Chapter Nineteen
When Gavin awoke, the first thing he noticed was the astringent scent of his surroundings. He didn’t understand why the woods would smell like that, but when he opened his eyes, he slowly realized he was no longer in the woods. He was in the hospital. The hospital? Why was he in the hospital?
“You’re awake.” Kat touched his arm, her eyes shining as she looked down at him. “Jesus Christ, Gavin.”
He saw that she was crying, and he reached up to wipe the tears away. “What happened?” His voice was croaky.
“You were shot, but the bullet just grazed you. You bled quite a bit, though.” She sniffled. “Scared me half to death, too.”
In a rush, it all came back to him: the woods, Kat, Silas, Emma. Emma. He lurched upward, but groaned as his wound smarted. “Emma? Where is she? Is she all right?”
Kat grabbed his hands to still him. “She’s okay. She found help, just like you told her to. She was so brave. They arrested Silas. It’s over.”
“How did he get Emma? How did this even happen?”
Kat sighed. “Apparently Silas was planning to hurt me, but when he stumbled upon Emma hiding in the supply closet, he decided she’d be bait. He wanted to use her to get to me, and to you. He left me a note telling me to come alone to the woods, but I didn’t see it until after it was all over.” She gave a wry, sad smile. “It wasn’t a good plan, and for that, I’m grateful.”
“Where’s Emma?” He needed to see his daughter, to make sure she really was okay. His eyes stung, remembering how Silas had kept her captive. He remembered the gun Silas had pointed at Kat, and the fear flooded through him, making him tremble.
“She just went to get something to eat. Everyone’s here—your entire family. They’re looking after her. Teagan is trying to get here, too.”
Gavin breathed out a sigh of relief, then winced. Apparently, painkillers didn’t get rid of all of the pain.
“What happened after I was shot?” he asked, taking Kat’s hand.
Her lower lip trembled. “You don’t remember? The EMTs and police had to carry you out of the woods on a stretcher.”
“No, I don’t remember anything.” He rubbed his temples. “I remember fighting with Silas, I remember telling Emma to run…”
“They raced you into the hospital to stabilize you, but then they had to medflight you to Columbia for surgery.”
Gavin finally took in his surroundings, realizing that this hospital room was too fancy to be the local one. “How long have I been asleep?”
“For two days. Gavin, they weren’t sure you’d pull through.” Kat’s eyes glimmered with unshed tears. “The bullet came within a quarter inch of an major artery. Any closer, and you would’ve bled out.”
Strangely, he didn’t feel afraid when he heard those words—that he’d nearly died just a few days ago. All Gavin could feel was an immense tiredness, and the need to see his daughter’s face. But most of all, he hated to see Kat crying. It broke his heart as much as the bullet had broken his body.
“But I’m here, aren’t I? I survived.” He squeezed Kat’s hand. “Lie down next to me.”
She sniffled. “What?”
“I want to feel you. I’ve missed you.”
“You’ve been high as a kite for two days.” She smiled slightly and snuggled up next to him in the hospital bed. It was a tight fit, and if he weren’t full of painkillers, he might find it uncomfortable. But then he smelled Kat’s sweet scent, felt her hair brush his chin, and he didn’t care one bit.
His IV started beeping. And beeping. And beeping. Kat let out an annoyed huff and moved his arm. The beeping continued. She moved his arm a second time. Finally by the third try, the IV stopped complaining.
“What was that?” said Gavin.
“When there’s a kink in the line, it gets mad. You kept moving your arm in your sleep and making it beep. The nurses kept having to come into your room and get it to stop.”
He chuckled. “You mean I’m a pain in the ass even when unconscious?”
“Pretty much.” Kat sighed, laying her head on his shoulder. “But it meant that you were still alive, though. I’d listen to that stupid thing beep for eternity if it meant you were still here.”
He kissed the top of her head, his fingers brushing against her temple. The touch made her wince. He looked more closely to see that she had a bruise that size of a small plum.
“Baby, what the hell? Did he hurt you?” Rage filled Gavin.
She looked up at him in confusion. “You don’t remember? He hit me with his gun.”
“Jesus Christ. I’ll kill him. For everything, I’ll fucking kill that son of a bitch.”
“Not if I don’t kill him first.”
Gavin grunted. “Never took you for blood-thirsty.”
“He kidnapped Emma, threatened to kill her. He almost killed you. So yeah, I’m just as angry with him as you are.” Kat sighed again. “But I’m also angry with myself.”
“What? Why?”
“I should’ve known Silas was no good. There were so many red flags, but I just attributed it to him being an odd guy. I never thought he was capable of something like this, but if I hadn’t been so naïve…”
“Kat, look at me.”
Kat hesitated, but Gavin lifted her chin.
“Do not, under any circumstance, blame yourself. The only person whose fault this is is Silas. No one else. He made the choice to terrorize you and then to keep acting like he was your friend. He let himself get taken over by jealousy. He chose to do everything. You aren’t to blame.”
“I’m just saying if I’d been less naïve, I could’ve prevented all of this.” Tears ran down Kat’s face. “The moment you were shot, I knew I could never forgive myself if you died. You fought to protect me from a man who I should’ve known
