Pain warred with oblivion. Wyatt couldn’t decide which was worse. The images living in his mind would haunt him forever if he lived past today. Steve and Mark were dead. That much he knew. He’d seen them go down moments before the first bullet tore through his arm. They’d worked together for five years. Both men were married with kids. Steve’s wife was pregnant with their fifth daughter—due any day. That little girl would never know how amazing her dad had been. Wyatt’s throat burned. He no longer knew if it was from physical or mental pain. Each time he regained consciousness, he begged for information that no one would give him. That didn’t stop him from trying. Wyatt didn’t like being ignored.

“Where’s the kid who saved me? Did he make it?” Wyatt had to know. That kid had saved his life. Wyatt had been there, and he still didn’t know how the kid had pulled it off.

“Sir, I need you to be still.”

“What about the rest of my team? Did they make it out?” Nothing. People scrambled around him, tugging at his clothes and pressing on things that made him scream. “I need to know about the boy. He was in bad shape. I think he used up what blood he had left, dragging me out of there.”

“We need another bag of O positive over here.”

Goddamn it. It was like he was already dead. No one was listening to him. What had the kid said his name was? Wyatt searched his too-low-on-oxygen brain. Benny. “Where’s Benny?” Wyatt roared, finally drawing gazes his way.

A brunette with dark eyes met his stare. “Officer Knight, I promise I’ll answer all your questions the moment you’re stable. Right now, I’m trying to save your life. Please let us work.” Her words did nothing to calm him or reassure him. With the last of his energy, Wyatt slammed his head against the gurney. He didn’t want to die for no reason. If Benny hadn’t made it, then it was all for nothing. The woman squeezed his shoulder and leaned close to his ear. “The young man you came in with is being prepped for surgery. Don’t worry. He’s stable. Just let us help you, and I’ll make sure you see each other soon.”

Wyatt gave her a short nod and closed his eyes. That was good. Whatever happened now would happen. It was not like he’d ever expected to live this long.

* * *

“I’m going to lift up your gown and take a look at your thigh.”

Benny tried holding the material down. “What is it with women hitting on me today? Look, I’m gay.” Benny swiped his hand over his face. “Sheesh, if I’d said that like nine months ago to Professor Thomalson, I wouldn’t be in this mess.”

The brunette with dark eyes looked a step beyond stunned. That thought brought Benny up short. What was a step beyond shocked? Surely there was a definition or something somewhere. “Whoa. You’re really high right now.”

“My head is definitely swimming,” Benny admitted at her observation.

“Close your eyes and relax. I’m going to take a look at your wounds.”

Benny tried sitting up again. “Damn, you’re gonna go poking at my wounds without numbing anything?”

He wasn’t sure, but Benny thought she might be suppressing an eye roll. “You’re on painkillers,” she reminded him.

Benny didn’t bother hiding his eye roll. “Painkillers don’t do anything for the pain. They just make you high. I should know because I’m the one who’s high.”

A small smile hovered on her lips. “Are you in pain?”

Benny thought it over. “No.”

“Then the painkillers are doing their job, because you have a couple of gaping holes in your thigh.”

“Jesus,” Benny breathed. “You still haven’t fixed that?”

“I’m not a surgeon,” she said, sounding calm. “I’m your doctor. Dr. Kidd,” she reminded him. “Now, seriously, just close your eyes. They’ll be taking you down to surgery soon enough.”

“What about Wyatt?” Benny asked, ignoring her order and fighting against the spinning room.

“Who’s Wyatt?”

“The cop. He saved me. Is he alive?”

She dropped her gaze to his thigh and inspected his wound. “I’m not allowed to give out patient info. That’s against privacy laws.”

Benny scrambled to sit up. “Then I’ll go find him myself. He can’t die. Obviously, someone needs to do something.”

“Jesus,” the doctor muttered under her breath while forcing him back down. “Look, are you a doctor?”

Her question was so ridiculous, it gave Benny pause. “No.”

“Then what will you do for him that we can’t?”

Fuck, he hated that she made sense. “For one thing, if he’s dead, I plan to kick his ass back to life.”

“With one leg?” she deadpanned.

Benny thought it over, remembering Wyatt’s eyes. They were too beautiful to no longer exist. He couldn’t accept that fate. Benny gave her a short nod. “Yes. With one leg.”

She swiped her hand over her face. “Okay, listen. Just relax and get your leg fixed. When you’re awake and can be moved, I’ll find you a wheelchair and I’ll take you to see him.”

A smile exploded across Benny’s face. “So he is alive.”

“I did not give you patient info,” Dr. Kidd said, sounding stern. “For all you know, I could be wheeling you down to the morgue, but I’m not,” she added.

Even through a haze of high, Benny recognized she might be only placating him. “You’d better not be just trying to keep me calm. I’ll yell up and down these halls until someone takes me to him.”

She sighed. “I swear, even if I’m off the clock, I’ll keep my word.”

Benny finally closed his eyes, giving in to the meds. His smile didn’t abate. “I think you like me a little.”

Dr. Kidd chuckled. “I get the feeling you’ve never met a soul without leaving an impression.”

“Don’t be hitting on me,” Benny said, feeling the world slipping away. “I’ve already had a lot happen today.”

* * *

Between the anesthesia from his surgery and the massive painkillers, Wyatt was in and out. Each time he’d awoken, he’d been alone except for the occasional nurse. He tried asking after Benny, but either they ignored him or the meds pulled him under again before he heard the answer. He jerked awake as the door to his hospital room opened, slamming back against the wall. A nurse steered another bed inside the room. He bit back a groan. Being stuck in the hospital sucked bad enough without having to share a room. Fucking shitty insurance. His inner cursing died away as he caught sight of Benny. He tried sitting up. His attempts died on a gasp. Dr. Kidd followed Benny’s bed into the room.

