When he didn’t speak, she found some bravery and said louder, “Finn was shot. He’s hurt. You need to—he needs help. I’m fine. But he was shot, and his leg was hurt a few days ago but it looks a lot better, but he can’t stand up on his own right now and I think—I think he might fall because I can’t…”
“It’s okay,” he said, squeezing her again. God, he fucking loved her. All the pain floated away in the blissful happiness of having her near. Maybe it was shock or hypothermia.
Ethan wasn’t nearly so pleased, and fixated on Finn. “You got yourself shot?Again?You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”
The bear wasn’t about to tolerate having raised voices around his shivering mate. He tensed automatically, though that made the pain flare up and agitated the bear more. It was about to fly out of control when Kira marched up, clapping her hands. “Okay, all of you. Settle down.”
He breathed a little easier. He trusted her with Lauren. It would all be fine. His legs weakened as he took a step and then he wasn’t entirely sure he was still walking and not falling.
LAUREN
She wasn’t entirely sure why Finn wanted to stand there talking instead of getting into the helicopter and getting to a hospital to fix the bullet wound, but she wasn’t going to object too strongly. He definitely leaned on her to stay upright, and she wondered if he wasn’t injured a heck of a lot worse than he pretended. The two enormous guys who appeared out of the helicopter were equally as terrifying as Shotgun, even if they didn’t give her the same icky vibes. They just looked enormous enough to snap her in two without really trying.
Lauren didn’t know what to do when Finn started to fall, but a woman had appeared from the helicopter and spoke in a semi-familiar voice from the phone call earlier. “Settle down. Finn, why are you—oh, God damn it.”
Lauren gulped for air and tried to catch Finn as he went to his knees, not strong enough to keep him upright, and Kira took charge. It was such a relief that Lauren almost passed out next to Finn. Kira started giving orders and the man named Ethan, who’d asked if she was okay, moved forward to help hold Finn up out of the snow. Then Kira linked her arm with Lauren’s and said, “They’ll carry him out, let’s get you warm in the helo. I’m Kira, by the way.”
“L-Lauren,” she said, teeth already chattering with too many emotions and cold and just…everything. She was really getting in a helicopter? Lauren shook her head, vision blurring. What the hell was happening? She looked back at Finn, heart in her throat. Somehow her voice wouldn’t come out loud enough. “He’s shot. They sh-shot him, he…”
“It’s okay,” Kira said. She didn’t stop walking or even slow down, despite the knee-deep snow, as they approached the helicopter. At least the blades weren’t rotating anymore, although Lauren ducked out of instinct as they got close. Kira hauled the door open and started to boost Lauren up. “We have plenty of first aid, and Ethan is a doctor. He’ll be fine. Let’s just get you in here and settled in the back, and then we can load Finn up. Okay?”
Lauren didn’t know how to argue with that, since it made sense, even though her heart wanted to stay close to Finn to make sure he was okay. Whoever flew the helicopter stayed up front with the controls and didn’t look back when she clambered into the contraption that was nicer than any bus she’d ever been on. It seated at least ten people, although several areas had seats folded down and stowed to make room for a stretcher.
Kira shooed her toward the bench seat in the back, where blankets were stacked alongside a large duffel bag. Lauren didn’t have to duck too much when she climbed into the helicopter, Kira clearly already focused on other tasks. She pulled another duffel bag from under a seat. “Take off your coat, babe, it’s covered in blood and it looks pretty soggy. You can put this sweatshirt on, there are a bunch of blankets back there to wrap up in. Mittens and hats and things too. Put the shoulder harness and belt on, and there’s a headset right there if you want to listen once we get started up. Just sit tight so we can get Finn in. Okay?”
And then she waited, looking at Lauren. Lauren didn’t know what to do. What was she waiting for? Did she want something? Lauren’s mouth went dry as she stared at the other woman, far too many thoughts swarming through her brain, too busy to let any actual words out. She finally managed to nod, stumbling around the duffel to collapse onto the seat in the back where Kira apparently expected her to sit.
Kira took that as permission to keep moving, maybe, because she returned to being a whirlwind of activity. The two men carried Finn and passed him into the helicopter, though he was conscious again and complaining about how they bumped him around. There was a lot more good-natured joking than she would have expected for such a serious matter, and she had to hold on to the seams of her jeans to keep from telling them to be serious and focus on saving him. How were they all so relaxed?
She shed her jacket and left it where Kira gestured so the blood wouldn’t get onto the seat or other clothes, but its absence left her shaking even more. It didn’t matter that she pulled on an oversized sweatshirt a second later, or the mittens and hat and other gear stuffed into the duffel. The shaking came only partly from cold but mostly from seeing Finn lying prone on the stretcher as they hauled off his jacket and shirt and exposed his bare chest to the cold air.
