Things That Go Bump At Night Part 27

"Wait!" I called after him. He turned in the doorway to face me again. Before I could ask my question about what kind of surgery exactly I was about to have a deafening alarm began to blare.

Jake! I immediately shouted in my head...or maybe I had said it out loud, I couldn't be sure.

Parker on the other hand, swore. He shouted for his men to see what was going on, then told the nurses to stay with me and pulled his own gun. He shot me one glare as if I had betrayed him somehow- before he disappeared out the door as well. The nurses stood by nervously for a time.

"Please." I said to them. "Please let me go, I'll make sure you don't get hurt." Because if Jake found them in here with me, there was a good chance they weren't going to make it out at all. But, much to their detriment, they ignored me.

"Get her prepped." One told the other.

"No!" I cried and worked against my restraints. Of course to no avail. One held my hand still while the other crudely pushed an IV needle into the back of my hand. I cried out, not at the pain, but at my helplessness. As soon as they hooked that hose up to that IV bag I would be out, Jake would have a lot more trouble getting us out of here if he had to carry me. I struggled hard, swore at the orderlies, but my restraints held fast and they paid no attention. Tears stung my eyes.

Then it happened. Two shots rang out and both orderlies went down. Jake stood behind them.

"Jake!" I cried, the tears spilled now. He came to me, I saw immediately that he was hurt. One of his eyes looked as if it were trying to swell shut, but he wasn't letting it. There was a cut on his cheekbone under the other eye, and a cut across the bridge of his nose that was bleeding, it looked as if his nose had bled too; the front of his sweats.h.i.+rt was covered with it. There were two splits on his bottom lip and the front of his pants over his right thigh was covered in blood, there was a slit in his pants that looked suspiciously like someone a stabbed a knife through it. And as he worked to free my restraints I saw that his wrists were raw and bleeding as well. He had obviously fought while in cuffs or had fought to get out of them.

But he was still the most wonderful thing I'd ever seen.

"Hold still." He said roughly as he yanked the IV from my hand. I winced, and as soon as I was free of the restraints I threw my arms around him. He gathered me to him and held me tight. So tight I could barely breathe, but I didn't care, I wanted him to hold me even tighter. "Are you alright?" He pushed me back far enough to look at me, then he kissed me. I could taste blood on his lips, but I kissed him back anyway, hard.

"Are you alright?" I asked when we parted, the corner of his lip kicked up in a smile.

"You should see the other guys."

Guys. My man was hot, he took on guys, plural, for me.

I cupped his face in my hands, dangerously close to hyperventilating.

"Let's go you two. Plenty of time later to paw at each other." A voice called. I looked past Jake's shoulder to see Jason looking in on us, a large automatic weapon in his hands. He winked at me. I looked to Jake.

"Dad couldn't come himself, they're watching him too closely. So he sent in the cavalry. Where are your clothes?"

"I don't know." I let Jake lift me off the chair, he pulled his sweats.h.i.+rt over his head and handed it to me to put on while he reached down and searched the two orderlies for weapons. They both had a gun, both of which he also handed to me, he'd come in with two of his own. Then he led me into the hall, Jason looked at me and smiled.

"Glad to see we got here in time."

"Come on." Jake led us down the long hall. He stopped us at the end and risked a quick look down either direction of the adjoining halls. "I'm going to scout ahead, stay here. If I'm not back in a couple minutes, find a different way."

"Jake!" No way! I was going with him! But Jason grabbed my arm, I would have shot him a glare, but Jake leaned forward to kiss me before he moved off quickly. I stared after him.

"Watch our backs, Remi." Jason ordered, pulling me out of my stun. I shot him a glance before turning my attention to the hall behind us.

So it had been Jason that had come to our rescue. Somehow, I was saddened by that thought. Maybe selfishly I had wanted Jake to come riding in on his white stallion, I couldn't see him as the type to be rescued.

"Thank you." I said weakly. "For getting to him." I wasn't going to say for rescuing him; that just didn't seem right.

Jason studied me for a time, then smiled.

"As much as I would love for you to be grateful to me, I can't take credit. Jake was already out and coming for you when we got here."

I turned away from him and pretended to watch the rear hall to hide my smile. Of course he had been, why had I even doubted it?

Had he said we? Who was we? I turned back to ask and caught him looking at my legs. The paper gown and sweats.h.i.+rt did their best to hide what they could, but they still only just grazed the top of my thighs.

