“Gwen is,” Will yelled back. I don’t know about Chance.
Devlin blanched. The EMTs secured him in the back of the ambulance.
“So much pain,” Will said as his gaze swept the scene. So much…Why?
And then he saw the last victim. Ethan Barclay was being wheeled out of Wicked. At first, Will thought the man was dead. Then he saw Ethan’s arm moving. Will rushed toward him. “Ethan!”
Ethan’s head turned. His eyes were too bright, almost feverish. “M-my fault…” Ethan muttered. “Didn’t know…br-brother…”
“What?”
The EMTs forced Will back.
“H-he was…brother…”
The sirens were screaming again.
Will stood there a minute, feeling lost. No, feeling as if he were trapped in hell. Because he remembered another time, another night when violence had torn his world apart. That night, he’d arrived too late. His wife had been gone.
His daughter had stared at him with stark, terror-filled eyes. For weeks after that, Gwen had woken screaming in the night.
Weeks…
Faith touched his shoulder. He flinched away from her.
“You can’t control everything,” Faith told him, her voice carrying no further than his ears. “You just can’t.” Her fingers curled around him. This time, he didn’t back away.
He’d run from Faith before, because he’d known that she could do so much better than him. A bitter, control freak of a man with too many enemies to count. But, right then…
He pulled her into his arms. Held her tight.
“Thank you,” he told her.
Will felt her soft nod.
And he knew he owed Faith, far more than he’d ever be able to repay.
Chapter Thirteen
Gwen paced in the hospital waiting room. Paced again and again—the same circular path around the little room. As soon as the ambulance had arrived, Chance had been wheeled away. He’d gone to surgery and she’d sunk into her own hell.
She’d watched as the others were brought in—Dev, Ethan, and Daniel. Damn Daniel. Cops had followed him back into surgery and he’d been cuffed to his gurney. She’d seen him, and rage had poured through her. Gwen had lunged toward him, ready to kill him right then and there.
But Lex had appeared. He’d pulled her back. He’d wrapped his arms around her and held Gwen until Daniel had disappeared—and until her control had come back.
Lex had told her that Sophie was in the same hospital. She’d been attacked—no doubt, by Daniel, too. Though Gwen didn’t understand why Daniel had hurt them. It was all still a tangle to her, and she couldn’t work out the knots because she was too worried about Chance. She needed Chance. Her steps became faster. More frantic.
How long were the doctors going to take? How long?
The surgery doors swung open. Gwen stopped pacing. She stopped breathing.
The doctor took off his mask. “He’s all right. Chance Valentine is in recovery right now. He’ll be coming out from the anesthesia soon, and…” The doctor’s gaze slipped toward Gwen’s father. “He can, um, have one visitor.” The doc’s stare shifted to Gwen. “Just for a few minutes, ma’am, but you can go back.”
She nearly tackled the doctor in her haste to get back there. The scent of the hospital—antiseptic, cleaner—filled her nose as she hurried back to the recovery area. The nurse pointed her toward Chance’s area, and then she saw him. Hooked up to so many machines. Looking so pale, lying so still. Her heartbeat stuttered in her chest. “Chance?”
His eyes were closed, but his breathing seemed strong. Deep and even. She inched closer to the bed.
“Chance…the doctor said you are going to be all right.”
The machines beeped.
She reached for his hand. For some reason, she’d expected him to be cold to the touch. He wasn’t. He was so warm. So very warm. Her Chance.
She bent near the bed and brought his hand to her lips. Gwen kissed his hand. “We’re both okay, Chance. It’s over. The police have Daniel in custody. We can…we can try for our future now. We can do it.” You just need to get better. Be strong for me.
The machines beeped. That beeping was reassuring. Constant. Steady.
Gwen kept talking to him. “I should have told you I loved you sooner, right? I knew for a long time. I knew before last Christmas. Why do you think I followed you out onto that balcony? It wasn’t just desire, though…yes, you are hot.” She smiled. But then the smile vanished as fast as it had appeared. “I’ve loved you for a long time. I tried to stop, but that didn’t really work out for me. I tried to move on, but then I realized…other men weren’t you. No one else is quite like you. Stubborn and strong and…so everything that I want. You know me well, Chance, better than anyone else, so I guess part of me always thought…you had to know how I felt. You had to see that I loved you.”
She blinked away her tears. Kissed the back of his hand again. “But I don’t think you did see it. And I didn’t see that you loved me. We were both blind, but we don’t have to be anymore. We can go after what we want. We can be happy.” She stared at his face. A face she loved so much. “You just have to get better. You said you’d do anything for me, right? You have to get better. Get stronger. And give me the life that I want. Give me a life with you. Because I won’t take anything else.”
She kept talking to him. Promising him a Christmas together. Promising that they’d get a tree. That in the summer, they’d take a trip. Maybe go to some exotic island and spend the days naked together on some beautiful beach. “We can do anything,” Gwen told him. “As long as we’re together. Any dream we want, we can have.” She swallowed. A thick lump wanted to fill her throat. “I just need you. I need you to open your eyes. To be with me.”
A soft knock came from behind her.
“Miss…”
Gwen looked over her shoulder. A nurse stood there.
“I’m sorry,” the woman told her softly, “but your time is up. You’ll be able to visit with the patient again later, I promise.”
Gwen rose. Her hand still held his. She turned away, her fingers beginning to slide away from Chance’s hand.
His fingers tightened around hers.
Gwen’s breath caught. Her gaze immediately flew to Chance’s face. His eyelids were opening.
“Any…thing…” Chance managed, his voice rasping. “Told you…anything…for you…”