Aleš was gone as quickly as he’d arrived.
I didn’t register half of what just happened. “What’s going on, Arthur? It’sjusthis shoulder.”
“There’s no such thing asjusta shoulder, Grace. They can be nothing, or they could clip an artery, shatter bone, nick a lung. It depends on the angle, the—” He finally glanced up at me. “He’s strong. He’ll be fine.”
Another man joined us, and I moved out of the way, shifting to Garrett’s feet and wrapping both of my hands around his ankle. I needed to touch him. I needed him to know I was still here.
Arthur continued coordinating with Merlin over their comms while he and the other operator did whatever the hell they were doing for Garrett. Bags ripped open, they treated the wound with something, covered it with something else. I could barely see any of it through the wall of tears I wasn’t about to stop. He talked about transport, a hospital, and how they were going to explain a private security team with zip-tied guards and two gunshot victims. He rubbed a hand across his face and muttered, “I have to call my father.”
Across the room, Aleš and Radek were working frantically over Dr. Caulfield. I couldn’t watch. There was too much blood. Too much… too much stench of gunpowder. And my ears were ringing.
And Garrett.
Don’t die on me, Mr. Grumpy Face.
He came here for me. And now this? He had to be okay. He had to make it. I didn’t care if it was brain chemistry or a little adrenaline. Now that I had him in my life, I didn’t want to let go.
Couldn’t.
I couldn’t let him go.
Chapter 39
Grace
“—andwhen the guys breached the cabin, they used pepperballs,” Isabella said over the phone. “Which was great for taking down the bad guys, but the cabin was tiny. By the time Tristan got me out of there, I couldn’t breathe, my eyes were swollen shut, and I was covered in snot.”
“Glamorous.”
“I was coughing so hard I almost threw up on him.”
I wanted to laugh. My mouth tried, but it died somewhere in my throat. I was curled in a plastic waiting room chair with my knees pulled up, phone wedged between my ear and shoulder. A news channel played on mute from a mounted television in the corner.
It was two in the morning. Garrett had been in surgery for over three hours.
“He’ll be okay, Grace.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No. But I know those guys. They don’t quit.”
I pulled at a loose thread on the hem of my shirt, near the huge rust-colored stain I couldn’t stop looking at. Garrett’sblood. I’d scrubbed my hands raw in the bathroom, but I’d have to leave if I wanted clean clothes, and I wasn’t leaving.
“Have you called your parents?” Izzy asked.
“No.”
“Grace—”
“What am I supposed to say? ‘Hey Dad, I’m in a Czech hospital at two a.m., the man I’ve been sleeping with got shot by the guy I flew to London to meet, and I’m fine except for the blood on my shirt, so don’t worry’?” I pressed my forehead against my knees. “I haven’t told them I left London.”
“I know.” She didn’t push. Izzy and I hadn’t even known each other a year, but she understood me. It was like we’d been besties all our lives. “You didn’t tell me, either.”
Why I’d kept it from her, despite her living with one of the Round Table Security guys, was beyond me. No, it wasn’t. I didn’t want anyone to worry. “I’m glad Tristan filled you in.”
“Me, too. And for the record, Galahad will be fine.”
“Thanks. See you soon.” I hung up and stared at the double doors at the end of the waiting room. Behind those doors, a surgical team was trying to make Garrett whole again.
