“No!” Eden screamed the word, her entire world dissolving as she watched Kap’s eyes close. “Don’t you die on me, Kapone. Do you hear me?”
She was pulling off his damned bulletproof vest, her brother taking over the job when her hands started to shake too much. When he finally got it off, she noticed that blood soaked one side of his shirt. It had been the side that faced Marv when he’d fired.
Fighting back tears and nausea, she lifted his shirt and saw the bullet hole. Terror seemed to grip her lungs, and she had to force the air through them. This couldn’t be happening. She could not lose him because of something she did.
“You are not allowed to do this. Do you fucking understand me, Kapone? Don’t you leave me.”
There was so much blood. He shouldn’t be hurt. The vest should have protected him, but he had tackled her to save her life. She had been the cause of this, and she would never forgive herself for it.
He couldn’t die on her. If he did, Eden didn’t know if she would be able to go on. Fear iced her heart as she tried to stop the blood, but there was just so much of it. It gushed up through her fingers.
“EMTs are here, Eden,” El said as he dragged her away. “You need to stay out of their way.”
She knew that, and she complied, but every second that ticked by felt like hours. Years. El held her tight as the EMT looked Kapone over before putting him on the stretcher. As they wheeled him away, she wrenched herself away from her brother and ran after them. They were going to take her in that ambulance. There was no way she would wait around to be taken there.
Her brother was hot on her heels as they got onto the elevator with Kap and the EMTs.
“There’s not enough room in the ambulance for everyone,” one of them said. She looked at the man, then at her brother.
“I’m going with you.”
There was no way Eden would let him go to the hospital by himself. She would be there with him the entire way.
“I’ll get someone to take me,” El said.
She nodded. Her brother helped her into the ambulance because her knees were too weak. She moved to the back out of the way, but she wanted to hold his hand. Eden knew she would be in the way if she did that, so she settled in the corner and watched the EMT work. Her gaze focused on Kap. His skin was usually dark, but it was ashen now from the loss of blood.
“Ma’am, are you okay?”
She glanced at the EMT and realized he was talking to her. Of course he was. It was just Kap, Eden, and the EMT.
It seemed to take a lot of effort, but she nodded. “It’s Kap’s blood. He saved me.”
“That’s the officer’s name?”
She nodded. “Kap Hanson.”
“Are you his next of kin?”
She shook her head. “No. His family is back in Georgia.”
God, his mother would never forgive her if anything happened to Kap. She had never met the woman, but she knew she was a strong influence in his life, and he loved her. It was one of the things that drew her to him. A man who could admit he loved his mom and showed it was a treasure.
She bit her lip to keep it from trembling. The sirens were blasting, but she didn’t seem to hear them. All she focused on was Kap and his chest. If it kept moving, everything would be okay. She kept repeating that to herself the entire ride.
They rushed to Tripler Army Medical Center, and she jumped out the minute the doors opened. She wanted to make sure she stayed out of their way. There was a team waiting, as if they had been alerted to a trauma case.
She watched as they wheeled him into the hospital, and she felt her head start to spin. She could not lose him. They had already lost years away from each other, and he’d said he loved her. She wanted to say it back, to see him flash that amazing smile at her.
“Ma’am,” a woman said. Eden blinked and looked at her. She was a younger woman wearing scrubs. “Are you okay?”
Eden nodded. “This is Kap’s blood.”
Understanding lit her eyes, and sympathy moved over her expression. “You want to come inside? We can get you washed up while they work on Kap.”
“Eden!”
Without turning around, she knew that was her brother.
