Forever Mine: Callaghan Brothers, Book 9(6)
There was nothing he wanted more, except maybe to tease her a little. “I’m not sure I should. My mother warned me about girls like you.”
She laughed. If joy had a sound, that was it. “Oh, and what did she say?”
“I’d rather tell you what my father says on the subject.”
“And what’s that?”
He paused meaningfully, wanting her complete and undivided attention. “That should I be lucky enough to find one, I should follow her anywhere.”
Her features softened, and Jack knew in that moment that he really would follow her anywhere. Because he’d just found his croie.
Chapter Three
September 2015
Pine Ridge
“Got it! Let’s move!” Michael said, when he felt his father’s pulse flutter beneath the pads of his fingers. He tossed the portable defibrillator pads off to the side. “Time to go, Dad.”
A multitude of hands shot out to lift him smoothly and secure him to the makeshift litter, then slide him into the customized back end of the Hummer. Michael and Shane climbed in with him, while Sean kissed his wife and replaced her in the driver’s seat. Jake jumped in on the other side. Kane, Ian, and Kieran hopped onto the running boards while they made their way up the hill, jumping off when they reached the top.
Anxious faces peered toward the tinted windows. Nicki went to give them an update on the situation, while the brothers concentrated on mobilizing and moving out. Similar scenarios had played out enough times over the years, and they moved together seamlessly, each having a job to do and doing it well. They hadn’t lost a man yet, and they had no intentions of breaking that streak.
“Mick?” Sean asked, looking over his shoulder as Michael skillfully started an IV and positioned a clear, plastic mask over Jack’s nose and mouth to supply pure oxygen with each shallow inhalation. There were so many questions unspoken in that one word, but no more was necessary.
“Good to go. Fast and smooth.”
“Got it.”
Sean expertly wound them down the mountain and into town, using his superb driving skills to get them where they needed to go. The extra-wide set of the tires kept them hugging the curves at speeds that would have flipped a normal vehicle, and the extra horses under the hood made it faster than any conventional ambulance.
“Hold him,” Michael commanded. “Don’t let that line come out.” Shane shifted, extending his long arms to keep his father in place while Michael extracted a cell phone from his pocket. His normally soft voice was at once sharp and clear, capable and commanding.
“Dr. Michael Callaghan en route with male, sixty-five years of age, probable myocardial infarction. Pulse weak and thready, BP...” The stats rang out in the silence, piercing the shock that lay beneath their calm, capable exteriors. “Page Jimmy Yim, have him meet us there and clear a cath room. ETA eleven minutes...”
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June 1968
Pine Ridge
“Eleven minutes.”
That’s what Colin “Fitz” Fitzsimmons said, looking at his watch. To his credit, his voice belayed none of the anxiety in his too-bright eyes. The fluttering in Jack’s stomach turned into a full-blown roil, and not all of it was because he was heading out for newbie training and certain deployment.
His parents had already said their goodbyes. Jack had asked his father to take his mother home when he saw the tears welling in her eyes. These last few minutes were the hardest, and he didn’t want her breaking down into sobs like some of the other mothers were doing. This was hard enough the way it was.
Was Kathleen going to make it? He was torn on whether or not he wanted her to show up for one more goodbye. The past three days had been heaven on earth, and his last image of her, sleepy-eyed but happy, was a nice one to take with him.
On the other hand, the need to see her was a powerful one. He wanted to look into her eyes and see the promise there to reaffirm the words she had spoken as they watched the dawn rise in each other’s arms: that she would wait for him.
It would give him the opportunity to reassure her that he would be fulfilling the vow he had made to her as well: that he would be coming home, hale and hearty, to take that which she had so selflessly offered.
Well, maybe not completely selfless, he thought to himself smugly. She had been so soft, so ready, so willing after they had explored each other thoroughly with eager hands and lips. But it wouldn’t have been right. As wonderful as it would have been, he couldn’t take her innocence in a few moments of desperate passion and then leave. It wouldn’t be fair to her, for one thing. And for another, knowing he had that to come back to was a powerful motivator indeed.
“Ten minutes,” Fitz said, scanning the bus depot on his behalf. Fitz would always have his back; he’d been one of his best friends since elementary school. They’d grown up next door to each other, as close as any brothers. Jack remembered the day they’d first met as clearly as if it had been yesterday.
Fitz’s family had moved to Pine Ridge near the end of the school year, ending Jack’s twenty-three month reign as the “new kid”. Jack knew how hard it could be; Pine Ridge was a small, tightknit community, and most of them had been in the same classes since Kindergarten. Brian O’Connell had been the one to befriend him then and bring him into the fold. So when lunch time came around and Fitz –—a gangly, red-haired, awkward-looking second grader—– found himself in the corner surrounded by a trio of bullying fifth-graders, Jack and Brian didn’t hesitate.