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"You fight for every breath. Do not give up. Under any circumstances. Do you understand? For me. For that sweet little girl who needs you. For Phoebe, who needs you and loves the hell out of you. Got it? You fucking matter."
Jacob nodded and closed his eyes to concentrate on his breathing. He mattered. He mattered. He mattered.
* * *
Phoebe was showing Annie how to skip rocks in the stream in the underground cave when she heard a piercing whistle echo through the cave three short times.
Bella let out a little whoop. "That's the all-clear sign." She raised her voice. "We're in Blue Cavern," she shouted out.
She beamed at Annie. "You want to head back out?"
"In a minute." Annie was focused on the rock, oblivious to what had been going on since they'd gone underground, but Phoebe wasn't oblivious. She was itching to get out of the cave and find out what happened. Honestly, she just wanted to see Jacob. To know he was all right.
"Come on, baby, let's go find Jacob and—"
At that moment, Colin Hart walked into their cave. He had a large flashlight, one that lit up the whole cave. He had it directed away from them, so she could see his face.
She stood up, her heart dropping. Why hadn't Jacob come to get him? "Where's Jacob?"
Colin ignored her. "Hi Annie," he said meaningfully. "What did you find in here?'
"I found cool rocks!" Annie held them up…while Phoebe's stomach turned over.
"Colin? Where's Jacob?"
Colin shot her a meaningful look. "We're going to hang out down here for a few minutes while things get cleared up."
"Colin—"
Bella put her hand on her arm. "Annie," she said meaningfully.
Were they kidding? "Colin." She snapped her fingers. "Over here. Bella, hang with Annie." She didn't wait for agreement. She just stalked away, moving fast. Her hands were shaking, and she felt like she was choking.
Lucky for him, Colin followed her. When he reached her, he took her arm and pulled her around a boulder, out of sight of Annie.
"What happened?" she whispered. "Is Jacob okay?"
"He got shot. He's being helicoptered to a local hospital."
"Oh, God." Her knees gave out and she dropped to the ground. "Is he okay?"
"I don't know."
Tears filled her eyes. "No," she whispered.
Colin crouched in front of her. "We had a medic on the helicopter. Jacob's getting treatment right now. Money buys the best, and that's what we have."
She stumbled to her feet. "I need to go with him—"
"He already left." Colin caught her arm. "He said that Annie can't know. He wants to protect her. So you have to stay calm."
"Calm?" She gaped at him. "Jacob might be dying—"
"No! He's not!" Colin cursed. "We don't talk like that in our family. We always have hope. We always believe that we can do it. He'll be fine. Got it?"
She searched his gaze. She felt his strength and his conviction, and suddenly, she fully understood the power of the Harts. The bond of this family, their resilience, their support of each other, it was unstoppable. It made her realize that she'd been wrong to believe she and Annie would be safer without them. There was a core strength to the Harts that wrapped around everyone they cared about, like a forcefield of love. She took a breath, then nodded. "Okay," she whispered.
"You need to know that Ivan and Annie's dad met up in a bar last night. Found they had a common enemy, and both showed up here."
