Maya Banks - Colters’ Woman

He wadded the bandages in his hand and pressed them to the wound on her chest. He needed to slow the flow of blood.

“Ryan…”

Holly was only half-conscious and completely unaware of Adam and Ethan. Adam smoothed his free hand over her cheek.

“Ryan’s okay, baby. Do you hear me?”

She tossed her head, soft moans rasping from her throat.

“Cold…so cold.”

“Turn up the damn heat,” Adam barked at Ethan.

He gathered the blankets tighter around her, trying to infuse warmth into her body.

The squawk of the radio interrupted him, and he heard Ethan respond, but Adam’s focus was on Holly and the blood-soaked bandages in his hand.

“The chopper’s almost here,” Ethan called back. “They’re landing in Duffy’s pasture. We’ll be there in about two minutes.”

Adam sucked in a breath of relief. They were nearly there, and the sooner Holly got to a hospital, the better her chances of survival.

“Any word on Ryan?” Adam asked.

“Lacey said they life flighted him to Denver. Same hospital they’ll take Holly to. They were worried at the amount of blood he lost.”

Ethan’s voice carried an undercurrent of concern, one that jarred Adam’s nerves all the more.

“But he was okay, right?”

“Said he lost consciousness right before they took off. Don’t know any more than that.”

“Fuck!”

He closed his eyes and wanted to howl in fury and frustration. Tears stung his lids, and he shut his eyes even harder to prevent them from leaking out. He’d never felt so damn helpless in his life.

The two most important people in his life aside from Ethan could be taken from him.

He grabbed at the seat to steady himself when the Land Rover came to an abrupt stop. The door flew open, and a flight medic peered in.

The medic yelled back instructions, and two responders ran over with a backboard and jump bag. Adam backed out of the Rover and let them take over.

A hand slipped over Adam’s shoulder and he turned to see Lacey standing there.

“I just want you to know how sorry I am this happened, Adam.”

“I know you are, Lacey.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

He turned to look at her. “We left the man up at the old mining cabin. He’s probably dead by now. You might want to have a deputy go up and get him.”

Lacey gave him a sharp look. “You didn’t kill him, did you, Adam?”

“No, but I wish I had,” he returned softly.

The medics pulled Holly out of the Land Rover and laid her on the backboard. Adam and Ethan ran over but were warded back by the paramedic.

“This is a load and go situation, sir. I’m sorry, but we don’t have any time to waste.”

Adam’s mouth opened, wanting to ask the question, but it stuck. He wouldn’t allow himself to voice it. Instead, he watched as they hustled the backboard onto the chopper. The flight medic jumped in and signaled the pilot to take off. Seconds later, the bird lifted into the air and flew toward Denver.

“Let’s go, Adam,” Ethan said in a strained voice. One that sounded very much like he was holding back tears as well. “It’s a few hours’ drive to Denver.”

Adam followed numbly behind Ethan and they climbed into the Rover. He was afraid. Afraid of what they’d discover when they arrived at the hospital.

Adam managed to piss off no less than six people before he discovered where Ryan and Holly were. He’d torn through the busy ER until he’d been threatened with arrest if he didn’t settle down.

Holly had been taken to surgery, but Ryan was still in the ER where he was receiving a blood transfusion. At first, Adam and Ethan had been told they couldn’t see Ryan yet, but after Adam swore he’d take down the waiting room piece by piece, the nurse had relented and allowed them back.

Adam shoved into the door, anxious to see his younger brother. Ryan’s appearance shocked him. Beside him, Ethan sucked in his breath as well.

Pale, haggard, weary lines etched around his eyes, Ryan looked like hell, plain and simple. His shoulder was heavily bandaged, and he had enough wires and lines running from him to keep a small city supplied in electricity.

Ryan’s eyes fluttered open when the two brothers walked in. His head surged up, pain creasing his brow.

“Where is she? Did you find her?” he demanded.

Adam stopped by the bed, his knees weak with relief. There was nothing wrong with Ryan a few days in the hospital wouldn’t fix.

“We found her,” Adam said quietly.

“Where is she?” Ryan gritted from behind clenched teeth.

Adam ran a hand through his hair, trying desperately to maintain his composure.

“She’s here. In the hospital,” Ethan spoke up.

Ryan’s eyes blazed. “How is she?”

“We don’t know,” Adam said.

Ryan jerked his head back toward Adam. He swallowed heavily then opened his mouth. “What happened?”

