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A striking, dark-haired woman entered the hallway, followed by a handsome older man that could only be Jack and Connor’s father. They went to Jack first, and he told them what was going on. Which was nothing. They hadn’t been told anything at all. Olivia felt anger growing in her chest, and she breathed through it.
A gentle hand touched her shoulder. “Are you Olivia?”
She looked up into Connor’s mother’s face. “Yes.”
“I’m Rachel, his mother. It’s a pleasure to meet you, though I wish it was under other circumstances. Jack has told me that Connor seems to be infatuated with you.”
Unexpected tears filled Olivia’s eyes, and she nodded. She hadn’t responded with an ‘I love you’ when he’d told her earlier. Did he know she loved him? If he woke up from this, she would make sure he did.
“Yes, ma’am. And I believe I’m in love with him as well. I know it’s fast, but…”
Rachel shook her head. “You’re fine. Blake and I fell in love in a night, so who am I to criticize?”
Olivia drew a breath. “I don’t know if he’ll make it. We did what we could on the way in, but he’s in extreme danger.”
Rachel smiled sadly. “Extreme danger is the life they chose. Although a gunshot wound is unexpected. He’ll be fine.”
They sat together for the next two hours, and Rachel never lost hope. And she didn’t allow Olivia to lose hope, either. The hallway filled with more and more blue uniforms of the Lockhart FD, and even some of the PD came to donate blood. The surrounding counties had relieved them so that they could be with their Chief Kelly.
If Connor could feel the wave of blue support, it would surely carry him through.
* * *
It was two hours later when they rolled Connor out of the surgical suite. He was so, so pale, but seemed to be breathing on his own. The doctor, a small balding man, stopped to talk to their group. “If he was a less strong man, or if he was a few miles further away, or if he hadn’t had a surgical nurse controlling his bleeding, he would be a dead man. It’s that simple. You were right,” he said, looking at Olivia. “If that artery hadn’t been repaired immediately, he would have been dead within just a couple of minutes. There were some other things we had to tackle. He has a kidney on the iffy side right now. But I do believe he’ll make a full recovery.”
Olivia didn’t feel the tears on her cheeks, but she did feel the tension in the hallway ease. Some of the men even cheered. “When can we see him?” she asked. Then realized they might not even let her in because she wasn’t family.
Rachel seemed to know what she was thinking, because she put her arm around Olivia’s shoulder. “This is his fiancé, and she needs to be with him.”
“Let us get him into a room and settled, and we’ll let you know.”
An hour later, she was looking down into Connor’s pale face. And he was lifting his eyelids to show her his beautiful sky-blue eyes. “Hey, babe,” he rasped, wincing.
“They had to intubate you when they operated. That’s why your throat is sore.”
He lifted a hand and swiped at her cheeks with a finger. “Why are you crying?”
“Because I didn’t think I would ever get the chance to tell you I love you back,” she sobbed.
“Oh, babe.” He pulled her close and she leaned over to kiss him, breathing him in.
“I love you.”
“Why don’t you climb up here,” he rasped, and she giggled.
“Nope. Your mother is next in line, and she’s not walking in here to see us in bed together.”
He growled in his throat, and she grabbed the cup of ice chips. “Let this melt on your tongue. It will make your throat feel better.”
He took several mouthfuls of chips. “You saved me, didn’t you?”
“No, the doctor did. But I might have given him some guidance,” she grinned.
“Did you beat Courtney’s ass? What the hell was going on there? I thought someone was setting off fireworks and I was going to yell, because it’s fire season.” His eyes began to drift shut. “Then my gut hurt.”
“Pete from Rise and Swine tried to steal the fifty grand prize. He said it rightfully belonged to him because he would have won the whole thing if Bill hadn’t ruined his meat.”
Connor snorted, shaking his head. “Stupid,” he whispered, and he was asleep.
