care. A distant part of his mind recognized the symptoms of adrenaline crash. He'd trained himself to function normally when the adrenaline overload dropped, but this time he couldn't pull himself together.
He didn't know how many minutes ticked past before Mel returned. She grabbed his unresisting hand and tugged him up. Body aching, mind numb, he let her lead him down the hall and through a door. She gently touched his bruised ribs. "Does this hurt?"
He shook his head.
"I don't suppose you'd see a doctor." He shook his head again and she sighed. "I didn't figure." She slipped a shirt on over his head and worked his arms through the short sleeves.
When she slid down the zipper on his jeans, he snapped back to reality. "Hey!" Gabe jerked her hands off his fly. Dazed, he stared at the porcelain urinals lining the wall. "Are we in the head? Are you taking off my pants?"
The tiny blonde planted her fists on her hips. "You got a problem with that?"
He looked down at the green cotton shirt she'd put on him. She had matching pants draped over her arm. "Surgical scrubs? Where did these come from?"
"Sometimes you're better off not knowing." She arched her elfin brows. "You're freezing, your jeans are soaked and necessity is the mother of invention. You going to shuck those pants, big guy, or do you need help?"
"This isn't an audience participation event."
"If I recall, you didn't have any qualms about hanging around in the ladies' room." In spite of the pain shadowing her eyes, she smiled. "All right. If you can handle this on your own, I'll be in the waiting area."
She left, and he changed into the scrubs. She'd even found him a pair of those slipper-type shoes surgeons wore into the operating room. Feeling a little warmer and less stunned, he trekked back to the waiting room. "Any word about—" His throat closed up.
"No." She rose. "Sit down, before you fall down." She stood on tiptoe, placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed him into a chair. She shoved a steaming cup of coffee into his right hand and a giant-size candy bar into the left. "Drink. Eat."
"Bossy little thing, aren't you?"
"Tess needs us. We've got to be strong for her."
His throat constricted again. He'd seen drownings before. He knew what happened to the brain when the body was deprived of oxygen for too long. Bile churned in his gut. He carefully set his coffee and candy bar on the table beside him.
"She will make it." Melody's chin wobbled, then firmed. "I refuse to believe otherwise." She thrust the coffee back into his hand. "You look terrible. Get something in your stomach or I'll rustle up an IV. I'm quick to pick up new skills, but I'd probably have to jab you at least half a dozen times."
"Aye-aye, ma'am." The corner of his mouth quirked. "Far be it from me to take on the pint-size blond tornado who whipped Steel Lucille's butt." He managed to drink the coffee and choke down half the Snickers bar. "Did you—" he swallowed down a lump that wasn't a peanut. "Call her mother?"
"Yes. She was in L.A." Melody's fists clenched in her lap. "She's too busy to come. She said the doctor can phone her." Her slender body vibrated with fury. "She doesn't care about Tessa, she never has."
He covered her hands with one of his. "Tessie has us. We're here for her."
"But, Gabe. I am—was—an attorney." Melody bit her lip. "Vivienne is the only person legally entitled to make decisions regarding Tess. And she won't hesitate to put her convenience first. If Tessa's situation deteriorates to a life-or-death decision, Vivienne will be the one making it."
He squeezed her hands reassuringly. "We won't let that happen."
"We can't stop her."
He narrowed his eyes. Nothing was going to happen to Tessa on his watch. Especially not when he'd finally realized that his fear of loving her was minor compared to the soul-shattering agony of losing her. He inhaled a ragged breath. He couldn't lose her. Not now.
She'd stared at her worst fear when she looked over the railing into the cold, unforgiving Pacific Ocean. Yet she hadn't hesitated. She'd gone over … with remarkable courage, and a message of love in her eyes. A message for him.
I love you.
Facing down his own fear was the only way he would be worthy of her love. He was willing to bear any kind of pain, willing to risk anything—risk everything—to be with