Page 131 of Bulletproof

“Okay,” I agreed. “Tell me already, did they die? The wannabe ninjas?”

“No. They are, however, in custody, rolling over on Cristo Liron.”

“Oh that’s good,” I said, smiling as he gave me another sip of water. He just looked at me. “What?”

“You were very brave, leading those guys away from me.”

“It was a gamble. I was terrified.”

“But you took it. You had made a decision, and it turned out, as usual, to be right.”

I scoffed. “As usual, my ass.”

“With this kind of stuff—the life-and-death crap—your track record is sort of amazing.”

I nodded, feeling vulnerable all of a sudden, not having looked at the room at all, afraid to, afraid to know how hurt I was. I felt the hot tears come fast.

“Oh, baby, don’t cry.”

“Please don’t leave me.” My voice shook.

“No.” He leaned over and laid his head on my chest.

I put my hand in his hair; it was so short, poking my hand, but still soft, like puppy fur.

I was getting sleepy again. “Stay with me. Don’t leave me.”

“You don’t ever have to worry about that.”

My eyes opened, and I saw Sam flipping through the channels on my TV. I realized instantly that I was in a different room.

“Hey,” I said, coughing. “They moved me.”

“Yeah.” Sam smiled, dropping the controller onto the chair as he moved over to the bed. He poured me some water and put the straw to my lips. “No more ICU for you. Eight days is enough.”

“I don’t remember being in there that long.”

“You didn’t even wake up the first two days,” he told me. “You were real tired.”

“That’s good, huh?” I smiled at him after I drank a little. “That they moved me so fast?”

“Very good,” he said softly, brushing my hair back from my face. “How do you feel?”

“Tell me how I should feel.”

“Lucky,” he said, slipping his hand into mine. “You’re so fuckin’ lucky.”

I smiled at him. “Tell me.”

“First things first,” he murmured, leaning over and hugging me gently, kissing my cheek before he pulled back. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Okay.” He took a breath. “Here’s what happened.”

I had been hit by the car first and ended up under it, but unfortunately, it followed me over the embankment and landed at an angle. I was basically in the engine with the crumpled hood around me. How? It was just the way everything hit. Apparently, you could wreck a car a hundred times the same way, and each time, something different would happen. I had been hurt, but not killed because of the trees, the mud, the rain, and the wind. It could never be duplicated.

A nurse came in then and smiled big at Sam. He introduced her to me as Kaleo, and he told me she was an angel of mercy. I saw her eyes soften, saw her smile and the basic melting under my husband’s smoky-blue eyes. She was a smitten kitten. My temperature was taken, my blood pressure, too, and then she checked my bandages and the IV bag hanging beside the bed.