Seeing the angry red wound and blood streaking his skin left her dizzy, disoriented. Oh God. What if he died? How could she go back to living like she had, without him? He loved and trusted her, hebelievedin her. How could she possibly survive without that kind of support? She’d never had it before, but after knowing how much Finn wanted her to succeed, how much he listened to her and didn’t immediately dismiss her thoughts, how…what was there to go back to?
Her vision blurred more and hot tears spilled down her cheeks. She held in a sob. It was too much. It was just too muchhappening and too many new people and just—everything wastoomuch. She couldn’t breathe. The shoulder straps were too restrictive, the closed windows and doors blocking off the air, the disorienting feeling of the helicopter lifting off the ground and leaving her stomach behind, the half-shouting voices as everyone else talked… She clapped her hands over her ears and tried to hunker down in that seat in the back, forgotten again.
Something warm slid around her wrist and she froze, staring at the hand shackling her wrist and forcing her to hear the chaos in the helicopter. She looked up and saw Finn, and her heart cracked. How did she ever think everything would work out?
FINN
He knew it had to be a lot for Lauren to take. Finn had plenty of experience with chaotic environments and being shoved unfamiliar places while others said and did a lot around him. He hadn’t even considered what it would be like for her, after hiding in the cabin away from people for God only knew how long. The bear side didn’t give a shit about the pain in his shoulder and chest, and the second Ethan confirmed the bullet went straight through and no vital structures were hit, Finn took the hit of morphine and immediately went to Lauren.
Simon started to bark at him and chew his ass for making stupid decisions working with Shotgun, but Finn barely heard him. Barely registered there were others in the helicopter. He took off the headset so he wouldn’t be distracted, despite the thumping roar of the rotors almost deafening him, and dragged himself to slide onto the seat next to Lauren.
She had her eyes squeezed shut and her hands over her ears, hunched over to make herself smaller, and tears ran down her cheeks. Finn’s heart ached for her, and it wasn’t even the bullet wound that gave him pangs. She was more the personification of overwhelmed than he’d ever seen a person be. It took somedoing, but he finally tugged on her wrist and got her to look at him.
She wore fresh clothes, at least, instead of the old jacket he’d ruined by leaning on her, and smelled fresh and familiar but still like herself. Lauren stared at him with wide, slightly vacant eyes, and a twinge of concern seized him. He didn’t know how to help, so he did what he would have wanted if their positions were reversed: he put his arm around her and leaned back on the bench seat, letting his head rest against the wall and a little on hers, and breathed deep and even. The morphine definitely helped him relax, and he would have fallen asleep immediately if the bear weren’t hypervigilant about protecting Lauren.
It took some time for her to start to relax, although she didn’t speak or really even blink much. Finn just breathed and held her, and gradually she leaned against his shoulder. Her hand moved by minuscule little increments until it touched his, and he held on to her cold fingers through the mitten. He smiled to himself, the rest of the tension easing out of his shoulders. They would be okay. Everything would be fine.
Simon told him it would take about an hour to get back to the Lodge by helicopter, and that they were fucking lucky the weather cleared and they still had the aircraft out of the barn for a last-minute winter hunting trip. Otherwise, they never would have reached them in time. Finn figured he and Lauren would have been fine. They would have hiked back to the cabin to hole up until Ethan or whoever drove around to pick them up. It all would have worked out.
Funny how it felt that way with Lauren next to him. Even the added stress of protecting a mate wasn’t enough to undermine the confidence that all was right in his world. Finally, all the pieces were there. Something he’d been searching for and didn’t even know he needed was with him for the first time, and he could breathe. He held her closer, head turning to breathe herin, and imagined them napping for hours in the warm comfort of his room. He’d barricade the door so no one bothered them, and they could both recover from the stressful events.
He’d eventually talk with Simon’s lawyer about the deal with Shotgun and how to make sure it actually worked out and didn’t bite Lauren in the ass later. Trading in the fuckers who’d thrown her under the bus had been a last-minute idea, but he figured it didn’t hurt to appeal to Shotgun’s vanity. Being able to solve a crime no one else had for a year was probably a better way to get him to help Lauren than to threaten the fucker with internal investigations, but both together would definitely get things done. Although he’d wait until the paperwork was done and the charges against Lauren dropped before he breathed easier. At least he knew she’d have actual representation the next time she had to face a judge, instead of some overworked public defender who didn’t remember her name.
She shifted and squirmed next to him, and Finn loosened his embrace where he’d been crushing her closer. He kissed her temple, then murmured in her ear, “Are you okay?”
Maybe she wouldn’t hear over the noise in the helicopter and through the headphones. After a hesitation, she nodded. Didn’t speak, just leaned into him and squeezed his hand and nodded.
