Savage Collision: A Hawke Family Novel (Hawke Family #1)(76)

“No,” I cry, grabbing his arm, “what’s happening? Is Danika all right?”

He pulls my hand from his arm. “She’s okay. Your friend really knows how to take care of business.”

His words don’t immediately register. All I hear is that Dani’s okay, and, at this moment, that’s all that matters. Then I realize he said something else.

“What? What do you mean?” The officer doesn’t answer me and turns to speak with another officer, putting his back to me. I look past him toward the warehouse and see several dark figures moving around. A flood light spills out from the SWAT vehicle parked behind me and in the bright florescent lights, Gabe emerges from the building with someone cradled in his arms.

Danika.

My heart beats out of my chest and I can’t seem to get any oxygen in my lungs as I watch Gabe stride across the parking lot toward the parade of vehicles along the street. The flashing lights of the squad cars, ambulances, and fire trucks paint strange colors across his stern face. Every step he takes seems to last for an eternity.

I’ve never felt more helpless in my entire life. Not even when I was laying in that hospital bed being told I lost the use of my legs. Nothing compares to the agony of watching and waiting, knowing there’s nothing I can do.

The closer he comes, the more anxious I get.

I should have been in there. I should have been the one who saved her.

She has to be okay.

As they approach the fence-line, I notice her tan trench coat is streaked in something dark.

Blood.

She’s not okay…

My vision blurs and my head swims and I struggled to keep my shit together. Gabe moves through the opening the police cut in the fence and makes his way toward the car.

Her arms are wrapped around Gabe’s neck and her face is turned into him, obscuring my view and preventing me from seeing her like I need to. The officer who has been standing near the car steps away to make room, and Gabe steps into the open door next to me.

“Savage.”

I know he’s talking to me; I hear his words. But answering him is out of the question. My voice is caught in my throat.

She isn’t moving. She’s covered in blood and she isn’t moving.

“Savage, snap out of it.” He nudges my shoulder and I shake my head, trying to clear the fog of panic that has overtaken me. “She’s okay,” he says, leaning into the car with her, “it’s not her blood.”

Not her blood.

I should have known that. If she’d been hurt, the paramedics would have taken her immediately. Apparently, logic flies out the window in these situations.

He starts to lower her into my lap but she cries out and grips his neck, clinging to him. “No, no, please don’t…please…”

Her cries make my heart shatter all over again. She’s clinging to Gabe for comfort—not me. And why shouldn’t she? He’s the one who saved her, who risked his life to make sure she was safe.

While I sat here, fucking useless…

Gabe pulls his head away from hers and cups her face in one of his palms. “Danika, look, it’s Savage.” He turns her to look at me and her wide, red eyes meet mine. She practically leaps from his arms trying to get to me. He helps lower her into the car and she climbs into my lap, latching her arms around my neck and sobbing against my shoulder, her whole body violently shaking with each breath she tries to take.

“Shh, baby, it’s okay. You’re safe.” I run my hand up and down her back, trying to soothe her, but nothing I do seems to help. Her despair is complete; she’s inconsolable.

I hold her for what feels like an eternity before an officer approaches and tells Gabe he needs to talk to the sergeant. Gabe nods to me and disappears.

Another officer approaches almost immediately.

“Mr. Hawke, we need to take Ms. Eriksson to get checked out by the paramedics.”

She stiffens in my arms, her grip on my neck tightening.

“Can that wait?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “I’m afraid not, sir. They need to see her right now.”

“Danika, baby, you need to go…”

“NO!” She screams and finally pulls back from my neck, allowing me to see her face fully for the first time in almost two months. Fear overpowers her beautiful features, her eyes so wide and terrified, I can’t see any of the stunning blue that normally gazes back at me. “Please, no, don’t leave me.”

I capture her face in my hands and smooth my thumbs over her blood-spattered cheeks. “Danika, baby, they need to look at you to make sure you’re okay. I am not going anywhere. They will bring you right back to me.”

She shakes her head vigorously, tears streaming down her face, her fingers digging into my shirt and clutching at it frantically. “No, please, don’t make me go.”

I glance over at the officer, who gives me a sympathetic look, but it’s clear she has to go, no matter how much she might protest.

“Can I go with her?” She buries her face against my neck, sobs racking her body again, and I know no matter what the answer is, I can’t leave her again, not for anything.

He nods. “I’m sure that won’t be a problem.”

“Thank you. Can you get my chair from the trunk please?”

He looks momentarily confused, then glances down at my legs and back up to my face.