Riskier Business (Crossing the Line 0.5)(33)

Faces entered his line of vision. Some unfamiliar, some he recognized, but he didn’t want to listen or acknowledge their rushed commands for him to lie still. He needed to get to her. If she thought she could walk away, he would merely inform her of the opposite until she understood. As he struggled past the sea of arms and startled voices to get to his feet, sharp tugs in his arms and back hindered his progress. He gritted his teeth and yanked at the obstacles. The roaring pain that followed was secondary to the one in his heart.

“Officer Bennett, you’re in the hospital. You’ve been shot.” Irrelevant words he didn’t have the wherewithal to attach to a face. “You must lie down or you will open your stitches.”

“Where…is she?”

“Who?”

“Ruby.” His mother’s voice broke in impatiently. “He’s asking for his girlfriend.”

His girlfriend. His world. His breath. “Ruby.”

As though he’d conjured her with a single word, he heard a door slam and then everything came into focus. He saw her coming toward him, a single hand outstretched. Troy reached out and grabbed it like a lifeline, pulling her toward the bed. Toward him. Her clothes were covered in blood and his head swam with terrible fear before he remembered it was his own. Then she was in his arms and he could think of nothing else. Not the pain in his back or the buzzing in his head. Just her.

“Officer Bennett,” the doctor interrupted as three nurses rushed into the room. “You’ve opened your stitches. I’m going to administer a painkiller and sedative now so we can repair the damage. Here it comes.”

“Troy.” Ruby’s voice shook. “Let them take care of you. Please.”

His mouth felt dry as everything around him slowed. He no longer had the strength to keep his arms around Ruby, and he hated letting her go. “I need you here when I wake up.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

His world went black once more.

…

With a start, he woke again in the darkness, but felt immediate comfort when he registered the unmistakable weight of Ruby’s hand curled inside his own. She didn’t leave. She’s here. Thank God. She’d fallen asleep facing him, her hair fanned out on his hospital bed. A soft green glow had been cast by the machines, illuminating her just enough for Troy to see how exhausted she looked. He squeezed her hand and attempted a smile as her eyes slowly came open and focused on him.

“Hi.” She pushed her dark tangle of hair away from her exhausted face. “H-how do you feel?”

He tried to read her expression and failed. Her earlier promises assaulted him once more, only now they were twice as sharp and clear. I’ll leave him alone. “I’m not going to lie, I’ve felt better.” When guilt flashed across her features, he tilted her chin up with his hand. “Please talk to me.”

She cast a watery glance toward the ceiling. “I can’t stop feeling the bullet hit you. Seeing your eyes…watching you fall…”

He cradled her cheek in his hand. “We came through it alive and together. Let’s focus on that.” A broken sound escaped her throat, and it sent a surge of fear straight to his gut. The possibility of a loss greater than his life stole his breath. “Ruby, you don’t get to leave me.”

For a painfully long moment, she simply stared at him. “Good. Because I couldn’t do it.” A tear tracked down her cheek. “I tried to do the right thing, but I’m too selfish.”

“Dammit,” Troy started, stark relief dulling his pulse as it beat in his ears. “I don’t like hearing that you tried to leave me.”

“I should leave.” Her breath shuddered out. “More than that, you should want me to.”

“No. Never.”

She reached out to trace her thumb over his bottom lip. “I didn’t make it one block, Troy. Not one block.”

Hearing the same words he’d spoken to her all those months ago, his heart slammed into his ribs, feeling as though it might burst. “Good,” he managed shakily. “That’s good.”

“I’ve never been so scared in my life,” she whispered. “And that’s saying something.”

Their gazes held for a long moment before he tugged her to her feet. “Crawl in here. I’ve spent way too many nights without you lately.”

“Troy, your parents are in the hallway,” she scoffed, shaking her head. “And you haven’t even met the nurse yet. I thought I didn’t take anyone’s shit.”

With a frown, he lifted the sheet on his good side. “In.”

Ruby sighed through her smile, then climbed onto the hospital bed so gingerly he had to laugh. When she laid her head on his shoulder, a sense of rightness flooded him. Scenes from the motel room rose unbidden in his mind. “What happened to Jim? After I…”

Her body tensed, so he rubbed circles into her back. “I…let him go. I just couldn’t do it.”

Troy felt thankful. “You did the right thing, baby.”

“Did I?” She traced a pattern on his chest. “When I look at you lying here attached to a bunch of machines, I’m not so sure.”

“You did,” Troy countered firmly. “Never question that.”

She propped herself up on her elbow and kissed him softly. “Troy, you took a bullet for me. I don’t know whether to be mad as hell or fall even deeper in love with you.”