Fighting (51 page)

His
hand flattened against my exposed stomach and he seethed quietly, "Please
tell me he didn't rip your clothes and touch you."

"No. 
I ripped it to use as a gag," I said slowly without looking away from
Fletcher.

He
let out a relieved breath but immediately frowned.  "You okay, Lex?"
he asked, concerned about my lackluster attitude. 

I
felt like I was constantly fighting a yawn.  I blinked slowly and turned to
look right at his lovely face that was already so close to mine.  I put my palm
to his cheek and stared at him in a daze.

"Baby,
are you okay?" he whispered, his deep worry for me written all over his
face. 

I
stared at him and tried to say something, but it was like the wires from my
brain to my mouth were severed.  He scanned my face and palmed my cheeks to
tilt my head from side to side and peer closely into my eyes. 

"I
think she's going into shock," he told Brooks.

Oh. 
That would explain it.

We
both noticed movement in our peripheral vision and turned to see Fletcher move
with a sudden burst of energy.  I watched curiously as his hand dipped behind
the desk he was lying beside of and then reappeared to aim a gun right at me. 
I lunged to the side and grabbed the gun closest to me on the floor. 

"You
have no magazine," Fletcher gargled at me, smiling a gruesome, bloody
grimace.

I
glanced at my gun and saw that the magazine was, in fact, missing because
Brooks had just dismantled it.  Ethan and Brooks both lunged toward Fletcher
from either side of me.  Fletcher blinked and when his eyes opened, they were
focused on Ethan.  His smile grew wicked and he swung his aim to Ethan and put
his finger on the trigger as I aimed my gun at Fletcher.

"
NO
!"
I exploded.

I
pulled the trigger, banking on there being a bullet in the chamber.  We fired
at the same time and they were both thrown to the floor by the force of
impact.  I shot Fletcher in the head and then whipped my gaze to see Ethan
lying completely still on the ground between us.  I quickly withdrew a
confiscated magazine from my back pocket and slammed it into place in the gun
as I scrambled to my feet and advanced.  I walked toward Fletcher and emptied
the clip into his chest and watched him a moment before switching to Ethan's
motionless form.

Ironically,
the bullet that tried to take Ethan's life injected life back into my body with
a hot frenzy.  Time stopped moving in slow motion and I was abruptly slammed
back into the present.  My body was no longer numb, but on fire, and not in the
good way that Ethan usually made me feel.

"Ethan,"
I breathed, horrified.  I rushed to him to drop the gun by his side and frame
desperate hands around his face.  "Ethan!" I shouted.

His
eyes were closed and his breathing was shallow while I took feverish, hysterical
breaths.  I felt fear again, but this was different than what I felt earlier. 
This fear was like lightening in my body, fast acting with a pulsing,
resonating effect, amplifying my terror tenfold.  My hand shook in Ethan's as I
gripped it tightly.

"Ethan,"
I cried.  "Please, Ethan!"

His
hand pressed mine against his chest.  "I'm right here, Lex," he said.

His
eyelids fluttered open and I choked on my tears.  He opened his mouth to speak
but I leaned in and touched my lips to his. 

I
spoke against his lips softly, my voice shaking.  "Stay awake.  For me,
stay alive.  Please, please, I need you." 

I
pulled back an inch to stare into his eyes.  He lifted a hand to caress my face
and then down to his chest.  He moved his hand to the neckline of his shirt and
shifted it to the side. 

"Jesus
Christ!" I yelled.  I put both hands to the bleeding wound beneath his
right shoulder to staunch the bleeding and blood quickly surged around my
fingers, threading between them and drowning my skin with his blood and my
panic. 

I
looked into his eyes that were focused solely on mine and I kept repeating,
"No.  No.  No."