"Hey!" I barked. "Eyes up top."

Jason chuckled and looked back down his end of the hall.

"You seriously can't blame me."

I glared at the back of his head.

"Who is we?" I asked.

"We?" He frowned and turned to look at me again, I saw the moment he grasped my question. "Oh, Sarah, Wally and Shane are with me. They're out there creating a distraction while we get you out."

As if on cue there was what I could only a.s.sume an explosion outside, but from here it was a dull sound and the building above us shook slightly.

Jake whistled at us from the end of the hall, my heart soared.

"All clear, for now at least, so let's hurry." He waved us down. We ran. Ran through corridor after corridor, and finally we reached the elevator that had taken me down, but we didn't take it back up, and I didn't have to be told why. As soon as those doors opened on the upper level, we'd be sitting ducks for any suit in the lobby. Instead we took the stairs up, I was annoyingly aware that Jason was behind me as Jake kept a firm grip on my wrist in front of me. I knew Jason was probably getting a good show back there, but I wasn't going to embarra.s.s myself by addressing it any further than holding my limited clothing as closely to me as I could. Jake pushed the door open slightly and peered out into the lobby. He gently let the door close and turned to us.

"Three in the lobby." He said in a low voice. I glanced down and made sure the safeties were off on my guns, I hadn't even thought to do that in the hallway, how embarra.s.sing would that have been had Jason and I been shot by suits coming at us from the back simply because I forgot one of the first rules of shooting. Safety off to fire. Duh. They were off.

We stepped into the lobby firing and made quick work of the three suits. We made for the front door, Jason watched high as Jake kept an eye on the doors in front of us, so I watched our sides. There was another explosion outside.

"Hang on." Jason said and jogged over to the elevator. I watched as he put something inside and sent it down, then jogged back to us with a smile. "We should go now, we've only got a few minutes."

A bomb. Lovely.

Jake took my hand and we stepped outside. An SUV probably the same one I'd rode here in- was parked out front, we made for it.

"Locked." Jake said. "You've got tools on you?" He asked Jason. Jason nodded and dug a small black case out of one of his pockets and handed it to Jake, then went back to scanning the area around us. There was gunfire and smaller explosions behind the house. I couldn't see, but I was guessing there were grenades being tossed out, whether they were ours or not I had no clue, but either way the distraction was working. There seemed to be no suits out front as we crouched next to the SUV while Jake worked to pick the door lock.

"I've found her!" someone yelled. "She's out front!"

Then I heard Parker's voice.

"Don't let her leave!" His voice came from above, I looked up to see him looking down at us from a balcony. Jason and I fired off a couple rounds, forcing Parker back, but several other suits were now coming from around the house.

"Time to go Jake." Jason said casually, though the whole situation was anything but casual. He fired at the suits coming from the left, I fired right.

"Got it!" Jake called and swung the pa.s.senger door open to hit the lock b.u.t.ton for the rest of the doors.

Jason reached up and opened the back pa.s.senger door and motioned me to climb in. I heard Parker scream at us again for the life of me I couldn't remember what he said- just before the shot Parker's shot?- hit me in the side. I cried out and pitched forward.

"Remi!" Jake shouted, he'd been about to climb into the front of the truck, but he came back for me just as Jason caught me before I hit the dirt. "Drive!" Jake barked at Jason and took his place. Jason launched himself through the door without argument and went to work hotwiring the vehicle while Jake lifted me into the back seat, shooting as we went. He closed the door behind us and laid me on the seat, he knelt on the floorboards next to me.

"Oh G.o.d." I grunted, bile rose in my throat. This pain was almost worse than being stabbed in the back.

"Come on Jason, get us going!" Jake barked.

"Almost got it." Jason replied, his voice was finally strained. "It's a little hard to hotwire newer cars these days."

"Remi, look at me." I turned my eyes to Jake's. "Stay with me, Okay?"

I nodded and swallowed hard, I was beginning to feel dizzy and every single one of my nerve endings was jumping in pain, even my feet seemed to hurt. I felt the truck rumble to life under me. Jake gently pulled his sweats.h.i.+rt up to examine my wound, he rolled me slightly and I heard him sigh was that relief? Jason must have heard it to, because as he drove fast- he asked; "She alright?"

