been shot.
She had.
Chapter 38
Chad tried to calm himself as he waited for the elevator to make the interminably long ride to the lobby of his building. He knew the truth about gunshot wounds. It was a myth from the movies and television that you could get shot with a through and through in the arm and not have any real damage.
In reality, the arm was full of arteries and nerves. Jennie could bleed out or lose enough blood to harm the baby in a matter of minutes if the bullet hit the right spot. She could permanently lose some of the use of her arm or the feeling in her hand. If the bone was shattered, fragments of that bone could hit other arteries and nerves, multiplying the damage.
Flashes of Chad’s fallen team members, their eyes vacant and unseeing, tore at him as he tried to stay focused on Jennie.
When he’d seen her dive for Caroline, throwing herself between Chad and the gun, he nearly lost it. The fact he had survived two tours of duty in war zones and years of dangerous privately funded missions, would mean nothing if he couldn’t share his life with Jennie.
He knew then that he needed Jennie in his life more than he’d ever needed anyone.
He saw the moment she realized she’d been shot. He watched as the pain kicked in and he thought to himself as he stepped off the elevator with her in his arms, that he’d give anything to have taken that bullet for her. He’d trade her pain and take it on as his own in a heartbeat if he could.
He was met in the lobby by two EMTs with a gurney and he knew one of the agents must have called down to the ambulance. He placed her on the gurney and told them she was pregnant. He took her good hand in his as he raced alongside to the ambulance where a pressure bandage was applied over her wound.
“She’s pregnant. Thirteen weeks along,” he said.
Jennie was getting pale and Chad knew she was losing blood fast.
He followed the gurney into the ambulance, staying out of the way as he watched the EMT hang a clear bag above her and sink a needle into her good hand.
He knew it would most likely be saline. He’d seen it used in helicopter evacs in the military. Since they couldn’t carry around blood on an ambulance, they’d try to compensate for the blood loss with saline until they got her to the hospital.
He kept his eyes on her face during what seemed like the longest ride of his life. His only thoughts were of Jennie and the baby. If he lost them now, he didn’t know what he’d do.
Chapter 39
Chad was sitting, hunched over, head in his hands in the hospital waiting room an hour later when the room began to fill. Jennie and Kyle’s parents arrived first, followed closely by Chad’s mom.
Chad had never been so happy to see his mother in his life. He felt like he was ten years old again as she wrapped her arms around him and held him while he told her about Jennie and the baby.
Kelly, Jack, Andrew, and Jill arrived next with Mrs. Poole and Roark Walker in tow. She had packed a large thermos with hot chocolate and a plate of homemade cookies for Chad, but he couldn’t even think about eating until he knew what was going on with Jennie.
Kelly sat on one side of him, her fingers laced in his, clinging tightly to him while his mother sat on the other side of him murmuring to him over and over that Jennie and the baby would be all right.
Roark sat across from Chad. He was the head of the legal department at Sutton but he was also a longtime family friend. He leaned over and put a warm hand on Chad’s forearm and squeezed.
Roark had lost his wife years before. He didn’t say anything to Chad. Probably knew better than anyone that there was nothing he could say at this point to make things better. But he was there for Chad, just as all of them were.
Mrs. Poole put the plate of cookies in Roark’s hands and leaned in to hug Chad. She was soft and warm and he let himself lean into her for a minute.
When he pulled back, she patted his cheek and then went to sit with Jack and Kelly across from him. Jack gave Chad a nod