“Rescue 9, this is Gutierrez and Gentry. What’s the status on getting that basket?”
“Gutierrez, this is Rescue 9. We’re inbound with a five-minute ETA.”
“Fuck,” I muttered. There was no better word in this moment.
I dug just beneath Colt’s thigh, enough to slip the tourniquet through, and then yanked it tight, securing it right above where the rock had him pinned.
“Don’t move it,” I warned Mark.
Then I knelt at Colt’s other side. His lips were blue, his skin pale, clammy, and cold. His pulse was fast and weak.
“Hey, bud, I got your bleeding stopped. You just gotta hold on for the helicopter, okay?”
He gave me a small smile. “I get to ride in a helicopter? Cool.”
“You do. Plus you’re kind of a hero. Everyone’s going to think you’re cool, but I’ll still think you’re the coolest,” I promised. “Anywhere else hurt?”
“No, nothing hurts.”
I froze. Shock. Bleeding out. We’d stopped the bleeding in his leg, but there had to be a secondary bleed, if not a dozen of them after that fall.
He’s hurt. I can feel it.
Twins. Just like he’d woken up when she had the infected PICC line.
“Okay, just keep talking to me, buddy.” I took my fleece off him and lifted his shirt. Deep purple bruising discolored the entire left side of his chest. His belly was swollen.
I sat back on my heels and put my head in my hands.
Ryan. You gotta help me here. Please.
“Where are we?” Colt asked, his voice soft.
I stood quickly and grabbed onto Mark’s arm. “He’s bleeding out internally. My guess is spleen, which means minutes. Run to the nearest place you can see the sky and pop smoke.”
He was the very picture of anguish as he looked at Colt, but he turned and ran.
I hit my knees beside Colt, and then I lay down next to him, curling my body around him. “I love you so much.”
He turned his head, and I didn’t yell at him about neck injuries. There was no point. “I love you, too, Beckett.” He opened his eyes, and I rested my forehead against his.
“I was thinking maybe we’d add that zip line to the tree house. What do you say?” I ran my fingers through his hair.
“Yeah. I think you should make it go into the lake. That would be cool, and Mom wouldn’t worry about falling so much.”
This was one fall we hadn’t seen coming.
Havoc whined, curling up next to Colt’s other side. She knew.
“You’re absolutely right.” I checked his pulse. So damn weak.
“I think I’m dying,” he whispered.
“You’re really hurt,” I said, my voice choking on the last word. I didn’t want to lie to him, but I didn’t want his last minutes to be spent in terror. There was nothing we could do at this point. I was going to lose him.
Ella. God, she needed to be here.
“It’s okay. Don’t be sad. Tell Mom and Maisie not to be sad, either.” He took several labored breaths. “I get to see Uncle Ryan.”
I couldn’t breathe. My chest only rose and fell with his, my heart syncing to his frail rhythm.
“Just hold on, bud. There’s so much you haven’t done yet. There’s so much to do.”
He looked at me, love shining out of his eyes. “I got to have you. Just like a dad.”
Tears fell from my eyes, running down the side of my face to the earth below. “Oh, Colt. We were going to tell you. We were just waiting for Maisie to be okay, but I adopted you last year. You’ve had a dad for a while. One who loves you more than the moon and stars.”
His breaths came slower and slower, each one a Herculean effort, but he still managed a smile. “You’re my dad.”
“I’m your dad.”
“So this is what it feels like.” He reached over, his hand cold as he laid it against my cheek. “I love having a dad.”
“I love being your dad, Colt. You are the best little boy I could have ever been given. I’m so proud of you.” The words barely came out.
His eyes closed as another breath shuddered through him.
I heard the sound of rotors in the background.
“I’m a Gentry,” Colt said, managing to pry his eyes open again.
“You are. A Gentry and a MacKenzie. Always.”
“Always?” he asked.
“Always. I will always be your dad. No matter what. Nothing will change that.” Even death. My love for him would cross however far God took him.
“Colton Ryan MacKenzie-Gentry. I got everything I ever wanted.” His eyes closed, and his chest rose