SHIFT EXCHANGE

Chapter 35

Kara's heart beat punctuated each second with a heavy thud she could feel in every capillary of her body.

The sharp, tangy smell of Cordite assaulted her nostrils as she took little, painful sips of air. Her adrenaline running high; Kara did a quick assessment of her body. The same pains assaulted her as they had prior to the room erupting in gunfire. It didn't feel as if there were any new injuries. Certainly no giant, gaping holes.

As quickly as the relief hit her it ebbed when she took in the bloody, lifeless mass in the chair before her. The gun Gavin had pointed at her was now lying harmless on the floor. The bottom half of it looked mangled and broken. Pieces of black plastic littered the floor.

Her mind stalled out, grasping for the last few moments and how all of this had come to be. Like a record at the end of its track, she simply couldn't move on from the moment he'd pulled the trigger.

Kara's eyes flew to the last place she'd seen Jake standing. He was still there, standing tall and whole in the clothes he'd worn last night. His face sagged with relief as his eyes met hers. In moments he'd closed the distance between them.

His hands touched her face and the dam in her chest broke. Wet, hitching sobs poured into the air between them. Despite the pain they created for her damaged body, she couldn't stop. Thankfully, someone unbound her hands. Ignoring the pain in her ribs and arms, Kara slumped forward into his warm, hard body.

"You're ok. We're here now. You're safe." Jake repeated in a low, soothing tone as he held her. He never let go, or ceased his gentle stroking, even as an older man in a tan suit talked to him and asked all kinds of questions.

Kara finally settled into an exhausted silence, pillowed against his strong chest, engulfed in his arms. Two EMTs arrived and asked if they could check her injuries. Kara wanted to say no, that she didn't want to be poked or prodded right now, she just wanted to be left alone, but apparently they had only asked to be polite; it wasn't actually up for discussion.

Their faces looked grim as they explained to Jake the extent of the damage and their insistence that she go to the hospital with them. She wanted to protest, to remind them that she was her own person and they should be talking to her, not about her as if she wasn't there. The exhaustion took over and kept her slumped against Jake's chest.

The more time that passed, the more tired she became. It was as if all her energy was bleeding out of her into the wood plank floor. She could focus on nothing but the vibration of Jake's deep, baritone voice passing through his skin into her cheek.

She was startled back to a fuzzy reality by the EMTs trying to jostle her battered body onto a gurney.

"No!" She protested weakly and reached out for Jake. He clasped her hand.

"Shhh.... I'm right here. We're just going to the hospital. I'm not leaving you." He stood as they raised the gurney and walked along beside it as they exited the house and traversed the driveway to the ambulance. Jake kept his eyes locked on hers the entire ride to the hospital as they put an IV in her arm, tried to stabilize her shoulder, and moved her into the ER. "I love you so much baby. I will never come that close to losing you again. I swear it." He whispered into her ear as he stroked her hair.

When the nurse tried to insist on him waiting outside the exam room, Kara pitched such a fit they threatened to sedate her.

Finally, they struck a compromise that Jake could stand just inside the curtain where Kara could see him as long as he didn't get in the way.

An hour and a half later, they had cataloged and stabilized her injuries to their satisfaction. Only a single nurse stayed behind to explain the list.