"Went through." Jake said roughly. I knew that to mean the bullet hadn't bounced around inside me for a while before deciding to settle...so yeah, that was good. Jake pulled his t-s.h.i.+rt off, he stuffed half of it under the wound beneath me and the other half over the top of my wound, then whispered strained apologies as he pressed hard, putting pressure on to stop the bleeding, he kissed my face and apologized again. I groaned and black spots danced in my vision.

"The others?" I croaked.

"We've got a jeep downhill. They'll be fine. Jake, do we need a hospital?"

"Get her to Maria." Jake answered not taking his eyes from me. He held my hand with one of his while keeping pressure on me with the other. "Remi, stay with me, baby. Please stay with me."

I went numb. Everywhere. And felt a wave of panic, what did that mean? To go numb? That couldn't be good, right?

"Jake." I couldn't seem to get my voice above a whisper, and it was getting alarmingly hard to breath. "Jake...I can't feel..." I paused to gasp for breath.

Then everything went black.

15.

I pulled myself up from sleep, fluttered my eyes open. I was in bed. Sun was steaming through the windows. I reached out for Jake, but he wasn't there. I stretched, but my motions were slow, hindered, as if I were trying to move through water.

Oh yeah, I'd been shot. I focused my attention on my side, but felt nothing. So I sat up and swung my feet over the side of the bed. Still, no pain. I lifted the t-s.h.i.+rt someone had dressed me in and saw a large white bandage just over the area of my bottom rib. I replaced the s.h.i.+rt and stood, I had to put a hand to the bed for a minute until I gained my balance and when I did, I finally felt a tiny twinge in my side, I could walk I had to favor my left side, so it looked like I had a limp, but still, I could walk; so I did. I went in search of Jake. I knew he wouldn't be far, not with me laid up and all, but I didn't find him anywhere in the house. No one was in the house actually.

He wouldn't have left, would have he? I went to the front of the house and looked out the window next to the front door. No, his truck was still in the driveway. A movement to my right caught my attention, I saw him then. Sitting on the wicker love seat just outside the front door, the very same place he'd sat me that very first day he'd brought me here. He was hunched forward, he elbows rested on his knees and his head hung over them. I opened the front door and stepped out; it was cold.

"Jake?" I could see my breath.

Jake came to attention quickly, he jumped from his seat.

"Remi, you shouldn't be up. What are you doing out here?" He reached for me, I let him take my arms, but didn't let him steer me back into the house.

"No. Can we sit out here for a minute? The fresh air is nice."

I could tell he was on the verge of saying no way Jose, but then he nodded and let me sit on the other end of the love seat. I took in his face, it had been cleaned up but it still looked rough. All because of me.

"Don't." Jake said, linking his fingers with mine. "Don't you dare." He could obviously tell what I was thinking. I reached out and touched that beat up face and he turned into my palm to kiss it.

"How long was I out this time?" I asked, Jake smiled.

"Just through the night. It's only Monday morning."

Awesome.

"And why aren't we in school this time?"

"We were in a car accident this weekend."

Clever.

"You look like you were in a car accident." I wrinkled my nose at him teasingly and he chuckled. I hated to ruin the moment, but I had to ask. "Did we get Parker?"

A dark looked crossed Jake's face as he looked out at the land in front of us. He shook his head, but didn't speak on the subject.

So Parker was still out there. I wasn't sure what that meant for us, and it made me nervous but I decided now wasn't the time to dwell on it. There was another, more immediate question I wanted answered anyway.

"Did we find out who called the home office?"

"Yeah. Cora. She swears it was because she thought it was the right thing to do for her team. She was worried of the consequences for keeping our secret."

Could hardly blame her for looking out for her team...but that didn't mean I couldn't still hate her.

"Speaking of which," Jake continued, a scowl on his face. "We've taken on another member here."

"Really? Anyone I know?" Could someone else we know see?

"Yeah, Jason."

I frowned.

"Jason? Why? He has his own team."

"Well, both dad and Mick think we need the extra hand, with the demons infesting our backyard and Parker still being out there and all. Jason volunteered."

I played with his fingers.

"That's not such a bad thing then, right?"

"I guess not. I just hate the way he looks at you."

I raised my brows.

"Since when have you ever cared about that?"

"Since Jason. The guys at school know better, they leave you alone. This clown...I don't think he's going to stay away from you."

I smiled then. Carefully I slid into his lap so that I was straddling him, his hands automatically went to my hips, anchoring me there. I cupped his face and kissed him.

"Doesn't matter. I'm yours Jake. There's actually something I've been trying to tell you for a while now, but we seem to attract interruptions."