seconds.”
She tried to sound reassuring. Maybe it didn’t work, but aside from prayer, that was all she had to give. Taking the knife out of him would only cause him to bleed more. A doctor should do that. Something Bridget knew, despite the fact everything in her made her want to grab it and pull it out. To get that blade as far from him as possible.
She knew the Capeira guy had been aiming for her. Aiden had shoved her out of the way and taken the knife for her.
He could die.
For her?
No. No way should he have risked being torn from Sydney’s life. Please, Lord. Don’t let her lose her father. Bridget should’ve been the one stabbed. Not him. Sydney couldn’t grieve what she’d never had—at least, more than she already might.
“Why did you do that?” Tears rolled down her face but she ignored them. He shouldn’t have done that. No way was that fair. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
His expression shifted. She could read enough there he didn’t need to try and speak.
She touched his hand, both of their fingers slick with his blood. “Okay. Okay.” She shook her head. Maybe nothing would ever be okay again. “You still shouldn’t have done that.”
She gasped in a breath and tried not to break down. She needed to be strong for him, so he would know everything was going to be okay. If she could also convince herself, too, that’d be great.
Two EMTs pushed a rolling bed off the elevator. Within a minute, they had him loaded and on his way back onto the elevator. Millie walked with her as Bridget’s stomach rolled. They ducked into the elevator before the doors closed. He was so pale. Sweat beaded on his hairline.
As the elevator began to move, she reached out and held his hand.
“Are you family?”
She wanted to tell the EMT yes, but it wasn’t true, even though Sydney would forever connect them. Bridget shook her head, even while realizing it was the very thing she wanted.
If there weren’t five people in this elevator, she’d have told Aiden right then and there that she loved him, even though he wasn’t all the way conscious. It didn’t matter that they hadn’t seen much of each other over the last few years. She knew she still felt the same as she always had, and maybe even more now.
Adding in Sydney to the mix?
Bridget wanted her daughter in her life. She wanted this man in her life. She wanted it all—the three of them as a family.
Forever.
“You’re not family?”
This time it was Millie who answered the EMT’s question. “It’s complicated.”
“He doesn’t need complicated right now.”
Aiden stirred on the bed.
What was this guy trying to say? Bridget shook her head while the second EMT looked on, an unhappy expression on his face.
The first EMT adjusted the strap that secured Aiden. “You can meet us at the hospital. We need to move quickly. He’s losing blood.”
Translation: this guy didn’t want her—and any drama she might bring—getting in the way.
As much as Bridget wanted to argue with that, she kept her mouth shut. After all, the danger wasn’t past. Aiden needed to be seen by a doctor as quickly as possible. No way did she want to get in their way just because she was distraught.
She nodded at the EMT, let go of Aiden’s hand, and turned to Millie. “Did the feds catch Clarke yet?”
The elevator doors opened and Millie and Bridget waited until the EMTs wheeled Aiden out before following.
“I’ll find out from the scene commander when we get outside.”
Bridget planned on being there when he was brought in. She wanted to see it with her own eyes, so she would know Sydney was finally safe. She was done dealing with Clarke and his inclination for revenge. She’d had enough from Capeira and his men, resulting in Aiden being wheeled through the lobby on a stretcher with a knife still in his gut. They walked out the doors where a group from the Hostage Rescue Team gathered. An ambulance pulled up, causing the group to move. Millie headed for the scene commander, while Bridget trailed Aiden and the EMTs the rest of the way.
She watched them load him into the ambulance and seconds later they headed out. Bridget prayed until they were out of sight. Then she found Millie. “Update?”
Millie frowned. She was surrounded by several HRT guys and an older man in a suit. “No sign of him.”
“So he’s still inside then.” Bridget figured that