Adam closed his eyes. “He stabbed her in the chest. Broke her arm. She’s in surgery. They airlifted her here. We don’t know much.”

Ryan sank back against his pillows, his face white. Tears streaked down his cheeks. Adam felt a painful twinge in his chest. He hadn’t seen Ryan cry since they were kids.

“Will she…will she be okay?” he rasped.

Adam exchanged looks with Ethan. He didn’t want to lie to Ryan, but Ryan was in no shape for this kind of burden.

“I think she’ll be fine,” Adam said, hoping he hadn’t just lied.

“I let her down. I failed her,” Ryan said bleakly.

“I let you both down,” Adam said. “I should have never left either of you. But we can’t think of that right now.”

Ethan put a hand on Ryan’s uninjured shoulder. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m pissed,” Ryan said angrily. “I let that bastard get the drop on me.”

“What did the doc say about your shoulder?” Adam said, pushing the subject firmly back to Ryan.

Ryan closed his eyes again and sank further into the pillow. “Says I’ll be fine. Gave me two pints of blood, patched up the wound. Wants me to stay a day or two, but overall, he said I was one lucky bastard.”

He cracked one eye to stare at Adam. “How did you find her? What happened? You haven’t told me anything.”

“We can talk about it later,” Adam said. He was sure he didn’t need to rile Ryan up any more than he already was.

“Don’t coddle me,” Ryan said fiercely. “Tell me what the fuck happened out there.”

“If you don’t calm down, you’re going to get us kicked out of here,” Ethan said.

They were interrupted when the door eased open, and a nurse stuck her head in. “Mr. Colter? Mrs. Bardwell is out of surgery. I thought you’d want to know. She’s in recovery, but the doctor will be down in a few minutes to talk to you.”

“When can we see her?” Adam demanded.

“You’ll have to ask the doctor. He knows you’re here. He won’t be long.”

Adam sighed in frustration. “Do you at least know how she’s doing?”

The nurse smiled kindly. “She made it through surgery fine.”

His stomach dropped, and for a moment, he thought he might be sick. Relief poured over him so heavy, he had to find a place to sit down quick or he was going to fall.

He sank into the chair situated by Ryan’s bed and dropped his head into his hands.

“Thank God,” he heard Ethan whisper.

Adam hadn’t realized just how frightened he was. Not until now. His breath came in sporadic fits as he struggled to calm his raging emotions. He clenched his fingers into fists then curled them outward again.

Several minutes passed and the brothers sat in silence. Then the door opened and an older man wearing green scrubs walked in. He glanced between the brothers and adjusted his glasses.

“You’re here for Mrs. Bardwell?”

“Don’t call her that,” Ryan growled. “Her name is Holly.”

The doctor blinked in surprise. “I take that as a yes.”

Adam surged to his feet and stuck out his hand. “Adam Colter. And yes, we’re here for Holly. How is she?”

The physician shook Adam’s hand. “Dr. Phillips. I performed surgery on Mrs…Holly,” he corrected.

“Is she okay?” Ethan asked anxiously.

“She’s doing well considering the condition she arrived in. She lost quite a large amount of blood. She suffered a compound fracture of her left radius. She also suffered a six-inch laceration to her left shoulder as well as a severe knife wound to her chest. I repaired some of the damaged tissue and stitched the cut. Luckily the blade missed all her major organs. Two centimeters more to the right and it would have sliced her lung.”

Adam sat back down heavily. “When can we see her?”

“She’s in recovery. We’ll be moving her to a step down unit, kind of a level below ICU and a step above the floor. I want to monitor her progress for a few days. I don’t see any reason you can’t step in to see her when she’s moved from recovery.”

“You’ll let us know when she goes?” Ethan spoke up.

“I’ll have the nurse come get you,” Dr. Phillips said.

“Thank you,” Adam said. “We appreciate it.”

The doctor nodded and walked back out the door, shutting it behind him.

Adam turned to Ryan. “When are they moving you to a room?”

“Hell if I know,” Ryan grumbled. “They poked and prodded on me for damn ever.”

Adam saw the pain in Ryan’s eyes. He glanced over to Ethan to see if he noticed as well. Ethan’s lips set into a fine line.

“Have you had anything for pain, buddy?” Adam asked.

Ryan shot him a dirty look. “Fuck no. I wanted to be awake and aware until I knew Holly was safe.”