Targeted (Hostage Rescue Team Series Book 2) (28 page)

She gripped his free hand, watching him worriedly. He didn’t say much. A few moments later he ended the call and set the phone down on his lap. His stillness, the total silence that echoed around the room, filled her with foreboding.

“My dad had a stroke twenty minutes ago,” he finally said, his voice choked in a way she’d never heard before. “They don’t think he’s going to make it.”

No.
Without a word Celida slid her arms around him and rested her face against his neck, holding him close in the darkness, helpless to ease his pain but determined to try. “I’ll grab you some clothes then drive us over.”

****

Clay’s eyes snapped open as a low cry of pain erupted from between his clenched teeth. Sweat popped out on his forehead, a thousand lightning bolts searing from his lower back to the soles of his feet.

Mother of Christ, this was fucking torture. How long was he supposed to suffer like this until they operated?

The gentle scrape of a chair had him turning his head toward the window. He blinked, struggled to get hold of his shallow breathing and clear away the haze of pain when he saw Zoe standing there, watching him. Her golden eyes were full of sympathy.

“Should I get the nurse?”

It took him a second to hear her through the last of the pain as it faded away. Lying very still, afraid to move because the least little movement made him want to chop his own legs off just to avoid feeling that kind of agony, he gave a small shake of his head.

She was frowning now, biting at that full lower lip he’d thought about biting way too often for his peace of mind. “There has to be something they can do. The nurse told me you’d be in a lot of pain once the meds wore off.”

At that Clay jerked his gaze to the IV bag hanging above and next to his bed. When he saw the morphine, he blanched a little. “No more,” he rasped, fighting the wave of anxiety as it rushed through him. “Tell them no more.”

Her eyes widened but she nodded. “I’ll tell them. Now?”

He nodded.

She hurried out of the room and he took a slow, measured breath, taking stock. An intense ache flared out from his lower back, wrapping around his hips and ass. And that was when he was lying perfectly still. If he so much as shifted, he was in a world of hurt. And God forbid he sneezed or coughed.

It was slowly driving him insane. He’d tried every trick he knew of to combat the pain, push past it, but the grinding, relentless onslaught was already taking its toll. Seriously, how long did they expect him to endure this? Two fractured lumbar vertebrae and two ruptured disks from the combination of the blast waves and the way he’d fallen off that ladder trying to haul Cruz and Tuck to safety.

He hadn’t been fast enough.

His teammates had all come by to see him earlier before going home, and DeLuca too. The CO had offered to stay but Clay hadn’t wanted anyone to see him like this. Cruz was down the hall with a severe concussion, Tuck was at home nursing a mild one plus a billion bone bruises and hematomas, and the others were all banged up and bruised to hell as well. Meantime, he was stuck in this damn bed, flat on his back with a catheter plugged into his dick, praying a surgeon would take pity on him and give him an emergency surgery spot.

The door opened and Zoe came back in. Her red-and-black hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail at the back of her head, and she didn’t have much makeup on again. She looked tired, though, and worried. He frowned at her. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

Rather than falter at his brusque tone, she walked right up to the bed and sat on the edge of it, her hip close to his. Her golden eyes stared down at him without a hint of unease. “I told Tuck and Celida I’d stay for a while. I wanted them to go home and get some rest, and I didn’t want you to be alone when you woke up.”

Something caught in his chest. A funny little twinge he didn’t want to examine too closely.

He wiped a hand over his face, rubbed the sweat into the front of his hospital gown. “You didn’t have to do that. I’m fine.”

She shrugged. “I wanted to. The nurse said to give you these, by the way.” She held out a small, clear plastic bottle with a prescription written on it for him.

His eyes picked out the word oxycontin on it, and he felt his blood pressure drop. His sister’s downward spiral flashed through his mind in painful, vivid Technicolor. “No, no more drugs.” Automatically he shot out a hand to push it away. As he did, his ruined discs let him know how galactically stupid it was by letting loose with a ferocious bolt of agony that seared the entire length of both sciatic nerves, right into the soles of his feet.

