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“Piper, look at me.” Dylan lifted her chin. “That’s it.” He kissed her softly. “I need to tell you something, and I’ve never spoken these words before, so pay attention.”
“Is this gonna make me puke?” Jack Trainer said, lifting Piper’s hair out of the way. “Because if so, I’d be mighty pleased if you left it till you and Pip are alone.”
“I love you.” He whispered the words against her lips.
Her scream as Luke forced her shoulder back into the socket made his ears ring, and he wasn’t entirely sure he’d ever get full hearing back in one ear, but it was worth it just to say the words.
“It’s done now.” She’d fallen forward onto his chest, one hand gripping his so hard he couldn’t feel his fingers.
“Ouch,” she whispered, making him snort. “I’m making you pay for that later, Luke.”
“Look forward to it. Now, I’m not sure about you, but I’m hungry as hell, and it’s getting cold up here. What say you we all head on down now?”
“But Zander?”
“He’s dead, Pip,” Fin said. “I just radioed the chopper, and they’ll check on the way up to get you.”
“I know he’s bad, but... well, it’s still kind of hard to accept,” she said, looking up at Dylan.
“I know.” Dylan held her then until they heard the chopper.
“Okay, there’s a clearing that way. We’ll head there, it’ll be easier to get her into the stretcher.”
“I don’t want to leave you,” Piper whispered to Dylan.
“You can’t walk down with that shoulder, sweetheart. I’ll be down soon, I promise.”
After that it was all fairly straightforward, and she was in the chopper and flying to the hospital not long after. The pilot told them that Zander was indeed dead.
“Hell of a day,” Cubby said. “And I came here for a vacation.”
The journey down took less time, and as Buzz seemed to know which way to go, they simply followed his lead. It was a tired rescue party that eventually made their way down to the ranger station.
Dylan called his family and told them he was well and that Zander was dead. Ava had told them he was responsible for what had been happening to the Howards, and why.
“So, you and my cousin?” Jack Trainer said from beside him as Fin drove them to the hospital where Piper was.
“Uh-huh.”
“You plan to make this legal?” This question came from Luke.
“That’s between me and Piper.”
“Not so much,” Joe said. “It’s between all of us, because if you break her heart again, we will be the ones who will break you.”
“Fair enough, but I’m still not talking to you about this.”
He was eyeballed by three Trainers, but kept his gaze steady. They loved Piper, so it may piss him off, but as he loved her too he understood where they were coming from. Plus he couldn’t discount the fact that he may threaten someone like that one day if they hurt his sisters. The thought made him smile.
“They’re checking her over,” a nurse told them when they walked into the hospital reception area. “She’ll be out soon.”
“Can I see her?”
The Trainers were all making themselves comfortable in the waiting area, but not Dylan. He wanted to be with Piper. Now he’d told her he loved her, he needed to be with her.
The viselike grip he’d kept on his emotions was no longer in place, and suddenly he had words that needed to be spoken to Piper.
“Let him, Sally. He’s in love, and it’s pathetic, but what can you do? He’ll start crying if he doesn’t see Pip soon.”
