Olivia groaned, her brows turning inward with pain.
“Jake?”
She spoke so softly, Jake would have missed it had he not seen her lips move.
He leaned down closer, speaking loudly so she could hear him over the chopper’s loud humming.
“I’m right here, baby.”
Liv was quiet for so long he thought she’d gone back under. Then, he saw her lips move again.
He got even closer, his ear tilted just above her mouth. “What, sweetheart? I couldn’t hear you.”
“L-love...y-you.”
Her words were broken from exhaustion and pain, but they were still the sweetest, most important ones he’d ever heard. Words he thought he’d never hear her say again.
Her image blurred behind his unshed tears. The stinging in his nose was back, and his throat closed up so quickly he had to swallow three times before he could actually speak.
“God, Olivia. I love you, baby. So much.”
Once her mind was clear and she remembered what he’d done to her, she’d probably try to walk away again. This time he wasn’t letting her go.
Jake blinked quickly, not because they weren’t alone, but because he wanted to see her more clearly. He leaned over her and kissed her forehead and lips before Santos placed an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth.
Her fingers squeezed his before going limp again. She actually looked at peace for the first time since finding her in that barn.
Sitting back in his seat more, Jake kept hold of her hand. Just as his shoulders began to relax, alarms started blaring all around them.
Santos sprang into action, checking her pulse and then immediately starting chest compressions. Jake nearly lost it.
Unable to do anything else, he got into her face and ordered her to be okay.
“Don’t do this, Liv! Don’t you do this! You fight, goddammit. You fight!”
For the umpteenth time that day, Jake felt as if his soul was being torn from his chest. Santos stopped the compressions to check for a pulse.
When he began rhythmically pressing down onto her chest again, Jake knew he hadn’t found one.
Please don’t take her. I can’t lose her!
Jake panicked like never before. “You are not dying, Olivia! Do you hear me? You live!” His voice broke, but he kept going, “You fucking live! For me...for us!”
Santos paused and checked again. He was about to start compressions again when the guy huffed out a huge sigh of relief. He spoke to Burns in his headset. “Got her back, but pulse is weak.”
There was a pause and then to Jake he ordered, “Sit back. We’re getting ready to land.”
Jake nodded, his eyes never leaving Liv’s face. His movements became automatic as he slid back into his seat and buckled himself in.
How many more times would he have to live through thinking he was going to lose her?
For the next few minutes, he just sat there, emotionless and numb. Somewhere in the back of his muddled mind, Jake knew he was shutting down.
He’d thought he lost her once before and, up to now, thought that was the worst thing he could ever experience. He was wrong.
Witnessing the love of his life’s heart stop before his very eyes had broken something inside him.
His mind and emotions became blanketed with just one thought—Olivia could still die today, and there wasn’t a fucking thing he could do about it.
After they landed, the group of doctors and nurses Ryker had waiting for them on the roof whisked Olivia away. They pushed her into a large elevator, the doctor in charge shouting out orders as they went.
Jake jogged next to the gurney until he was literally pushed aside so they had more room to work. When the elevator doors shut, he found himself still standing on the roof with Burns and Santos, having no idea what he was supposed to do next.
When he refused to go into the surgical waiting room, the two medics took him to the hallway just outside the OR where Olivia was being worked on.
He mumbled a thanks to them both. They wished him luck, and went on their way.
For who knows how long—could have been hours—Jake simply stood there, staring at the OR doors. Wishing like hell he could go in.
A hand on his shoulder caused him to start. He was so keyed up, his arm swung around before he’d even given it any thought.
“Whoa! Easy there, boss,” a familiar voice said. “It’s just me.”
Jake blinked and stopped his fist mid-swing when he saw Coop standing in front of him. He lowered his hand without speaking.
“Everyone else is already in the waiting room, but I wanted check in with you and see how she’s doing.”
No one had come back out of those damn doors. Not even to give him an update on her status. Olivia could be gone for all he knew, but—
No. He couldn’t think like that. He had to stay positive. For Liv.
Jake opened his mouth to tell him what had gone down in the chopper when both men heard footfalls. They turned to see Trevor walking down the hallway.
“How is she? Have they told you anything?”
Worry and guilt were written all over Trevor’s face. Jake knew what he was thinking, because, hell, he’d thought it, too.
If Trevor had stayed just a little longer, he’d have been with Olivia when Jake got the call from Ryker. He would have stayed there until Jake could get to her, most likely deterring Cetro from making his move.
None of what had happened was Trevor’s fault, but Jake knew his friend was shouldering some of the blame anyway. A part of Jake wanted to comfort him. As Trevor’s boss—and more importantly, his friend—he knew he should say something to ease the other man’s guilt.
Jake simply couldn’t form the words. He couldn’t find any words, for that matter.
All he could think about, all he kept seeing was Olivia lying lifeless in that chopper. He could still hear the alarms. Could