When he managed to peel his eyelids apart this time, Zoe was braced over him, worry clear in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I put them away. Can I help? Help shift you or something? God, I hate to see you in this much pain.”

He swallowed, fighting the low-grade nausea churning in his gut, and managed to shake his head a little, dug deep to answer without snapping. “No. Thanks. Gotta lie still.”

She eased away and pushed the bottle of pills out of reach, tucking them behind a pitcher of water so he wouldn’t have to see them. Tucking a stray lock of brilliant red hair behind one ear, she folded her arms across her waist and studied him. “They’ve done all they can for now, just trying to manage your pain levels. A few hours ago they called in a surgeon but the neurologist won’t be able to see you until first thing in the morning.”

They didn’t see his case as urgent enough to warrant an emergency surgery slot, but he sure as hell did. “First thing. Clarify that.”

“Around seven, I think.”

“What time is it now?”

She checked her watch. “Three-thirty.”

So at least three and a half more hours before he had a prayer of getting any more answers, let alone an operation. God that made him want to whimper.

Zoe shifted her feet, watched him uncertainly. “Your mom’s flying in tomorrow as well. She talked to Tuck and they set it all up. Arrives around noon I think Celida said. She’s going to come stay with you while you recover.”

Clay hid his surprise. His mom was merely leaving one invalid child for another, then. But he was grateful for the help. If things stayed like this and he remained flat on his back he wouldn’t be able to do even the simplest tasks for himself.

“I can stay until she gets here if you want,” Zoe offered. “Just in case you need anything.”

God, why was she so sweet to him? He hadn’t been sweet to her, and his thoughts about her sure as hell hadn’t been sweet either. Fantasizing about fucking her a dozen different ways made him an asshole. One, because she was Tuck’s cousin, but more like a sister than anything. Two, because he knew he’d fuck her and walk away like he did with the few women he’d gone home with since his divorce.

He didn’t do it often, but when he did he made sure it was only one night, and he left the moment he ditched the condom in the trash. The woman knew good and well it was just a booty call. No date, no dinner before, no sleepovers and no breakfast the next morning. Meaningless sex was all he could handle anymore and he refused to feel guilty about it. The ability to care had died inside him along with his marriage.

Zoe was still watching him, he realized. Waiting for an answer. “I’ll be okay. But thanks,” he made himself add. He hated that she was seeing him like this.

She nodded slowly, that golden gaze seeming to delve deep inside him. “All right. If you change your mind though, call me.” With that she reached out a hand and gently ran it over his hair. Hair that was currently stiff with dirt, dust and sweat, but she didn’t seem to care and her touch sent a wave of tingles flowing down his spine.

She smiled a little, opened her mouth to say something else but her phone rang. Her face went slack with surprise and she dug it out of her purse.

“Hey,” she answered, but she was still looking straight at him. “We were just talking about you guys.”

Had to be Tuck.

“Everything okay? Bauer just woke up and now I bet he wished he hadn’t,” she continued.

Not necessarily, he thought, because then he wouldn’t have gotten to see her.

But then Zoe stilled. Her smile vanished and her body tensed. “What?”

Clay frowned in concern, watching her closely. Had something happened to Tuck?

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry. So sorry.” Her voice shredded and she put one hand to her mouth, her breath hitching in. Her clear distress tore at him. She was too far away now for him to touch her, but he wanted to. Wanted to take her hand, reassure her that she wasn’t alone. “I’ll find out what room he’s in and call you guys back.”

After she ended the call she lowered the phone and met his gaze. It felt like someone had punched him in the heart when he saw the tears gathered in her eyes, the moisture magnifying the gold depths. Goddammit, he wished he could get up and do something. “What’s wrong? Is it Tuck?”

She started to shake her head, then stopped and nodded. She pulled in a deep breath, seemed to steady herself before answering. “His dad had a massive stroke an hour ago. He’s not going to make it.”

Ah, shit.
This piece of bad news on top of what Tuck had already been through today? And Zoe loved her uncle too. “I’m sorry.”

