing her of being a neglectful parent.
Clint Preston came to Westen for the year to fill in as the town doc while his uncle took a long needed vacation. Clint also needed a sense of peace and calm to try to find his passion for medicine burned out by long shifts in an urban hospital’s ER. Angered to find two boys in his clinic with broken wrists and no accompanying parent, he is determined to confront their mother. The feisty redhead he meets quickly dispels his belief that she’s a neglectful mother, but he can see her situation is more critical than she wishes to face and finds himself volunteering to help care for her sons and the remodeling of her home.
VANISHED, A Romantic Suspense Novel (Edgars Family Novel) Page 25
