Without Regret
Page 78

“Izzy!” he yelled, ignoring the searing pain in his side as he took off at a clumsy dead run towards the sound of her screaming. Fear for her and the baby shot through him before he could control it or stop it and when it did he used it push himself harder and faster towards her as he prepared to kill the son of a bitch with his hands.
Chapter 37
A hand clamped tightly over her mouth and pulled back against a large firm body as the gun in her hand was gently taken away.
“Shhh, Izzy, it’s okay,” a familiar voice said.
It took her a moment to figure out who it was, but when she did she shoved his hand away, turned and yanked the much taller man down for a hug. She’d never been so happy to see anyone in her life.
She was so worried about Chris, worried about him making it through the night, keeping him warm and safe and trying to figure out how to get him safely out of here. She loved the big jerk so much and was so scared that something bad was going to happen to him. It didn’t matter that he didn’t want her or the baby, all she cared about was making sure that he was okay.
Then again she did keep promising herself that once he was better and they were safely out of here that she’d kick his damn ass for scaring her and pushing her away. She was so sick and tired of people pushing her away. She was done and she sure as hell wasn’t going to put her child through the same kind of pain. He said he didn’t want them then he wasn’t going to have them.
“Where’s the surly bas-shit!” Joshua yelped as he was suddenly torn away from her. The sound of water splashing, grunting, and what had to be punches reached her ears.
“You’re f**king dead,” Chris said coldly and Isabella knew he was probably seconds from killing his own brother.
“It’s Joshua! Let him go!” she screamed, moving towards the sound of the fight. “It’s Joshua!” she screamed again as she stepped into ankle deep ice cold water, wondering how the hell she was going to stop a fight that she couldn’t even see.
“Let me handle this,” Ephraim suddenly said as he gently cupped her shoulders and guided her back onto dry land. She looked over her shoulder not really expecting to see much since she hadn’t been able to see anything in hours. She gasped when she spotted the two small bright red lights among the pitch black night.
“It’s okay, Izzy,” Ephraim said as the two lights moved past her towards the sound of fighting.
She really needed to find out what other cool things he could do. While she waited on the shore nervously she wondered if he’d show her that flying trick again.
“Get off your brother,” Ephraim said with the exasperated tone of a parent who’d done this one too many times before.
“He started it!” Joshua snapped, surprising the hell out of her. Never in a million years would she have imagined that Ephraim would have to pull the much smaller man off of Chris. Then again, knowing how much Chris cared about his family, he probably stopped fighting his brother the second he figured out who it was.
“He’s also not breathing,” Ephraim snapped.
“Oh, shit,” Joshua muttered as Ephraim’s words hit her and when they did her knees nearly buckled beneath her grief.
This couldn’t be happening. He’d been talking with her not even five minutes ago. He was fine. It was a mistake, he was fine, she kept telling herself as she listened to them carry Chris out of the water.
“Shit, I dropped my flashlight and backpack when he jumped me. I can’t help him if I can’t see.”
Before her brain registered what he said, she was on her hands and knees, searching frantically for the flashlight. Seconds later she found what felt like a large plastic object. She picked it up, cradling it against her chest as she frantically searched for the power button.
When she found it, she wasted no time in turning it on and immediately felt her stomach drop as she caught her first glimpse of Chris. He was soaking wet with blood dribbling from his blue lips.
“Keep the light right there, Izzy,” Joshua said, sounding a hell of a lot calmer than she felt, but then again this was his job, wasn’t it?
“I’m going to need a hand here, Dad,” Joshua said as he pulled a small knife out of his pocket and sliced Chris’
shirt off, revealing large ugly bruises covering the left side of his chest. Ephraim leaned over Chris and inhaled deeply.
Oh, god…………
Had she done that when she shoved him earlier?
“Fuck,” Joshua muttered as he looked over Chris’ chest.
“His lung is punctured and filled with blood,” Ephraim said, moving out of the way when Joshua gestured to her. “Is she pregnant?”
“Why the hell does that matter?” she demanded, coming closer so that she could kneel by Chris and take his cold hand into hers. “Just fix him, please!”
“I’m doing my best,” Joshua said through clenched teeth as he ripped open his bag, his eyes never leaving Chris’ face. He looked in control, but his eyes………they told a different story. He was struggling to keep it together for his brother.
“If you can’t save him, I need to know, Joshua,”
Ephraim said, the glow of his red eyes intensifying.
“I can fix him, Dad. If she’s pregnant,” he explained, tearing his eyes away from Chris’ face to focus his attention on Chris’ chest. When he started cutting into Chris’ side, she forced herself to keep her eyes on Chris’
face when everything in her screamed to stop Joshua from hurting him. It was insane and ridiculous, but she couldn’t help herself. She knew he was helping Chris, but she couldn’t stand to watch him get hurt even if it meant he’d get better.
“Give me your hand, Isabella,” Ephraim said, already reaching out to take her hand.
She didn’t spare him a glance as she watched Chris, praying he’d wake up and be his cranky self. What she wouldn’t give to hear him bitch at the moment. She felt Ephraim warm breath fan her cool skin before he gently released her hand.
“Okay, he’s breathing, but just barely,” Joshua announced and she felt her entire body slump in relief.
“I need to get this rib the f**k out of the way.”
“She’s pregnant. A baby girl,” he said with a touch of sadness that she couldn’t even begin to understand at the moment. All that mattered was Chris taking a deep breath so that she could yell at him for scaring the hell out of her.
“Good,” Joshua said, sounding truly relieved. “Can you set up a line between them? The sooner I get some of her blood into him the faster that rib will pull back and his lung will be back to working order.”
With a stiff nod, Ephraim reached into Joshua’s backpack and pulled out a small clear plastic bag. He ripped the bag open, revealing a clear IV line and two small catheters.
“I need your arm again, Isabella,” Ephraim said, already reaching for her hand.
“How is my blood supposed to help him?” she demanded, wondering for the first time if they even knew what the hell they were doing.
“Normally his blood would be enough to heal his wounds, but this is pretty serious,” Joshua explained while he worked, on what, she wasn’t sure because she refused to take her eyes off of Chris. His lips were pretty blue still and she wasn’t sure in this dim light, but his skin looked pale as well. “He needs a transfusion from another Sentinel to speed up his healing and give him a chance to recover, but right now that wouldn’t be enough.”