Love Inspired Suspense April 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 Laura Scott (speed reading book .txt) 📖

kept shifting from one scene to another. The more he tried to force his mind to work, the greater the pain grew. He struggled against the fog of semiconsciousness.

“I’m going with him.” Paige again.

He recognized that tone. It was the one she used when she was convinced she was right and wasn’t going to back down no matter what. Good for you, he wanted to say, though he didn’t know for what he was congratulating her.

Strong hands rolled him onto something. A cot? No, they wouldn’t be putting him onto a cot. Then he was being carried. He was fairly certain of that. Where were they taking him? Somewhere the pain couldn’t reach him, he hoped.

Footsteps sounded, a rhythmic pace that lulled him into a state of near-sleep. He settled into it, thankful that the pain seemed to have subsided. If he could have, he’d have wept in gratitude. But even that required too much effort.

“I’m going with him, so make room.”

Paige would get her way. On that, he drifted off.

Before she climbed into the ambulance, Paige spared a moment to identify Jerry and Cal to Detective Reineke. “Jerry Newley and Calvin Pope. They were in on the blackmail together, set the whole thing in motion. It’s because of them that three people are dead.”

Reineke nodded. “We’ll take care of them. You take care of your man. I’ll catch up with you later.”

Intent on going with Liam, she didn’t bother to answer. She gave no heed to the EMTs who were doing their best to force her out of the ambulance. She was going to accompany Liam to the hospital, and that was that.

“I’m here,” she said, “and I’m not going anywhere.”

She supposed that the aggressive tilt of her chin must have convinced the two EMTs who had climbed in the back of the ambulance that she meant business, because they shrugged at each other and relented.

“Stay out of the way,” one said, “and if we say move, you move. Got it?”

“Got it.”

She knelt by the gurney where Liam lay. Pale. So very pale. The knife had gone in under his left arm, close, too close, to his heart. Blood no longer gushed from the wound, but it had been gushing earlier, draining Liam of his life force.

Please don’t let him die. Please don’t let him die. The words chanted through her mind. She’d loved two men in her life. Ethan was the first. And now Liam.

She couldn’t lose him. Not now. Not when she was beginning to think they had a future, a life together.

How had she not seen Cal go for his knife? She doubted she’d ever be able to forgive herself for that. She should have been watching.

He’d had it on him all the time, waiting for the right moment. The law would take care of him, but she couldn’t bring herself to care about that right now.

“They’ll be waiting for us,” the first EMT said. “We just have to get him there.”

“Alive,” the other muttered under his breath.

Paige prayed as she’d never prayed before. The silently uttered words repeated in her mind, a litany of begging and pleading with the Lord for His tender mercies.

When the ambulance screeched to a stop, the doors were flung open. Attendants rushed Liam inside and down a narrow hallway.

She tried to follow but was stopped.

“No farther,” a nurse in green scrubs said. “We’ve got him now.” He looked her over. “If you don’t mind my saying so, maybe you want to clean up a bit.”

She looked down at her hands, saw the blood coating them. Some of it had dried to a rusty stain, but fresher blood was still sticky to the touch.

“Thank you.”

She found a restroom and washed her hands until the water ran clear and her skin was raw. She did her best to wash the blood from her shirt, but it was a lost cause. In the end, she took it off and threw it in the trash. The pink T-shirt she wore underneath would have to do.

When she found the waiting room, she forced herself to do what had to be done. Using Liam’s phone, she called his parents, told them what happened, promised to keep them informed as they made the drive from Savannah. She then called Shelley and let her know what had gone down.

After assuring Shelley that she was all right, Paige asked about Jonah.

“He’s fine. Playing with Tommy and Chloe. They’re all running through the house with the dog chasing them.”

After they ended the call, Paige paced the length of the waiting room. The repeated steps did little to settle her racing thoughts. And then it came to her. Every hospital had a chapel, and she sought it out. There, she poured out her heart to the Lord, ending with a simple “Amen.” She remained on her knees for long minutes before finally returning to the waiting room and resuming her pacing. When the doctor appeared, she ran to him.

“You’re here for Liam McKenzie?” the doctor, a dark-haired woman with kind eyes, asked.

Paige nodded. “Yes. Please. Tell me.”

“I’m Dr. Nouri. Your friend’s going to be okay. The knife didn’t nick his lung, though it came close. He’ll stay here for a few days, then he can recuperate at home.”

“Thank you, Doctor. Thank you.” Liam is going to be all right. Thank You, Lord.

“He’s young and strong, a point in his favor, but I can’t emphasize enough that he needs rest.”

Liam is going to be all right. Paige repeated the words in her mind, a litany of gratitude and prayer. If she said them enough, even if uttered silently, maybe the lump in her throat would dissolve and she could breathe again. “Can I see him?”

“Just for a minute. Don’t be alarmed by how he looks. He’s lost a lot of blood and has over thirty stitches in his side.”

Paige made a hurried call to Liam’s parents to reassure them that their son would be all right and that she’d made arrangements