Chapter 33

SARAH

Sarah woke with a start, her heart pounding loudly in her ears, her eyes taking in the unfamiliar setting of Gabe’s room. She lay back against the pillows, trying to figure out what had awakened her. Everything was so quiet, the sky just becoming light with the dawn though the sun hadn’t risen yet. She checked her phone and only found the heart emoji Gabe had sent her a couple of hours before.

With a frown, Sarah made her way to the bathroom, had a quick shower, and had just pulled on the jeans and light knit sweater that she had packed for her night with Gabe when there was a light knock on the door. Sarah froze as she pulled on her shoes. Why would Gabe knock on his own door?

And then her heart stopped as she sank to the floor. Something had happened to Gabe.

“Sar?” Seth.

Sarah shook her head, not wanting to hear the words, unable to move from her place on the floor, the tears already running down her face. Seth knocked louder before softly pushing the door open. “Sarah?”

“He’s okay,” she croaked the statement, needing to believe it, not looking at her brother as he sat down behind her, folding his large body around her, holding her against his chest. She didn’t want to see Seth’s face. She didn’t want to see the loss that would be reflected in her own eyes.

Two hours ago, Gabe had been happy, lying in her arms and making her laugh. He had held her and cuddled her as they slept. He had made her touch heaven so sweetly. Her Gabriel.

“He is in surgery as we speak. He will want you there when he wakes up, Sar. He’ll need you.” Seth’s voice was quiet as he whispered the words into her ear. She realized that he was repeating them like a mantra until they penetrated her haze, her mind filled with images of Gabe in all the ways she had come to know him—as he came out of the lake, water cascading down his body, sitting on the tailgate in the moonlight as he waited for her, muddy after playing with the children, the heat of his gaze as he had kissed her for the first time in the pantry.

Eventually, she slowly lifted her head to look at her brother. “What happened?”

He shook his head. “He was looking for a way to breach a drug center when the dealers opened fire on our team. They must have realized that the deputies were protecting one of our own because one of them shot the charge at the door where Gabe was taking cover. He was blown off the landing.”

“But he’s alive?”

Seth nodded, but Sarah could read the unspoken thought in her brother’s eyes… ~For now~.

***

~“You make it sound so imminent…as if you’re going to die in the next few days—”~

~“I’m what they call a bullet chaser, Rah. First through the door. I always have been. So, yes, it is a matter of days…”~

The words of that intense conversation reverberated through Sarah’s mind two days later as she sat next to Gabe’s hospital bed. Grandma had relieved her when she went home to take care of Amelia, but during school hours, she was at the hospital, waiting for Gabe to wake up from the medically induced coma they had him in.

She gently traced the minor cuts that scored Gabe’s cheeks and chin, thankfully all of them superficial. What worried them was the bruised kidneys, broken ribs and arm, and the more serious swelling along his spine, preventing the doctors from assessing the actual damage. Sarah wondered how Gabe would take the news that he broke his back. That he might not walk again…

She dropped her head onto his stomach and stroked the hand that wasn’t in a cast, tracing the long slender fingers, feeling the calluses on his palm and fingertips. She smiled as she remembered the day they were picnicking at the lake when he explained to her how the calluses were formed. A perk of his trade, he had teased. She had asked why his right hand was more calloused than his left, and his answer was that he trained harder with his right hand because he was left-handed and needed to be efficient with both.

She wiped the tear from her face with the edge of her sleeve as she remembered the shock ripping through her body when she saw Gabe lying so still in his bed, the sheets pulled up to his chest which was covered in bruises. Sarah only became aware of the woman standing at the foot of his bed when she placed her jacket over the rail. With another swipe at her face, Sarah sat up straight in her chair, pushing the wayward strands that had escaped her ponytail behind her ears as she faced the stranger.

“Hi.” She smiled gently, and Sarah couldn’t help but respond with a smile of her own. “I’m Fatima Abrahams. Gabriel has been seeing me a couple of times a week—”

“Seeing you?” Sarah gasped. “What do you—”

Fatima stared at Sarah, her cupid’s mouth open in shock, before she started giggling, placing her hand over her mouth to smother the sound. “I’m sorry. That came out wrong. Let me try again.” She held out her hand. “Doctor Fatima Abrahams. I’m a therapist that has the honor of working with Gabe.”

