Chapter 267 Chapter 267

Chapter 267 Chapter 267
After that time seemed to blur.
Paramedics worked around Daniel, shouting medical terms Emma didn't understand them all. Blood pressure dropping. GSW to the upper back. Possible pneumothorax. What the hell was that? Whatever it was it didn't sound good.
They cut Daniel's shirt off right there on the sidewalk, and Emma saw the wound. Small entry point between his shoulder blades, but the blood wouldn't stop coming. She never noticed the people around her, just what was happening to Daniel. A police officer tried to talk to her, but she didn't see or hear him.
They got him on a backboard, into the ambulance. Emma tried to climb in after him.
"Family only," the female paramedic said, not unkindly, just wanted to be on the move.
"I'm his fiancée." The words came out before Emma could stop them. Were they still true? She didn't know. Right now, she didn't care. "I'm not leaving him."
The paramedic must have seen the look on her face, that she'd fight them, because she nodded. "Get in."
The ambulance took off, sirens wailing. Emma sat on the bench seat, holding Daniel's hand while the paramedic worked around her. The one driving was on the radio with the hospital, rattling off vitals and medical jargon as her was feed the information from the female paramedic as she adjusting the IV, monitoring the oxygen.
Daniel's eyes were closed now. His face was pale, lips tinged blue.
"Is he—" Emma couldn't finish the question.
"He's holding on," the male paramedic said from the driver's seat. "But he's lost a lot of blood. We need to get him to surgery."
Emma squeezed Daniel's hand tighter. "You hear that? You're going to be fine. They're going to fix you up, and you're going to be fine." That wasn't what they had said but it's what she needed to believe, what she needed Daniel to hear.
But he wasn't responding. His hand was limp in hers.
"Daniel, please." Emma's voice cracked. "Please don't leave me. Not like this. I would rather you walk away from me."
The machines started beeping louder. Faster.
"BP's dropping," the female paramedic said, voice sharp. "Eighty over fifty. Shit. He's bleeding internally." The female paramedic was already moving, adjusting something on the IV. "We need to move faster. Tell them we need a trauma team standing by." Looking at Emma she said. "You better hold on."
The ambulance swerved, took a corner too fast. Emma braced herself with one hand, refusing to let go of Daniel with the other.
She'd been such a fool. So wrapped up in her own pain, her own anger, that she hadn't seen what was right in front of her.
Daniel loved her. Had always loved her. Every decision he'd made, right or wrong, had been to keep her safe. To keep her alive, and she had punished him for it.
And she'd told him she needed time. Made him think they might not have a future.
What if they didn't have a future? What if this was it?
"Don't you dare," Emma whispered, leaning close to his ear. "Don't you dare die on me, Daniel. Because I love you. I'm still so angry with you, but I love you. And if you're willing to leave the Marines for me, then I'm insane not to give us another chance. Do you hear me? We're going to have that future. We're going to get married and have babies and grow old together. But you have to hold on. You have to fight. Do you hear me…"
The machines were still beeping frantically. Daniel's face was getting paler.
"BP's seventy over forty," the female paramedic said. "We're losing him."
"No." Emma's voice was fierce. "No, you're not. He's a Marine. He's a fighter. He's going to make it."
She had to believe that. Had to.
The ambulance screeched to a stop. Doors flew open. Suddenly, there were people everywhere, pulling the gurney out, wheeling Daniel toward the emergency entrance. As the paramedic followed filling the hospital staff in.
Emma ran alongside, still holding his hand, refusing to let go.
"You have to wait here," someone said. A nurse maybe. Emma didn't look.
"No."
"Ma'am, we need to get him into surgery—"
"I said no." Emma's grip on Daniel's hand tightened. "I'm not leaving him."
"Emma." Brynes was there suddenly, his hand on her shoulder. "Let them work. He needs surgery now." She didn't even wonder how he had gotten here so fast.
Emma looked down at Daniel's face. So still.
She leaned down, pressed a kiss to his forehead. "I love you," she whispered. "Don't leave me now."
Then they were pulling him away, through double doors that swung shut behind them.
Emma stood there in the middle of the emergency room, covered in Daniel's blood, shaking so hard she could barely stand.
Brynes guided her to a chair. "I called Nate. He's on his way. Your family too."
Emma nodded but didn't really hear him. Just stared at those double doors, at the spot where Daniel had disappeared.
He had to make it. He had to.
Because she'd just figured out what she should have known all along.
She couldn't live without him either.
Grayson and Honey arrived first, bursting through the emergency room doors like they'd run the whole way. Emma wouldn't be surprised if he had broken every speed limit to get here. He had been very protective since… since. No, she couldn't say it, not now, not after… this.
"Emma!" Grayson was across the waiting room in seconds, pulling her into his arms. "Jesus Christ. Are you okay? Nate said there was a shooting… that Daniel." The blood all over her would have freaked him out. But it wasn't her blood. She might have a bump on her head and be covered in bruises, but compared to Daniel, she had come off lightly.
"I'm fine." Emma's voice sounded hollow. "Daniel pushed me out of the way. He—he took the bullet meant for me."
Grayson held her at arm's length as if to make sure for himself that she was indeed alright.
Honey's hand went to her mouth. "Oh my God."
"Where is he?" Grayson demanded. "Is he—"
"Surgery." Emma said, looking once more toward those double doors. "They said he was bleeding internally. That his blood pressure kept dropping. They—" Her voice broke. "They said they were losing him."
"No." Honey pulled her down with her so they could sit and didn't let go of her hand. "No, he's going to be okay. He has to be."
But Emma had heard the paramedics. Seen the amount of blood. God, she was covered in it. It made her want to be sick. She needed to wash it off, but she couldn't leave. She needed to stay. She'd seen Daniel's face get paler and paler until he'd looked almost dead already. What if she lost him? Really lost him this time?
What if the last thing she'd said to him was that she needed more time?
The double doors opened. Emma was on her feet instantly.
But it was just a nurse, not the surgeon. "Family of Daniel Morris?"
"Yes." Emma's heart was pounding. "Please tell me…" They wouldn't send a nurse to tell her if it was bad news, would they?