Chapter Thirty – It Hurts Like a
Mother…
Blake
Getting shot? Not all it’s cracked up to be.
When Luke and I entered the garage, all I saw was Styx holding a gun. I search through the haze of the smoke in the garage for any sign of Carly and Natalia, finally spotting a head of dark hair behind an engine hanging from a cherry picker. I take that as a damn good sign since they aren’t lying on the floor in a pool of their own blood.
Gun extended firmly and precisely in front of me, I scan the room until my eyes return to the cold, dark ones of Styx, the man who took my girl and my daughter. There is a standoff. Minutes feel like they pass when in reality, it is probably two seconds. The room is suddenly silent. I don’t hear my fellow agents as they work to clear the room, ordering the suspect to drop his weapon. I don’t hear the desperate cries of my one-year-old daughter, nor do I see the fear in the eyes of the woman I love more than life itself. I only see the man who took them. Styx moves his gun, pointing it square at my chest.
The shot rings out, filling the room with chaos and returned fire. I get one shot off before the pressure of the bullet I took takes me down to the ground. Suddenly, there’s quiet again, an eerily silent calm washes over my entire being.
Luke’s face hovers over me. I watch his mouth move, but no words appear to be coming out. It takes several seconds before sound returns to the room. “Blake, hang on, man,” he says as he applies pressure to my shoulder.
“No. Get Carly and Nat. Get them out of here, Luke. Promise me you’ll get them to safety.” My voice remains surprisingly firm as I ask my little brother to protect those I love the most.
“I got it,” he says with a decisive head nod. “Get the medic in here,” Luke yells to the room at large before standing up and moving away from me.
I watch until I’m unable to see him any longer. Please God, just let him find them unharmed, and get them out of here safely.
Another agent, Brock, hovers over me now, applying a painful amount of pressure to my shoulder. The pain that was absent before finally starts to set in. My entire upper body burns fire with the most intense fucking pain I’ve ever experienced. The image of Carly lying on my arm, sleeping with her beautiful long, midnight hair fanned out around the pillow, her eyes fluttering while she dreams is the last thing I recall before the blackness takes over.
* * *
Somewhere in the distance I hear a steady beep. It sounds like it is miles away. Hell, a universe away. I do everything I can to open my eyes, but there must be little weights pulling down my lids because I can’t seem to force my damn eyes open for nothing. I lie there quietly and as still as possible, as I try to figure out where in the hell I am. My entire body is stiff and sore and moving is more difficult than I thought it could be.
“Blake?” Her voice is like an angel speaking straight from the heavens. “Blake, can you hear me? Wiggle your fingers again,” she orders, her emotions clear in her sweet voice.
“Luke, I think he’s waking up,” Carly says in the darkness. My eyes flutter a little as bright light begins to seep in around my closed eyelids. “Keep moving your fingers,” she says.
I don’t know how, but I slowly lift my hand, seeking out her touch. When I feel her warm hand wrap around mine, contentment washes over me, and I feel at peace finally. Her hand strokes my fingers as she links them together in a way that symbolizes more to me than she’ll ever know. There’s no way in hell I’ll ever be able to let her go after this. If I have to spend the rest of my life on my knees begging for her forgiveness, then that’s what the fuck I’ll do. There will never be another Carly. No one will ever replace her in my life or my heart. She’s it. The one.
“Open your eyes, Blake.” This from Luke. I instantly want to punch him in the face for interrupting my private, mental moment with Carly.
“Leave us alone,” I mumble through the driest throat I’ve ever had. His smug laugh fills the room as I blink repeatedly, trying to open my eyes.
When I finally crack them open, I wish to fuck I hadn’t. The light is so bright I’m afraid I’ll never be able to see right again. After a few minutes, I try again, blinking and willing my heavy eyes to open. As I crack them open, I finally see the most beautiful sight ever. The only thing to top it was the first time I laid eyes on her. And maybe the first time I saw her holding our daughter.
“Welcome back,” Luke says with a big grin. Well, I assume he’s grinning because I hear it in his voice. But I don’t look at him. I can’t look at him. My eyes are riveted to the love of my life.
Tears pour from her stunning brown eyes as they remain glued to me. If I could sit up, I’d wrap my arms around her and never let her go. I’d hold her so damn tight, she’d pass out from lack of oxygen. I long to kiss those tears away, to make all that is bad disappear.
“Don’t cry,” I choke out, my tongue feeling like it weighs five pounds. Saw dust. It feels like I swallowed saw dust.
“You’re awake,” she says with a small smile.
“Yeah.” Blinking appears to be a chore right now, and the desire to close my eyes and pass out is great. But my need to see her, touch her is greater. “What happened?” I ask.
