protectively over Tess. “I’m fine,” he assured Caleb. “Tess, where do you hurt?”
“Everywhere,” she admitted with a grimace. She struggled to sit upright, and Declan eased his arm around her shoulders to offer support. The way she leaned heavily against him made him realize she might be hurt worse than he suspected.
“Take it easy,” he murmured. “Did you hit your head?”
Tess put her hand to the back of her head. “Yes, I might have blacked out for a moment or two. I can feel a lump, but there doesn’t seem to be any bleeding.”
Declan battled back a wave of fury. That had been way too close. Tess could have been seriously injured by the blast. And this latest turn of events only convinced him more that she was the specific target.
“Come on, let’s get her to safety,” Caleb urged.
Declan was totally on board with that plan. He helped get Tess up and on her feet and with Caleb’s assistance, walked her over to the back of the van where Nate had opened the doors for them.
“Sit down, Tess,” he instructed. “Do you have a first aid kit handy?” he asked Nate. “She could use an ice pack.”
“I’m fine,” she said. “I’m sure you have a few bumps and bruises, too.”
He did, but that was a by-product of his job. Tess was a fourth grade schoolteacher, and he was fairly certain she wasn’t accustomed to being thrown off her feet by a bomb.
Nate handed him the ice pack and he quickly twisted the bag to activate the coolant inside and gently pressed it against the back of Tess’s head. Despite her earlier protest, she put her hand back there to help hold the ice pack in place.
“Just relax, I’ll hold it for you,” he told her.
“Did you notice that both your SUV and Tess’s car were damaged by the explosion?” Caleb asked in a low tone. “The maple tree was knocked over, too.”
“Yeah, I did. And I don’t believe in coincidences. I need to get Tess someplace safe.”
“I’m not going anywhere without my brother,” she said, joining the conversation.
“I know, we’ll take him with us,” Declan promised.
The wailing sound of a siren indicated the local authorities and the ambulance were getting closer. He appreciated the additional backup, but at the same time, he wanted nothing more than for Tess to get the medical care she needed and then to get her out of there.
Before the bomber made yet another attempt on Tess’s life.
* * *
Ignoring the pounding inside her head wasn’t easy, but Tess knew that was the only way she could avoid going to the hospital. She stared down at her trembling fingers, and did her best to remain calm even though she was still reeling from being so close to the explosion.
Dear Lord, thank You for keeping me and Declan safe from harm. And please watch over Bobby, too. Amen.
“Tess? Is something wrong?”
Declan’s concern was touching, but she knew that she couldn’t keep leaning on him for support like this. They were just temporary allies. As soon as he had her safely tucked away, she knew that he’d go back to his SWAT team, leaving her and Bobby alone.
“I’m fine, but I’m anxious to see my brother.”
“First we need the EMTs to check you out...you said yourself that you blacked out for a minute.”
“I said I may have blacked out for a minute, or it could be that my brain simply shut down for a moment, from the shock of the explosion.” She didn’t appreciate his using her own words against her. “It’s not like I find myself in harm’s way like this very often.”
“I know, but you could have a concussion. Give me a little more time here, okay?”
As if she had a choice. The only reason she wasn’t pushing the issue right now was that Bobby was in school, surrounded by teachers and dozens of kids. He’d be fine there until she could get there to pick him up. At least she was fairly certain he’d be fine.
She winced at the shrillness of the siren as the ambulance pulled up. Within moments two EMTs had taken up residence on either side of her.
“Anyone else injured?” one of them asked.
“No, just Tess. She has a lump on the back of her head,” Declan said, removing the ice pack so they could examine her.
“We were both knocked off our feet,” Tess felt compelled to point out. “You should check him for injuries, too.”
“I’m not hurt,” Declan said firmly.
Stubborn man, she thought, as the EMTs poked and prodded at her. They took a set of vital signs and asked her dozens of questions to make sure her brain hadn’t been knocked off-kilter. She scowled, knowing there was a very good chance that Declan had a bump on the back of his head, too.
“We should take her to Trinity Medical Center to have a CT scan of her brain, just to make sure there’s no internal bleeding,” the EMT on her right said.
“Okay,” Declan agreed.
“No, I don’t want to go to the hospital.” She glared at Declan, trying to get him to drop the idea. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“There’s no need to be nervous,” Declan told her. “CT scans don’t hurt and we’ll still have time afterward to pick up your brother.”
There was that commanding tone again, and just hearing it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Why did so many men like to give orders? Why did everything have to be done their way? “Have you ever been to the E.R. at Trinity?” she asked in exasperation. “Getting cleared could take hours and be a complete waste of time. I’m not going, end of discussion.”
Declan wasn’t happy with her decision, and neither were the two EMTs.
“You’ll have to sign a release form,” the guy on her left informed her. He placed a metal clipboard in her lap and handed her a pen. “Sign here,” he instructed. “This means you can’t come after us if you suffer a massive head bleed later.”
She sensed he was trying to scare her with that comment, so she ignored it, signed her name and handed the clipboard back to him.
“Do you have another ice pack in there? This one is already getting warm,” Declan said. “I’d like to try to keep the swelling down.”
“Sure.” The EMT took a prefilled ice pack out of his kit and gave it to him. Once again, Declan applied it to the lump on the back of her head.
She was tempted to tell him to use the ice pack on himself, but held her tongue. No sense in antagonizing Declan now, not until they’d picked up Bobby from school.
And by then, she’d be glad to see the last of Declan Shaw for a while.
*