She pressed her lips together, nodded as she tucked the phone back into her purse. “I’d better get down to Emergency and find out where he is. Sure you don’t need anything?”

She was putting up a good strong front at the moment but he knew how upset she must be. Instead of saying he was sure he didn’t need anything, he took the risk of setting off his back again and reached out a hand toward her, gritting his teeth at the sudden flare of pain. Her fingers wrapped around his and a grateful smile tugged at her lips.

“Call me if you change your mind about me staying with you,” she said, her voice slightly husky. “I’ll be back to see you when I can.” Before he could tell her no, that she didn’t have to come back and see him, she bent and touched her lips to his cheek, above the line of stubble.

He froze at the contact, his body automatically reacting with a flare of heat and an indrawn breath to pull in more of her musky, floral scent. At the sound of his sudden inhalation she stilled too, her lips lingering against his skin that was suddenly a million times more sensitive than normal. Her warm breath gusted softly against the side of his face and her head turned slightly.

Clay didn’t dare move, didn’t dare breathe while she stayed there like that for a few endless heartbeats. Another two inches and her mouth would be on his and regardless of the state he was in right now, there was no way he couldn’t kiss her back.

At the last moment she lifted her head and her lips came down on his forehead instead.

A flare of disappointment hit him, startling with its intensity, and he released her hand when she straightened and pulled away. “I’ll be in touch,” she murmured.

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Alone in his room a few moments later, he could still smell the faint scent of her perfume hanging in the air and realized he already missed her.

Tuck parked his truck in front of the church and killed the engine. In the sudden silence he heard nothing but the pings of the cooling engine. The United church loomed before him, tall front doors open to the guests entering. People were already gathered around the front of the building, talking.

Pulling his gaze away from them he did up the top button on his collar and began tying his tie, his muscles protesting each movement. The soreness was a little better than it had been initially but he was a solid week away from being able to move around without pain, and now his whole body was one big multi-color bruise.

He couldn’t believe it had already been four days since his dad passed away. He’d been staying at Celida’s place rather than his, giving Bauer some peace and quiet to recover after his back surgery. Bauer’s mom had flown in from Pennsylvania to stay at the house and look after him. No doubt the big guy was ready to climb the walls to escape.

“Do you want a few minutes alone?”

He glanced over at Celida, seated beside him in the passenger seat. Her dark brown hair was tied into a loose knot at the back of her head, little pieces of it falling around her cheeks and jaw to frame her face. “Yeah, if you don’t mind.” He wasn’t up to making chitchat with the guests right now and she apparently knew it.

He’d been dreading this day, and now he just wanted to get through it. Once this was all over he and Celida were taking off to Maui for a week. Just the two of them, seven days to heal and spend time together. That was something to look forward to, at least.

Searching his eyes for a moment, she reached over, pushed his hands aside and efficiently tied his tie for him, the sweet gesture touching him inside. Then she popped her door open. “I’ll wait for you by the door.” Giving his hand a squeeze, she stepped out and shut the truck door behind her.

He watched her walk away, up the stone steps to the front of the church. The black short-sleeved dress she wore scooped just above her breasts and ended at her knees, the soft fabric swishing around her as she moved, highlighting her curves.

He’d always known she was strong, but over the past week she’d amazed him. Yeah, she still had some issues to deal with, but surprisingly the whole Spivey incident seemed to have helped her somewhat. As though being the one to pull the trigger had eased the sense of helplessness that had haunted her and restored her confidence. And she’d been a huge help to Tuck through all of this, a fucking trooper. They both needed this trip to Maui, the time away together.

Blowing out a breath, he pulled the notes he’d written in point form from his suit coat pocket. A single note card, thirteen points. He’d agonized over every single one of them over the past two days, wanting to get it just right. How did he encapsulate the life of the most extraordinary man he’d ever known into a single, five minute long speech?

The now familiar tightening in his throat started up again as he reviewed the list. He’d gone over it at least a dozen times already. He was as prepared as he could be.