Chapter 21
When Anna was finally allowed back into Flynn’s room, he was ready to nod off again. They’d given him a sedative after changing the tubes and cleaning his wound. And he was in a great deal of pain, the nurse explained. While Anna had been outside waiting, she’d informed everybody Flynn was awake.
She sat back down in the visitor’s chair, and Levi texted her.
Neil, Brendan’s brother, has agreed to help. The word has already gone out to Brendan that Flynn wasn’t badly hurt and is going home this afternoon.
She texted back:
Good. Do you want me to go home?
No. We’ll handle this.
Perfect. She didn’t want to leave Flynn, but if she must to keep him safe, then that was what she’d do.
Just make sure it works. I want to know that asshole can’t get at us again.
Keep us updated on Flynn’s condition. We’ll let you know how it goes.
She put down her phone, curled up in the chair and closed her eyes. Now that Flynn had woken up, recognized her, and seemed to be improving, she could finally relax. Especially with Levi setting up a plan to take out Brendan. She wouldn’t really be able to truly rest until he was, but everybody was doing their part, and she really appreciated that. She hadn’t gotten any sleep last night, just drifted in and out. Every time she heard a sound, she woke up, thinking Flynn needed something. But now she yawned deeply, used her hand to cushion her cheek a little and drifted off to sleep.
She woke up a little bit later, seeing one of the doctors walking back into the room. She could expect a lot of that now. They would assess when to move him from ICU over to the main hospital. She hoped it wasn’t too fast. She knew how quickly his condition could downgrade. She didn’t want that for Flynn.
She closed her eyes again and then it hit her. She opened her eyes slowly to see the doctor walking to the IV line. He had a needle in his hand, about to inject something into Flynn’s IV bag.
“What are you doing?”
The man turned to her, and she recognized him. Brendan.
“You.” She bolted off the chair, racing toward him with her nails ready to scratch the hell out of him. She had no weapon, and he was a pro, but no way in hell was he getting close to Flynn.
She threw herself at him, sending him off balance, but still on his feet, knocking the needle from his hand. It skittered across the floor, and she was on him like a leech. He tried to drag her off, but she clung to him, dug her nails in his back and bit him hard in the neck, her teeth connecting with the soft tissue and going as deep as she could dig them in.
He roared in pain. She could feel his blood gush into her mouth, but she hung on. He tripped and fell to his knees, but she wouldn’t let go. Suddenly she was wrenched off and flung clear. And then he was atop her, both on the floor now.
“You stupid bitch.”
He hit her hard in the face.
Pain slammed into her. She knew she’d lost the one chance of attack she had available to her. She reached for anything that could be used as a weapon. And her hand closed over the needle he’d dropped.
He struggled to his knees, his hand over the wound on his neck.
She sat up and stabbed him in the neck with the needle and plunged deep, shoving its contents into his body.
“No,” he cried out. “You can’t do that. He has to pay for what he did to me. He got me kicked out. Ruined my life.”
“No,” she yelled. “It wasn’t him.”
She hopped to her feet and backed away. “You did that all on your own.” And she saw the truth slowly dawn even as his eyes started to glaze over.
She turned, opening the door between her and the nurses’ station, screaming, “Help, please, help. He tried to murder the patient.”
Several people ran toward her. With relief she saw one of them was a security guard. She turned to glance back at Brendan, but he was flat on the floor, his body jerking spasmodically.
“What happened to him?” the nurse asked.
Anna pointed at the needle in his neck. “He tried to inject that into Flynn’s IV line. But I shoved it into him instead.”
“You know for sure he was trying to kill him?” a different nurse asked.
Anna turned to face the security guard now on the scene. “He’s the one who shot Flynn in the first place. He also shot me.” She motioned at her arm. “I know for sure he killed another man too.”
The security guard checked on Brendan, his weapon out and ready. But just as suddenly, Brendan stopped jerking. One of the nurses approached carefully, bent down and checked for a pulse. She looked up at Anna and said, “He’s dead.”
From the bed came a weak voice. “Good. And I concur with what Anna said. That’s Brendan McAllister. He’s the one who shot me.”
The nurse straightened and said, “Well, he won’t be shooting anybody else ever again.”
Anna raced to Flynn’s bedside and gently flung herself over him. She sobbed uncontrollably now.
Flynn wrapped an arm around her and held her close. “Easy, baby. Easy. You did good.” He glanced at the other people in the room, then forgot all about them as he focused solely on Anna.
She sobbed even more. “Oh, my God. I couldn’t believe it was him. Levi and the others are setting a trap right now at my house.”
Flynn smiled. He reached up and wiped away the tears from her eyes. “That was always Brendan. Never doing the expected.”
She stared at Flynn, then sat down heavily. “I killed him. Dear God. I killed a man.”
Flynn nodded. “I’m so sorry you had to do that, honey.”
She stared at him for a moment and then said defiantly, “I’m not. He was trying to kill you. For that, I would kill him all over again.”
He gently stroked her lips and whispered, “So feisty. I like that.”
She smiled down at him. “I love you. I never got a chance to say that before.”
His hand slipped behind her neck, and he tugged her downward. When her lips were just above his, he whispered, “And I love you too.”
She kissed him. Not hard, but with a sweetness that defined the moment in a way she had never expected.
When she lifted her head again, he said, “I believe I mentioned a position that might be of interest to you earlier.”
She frowned, her eyebrows coming together as she studied his face to see a tiny smile playing at the corner of his mouth. “What position was that?” she whispered.
He tugged her gently forward until her head was just above his again. “The position of my wife.”
She gasped in joy. “Do you mean it?”
He smiled. “Remember that part about not letting my guardian angel go?”
“You want to marry me because I saved your life, right?” she asked cautiously. “You’d be taking on the animals, the shelter, and me.”
He chuckled. “Honey, I have a lot of reasons why I want to marry you. That just happens to be icing on top. I want to marry you because I want to wake up to you every morning. I want to see you first thing when I open my eyes and know my days will turn out perfectly because you’re there with me.”
She sniffled back more tears. “That’s a beautiful thing to say.”
“And yet you have not answered.” His eyes lost some of the teasing.
“The answer is yes,” she said softly. “There was never any doubt in my mind you were the one for me. I just didn’t have an excuse to come back and see you again. But I was desperate to find one.”
“Not to worry. I would’ve been there that same day if you hadn’t come racing into the compound instead.”
They smiled at each other in joy.
“Ice already welcomed me to the family,” he said quietly, then chuckled. “She’s very astute.”
“She welcomed me to the family, here in the hospital,” Anna said. “She’s also a little scary.”
“Agreed. But she’s all heart.”
“And you’re mine. Truly you’re my hero. And the hero for my animals.” Anna smirked. “I think that makes you my Hero for the Homeless.”
“Better not let Levi hear that,” he warned. “Although Ice will love it.”
With a misty smile, she whispered, “I didn’t think I’d survive when I realized how badly hurt you were.”
“I’m tough,” he said. “Besides, I had the best thing in the world to live for.”
When she raised an eyebrow in silent question, he pulled her head down once again for his kiss, and just before he claimed her lips, he whispered, “You.”