She shook her head when she spotted Wyatt trying to sit up. “I thought you’d be happy to see him, and I did promise the both of you I’d let you see each other. Plus, hospital bills are cheaper this way.”

Wyatt’s gaze never left Benny. He wasn’t moving.

“I hope this is okay,” Dr. Kidd added.

“It’s fine,” he muttered absently. “Is he okay? He’s not moving.”

She patted his shoulder. “He’s fine. It’s the anesthesia. He’ll be out of it for a while. But I spoke to him when he came to for a few minutes in recovery. I let him know you’ll be sharing a room, since he was adamant about checking on you.” She laughed. “A heroic trait you both share, it seems. Anyhow, I also got his permission to share his medical information with you. I worried you might terrorize the nurses if I didn’t.”

Wyatt rolled his eyes. “I’m not that bad.”

Dr. Kidd crossed her arms over her chest. Her eyebrows rose. “Okay, then tell me what you’d do if I told you right now I can’t update you on his condition due to privacy laws?”

Maybe she had a point. “I’d terrorize the nurses,” Wyatt admitted with a smile.

“Yep,” she said, looking triumphant. “Luckily, Benny was fine with me updating you. His upper thigh is a mess. There were two entry wounds and only one exit wound, so we had to do a full body scan to find the other bullet. It turns out there were three bullets still in his leg. The best we can figure was with the automatic fire, the entry points were so close together, and the wounds such a mess, we couldn’t tell how many times he’d actually been shot. It looks like at least one of the bullets bounced off his bone and tore up as much stuff as possible before finally stopping near his hip. It took several hours of repair. He lost a lot more blood than anyone realized and they lost him once on the table.” Wyatt’s heart stopped before racing up again. Dr. Kidd kept talking like she hadn’t punched him in the gut. “He’s stable now, and he’ll be fine. Unfortunately, he won’t be using that leg anytime soon. In truth, he’s lucky he got to keep it. Like you, it’ll be awhile before he goes home, so you’ll make perfect roomies.” She pulled a face before adding, “And maybe this way, we can keep the two of you from tearing down the building trying to check on each other.”

“He is the stubborn type,” Wyatt said, making the doctor roll her eyes.

“You two will be the best of friends after this. I can already see it. Let him get some sleep,” she fussed. “You can pester him over his health when he wakes up. Plus, you should be sleeping too.”

“Okay,” Wyatt said, willing to give a little now that she’d arranged a way for him to keep an eye on Benny. He eyed the man next to him. Jesus, he looked like a freaking angel, even pale from blood loss. Funny how those angelic looks had turned into a warrior’s under the worst of circumstances. “Would you leave that open?” Wyatt said, panicking when the nurse tried pulling the curtain closed. She eyed him, looking confused. “Please?” he added. “I need to know he’s okay.”

She eyed Dr. Kidd. The doctor sighed. “You may as well leave it open. If not, this one is likely to climb from the bed to do it himself when we leave.” With a short nod, the nurse left the curtain open between them before heading for the door with Dr. Kidd on her heels. “Get some sleep,” she said, sounding like his mom, before pulling the door closed behind her.

Wyatt stared at Benny’s still form. “Benny,” Wyatt said, keeping his voice low in case the man was sleeping. He really did plan to keep his word to Dr. Kidd if Benny was asleep.

“I’m surprised you remember my name,” Benny said, sounding like he’d been chewing on glass. “How are you doing?”

Like Wyatt would ever forget Benny’s name. “Looks like I took about eight bullets in different places.”

Benny hissed.

Wyatt rushed to reassure him. “Most of them are superficial. My gear definitely gave you time to save me. The worst shot I took was to the back. It grazed my kidney, so they’re watching it and hoping I don’t lose it.”

“Goddamn,” Benny said, sounding half asleep.

A shot of fear ran through Wyatt. He hadn’t said any of the things he needed to say to Benny. The words rushed from his lips. “Thank you for not leaving me behind.” He balled his hands into fists to keep his hands from shaking as he said the words. If one of them didn’t make it through the night, Wyatt needed Benny to know he owed him everything.

“What’s your last name?” Benny asked, ignoring Wyatt’s gratitude.

Wyatt smiled into the darkened room. He was a prideful person. He didn’t thank people often, but this was huge. It seemed Benny wasn’t one to take praise well. Wyatt got it. “It’s Knight. What’s yours?”

“You’re fucking with me, right?” Benny said, his voice heavy with laughter. “I got saved by a cop named Wyatt Knight. That’s awesome.” His low chuckle had Wyatt’s cheeks aching.

“It’s inherited. I’m a junior. You never answered me.”

“It’s Lee. My mom loves all things America. She named me the most American thing she could think of—Benjamin Franklin Lee.” It was Wyatt’s turn to laugh. Pain shot through his chest and it turned into a cough. Benny tried reaching for the remote to the bed without luck. “Do I need to call the nurse? Are you okay?”

After a few deep breaths, Wyatt managed to control the spasms. “I’m good. Well, good might be a stretch, but I’m still kicking.”

“You saved me first,” Benny said, rapidly changing the subject. “I just need to say that before I pass out again. You were amazing and heroic. No way could I have left you out there, even if meant we might die together.”

It turned out that Wyatt wasn’t much on praise either. “Is it okay if we leave the curtain open?”

Wyatt saw the flash of Benny’s smile in the otherwise dim room. “I’d like that.”

It was possible Dr. Kidd might’ve made the most dead-on prediction ever. Wyatt was certain Benny would be his friend for life.