Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 105825 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105825 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
I got Lorna sitting, tilted her head back and we poured the mixture down her throat. She coughed and choked weakly but swallowed it down. When the jug was still half full, though, she pulled away, shaking her head.
“Come on,” I said gently. “You’ve got to drink it.”
But she shook her head again and pointed. I followed her finger to Van der Meer.
“No!” I told her, panic squeezing my heart. “No, I don’t know if there’s enough, you have it, have all of it!”
But she shook her head again. Cursing, I passed the rest of the jug to Colton and he marched over and poured it down Van der Meer’s throat, not being gentle about it.
“Now get her to the hospital,” Olivia told us. “Fast as you can.”
I picked up Lorna and we ran towards the chopper. But as we bundled her inside, her eyes closed. “Lorna?” I patted her cheek but she didn’t respond. “Lorna!”
42
LORNA
I became aware of voices, muffled and distant. Voices I recognized. I focused and swam upwards towards them. My eyelids felt like they were made from lead but I forced them open…
Light and sound and JD’s prairie-blue eyes, crinkled at the corners as he beamed. “Hey!” he breathed. “There she is!” There was something different about him.
Then Cody threw his arms around me, pressing the side of his face to my stomach. “Mom!”
I reached down to hold him and an IV drip pulled tight against my arm. I looked around: a hospital room. Paige and Gina were there, and I could see more of the team standing guard in the hallway. Memories started to come back to me. The yacht, the terror of not being able to breathe. I tried to speak but my mouth was desert dry. JD passed me water and I sipped through a straw, then tried again. “Van der Meer?” I husked.
“Doing fine,” said JD darkly. “He’ll recover and so will you. You’ll be in here for a few days, though.” He took my hand and knitted his fingers with mine. There was definitely something different about him. “No arguments, you’re staying put.”
“He hasn’t left your side,” Paige told me. She gave JD an approving glance and he flushed.
“And how about you?” I rasped to Cody. God, I was so weak! I could barely get the words out.
“Gina’s been showing me the chopper!” Cody told me, grinning. “I’m learning what everything does!”
We all looked at Gina, who looked away, embarrassed. “Yeah, well, no one needed flying anywhere, I had to kill time somehow.”
JD looked at Cody. “You think you could give me a minute alone with your mom?”
Cody nodded and headed outside with Paige and Gina. JD sat down on the edge of my bed and brushed a stray lock of hair back from my face. I looked into his eyes…and suddenly, I knew what was different about him. Ever since I first saw him in Mexico, there’d been a battle going on in those soulful blue pools. It was gone, and in its place was a need so strong it took my breath away.
He leaned closer and that deep, Texan growl filled the room. “I messed up,” he told me. “Guess I’ve been messing up since the first day I met you. I wanted you, soon as I laid eyes on you. But I thought I couldn’t have you, couldn’t have anyone, ever again. That’s why I tried to let you go. Except…” He squeezed my hand. “Except, when I thought I was going to lose you, I realized…I can’t ever let you go. You’re the most incredible damn thing I ever met and I want—I need—to be with you. With you and Cody. If you’ll have me.”
I gulped, tears filling my eyes. He chose us! And then I realized he was waiting on me for an answer, like there was any answer but yes, and I nodded madly. His chest filled and his eyes lit up with excitement: for a second, he looked like a teenager. He took my hand in both of his and kissed it. Then he looked away and his voice went tight. “Guess that means I need to deal with some stuff. Talk about some stuff. But—”—he looked around at the hospital room, at the team outside—”Not here.”
I nodded quickly. “Whenever you’re ready,” I whispered.
He squeezed my hand, then leaned forward and rested his forehead against mine. With my free hand, I stroked the huge, hard muscles of his shoulder, overcome. This beautiful, broken man had a rough journey ahead, but I’d help him. My heart swelled: we were back together!
I wanted to stay in that safe, warm silence forever. But another memory had caught up with me and it made me grimace and speak. “The company.”
JD gently pulled back and took hold of my shoulders, scowling and shaking his head like a big, protective bear. “Don’t worry about the company. You need to rest.”