Page 32 of Faron (The Golden Team #8)

Faron

I ’ve never run so fast in my life.

Her blood soaked through my shirt, slick and hot. Her breath rattled.

Shirley and Kat were already prepping when I slammed through the door.

Kat’s face was calm. “I’ve got surgical experience.”

“Do it,” I choked out. “She’s fading.”

We got her on the table. I bent over her face, whispering, begging, kissing her lips.

“These kids need you. I need you. You’re not done.”

Her fingers twitched. Found mine.

Then her eyes rolled back.

“ NO! ” My voice cracked. “Blue! Stay with me—”

Kat pushed me gently aside. “Let us work.”

I stumbled back, hands shaking, heart screaming.

Cyclone appeared. “What happened?”

“She came in through the back. He was waiting. He wanted her dead.”

River’s face hardened. “We’ll find him.”

I didn’t respond. I couldn’t take my eyes off the blood pooling under her.

This wasn’t war.

This was her.

Fifteen minutes later, Oliver walked in with Olly. The boy saw the blood on my hands and ran to me.

“Is she gonna die?”

I dropped to one knee. “No. She’s not allowed to die.”

We waited. I counted every beep of the monitor like it was keeping my heart alive too.

Then Kat came out.

“She’s stable,” she said. “Liver was hit. She’s not out of the woods, but we stopped the bleeding. An ambulance is on its way to take her to a hospital.”

I sank into the nearest chair. I felt like I’d just survived a war I wasn’t trained for.

“The ambulance will be here,” Kat warned. “Soon. But she’s holding on.”

Cyclone’s phone buzzed. He stepped out, then back in, jaw tight.

“We found him. Caught on surveillance. Not local. Cartel. We’re pulling in everything we’ve got.”

River clapped a hand on my shoulder. “We’ll bring him in. You stay with her.”

I nodded, already rising to my feet.

I walked into recovery and found her there — pale, still, tubes in her arms. But breathing.

Alive.

I sat beside her, picked up her hand, and pressed it to my chest.

“You scared the hell out of me, Blue.”

I brushed a strand of hair from her cheek.

“You’re not allowed to be a martyr,” I whispered. “Not when I just realized I love you so much I never want to be away from you.”