Luke is there a few seconds later with a glass of ice water. He places the straw directly against my lips, and I slurp greedily what feels like the first drink of cool liquid I’ve had in days. “Do you remember anything?” he asks while taking a seat on the edge of my bed.
Thinking back, pieces of the puzzle start to slip into place. “I remember going into the garage, but that’s about it. I remember everything that led up to that point, but everything after that moment is a little fuzzy.” Carly still holds my hand securely within both of hers in a death grip. It’s like she’s afraid that if she lets go, I’ll slip away. Well, that’s not ever fucking happening. I want to lift my other arm, but it’s held down by something tight and restricting.
“We followed the first sweep of agents into the garage after they detonated the smoke bomb. You were right next to me as we went in. Styx was there and had a gun. He wouldn’t drop it for nothing even after ordered to multiple times. When he took one look at you, he pointed it at your chest from about ten yards out. He got a shot off and hit you in the shoulder. Before you went down, you returned fire, hitting him center mass. He took three other rounds to the chest before dropping to the concrete.”
“Good,” I say definitively. I definitely won’t be losing any sleep at night knowing that Styx is gone.
“It was a fishing exhibition to get the bullet out. It didn’t go clean through like we’d hoped. It took a little over two hours to dig it out and repair the damage. You’ll be out of commission for a while, but they’re hoping you’ll have full-range of mobility and motion with a little bit of therapy.”
“I don’t need therapy,” I mumble, though the dull throb of my arm and shoulder tell me differently.
“Doc was just in here again a bit ago. If you didn’t wake up today, they were gonna just throw you out in the street for being such a pussy,” he adds with a smirk.
“Don’t be an ass. How long was I out?” I tell my little brother.
“Just since yesterday. They say you came to briefly in the emergency room before they took you up to surgery. Apparently you were causing all sorts of a ruckus; kept asking and searching for Carly. I think they had to give you something to calm you down. Anyway, Doc said you should be good as new in no time. And the best part is that you’ll still be the second-best looking brother.”
I can’t help but laugh and smile deeper when I see Carly smile too for the first time since I woke up. I’d give my left arm to see more smiles and erase that look of pain and fear that I saw when I first opened my eyes. “Yeah, but chicks dig scars, Luke. I think I hold the trump card on coolness now,” I smart-off.
“Well, I don’t plan to get shot so we’ll just have to call that one a draw. Why don’t I step out into the hall and let the nurses know you’re finally awake,” he says as he stands up. Before he heads towards the door, he turns those green eyes on me. “I’m damn glad you’re okay, brother.”
“Thanks,” I tell him, but my vision is focused back on the woman holding my hand.
I don’t even hear the door open and close as I lose myself in her dark chocolate eyes. Everything I am is sitting right next to me. I give her hand a quick squeeze as I say, “Get up here so I can hold you.”
She appears hesitant as she stands up from the bedside chair and positions herself right next to my bed. “Closer,” I tell her, tugging on her hand until she’s practically falling into my chest.
“Blake, I don’t want to hurt you,” Carly says with worry in her eyes.
“You’re hurting me more when you’re not in my arms,” I tell her honestly. “I need to hold you, Carly.”
I lift my arm as she gingerly slides into the bed next to me. My entire body sings with awareness as she snuggles against my good side. Letting out a deep sigh, I close my eyes as the exhaustion starts to set in. “How’s our baby girl? Is she alright?” I ask, worried as shit that something happened to Natalia in the exchange with Styx yesterday.
“She’s perfectly fine. We were both checked out in the hospital last night. She has a small goose egg on the front of her head from when we dove for cover, but other than that, she’s perfect. Mom came to the hospital last night and took her home with her.”
“I’m so glad to hear. Christ, I was so worried about you two.”
“We’re okay, Blake. Thanks to you and those agents, we made it out of there.”
I use my good arm to stroke the side of her head. Her scent assaults me in the best possible way. I’ll never get tired of the way she smells of wildflowers and honey.
“I’ve never been so scared in my life,” Carly whispers against my side. “When they said they had to take you to surgery, I was afraid I would never see you again.”
“I’m too stubborn to go anywhere, honey. You don’t have to worry about losing me anytime soon. I’m not going anywhere.”
“I realized something in the last few days, Blake.”
“What’s that, honey?” My eyelids won’t stay open any longer. As much as I want to look at her while we talk, I just can’t keep them open any longer.
“I don’t want you to go anywhere.”
“Well, that’s good because I refuse to go anywhere. You can try to push me away, but I won’t go. You’re stuck with me from here on out, baby.” Darkness starts to set in. I couldn’t open my eyes for anything. I hear the door open and what sounds like another man talking to my brother. But before I can fall any deeper into unconsciousness, I say one last thing. The one thing I’ve needed to tell her for days. “I love you, Carly. And I’m going to marry you as soon as I can.”
The blackness consumes me completely.