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“There won’t be a next time.” She knew the wise thing would be to stay silent, but there was still a little fight left in her, so she met his gaze without blinking.
“Oh, there will be. And you’ll never see it coming.”
With that, he turned and left. Georgie climbed to her feet, wincing at the pain in her ribs. Her ribs. Thinking about that gave her an excuse not to focus on the rest of it. She should probably get that looked at to see if they needed binding. As soon as she returned to the hospital, she’d do that before she saw Riggs.
Riggs. She’d left his room wondering what she would say to him the next time he bought up the plan he’d devised since saving Robby. When he told her, she hadn’t known how to respond and had evaded answering, using his surgery as an excuse. He couldn’t make concrete plans until he was discharged from the hospital and then rehab.
But the truth was, she was scared and didn’t want to face the decision his idea required. Now, here she was, returning to him with another thing she didn’t want to bring to his table, another thing she didn’t want to discuss.
Georgie was trying to hang onto her humanity, not to give the darkness that clawed at her brain to find a way into the light. She couldn’t let anger rule, or someone would be hurt. And she couldn’t let Riggs know because if she did, someone would die.
*****
Russell took hold of Naomie’s arm and stopped her from opening the door to Rigg’s room. “I’m worried about him. This isn’t like Riggs.”
“Sure, it is,” she argued gently and, at the expression on his face, continued. “Look at it from this perspective. Riggs was injured trying to save an infant. It died, and the effort cost him a foot. Physically. But emotionally and mentally, it cost far more.
“Riggs doesn’t lose. Ask Gunner. Riggs gets the job done. Period. Only this time, he didn’t. And he couldn’t prevent two of his men from being killed. Instead, he was carried out by Gunner, delirious with pain and barely aware of what was happening around him.
“But he’s thought about it ever since he regained consciousness. A lot. It eats at him that, in his own eyes, he failed. And his failure cost an innocent life. So, fast forward. Riggs saw an event unfold in front of him, and instinct took over. He did what he was trained to do.
“And this time, even though he couldn’t save the mother, he saved the child. But now the child has no one. It’s homeless. And Riggs can’t let that stand.
“This means something to him we can’t understand because we’ve never lived through something like that. But we can help him because we love him, and, in my book, that’s enough.”
“You’re right. And we’ll do whatever it takes.”
“Yes, we will,” she pulled him in close for a soft kiss. “I love you, Russ. You’re an amazing man and a good father.”
He smiled at her. “I don’t deserve you.”
“Of course not. Now come on, let’s go meet this child Riggs saved.”
“After you,” he opened the door for her.
The moment Naomie entered the room, she stopped, causing Russell to run into her. “Sorry,” she apologized, her eyes locked on the scene before her.
Riggs sat in his wheelchair, feeding a baby. He looked up at them, and the expression on his face brought tears to her eyes and a smile to her lips. “Oh, my goodness, look at that cute thing.”
“You do know Dad’s behind you, right?” The tease made her smile widen, and when she looked over her shoulder, she saw Russ smiling as well.
“Like I was talking about you,” she quipped and hurried to him. “Oh, Riggs, he’s beautiful.”
“Want to hold him?”
“Can I?”
“Of course,” he handed her the baby and then the bottle. “You can sit on the bed if you want.”
“I do,” She immediately got onto the bed, sat cross-legged, and started feeding the baby.
Russ walked over and looked at the baby. “He’s a cute one. How old is he?”
“Six months from the info on his birth certificate. Dad, I still can't get over that he was born on the day Gramps died. And that his name is Robert."
“It certainly is a coincidence.”
“Or fate,” Naomie said softly and gave Riggs a wink when he looked at her in surprise.
