Page 103 of Sudden Summer

Another shot rang out.

Like someone had run into me.

No.

No, no, no.

My eyes popped back open, the breath in my chest leaving in an instant. Because I was right—someone had run into me.

Hayes was standing over Sawyer, gun drawn. His fucking mother had the goddamn nerve to fill the air with shrieks, but I knew Emmett would handle her.

Oh, fuck.

The truth hit me so hard I almost threw up.

It wasn’t Hayes. My brother hadn’t been the one to jump in front of me. He wasn’t the person who’d run into me.

Every muscle in my body contracted at the sight of my beautiful Chickadee lying on the floor, a pool of blood seeping out around her body as her chest seemed to jerk and convulse with each jagged breath she was taking.

“Fuck! Birdie! No!” I screamed as I pulled my shirt off over my head, rolling it up onto my knees. “Why the hell did you do that?”

My hands were on her the next second, ripping her shirt to try and find where the bullet hit. There was so much blood. I was going to lose her. There was no way…there wasn’t a way for her to survive this.

“That’s what you do…”

“No.” I pressed down on the little spot between her shoulder and her neck that I loved so much.

“Yes. When you…love someone. You keep…keep them safe. You n-need to be here to keep our daughter safe,” she whispered. Her bright blue eyes dimmed, but she reached out for me. Her hand landed against my face, brushing my cheek. “Don’t cry.”

“Don’t cry? This isn’t okay,” I sobbed. I didn’t fucking care for one second that my tears were falling so fast they were dripping off my face and landing over her heart. “You don’t get to leave me. We’re getting married! And we’re making Juniper a big sister. We’re working on your passion project,” I cried as her eyes started to close. “We’re building a legacy…”

“I got…” She coughed, the sound tearing through her lungs. “I got to be with you. I got to be a mom. I stopped our girl from losing her father. I…I love you both—” she gasped as I applied more pressure to the wound. It was too close to her neck. Too close to her heart. That beautiful spot I loved to kiss was going to be the place she bled out from. I knew it was hurting her more, but if I didn’t press down harder, she was going to die. And she couldn’t die. Her eyes already said she was ready to, but I wasn’t about to let her go.

“What the fuck happened?” Somewhere in the background, I registered Hawk’s voice. Then Dad’s. That fucking god-awful screaming from the fucking bitch finally stopped.

“Fuck. Fuck. Oh fuck. Hawk and Dad are taking care of whoever the hell that lady is. I called it in, Beau. Dispatch is gonna get MedFlight out here. That’ll be the fastest response.” Hayes slammed to the ground beside me, the first aid kit we kept mounted on the barn wall exploding open in front of me. “Hold her hand while I try to get the bleeding under control. I need to see if there’s an exit wound…BEAU! YOU HAVE TO FUCKING MOVE!”

Birdie’s eyes fluttered closed as I forced my body to listen to my brother. He was trained in first aid. I had to trust her with him.

“No, baby. No. No. I know you want to sleep, but you can’t. Okay? Open those beautiful eyes for me. Open them, Birdie!”

She nodded, the last bit of pink slipping out of her cheeks. “No shirt.”

“That’s right. I’m not wearing a shirt. How about you open your eyes and we’ll count ladybugs together? All thirty. We’ll plan where the next one goes. Okay?” I lifted her fingers and pressed them to my lips, then held her hand over my heart. “I’m thinking right here. Can you open your eyes and see? R-Right over my heart, Chickadee. Because you own it. You own my heart, and there is no leaving me now. Got it? So open your eyes. Please, baby. Please open your eyes!”

The muscles in her hand and her arm all went slack, but I still held on to her. With everything in me.

Because I couldn’t let her go.

I wouldn’t.

Beau

Iwas going to be sick. Minutes were ticking by, the antiseptic scent of the hospital waiting room burrowing deep into my chest. My stomach threatened to lose everything inside it with each passing tick of the clock on the wall next to me.

I lifted my head from my hands, groaning as I took in the red staining my skin. Her blood was everywhere. I must have looked insane, but I couldn’t leave this spot. I wouldn’t. When we’d arrived, they’d taken Birdie straight up to the operating room. A nurse—I have no idea what she fucking looked like or even if she told me her name—sat me in this chair, and I hadn’t moved a muscle since.

“Beau?” Colt’s voice boomed across the waiting room. A few heads turned with mine, but even though I couldn’t move, my brother found me fast. He closed the distance between us in just a few steps, pulling me up out of my chair and wrapping his arms around me before I could fully process the rest of my family filing in behind him.