He
put his hand on top of mine as Brooks and Spencer rushed from Fletcher to us. 
Brooks lifted our hands to inspect the wound.  I dug around Ethan's pocket for
his switchblade and quickly ripped his shirt open down the middle like a vest,
wrenching the sides apart so that his chest was bare and we could see the
injury more clearly.  Spencer crouched by Ethan's knees as I jumped to the
opposite side of Ethan's body to give Brooks room and gripped his hand tightly
between both of mine. 

"Spencer,"
I wheezed.  "I thought Fletcher had you killed," I choked, trying to
dam my tears.  "Where's Ollie and August?" I asked, fearing the
worst.

"We're
all fine," Spencer rushed to comfort me even though he was extremely
freaked out.  He scooted closer to crowd me with his body and wrap an arm
around my back.  "We're all safe.  All of us."

I
stared into Ethan's eyes, unable to look away.  "You are
not
dying,"
I declared fiercely and probably hysterically, trying to boss him into staying
alive.

He
blinked slowly and licked his lips sluggishly as if his body had absorbed my
lethargy with Fletcher's bullet.  "No," he agreed.

Brooks
fit two hands around Ethan's back and lifted so that he was rolled partially
onto his side.  Brooks lowered his face to look under Ethan's body at his back.

"Through
and through," he announced.  "The bullet isn't still inside."

He
leaned down closer to inspect it further and Ethan's eyes still hadn't left
mine.  I untangled our hands to cut his shirt off of his shoulder and ball it
up.  I handed it to Brooks and he pressed it to the wound and looked between us
carefully.

"No,
he's not dying," Brooks said, relief drenched in his voice.  "The
bullet seems to have missed his major arteries, vital organs, and bones.  Clean
shot.  Very lucky."  He lifted the cloth and then replaced it.  "He's
not even bleeding as much anymore."

"He'll
live?" I croaked.

"He'll
be fine," Brooks said.

I
exhaled heavily and dropped my head onto Ethan's chest, right over his racing
heart.  My tears leaked onto his skin and his hand landed gently on the back of
my head to caress it. 

"Will
you be my nurse?" he asked.  "Give me a sponge bath?"

I
raised my face to look at his.  "You're joking?" I asked,
astonished.  "You have a bullet wound!" I shouted.

"You
heard the doc.  I'll be fine."

I
frowned and smacked his chest reflexively but my face morphed into horror when
I realized what I'd done.

He
grunted in pain but grinned slowly.  "Chill, babe.  Organs don't have to
be vital to hurt like a bitch."

My
frown dissolved as I feathered my fingers through his hair and hovered my face
close to his to stare into his blue eyes that were still vibrant with life. 
"You fought for me," I whispered.

His
smile disappeared and his expression turned earnest.  "Always."

His
hand on the back of my head slid down to cup my neck and he pulled our faces
together to kiss me softly. 

We
separated as Brooks said, "We need to go."

Ethan
drew me back to him and kissed me deeply as we sat up together.  He groaned
with pain and I instantly broke away and fussed over him.  His grin reappeared.

"Stop
enjoying this," I snapped at him.  "You could still die."

"Nah,"
he said casually.  "You won't let me."

I
reluctantly smiled as Spencer and I helped him to his feet.  Ethan wrapped an
arm around both of our shoulders and we walked slowly out to the front of the
warehouse.  Brooks wasn't visibly injured except for blood smeared around his
nose, but for all I knew it was just a splatter that he wiped at.  Spencer had
a bloody nose and a cut on his cheek.  We were all filthy with sweat, grime and
drying blood and our knuckles were severely nicked and stained crimson but
otherwise, we were all okay.

"Well,
Fletcher's definitely dead," Brooks said dryly. 

"Yeah,
you shot him like fifty times," Spencer added.

"Eleven,"
Ethan corrected accurately.

"That
cocksucker," I muttered.

Spencer
heard me and relaxed, cracking a smile.  "You're the best," he said
affectionately.

