Page 40 of Gunner

“Cosmo, keep it on. You need the oxygen in your lungs to clear the smoke.” She looked at him as she coughed, and he held her hand tight, letting her know he wasn’t going anywhere.

Slumping back against the trolley, she closed her eyes, but this time he knew she was exhausted, not unconscious. Tonight, she’d gotten incredibly lucky. He shuddered to think what would have happened if Waggs and Liam hadn’t been there. From now on though he would make sure she was safe. He hadn’t wanted to take her out of her home, but this changed everything. He wanted her where nobody knew how to find her, not Osbourne and certainly not Carmine Russo.

Digging out his phone, he sent a text to Jack and then held on tight to Lacey. He didn’t care if it took him the rest of his life, he wasn’t leaving her alone, and he’d do whatever it took to keep her safe.

At the hospital, they left him to give her details to the desk while the doctors rushed Lacey through. He went to follow and was held back by a formidable-looking receptionist.

“Sir, you can’t go back there.”

Gunner turned ready to argue and saw Kanan rushing through the door. “Jack sent me, wanted me to make sure you weren’t alone.”

Gunner just nodded, more moved by the caring than he could say. “Thanks.”

“Roz called the girls and Skye is on her way. We’ll find the pricks who did this, Gunner.”

Gunner knew Kanan well, having worked and socialised with him on many occasions and was glad for the ex-spy’s back up.

“Excuse me, sir, does your girlfriend have an allergy?” Gunner felt lost, not knowing for sure if she did or not. He was coming to realise just how little he knew about the woman he loved. As he was about to admit he didn’t know, Skye rushed through the door and looked around frantically before she ran over to him when she saw him.

“Does Lacey have any allergies?” Skye gripped his hand and proceeded to answer the questions put to them, by the medical receptionist on duty.

Before long, the waiting room was full of people he knew. Lizzie and Smithy, Lucy and Jace, Zack and Ava, Evelyn, Taamira, Callie, Astrid, Bebe, and Pax. It was overwhelming in a good way to know she had so many people who cared about her.

He sat, his leg bouncing up and down with impatience as he waited for an update. He felt someone sit down next to him and sat straight, his gut clenching when he saw it was Pax.

“She’ll be okay, you know. Lacey is tough and won’t let a little thing like smoke bring her down.”

Gunner looked across at the woman he’d watched get hurt and saw only compassion and kindness.

“I’m sorry, Pax. I’m so damn sorry for what I allowed to happen.”

Pax cocked her head. “I won’t say I forgive you because there’s nothing to forgive. You didn’t do it, Gunner. You were a victim as much as I was. You were protecting your sister, and that is noble no matter what you believe about yourself.” Pax looped her arm through his and laid her head on his shoulder.

Gunner swallowed around the lump in his throat and nodded not trusting himself to speak for a minute.

“You’re a good woman, Grace.”

She looked up and grinned. “I know, right! Now to see if I can forgive Blake his idiocy.”

Gunner chuckled at a time when he never thought it possible. “He apologised and explained, and we’re good now. I know he has my back and I have his and yours.”

“Fair enough. It was getting lonely in bed alone.”

Gunner patted Pax’s hand before a doctor called his name from the double doors that Lacey had disappeared behind.

“Gunner Ramberg!”

He stood and rushed forward with Skye and Nate. “That’s me.”

The doctor looked around the waiting room with a frown and then looked at him. “Miss Cannon is asking for you. You can go on back when she comes back from her CT scan.”

“Is she okay?”

“Yes, I believe so from everything I’ve seen. I just want to check her lungs and her head and then she can go up to a ward overnight.”

“Thank you, doc.”

“You’re welcome.” The man spun on his heel and strode away. He may not have had the best bedside manner, but he’d said all the things Gunner needed to hear, and that was enough.