Presumed Dead by Nichole Severn

Author:Nichole Severn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-07-31T17:14:31+00:00

Chapter Nine

He’d come to Battle Mountain to escape the pain. Not make it his best friend.

A groan worked up Kendric’s throat as he tried to roll off the arm that had fallen asleep. Another explosion of pain ricocheted across his back and down his arm. Not asleep. Oh, hell.

“You’re awake.” That voice. Her voice. It charged along his nerve endings and released the tension building down his spine. Campbell. He wasn’t sure he’d ever hear that sweet sound again. “Take it easy. The EMT just got the bullet out.”

Bullet? The past rushed to meet the present and filled in the missing holes in his memory. The crash. His race to find Campbell alive. Sabrina Bryon pulling the trigger. Warmth radiated from his right side, beading sweat at his temple. The last thing he remembered was a never-ending coldness dripping through him like an IV. Kendric rotated his wrist, flaring another round of pain. Wait. That was an IV, but this didn’t feel like a hospital. Too warm. Too quiet. Dryness caked the inside of his mouth as he pried his eyelids open. Dark wood lined the ceiling and highlighted exposed rafters. The heat trying to sweat him dry was coming from a fireplace nearby. Flannel pillows, animal skins, the head of a deer mounted on the opposite wall—he certainly wasn’t in Kansas anymore. “Where am I?”

“You’re safe.” She brushed his hair away from his forehead, staring down at him with those cerulean blue eyes he’d dreamed of so many times. Hair pulled back to expose the length of her neck and full shape of her face, Campbell had changed out of her pantsuit armor and into a white T-shirt and jeans that emphasized the bruises and cuts along one side of her face and down her arms. “You told me how much you hated hospitals. I figured you would recover easier someplace you already know. Your chief brought in an EMT to take care of the wound.”

“Just in time, too. Another few minutes, and you might’ve bled out right there in the middle of the woods.” Another outline penetrated his vision. Cold metal from a stethoscope slipped across his chest and stole a hiss from between his teeth. An elfin-thin face and wide brown eyes solidified above him as short brown hair dislodged from behind the woman’s ear. Isla Vach—one of Battle Mountain fire and rescue’s EMTs—stretched her mouth into a thin, compassionate line. “Sorry. I always forget to warm these things up. Vitals are stable. Should be good as new in a few weeks. Just try to take it easy until then. Got it?”

“Thank you.” Campbell stood to shake the tech’s hand across his bed. “For everything.”

A wrap of white bandaging encircled the hand at her side. Coupled with the butterfly closure across her forehead, she obviously hadn’t gotten out of this as unscathed as he’d hoped.

“Always happy to help.” The EMT flashed another weak smile as she packed her supplies and hauled her duffel bag over one shoulder.

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