“Is he—”
“Cam is working on him.” An ambulance crew rushed in a second later.
The small room burst to life. First responders roamed around and Connor acted as traffic guard, moving people here and there. Being in control and running the room. Business as usual.
Makena grabbed a handful of Shane’s shirt and brought his head back down to hers. “Get me out of here.”
He could do that. He owed her that much. More, actually. Because of him she’d played the role of decoy. He’d put her in direct danger and then almost stepped in too late to save her. It was every nightmare brought to life. He’d stayed away to keep the ugliness of his work out of her life but ended up doing the exact opposite.
“I’m sorry.” He said it because he had to. No other words would come out without a push.
Her hand trailed down his cheek. “You’re my hero.”
“I’m not, but you’re alive and that’s all that matters.”
He stood up and lifted her into his arms. He knew she needed to see a doctor and get checked out. That would all happen, but he needed to hold her for a few seconds first.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered into his neck, “I love you.”
The guilt trapped inside him escaped. “You shouldn’t.”
He’d never meant the words more in his life.
* * *
IF ANYONE HAD told Makena she’d be sitting at the hospital bedside of Jeff Horvath one day, she would have laughed. Maybe not even that. The idea was so ridiculous it didn’t even sound like a joke.
She’d taken the position that Jeff had gotten what he deserved. Somewhere she’d forgotten that he was a human being and had tossed his feelings aside. He deserved most of what had happened to him, but his actions at Tyler’s house showed that he could be redeemed. That there could be decency inside someone like him. Once guilt stopped punching her, she’d appreciate the lesson.
Until then, here she was, watching the machinery work to keep him alive and get stronger. The room filled with beeps and strange sounds. Something clicked and an automatic blood-pressure monitor spun to life and checked him every few minutes. He had oxygen and tubes connected to him.
He hadn’t opened his eyes, but the doctor said he’d survived the worst and was improving. She had no idea how anyone could tell.
She leaned back and continued to stare, willing him to get better and hoping he had the strength to do so. She did it for him and for her. Concentrating on Jeff helped her to forget Shane’s last words to her.
You shouldn’t.
After everything, all the pain and death, the terror and anxiety, he held on to his lone-wolf stance. In her horror-induced stupor, she’d thought she heard him utter the words she longed to hear. She’d told him she loved him, but he’d said it first...or had he? Those moments blurred together in her mind with Tyler’s manic tone and Jeff’s death rattle as the knife slipped inside him. Thinking about it had her eyes popping open.
“How is he?” Connor asked as he stepped into the room with Shane behind him.
“Better.” But she barely heard the question.
Her gaze traveled over Shane. He had a bandage on his arm and neck, and one arm hugged his ribs. Connor had insisted they all take a trip to the hospital. She’d long ago been released. Shane had had to stay overnight and had slept through it all as she switched back and forth from his bedside to Jeff’s.
Shane frowned. “That’s a miracle.”
It all was. Makena couldn’t believe any of it. If she tried to explain it—and she had during a telephone call with Holt, who was ripping apart airports on his flights across the country to get to her—it all sounded so fantastical and unrealistic.
So did Jeff’s sacrifice. “How could a guy who would lie about who he was step up like that when to do so risked his own life?”
Nothing about what Jeff had done and the choice he’d made fit with the other things she knew about him. He’d spent so much time pretending to be a hero when he had had the instinct for decency inside him all along.
Connor crossed his arms in front of him. “I like to think a lot of people would do the right thing if confronted with the opportunity.”
Shane scoffed as he came over to stand beside her chair. “I think Connor is naive.”
She kind of agreed. “I owe him.”
“Connor repaid him.” Shane’s hand fell to her shoulder and squeezed.
The touch warmed all the chilled places inside her. She wanted to grab on to his hand and not let go. But now wasn’t the time or the place.
Her gaze switched from Shane to Connor. “What did you do?”