"You
didn't kill the guy who was strapped to the chair in the room I was being held
in, did you?" I asked them.  They all shook their heads.  "Good. 
He's a bastard but I told him I'd let him live.  Everyone else here either ran
away or they're dead or unconscious.  I should go cut him free," I said.

"What
do you mean,
ran away
?" Brooks asked.

"I
mean they ran from me," I said.  "Though they reappeared when they
had backup.  Cowards," I muttered.

"From
the sight of you?" Spencer asked.  He ran his eyes over my face and body. 
"Yeah, I can see why.  Damn, woman.  You're a hot mess."

I
looked down at my torn and filthy clothes and ran a hand over my blood covered
skin.    "That, but also I had two guns and shot their friend in front of
their faces."

Ethan
didn't look surprised but he did look thoughtful.  "We're not sleeping
with a gun in our bedside table," he said solemnly.  "For all I know,
I'll have done something terrible to you in a dream and you'll shoot me in
reality for it."

I
smiled weakly and hugged him closer.  "Not you, never you," I
murmured.

We
loaded Ethan into the SUV to lie on his back across the bench seat and Spencer
jumped in the front passenger seat.  I shut the back door and proceeded to hug
Brooks for the very first time, ever.  I got the feeling he was more like me
and would rather have shoved me playfully than full on hug me, but I was
surprised to feel his arms wrap around me without hesitation.

"Glad
you're okay," he said.

I
pulled back and said, "Thank you for coming for me."

"Like
I'd let you get all the glory," he smirked.

I
rolled my eyes and jerked my head at him.  "Come with me.  I want to say
bye to the guy I left tied up."

Brooks
and I checked the rest of the rooms before we got to the backroom I was being
held in.  I opened the door and found Dick in the same position I left him in,
except now he was sitting with his head on the desk. 

"Hiya,
Dick," I said.

He
straightened and twisted his neck to look at us as I withdrew my knife from my
boot.  Dick looked very uncertain, but I didn't move toward him, Brooks did. 
He grabbed the back of Dick's chair and hauled him across the room to the
opposite wall.  I waited until Dick was looking at me to hold up the knife.  I
placed it on the edge of the desk farthest away from him so that he could use
it to break free but by the time he could scoot across the room to use it, we
would be long gone.

"Remember
what I said," I warned him.

We
walked back to Ethan and Spencer, who were waiting in the car.  I opened the
door at Ethan's head and helped him sit up.  He pulled at the seat to hold
himself up while I helped support his weight and wedge myself between his back
and the seat.  He relaxed and laid his head in my lap.  My eyes were glued to
his face as I tickled my fingers through his hair and over his face lovingly. 
His eyes fluttered closed and he wrapped his arm around my calves.

"Don't
fall asleep," I warned.

His
eyes popped opened.  "Then don't lull me into sleep with your magical
fingers," he said.

I
laughed for the first time since the night before and took a deep, relieved
breath.  He grinned lazily at me, probably high on his own endorphins.

"Where's
Ollie and August?" I asked.

"Brooks
didn't want to bring them, so he left them at the police station and told the
lady at the front desk that he had a flat tire and needed to fix it without
worrying about his kids," Spencer said.

"Huh,"
I mused.  "For sure, nothing could happen
inside
of a police
station," I said.

"Exactly."

"So
what happened?" Brooks asked, eyeing me in the rear view mirror.

"You
mean how did I manage to get myself kidnapped?  I woke up before Ethan and went
out for coffee and muffins.  They took me right as I was about to climb back in
the car," I said.  "What happened to you guys?  How did you even find
me?"

"I
woke up without you," Ethan said.  I looked back down at him.  "So I
searched the rest of the house and when I didn't find you, I looked out and saw
our car was gone.  The others woke up and I mentioned that you were gone but we
figured you just went to the store or something.  Almost an hour later, I
started to worry so Brooks turned on his police scanner.  Not even ten minutes
went by before we heard a report of a woman being kidnapped outside of a coffee
joint not too far from us.  They described the woman and the car, and we knew
it was you."