wet hair matting against my brow.
The gunshots were quieting down outside, with only sporadic shots fired every minute or so. I began to shiver and Claire frowned, concerned with my diminishing state.
The waitress was curled up in a corner across from us. She looked at me with wide, terrified eyes, noticing my leg.
“It’s getting quiet,” I mumbled.
“That’s because Jared has taken care of most of the people shooting at us,” Claire said with a contrived smile.
“Where is Jared? Why isn’t he back, yet?” I struggled for breath.
“He’s coming. Just hang on, Nina,” she said, distracted as she checked the hall once again.
I needed a more specific time frame. Worried about how much longer I would have to fight to hang on, the question fell short. I looked around the room and it began to blur and spin.
“You’re losing too much blood. We have to move,” Claire said, pulling me to the doorway. She peered out quickly before leaning back to speak to the waitress, asking her something in Japanese. The woman pointed and nodded, whimpering back an answer.
Claire smiled at me. “There’s a back door. We’ll pick Jared up on the way…let’s go.”
“I’ll be right behind you,” I deadpanned.
With her rifle in one hand, she tossed me over her shoulder with the other. As if I weighed nothing, she carried me down the hall, took a turn, and then stopped for less than a second before issuing a damaging blow with her foot to a heavy steel door.
I could feel the night air cooling the warm blood on my leg, and I breathed a sigh of relief that we had finally escaped into the alley. We had almost made it to the street when Claire froze and lowered me to the ground.
“Rookie mistake, Claire Bear,” Grahm said, pointing his gun. His nose was still taped from where she’d shattered it with her elbow.
“Awfully brave of you to come alone,” she smiled.
I had seen Claire’s smug expression before, but this time it was different. She had an edge of fear in her eyes. She knew that I was running out of time.
Grahm turned to me. “I told you I’d see you soon, Nina. Looks like I’m not even going to have to waste a bullet…you look pretty close to death’s door. Such a waste, too,” he said, clicking his tongue in disapproval. “I was looking forward to spending some time with you.”
I held myself up with my hands, but my arms were quivering from exhaustion. I struggled to keep my eyes focused, and my lungs were having a hard time feeling satisfied with each shallow breath. Grahm was right, but I would fight it; I had to keep my heart beating to save Jared.
“If she dies, Grahm, I won’t kill you quickly,” Claire said through her teeth, her voice quivering with anger. “You will suffer…for days. Maybe even weeks…Hell will be a sweet relief compared to what I will do to you.”
Grahm laughed, pointing his shotgun at me. “I could end her life right now, but I think I like watching you squirm while we watch her die.”
I coughed, and fell to my elbows, my palms flat on the damp pavement of the alley. The nausea became more of a promise than a threat, and the sweat dripped from my hairline into my eyes. Grahm planned to hold us at gunpoint until my heart stopped beating, and Jared would soon become sick and die. The rage welled up inside me and I gritted my teeth in anger.
I looked up at the barrel of the gun. “I wish I could watch what she does to you, Grahm, you sorry sack of —,”
“Now, now…” he laughed. “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”
“Do you even have a mother, Grahm? Or did you just come straight from the bowels of Hell?” I gasped, feeling my life slipping away.
Grahm cocked his gun. “You’re sassy, Nina. I like that. Maybe I will show a little mercy…not really my style, but I’ll make an exception for Jack’s daughter.”
I shut my eyes tight and waited, but the end never came. When I looked up, Grahm stood with his back arched, his eyes wide and bulging, staring straight ahead. A string of drool fell from his mouth as he fell forward. Jared stood in his place with a bloody fist.
“Nice,” Claire said, lifting my limp body from the ground.
“I ran out of bullets,” Jared quipped, taking me from Claire’s arms. We surged forward, taking off so fast I thought he had finally sprouted wings.
I tried to focus as he lifted me into the backseat of his Escalade, cradling me in his arms. Claire jumped into the driver seat. “Rhode Island Hospital is closer, right?”
“Yes!” Jared cried. “Go, Claire, Go!”
“I’m going to bleed on the seat,” I mumbled.
Jared laughed nervously. “I don’t care about the seat…you just stay with me.”
“I’m cold,” I whispered. My body shivered uncontrollably even against his warm body.
“Claire,” Jared warned, holding me tightly against him.
“Two minutes,” she said as the SUV jerked with a sharp turn.
“She doesn’t have two minutes,” Jared groaned.
“Jared?” I called into the dark.
I felt his warm hand on my cheek. “I’m here.”
“Jared?” I cried. I was so tired, and I was afraid. I didn’t know if I was strong enough to keep us both alive.
“I’m here, Nina. You stay with me, do you hear me?” I heard his voice break. “I’ve got plans for you.”
I felt the Escalade screech to a halt and the door flew open. Jared scrambled from the back, holding me tightly in his arms.
Jared yelled for help, and then a large group of people surrounded me.
“Sir, I need you to put her on the gurney,” I heard a woman say.
I felt Jared’s warm lips on my forehead and his grip tightened.
“Sir!”
“You promised me,” Jared choked. “Keep your promise, Nina.”
Jared lowered me onto a hard mattress and his hand squeezed mine before he let go. “I’ll see you soon.”
I searched for Jared’s face with my unfocused eyes as the doctor’s and nurses’ voices blurred above me.
“Jared?” I called to him.
“You need to leave the room, sir. Sir? You’ll have to leave!” I heard as I reached out for his hand with the last bit of strength I had left.
When I rose to the surface again, the early morning sun was peeking through the blinds. I looked over to my right hand that was tangled in Jared’s large, warm fingers. His head rested on the hospital bed beside me, his face still and peaceful. It was such an extraordinary sight to see him sleeping, so I let him be. I sat completely still, keeping my breaths even, watching the shadows dance down the wall with the rising sun.
When the sun lit up the room, Jared stirred. His eyes blinked and he lifted his head, looking up at me.
“Good morning,” I smiled, running my fingers through his tousled hair.
“You kept your promise.”
“I always keep my promises,” I said, arching my back against the bed, wincing with the pain that ensued.
His face tensed. “You had me worried there for awhile. We lost you a few times.”
“Really? I feel cheated. I don’t remember a single white light. My life didn’t even flash before my eyes.”
He pressed his lips together. “Leave it to you to joke about dying.”
“Are you okay? When that happens and they bring me back…that doesn’t hurt you at all, does it?”
“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine,” he shook his head both in answer and in disapproval at my question.
“How’s your shoulder?”
“Good as new,” he said, making a show of patting the point where the bullet had entered.
“Yeah…I think my leg is going to take longer than your shoulder to heal.” I looked down, seeing the thick
