Page 109 of Ruthless
Bright, blinding light lit up the area above the soldiers. All eyes went to the skies. Repeated, rapid shots rang out, and the soldiers began to fall in massive amounts. The ones not hit began to run.
“The team’s here!”
Dropping behind the desk again, Eve grinned over at Gideon. “We made it.”
All strength left his body, and he slumped down against the desk. The shooting was sporadic now and, to his ears, sounded much dimmer. His eyes were blurring, and he heard Eve speaking. He knew, somehow, someway, he’d been granted the extra energy to aid Eve in this battle, but his reserves were used up. And while he was grateful to have been given that opportunity, a part of him was angry that he had nothing left to give. He had wanted to spend a lifetime with Eve, and he knew that was no longer possible.
He heard her calling his name, and he blinked at her, fiercely resenting that he could barely see her. How he loved this woman. She had fascinated him when they were both children, and that fascination had turned to deep admiration and a fierce, unconditional love. He told himself to be grateful for that. How many people lived a lifetime without finding the love of their life?
With the last of his strength, he touched her face, relishing her warmth. Coldness washed over him, and as his vision dimmed further, he gave what he knew would be his last words to her. “You are my everything.”
His eyes closed on her wail of anguish as he fell softly into darkness.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Saint Joseph’s Hospital
Marseille, France
Eve stood next to Gideon’s bed. Even though they told her he likely wouldn’t wake for another day or so, she couldn’t not be here. She had lost him twice. Five minutes after arriving and neutralizing the threat, the OZ team had been back in the air, on the way to the hospital. Halfway there, Gideon had stopped breathing. It had taken Ash and Xavier working together to perform CPR to save him. Thankfully, the hospital had been only a ten-minute flight away, and Serena had called ahead, ensuring that an emergency medical team was on the roof when they landed.
Eve had never been more terrified in her life. Every breath he’d struggled to take, she’d felt it as if her own lungs were doing the work. The instant they’d landed, the medical team had rushed him into surgery, where, once again, his heart had stopped.
Eve, along with the rest of the team, had stood at the entrance to the surgical ward until they’d been told he’d made it through surgery. Removing the bullet had, according to the surgeon, been a relatively simple operation. It hadn’t hit anything vital, and if the surgery had taken place in a reasonable amount of time after Gideon had been shot, a full recovery would have been a mere few weeks.
But that hadn’t happened. He had come after Eve, putting himself in deadly danger. Sepsis had spread throughout his body, and the doctors were doing everything they could to stop the infection from destroying his organs.
And now it was a wait-and-see situation. The doctors were cautiously optimistic that he would survive, and the damage, if any, to his organs would be minimal.
She told herself that that was good news. As stubborn as this man was, cautiously optimistic was like a diagnosis of complete recovery with flying colors. And as much as she prayed that was true, she could not get the image out of her mind of Gideon’s lifeless body. Every time she closed her eyes, his beautiful, too-still face haunted her. And his last words. Oh sweet heavens, why had he waited so long to tell her? Why hadn’t she told him sooner how she felt? They had wasted so much time. And though he’d told her that his time with her had never been wasted, she couldn’t help but believe everything would have been so much better if only she’d allowed him to see her heart and vice versa.
“All right, young lady, you’ve waited long enough.”
She glanced behind her to see a nurse enter with a small trolley. Everyone had been insisting that she needed to get her injuries seen to, but they were so minuscule compared to Gideon’s, she had adamantly refused treatment.
Apparently, the medical team had sent in their toughest-looking nurse. Her no-nonsense, hard-eyed stare almost made Eve smile.
“Only if I can stay here.”
“But of course. He is your l’amoureux? Oui?”
“Yes, he is my love.” Tears pooled in her eyes as she softly repeated Gideon’s words, “My everything.”
“Now, now. Tears are for the hopeless. And you, my dear, are far from hopeless. Your young man is doing well.”
Eve nodded, sniffing back the tears. “You’re right. He will recover.”
“Now that we have that settled, sit down, and let’s see to these cuts.”
She’d used the bathroom a few hours earlier and glanced in the mirror when she’d washed her hands. She knew what she looked like. Blood and tiny bits of debris covered most of her face.
Too tired to argue, Eve dropped into the chair the nurse pointed to and allowed herself to be treated.
Fortunately, once she received Eve’s agreement, the nurse didn’t require her to speak again. However, she kept up a steady stream of chatter, first about the weather and then about the political upheaval in the nearby country of Ile de la Lune.
News reports coming in from Amelie told of a failed attack on the palace.
After a two-minute conversation with her father, Eve was as up to date on the goings-on there as she could be. Everyone within the palace was safe. No one was yet claiming responsibility for the attack against the monarchy. Several enemy soldiers had been captured and were being questioned.