Sarah frowned at the woman standing on the other side of the bed. Her dark hair was pulled into a neat twist at the nape of her neck, and her petite frame was clothed in a gray business suit, a turquoise silk scarf tied around her neck. She had the softest brown eyes that made Sarah realize that she must be good at her job because they beamed trustworthiness.

“He’s been seeing a therapist?” The question came out just above a whisper as Sarah tried to wrap her mind around the information.

Fatima nodded before shrugging sadly. “I’m sorry that I can’t tell you more than that. But I can see what made him decide to seek help.”

Sarah tilted her head as she looked at the other woman. “Thank you.”

Fatima smiled again as she sat in the chair opposite Sarah. “How’s he doing?”

Sarah shook her head and was about to answer when Gabe’s hand tightened around her own.

“Rah…”

Their heads whipped around to Gabe, but his eyes were still closed, and his cheeks were flushed slightly. She leaned close to him and kissed his cheek, stroking her hand through his hair.

“I’m right here, Gabriel. I need you to get well. I need you here with me.”

He breathed what sounded like a deep sigh of relief before going quiet again.

Sarah kissed him on the temple before taking her seat again and looking at Fatima. “It is the weirdest thing to see him so still. Gabe is always moving.”

Fatima smiled. “Tell me about it. We have our sessions on the roof because he likes to pace.”

“It was kind of you to come and check on him.”

“He’s a different kind of client. An open book in some areas, but so…” She shook her head as she looked at Sarah. “He really loves you and your little girl, Amelia. When he doesn’t want to talk about something, he changes the subject and speaks about the two of you. I’m hoping that the love he has for you will help him fight his demons, Sarah. Don’t give up on him.”

Sarah smiled softly as she gazed back at Gabe, stroking the back of her fingers against his cheek. “He’s saving me as much as I am saving him, doctor. He’s showing me how beautiful love can be.”

Fatima got to her feet and laid her jacket over her arm as she came around the bed to pat Sarah on her shoulder. “And you’re showing him how healing it can be.”

***

Sarah woke up from her position on Gabe’s stomach, his hand fisted in her hair, pinning her to his thrashing body.

“Gabe,” she managed to gasp, but couldn’t lift her head from his hard grasp. “Gabriel!”

A nurse was walking past the room and heard Sarah call his name, quickly rushing in to disentangle her ponytail from his fist. She quickly checked his temperature, made a note, and smiled at Sarah. “He has a bit of a fever, so I’m going to get the doctor. Are you okay? Can I get you anything?”

“No, I’m fine.” She turned to Gabe and stroked his hair, trying to soothe him, but he kept twisting and flexing his injured body. The nurse rushed out of the room and returned a few minutes later with the doctor close behind her.

“I’m sorry, Miss Marshall, but we’re going to need you to step out for a few minutes,” the doctor ordered apologetically.

She nodded, reluctantly kissing Gabe’s cheek, feeling the heat of his fever beneath her lips. With a sigh, Sarah fell against the wall, her hands covering her tear-streaked face.

“Mommy!” She looked up at the angelic voice of Amelia and caught the little girl as she flew into her arms. Sarah knelt and held Elli tightly, her heart finding comfort at the feel of her daughter in her arms.

“Sarah?”

She looked up at the fear-filled amber eyes of Indie and felt a sob break free.

“Sarah?” Indie demanded.

She hurriedly shook her head. “He has a fever. They’re with him now—”

The nurse rushed from the room and quickly glanced at Sarah. “Ah, good, you’re here! Please, can you come with me!”

Sarah glanced at Indie who took hold of Amelia and nodded silently. When she entered the room, Gabe was thrashing more wildly, his cast cracking as it banged against the rail of the bed, the doctor trying to hold his large frame down as the nurse tried to reattach his drip. Sarah’s heart tore at the hoarse sound of his tormented cries, the sound of her name a gravelly chant on his lips.

“Rah… Rah… Rah…”