you!”
I could feel the sticky warmth of the blood from his chest wound seep into my dress and onto my skin. Where the hell was Harris? He was always by Richard’s side and now he got shot and his head of security was nowhere to be found!
Placing his hand on my face, the pad of his thumb caressed my cheek. “It will take more than a bullet to take me from you, my love.”
I put my hand over his and cradled it to my face. “I love you.”
Finally, Harris appeared, looking surprisingly calm considering his employer was lying on the floor of a church with a bullet wound in his chest.
“Your Grace, we’re ready.”
He helped Richard to his feet. Richard then reached down for me. Holding me close, we crouched behind a wall of his guards who held up bulletproof shields as they hustled us out a side door of the cathedral.
As we emerged into the sunshine, which felt odd and out of place considering the cataclysmic events of the last few moments, an ominous-looking black helicopter hovered over a small square of lawn that overlooked the Old Palace Yard.
The helicopter skids had barely touched the grass before Richard and I were hoisted inside. Harris joined us as several guards took a position on the outside, standing on the skids with guns drawn as they wrapped a belt around their waists and secured it to a hook on the side.
Although it felt like an eternity, it was mere minutes before the helicopter once more lifted off, taking us to the nearest hospital.
Wincing in pain, Richard reached around me and grabbed the seat belt before securing it over my lap. Leave it to this man to be worried about my safety at a time like this.
Reaching down, I tore a long strip of silk from the bottom of my dress and balled it up in my hand. Turning to him, I pressed the fabric against his wound.
My shoulders shook and my face crumpled with fear and agony as the fabric quickly became soaked with his blood.
“Oh, God, Richard!”
His strong hand closed reassuringly over mine, applying more pressure over the wound. “I refuse to die, my love. What is the saying? I can’t die because Satan is worried I’ll take over hell.”
“Stop! Just stop!” I cried, rejecting his attempt at teasing. “I can’t lose you!”
Richard pulled my head close. Placing a fierce kiss on my lips, he vowed, “I’ve already told you, little one. You’ll never be free of me. You’re mine, forever.”
The helicopter jostled us all as it slowed its speed and lost altitude. Looking out through the small window, I saw doctors and nurses scrambling across the helipad with a gurney and crash cart.
The moment the helicopter skids hit the tarmac, everyone sprang into action. Richard’s guards lifted him out of the helicopter and onto the gurney. An orderly started at a sprint as he pushed his gurney toward a pair of double doors that led into the hospital. Nurses ran alongside, desperately grasping at the canvas straps to secure him down as several doctors started screaming out vital stats.
I struggled to keep up, my heavy skirts hampering me as I tripped over the yards and yards of bloodied silk.
They pushed the gurney into a massive cargo lift.
“Ma’am, I’m sorry. We need to take it from here,” said a nurse. She held up a hand to push me back as she pressed the button for the lift doors to close.
As the metal doors slid closed, I thrust my arm into the gap. “Fuck you. I’m his wife and I’m not leaving his side!” I declared as I shoved my way onto the elevator and reached for Richard’s hand.
He chuckled weakly. “It really is a shame to waste all this spitfire energy on something like this.” He gave me a suggestive wink.
My cheeks flamed scarlet, not only from my own uncharacteristic outburst and defiance of authority but also from Richard’s highly inappropriate innuendo.
The doctors and nurses in the lift exchanged amused looks.
The doors opened onto a scene of controlled chaos.
There was another older nurse, who addressed the doctors. “Operating room three is prepared. Do we have a blood type?”
“Yes, type O positive,” offered another nurse as she helped push the gurney out of the lift.
“His BP is falling. Let’s move it, people!”
“I need X-rays, stat! We need to find this bullet!”
“Someone page Doctor Graham.”
“Let’s go, people! Let’s go!”
I lost my grip on Richard’s hand as they shoved me aside.
“This time you