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All my worst fears over being with Julian were coming true, but in the end, he’d stood up and risked losing his own life.
My heart was wrenched. I turned back toward the house, the normally peaceful beach house was now chocked full of police and swarming. Ben was okay. Everything was going to be okay. It was one hundred percent a lie, but I would believe it.
I waited with baited breath. It seemed like hours and hours had passed before there was any movement.
An ambulance showed up a few seconds later, and the EMT’s rushed toward the house, a stretcher in hand. Maybe Julian was okay.Please, let him be okay.I prayed and prayed. And then I prayed more to anyone and everyone that could hear me; Gods, deities, I wasn’t picky.
I held my breath as I waited to see what happened next, and, a few minutes later, I got my answer. Julian was being rolled out on a stretcher.
He looked so lifeless lying there, and my mind immediately went to the worst possible thoughts. Picking Ben up, I ran toward the ambulance. “We need to go with him,” I demanded to the EMT.
Mama and Papa came running over from out of nowhere, probably following the sirens and assuming similar things I had when I’d come running, and the EMT scanned over us, assessing things. “We need to leave, and I’m only taking one person, who’s riding along with us?”
By now, a crowd had formed outside the beach house. People stood on the beach and the sides of the street watching the action to see what would happen next.
Mama scanned my face. “Benji, why don’t you come with me and Pawpaw, we’ll follow right behind the ambulance, okay?” He pouted for just a moment before solemnly agreeing. I knelt down beside him. “You were very brave today, bud. Your dad is going to be fine, okay? Ride with Nana and Pawpaw to the hospital, I’m going to ride with your dad in the ambulance.”
He nodded his head in understanding, and I leaned down to kiss his forehead before Mama ushered him away and back toward where they’d parked the car. I watched them go before being pulled away. “Ma’am. We’re leaving. Are you coming? Now or never.”
I hopped onto the ambulance without another thought and crawled up the side of the cab to where Julian lay lifeless. I could see his chest moving. His heart was beating, albeit slowly. “I’m here, Ace.”
I reached down to grab his hand, and he squeezed mine back. He knew I was here, even though he wouldn’t open his eyes. I hoped he didn’t. It would take energy he didn’t seem to have at the moment. My heart was in my throat as I looked him over, and my gut sank as I scanned over his abdomen.
He’d been bandaged, but he was starting to bleed through the gauze pads. It’d only take a few minutes more to get to The Shore Medical Centre. We were incredibly lucky to have a hospital in town. All those long nights and wishing I didn’t have to work there vanished. They would be the ones saving my Ace. They had to save him. I’d finally gotten him back, and I sure as hell wasn’t letting him go without a fight.
“I love you, Ace.” I whispered to him. I wasn’t sure if he could hear me, but I said it anyway. The radio buzzed as the EMT talked into it. “Male, thirty years old, relatively healthy, coming in with a stab wound to the abdomen. We were unable to assess how much damage was done at the scene. His blood pressure is weakening. Oxygen is…” I didn’t hear the rest of what he said.
I heard heavy breathing and saw Julian looking at me, even though his eyes were opening and closing. “Anna… I… Love… You…” He closed his eyes as if it was the hardest thing ever keeping them open. “Take care of Ben. Tell him I love him.”
“Don’t talk like this, Ace. You’re going to be fine. You have to fight.”
“In case.”
“In case, my ass. You will make it through this, and we'll be together after it’s all over. I swear to God, Ace, if you leave me… If you die on me, I’m going to bring you back to life and then kill you again. We just got you back, and there’s a little, scared five-year-old boy out there who has no idea what’s happening to his dad, and he’s worried.”
“Is… he… okay?” He wheezed between each word.
“Shh… close your eyes and try to rest. Don’t waste your energy. You’re going to need it.” He attempted his nod before he closed his eyes again.
ChapterTwenty
Icracked my eyes open slightly, and light poured in like a funnel. I quickly shut them again.
Shadows formed around the bed, and I could hear voices.
“Anna…” I whispered it. I could hear her name, and I needed to touch her and convince myself that she was still okay.
Her eyes teared up as she looked me over. “Ace. You’re awake!”
Confusion spiraled inside my head before I remembered what happened. My eyes widened completely, and the monitor on my heart indicated a jump in my blood pressure and pulse. “How is Ben?”
She lifted her hand to cover my cheek, and I embraced the warmth it provided me. Annagayle Rafferty was my comfort in the storm. She kept my buoy afloat even though time and time again it threatened to pull away.
“He’s perfect, thanks to you. You saved him, Ace.” I opened my mouth to say something else, and she put her fingers to my lips.
My head pounded, and my mouth was dry like sandpaper. I adjusted my arm, and pain shot through me.
“Hey, stay still. You’ve got a lot of bandages and cords on right now.”
