of her children.
When Myers rang the doorbell, Nadine passed out cold at the news.
When she came to, Noah and Raine had been hysterical. They were with her sister now. Noah Jr. wanted to come with her, but she didn’t want him to see Noah like this. Hell, she didn’t want to see Noah like this.
They neared the end of the hallway, and she saw Lucas standing just outside Noah’s door like a sentry. Lucas was like a life preserver in that sea of blue. He walked toward her, looking exhausted, with his lips tucked in, frowning with worry. One arm was in a sling while the other was heavily bandaged. There was another small dressing on his neck.
His face, arms, and hands were covered with scattered scrapes and contusions.
Lucas wasn’t his usual, quietly expensive dapper self. There were no tastefully tailored threads today. Instead, Lucas was wearing a black heavy metal T-shirt that was a size too small. That would have been funny under a different set of circumstances, but at the moment it horrified Nadine. She vaguely wondered what had been on his shirt that made him want to take it off. Despite their tumultuous history, his presence was the one she was most thankful for. Lucas reached her and looked down at her with enormously sad eyes that looked like they’d been crying.
Nadine’s breath hitched in her throat. “Lucas.” She collapsed into his arms and he held her tight. Nadine cried into his chest without shame until she could pull herself together. Until she had enough to go on. She pulled away from him slowly, careful of his arm that wore the sling. Myers had his hand on Lucas’ shoulder, his eyes full of sympathy. Griffin had his hands clasped in front of him, studying his shoes.
A doctor came out of Noah’s room and Nadine was suddenly nauseous. She had absolutely no desire to hear what he had to say.
Lucas looked down at her and took her arm. “Nadine, are you ready?” he asked in a quiet voice.
Hell no! She wanted to scream back at him, but she couldn’t seem to get her mouth to work. She nodded against her will and turned to face the doctor, a tall, toffee-colored man, with salt-and-pepper hair and kind brown eyes.
“Mrs. Ramsey?”
Nadine nodded and he extended his hand. She took it like she was sleepwalking.
“I’m Dr. Garrett. I performed your husband’s surgery.” Nadine felt like there was no moisture left in her mouth at all. She couldn’t answer him if she tried. Nadine leaned into Lucas and nodded.
“I have to be honest with you, Mrs. Ramsey. When your husband got here, he was an absolute mess. He was shot twice in the torso. One bullet fractured his left collarbone, travelled downward a bit and exited through his shoulder blade. It looked messy, but it was fairly clean. The second went through his sternum. It ricocheted through his left lung and collapsed it … then it moved upward and nicked his aorta.” Nadine gasped and put her hand over her mouth. The doctor put a calming hand on her arm as he finished what he was saying. “Mrs.
Ramsey, I’m one of the best heart surgeons you can get, and I performed the surgery myself. Your husband is tough. He’s a fighter. The nick in his aorta had him bleeding out internally — and the collapsed lung wasn’t helping. He crashed twice on his way here, then he went into shock … but he held on long enough to get to me. I closed the hole immediately. Right now, we’re trying to wait and see how everything goes. The heart should no longer be a problem, unless something unforeseeable happens. We don’t want him developing any fluid on his lungs.”
“Is he going to be okay?” Nadine asked shakily.
Dr. Garrett put his hands on his hips and sighed. “Well … barring he doesn’t develop fluid on his lungs — or any other adverse situations,” he said, nodding slowly, “I think eventually he’ll be fine, but it will take a while.”
“How have you graded his condition?” Lucas asked.
Dr. Garrett gave Lucas a cursory look, his eyes lingering on the arm not in a sling. “No longer grave. Critical and guarded. You his partner?” Lucas nodded. “Yes, I am.”
Dr. Garrett nodded and turned back to Nadine. “He’s in rough shape and he doesn’t look very much like you’re probably used to seeing him. He has some facial wounds, which we cleaned and dressed.
They should heal well. He was shot in the left hand and it chipped the bone in his knuckle. That’s in a soft cast. His left arm is in a sling because of the collarbone break. Oh, and his left leg is in a cast and traction. He was shot in that leg, as well, and he’s got a fracture in his femur and a dislocated kneecap.”
“Oh, my God,” Nadine whispered.
He nodded. “I agree. Your husband looks like he was in a war, Mrs.
Ramsey.” He cast a disgusted glance at Captain Myers.
Myers looked at him. “He was, Doctor.”
They stared at each other for a moment, then Dr. Garrett turned back to Nadine. “You can see him, if you’re ready.” He put his hand on Lucas’s unslung arm. “You need to get that looked at. You’re not supposed to be bleeding. How did that happen?” Lucas shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I wasn’t very cooperative.” Dr. Garrett smiled, then looked at Nadine. “You guys got kids?”
“Yes. A boy and a girl.”
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Ramsey. He’s in extremely good hands. I’m on call until he’s out of the woods.”
Nadine managed a smile of her own. “Thank you, Dr. Garrett.”
“You’re welcome. Go on in and see your husband.” He touched Lucas’ shoulder and gave Myers that same glowering look. “This man looks like he’s been in a war, too. Don’t forget about your arm, sir.” He turned on his heel and walked down the hall.
Nadine looked at Lucas. “Have you been in yet?” Lucas passed his free hand over his beard. “No. They just brought him up, not too long ago. You want me to go with you?”
“I think I need you to.”
“All right.” Lucas put his arm around her and shouldered the door open slowly.
The first thing they saw was a perfectly nice little table, with a perfectly lovely vase of tulips sitting on its surface. Lucas ducked his head around the door and Nadine watched his face change.
His eyebrows went up, just a little. He blinked, then closed his eyes
… like he wanted to erase what he’d just seen. Lucas opened his eyes and took a step further into the room. The look on his face was alarming because Nadine had never seen it before. He looked like he was trying hard not to cry. Nadine stepped around him and looked at Noah. She put her hands on the bed railing and started to weep.
Noah was on his back with four different machines monitoring him. He had a tube in his mouth and an oxygen tube under his nose.
Noah had stitches over his eyebrow and his cheek was lightly bandaged. There was a smattering of lesser abrasions scattered across his face. The left side suffered the worst damage: the skin was bruised and swollen, to a shade that was almost purple. That eye was shut. The other eye didn’t appear to be completely closed; Nadine could almost swear she saw a whisper of gray. His lashes were damp like he’d
