That was the first thing Tierney saw when she opened her eyes, though it took her a moment or two to realize what she was seeing. But yes. it was Bruno, his front half flopped across Wade's body, and he was bathing Wade's face with a long, floppy-no doubt very wet-tongue.
Clammy and crying-but laughing, too-she crawled over to the two of them, not sure which one to gather into her arms first.
The decision resolved itself when she saw the dark stain under Wade's body, growing larger as she watched. "Oh God. Wade, you're hurt. Where-"
"My leg-I think. Bleeding like a sonofagun, but…I'll be all right. Just please, get this miserable mutt off me."
"He's just trying to tell you he's sorry you're hurt," she sobbed. "He didn't mean for that to happen."
He turned his head toward her, desperately trying to avoid the dog's ministrations. In a much weaker voice, he rasped. "He got me shot."
"He saved my life." Tierney said as she pulled Bruno into her arms and hugged him.
Love! Adoration! Utter and complete devotion!
"Fair trade." Wade whispered. "Any day."
The cops arrived moments later, followed by a whole host of emergency personnel. With the prisoner in custody, finally relieved of his guard duty. Cory walked over to Wade, who was now strapped onto a gurney with a mask on his face and an IV bag dripping fluids into one arm. The other had been claimed by the blond woman, who clung to his hand as if she'd never let go.
Momentarily at a loss for words, Cory reached out and grasped his brother's shoulder. Wade tried his best to speak, but was too weak from pain and loss of blood to make himself understood through the oxygen mask.
Cory gulped back a dry sob, bent down close to him and said huskily. "Shh…It's okay…it's gonna be okay. You're safe now. It's okay…"
Above the mask, Wade's eyes grew wide with wonder. He clawed at the plastic, managed to pull it away. "I know you," he croaked. 'The voice in my dream. It's you. It was you. You're The Protector.'"
"Yeah, that's me," Cory said, ignoring the tears running down his face. "Some protector I am. I couldn't…I couldn't stop them. Man, I'm so sorry. They took you-"
Wade, too weak-or too emotional-for words, simply groped for his hand.
"Hey, guys…we need to take him now."
Cory looked up and nodded at the paramedics standing ready to heave the gurney into the ambulance. He squeezed his brother's hand, then moved aside. The blonde bent down to kiss Wade, then she, too, stepped back, out of the way. As the ambulance doors closed, she reached blindly for Cory's hand.
He slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, pressed a brotherly kiss to the top of her head, then murmured, "Come on-the hospital. I'll drive, you tell me the way. I'm Wade's brother, by the way, Cory Pearson."
She dashed away tears, then smiled and held out her hand. "I know. I met you in the Rose Gardens that day, remember? I'm Tierney Doyle. Soon to be your sister-in-law. I think."
Oh, but in her heart, she knew.
It was much later that night, after the surgery and assurances from the doctors that Wade would recover completely from his wound, given time. Cory had offered to give Tierney a ride home, if she wanted to go.
She didn't, of course. She'd arranged for Clair Yee to stay with Jeannette until further notice. With the arrest of the Torture Killer, the security guard had been relieved of duty.
"Thanks," she told Cory, curling into the chair next to Wade's bed. "I think I'll stay here." In truth, there wasn't any place else she wanted to be. Ever. "You go ahead, though. Get some rest. I know you have a lot to talk about, but he'll be more able to…tomorrow."
Cory nodded, hesitated, stood gazing for a long moment at the man snoring quietly in the hospital bed, stubbled face dark against the pillows. His face flinched ever so slightly, and he threw Tierney a look of apology. "Sorry…I understand you're an empath. I must be coming on pretty strong right now."
She smiled sleepily at him. "It's okay. The kind of emotions I'm getting from you are like…balm. They heal me." Her voice broke and she lowered her face onto her arms for a brief moment. When she lifted it again, she caught Cory tiptoeing away.
"Oh, wait-Cory…"
He turned back, his face kind, eyes warm and bright. "Yes?"
"How did you do it?" She nodded toward the man she'd come to adore so completely in so short a time. "How did you find him?"
Cory's smile was wry. "Wish I could claim the credit. I hired a private investigator-great guy. His name's Holt Kincaid. Specializes in finding people."
He paused, fighting it. But he was a journalist, after all. "If you don't mind my asking…why?"
She took a breath. Lifted her face, ignoring the tears that had begun to roll freely down her cheeks. "I think," Tierney said as she gave him her most radiant smile, "I'd like to find my mother."
Epilogue
Wade dialed the phone from his hospital bed. He closed his eyes as he counted the rings, but it didn't help to shut out the image of his brother the way he'd last seen him, making his way slowly and awkwardly through his apartment in his wheelchair.
It never did.
The rings stopped after only two, surprising the hell out of him. Always before when he'd called, it had taken at least six rings for Matt to get to the phone.
"Man," he said, "that was fast."
"Cell phone," his brother said. "Who's this?"
"It's me-Wade. How are you, buddy?"
"Hey…Wade. Wow-been a while."
"Yeah." He gritted his teeth against a double whammy of pain waves, one from his leg, suspended in a sling and swathed in surgical dressings, the other in his heart. Pure guilt. "Listen, about that-"
"Forget it, bro. It's cool. I understand. So…how you been? Bad guys keepin' you busy?"
Wade laughed-tried to do it without moving anything that might hurt. "Yeah. well… I guess I've been better. But, hey-that's not why I called. I've got somebody here wants to talk to you." He paused. "You sitting down?"
"Oh, yeah, funny. Very funny. So who is it? Hey-don't tell me. You got married?"
Wade looked up at Tierney. reached for her hand and squeezed it tightly. "Not quite," he said in a voice gone raspy with emotions. "Not yet. Soon though. We want you to be there. And I promise you, man, you're gonna love her. No-this is…" He paused, looked up at the faces bending over him and muttered half to himself, "Jeez, I didn't think this was going to be so hard… Uh, Mattie? Remember those nightmares I used to have? I told you about it, remember? There was this voice-you said it was-"
"An angel. Sure, I remember. I was a kid, what can I say? So? What about it?"
Wade took a deep breath and grinned up at Cory, who was standing poised, his face a mask of suspense that didn't come close to hiding his emotions. Tierney, unable to hold hers in any longer, lowered her tear-drenched face to his chest, and he let his fingers come to rest in her soft, soft curls and found the strength he needed to continue.
"Well, little brother…guess what? He's real. And here he is. In person." His voice broke and he barely got the rest of it out. "Mattie-say hello to our angel… the brother you didn't know you had."
KATHLEEN CREIGHTON
has roots deep in the California soil but has relocated to South Carolina. As a child, she enjoyed listening to old-timers' tales, and her fascination with the past only deepened as she grew older. Today she says she is interested in everything-art, music, gardening, zoology, anthropology and history, but people are at the top of her list. She also has a lifelong passion for writing, and now combines her two loves in romance novels. Check her out at www.kathleencreighton.com.
***
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