A Promise Of Home (A Lake Howling Novel Book 1) (34 page)

“I’m going to kill you!”

Ignoring Declan’s roar as he charged Brian Reynolds, Jake turned Branna over slowly.

“Move the table, Macy; get me sheets or bandages and blankets now.” He didn’t look to see if she’d done what he asked; Jake had eyes only for Branna.

“It’s okay, baby,” his heart was thudding so hard in his chest he was struggling to breathe, as behind him, he heard the sound of fists hitting flesh.

The bullet had hit her in the arm. Pulling his shirt over his head, he applied pressure to the wound.

“Stay with me, Rosebud.”

The sensory receptors completely overload the brain, and the victim goes into shock, forcing the patient to lose consciousness. Pressure, elevation above the heart, and if bleeding won’t stop, apply pressure directly to the
brachial artery
.

Lifting the arm, he used his other hand to check her pulse. It was weak, which told Jake that shock was taking hold.

“Get my phone out of my pocket,” Jake yelled. “Call my mother, then Ethan…tell him to get the helicopter ready!”

He felt hands in his back pocket, taking out his phone, and then he heard Macy making the calls.

“Branna, love.” Declan O’Donnell appeared on the other side of Branna, his face white, eyes on his daughter.

“She’ll live,” Jake vowed. She wouldn’t be leaving him now, not when they’d just found each other.

Lifting his shirt, he checked the bleeding, but it was still flowing, and way too fast.

Wrapping his hand around Branna’s arm, Jake pressed his fingers directly into the brachial artery. Pushing aside the fear, he relied on what he’d been trained to do, save lives, heal people, and care for the woman he loved. His mind raced through the things he’d learned in his years of study, whatever he would need to keep Branna alive.

“I’ve called Cubby, Jake, to come get him…Brian,” Macy said.

Jake didn’t speak, just tried to keep himself controlled as he held Branna’s arm, feeling the blood pump over his fingers and out of her body. She needed this from him now, needed the doctor that he was to take charge.

“Is it s-slowing…the blood?” Macy was crying, tears streaking her face as she knelt beside Declan and looked down at the still unconscious Branna.

“Yes. Now get her van as close to the house as you can, and we’ll take her to the helicopter,” Jake said, and he could hear the rasp in his voice that fear had put there.

Cars started arriving as he bound the wound and prepared her to travel. His parents were the first.

“The bullet severed the artery; I’ve stopped the bleeding.”

His mother didn’t speak, just opened her supplies, and between them they started treating Branna.

“She’s as stable as we can get her now, Jake. Let’s move her to the van,” Doctor McBride said minutes later.

Slipping his arms under Branna, he picked her up while his mother held her arm and they walked slowly to the van that Declan had running.

“Macy, you and I will follow in my car and pick up Declan. Then we’ll collect Annabelle and follow in the van to the hospital,” these words were from Jake’s father.

Jake heard Buster say something to Macy, his voice deep with worry.

Branna was still unconscious, her face white, pulse weak, and Jake wanted to shout at her to open her eyes and stop scaring him. He needed her to look at him, needed that as much as he needed the next lungful of air.

“Let me have a crack at him, Cubby. I want to make him hurt for both Macy and Branna,” Buster was now saying to the sheriff.

Add a round dozen for me, Buster
, Jake thought, as he walked into the back of the van with Branna in his arms, his mother at his side.

“You know I can’t do that, Buster. Aww hell, I’m sure there’s like seven rules as to why I shouldn’t let you kick Brian while he’s lying trussed like my ma’s Thanksgiving turkey.”

“She’ll be all right, son. I’ll get to the hospital as soon as I can.” Jake nodded as his father said the words, then closed the door. Seconds later, Declan was driving down the driveway.

“Someone should just put a bullet through Delray’s head and save everyone a bucket load of trouble,” Jake’s mother said, as she sat beside him and wrapped an arm around his neck.

“I may just do that for you, Mom, when I know Branna is okay.”

“She will be, son, you have my promise on that.”

Ethan had the helicopter ready as they drove up Jake’s drive, so they had to duck under the blades to get in. His handsome face was lined with worry as he met them at the door and helped maneuver them all inside.

“How’s our girl doing?” Ethan’s hand gripped Jake’s shoulder briefly.

“She’s stable at the moment,” Nancy McBride answered him.

“Okay, good.” He stood back to let Declan move closer.

“I can’t fit in here, Jake, so look after my daughter for me.”

“Count on it,” Jake said, squeezing the hand the man held out to him. The doors then closed and they were taking off. The others would follow by vehicle.

“I’ve radioed ahead. We’ll land on the hospital roof and they’ll be ready,” Ethan said, and then they were in the air.

“Jake?” Branna had regained consciousness. Her eyes were dazed as she looked up at him.

“It’s all right, baby, we’re on our way to the hospital.” He leaned over her, resting his cheek beside hers. “You scared me.”

“It was Brian; he shot me. I-is Macy all right?”

“She’s fine, and your dad dealt with Brian. Christ, Rosebud,” Jake said, breathing in the scent of her. “I thought I’d lost you.”

“But, because you’re my hero, you saved me,” her words were weak, but the best sound he’d ever heard.

“Something like that. I love you, baby.”

“You too.”

She didn’t speak again, just pushed her face into his and kept it there until they landed.

They took her away from him and he tried to follow, telling them he was a doctor and that she was scared of hospitals, but they said Jake needed to get cleaned up before he saw her again. Branna was then wheeled through a set of doors that swung closed behind them, shutting her away from him.

“Mom,” he whispered, as he started to shake. Jake felt her arms close around him and he held on as he let the tears fall.

“She’s going to be all right now, son; you know it just as I do.”

“Can you just keep reminding me of that every second or so?” Jake said into her shoulder.

“I’m proud of you, Jake. You did exactly what needed to be done, no panicking, no drama. You saved her, son.”

“Maybe, but you would have arrived in time to do the same.”

“Where is she?” Ethan arrived then.

“Through there,” Jake stood and pointed at the closed doors.

“Aren’t you two doctors? Shouldn’t you be in there too?” Ethan demanded.

“It’s a hospital, Ethan; there are plenty of capable doctors here.” Nancy McBride took Jake’s hand and then Ethan’s in the other one. “Now, let’s find the waiting room and some really bad coffee.”

Slowly, family and friends started to arrive. Buster burst into the room with his hair standing on end, turning the air blue with Declan O’Donnell, Jake’s dad, and Annabelle at his side. Macy had been taken away at Annabelle’s insistence to be checked over.

“Buster, calm down!” this from Jake’s dad, who had an arm around Declan’s shoulders and was leading him to a seat.

“I’m giving Branna the recipe to every mystery muffin I’ve made since she arrived.”

Jake regained his feet and walked to where his friends stood.

“You okay, bud?” Buster questioned him.

“No.”

“Do I have to hug you?”

“Had plenty of that already,” Jake said, looking at the doors as they opened behind Buster.

“Doctor McBride?”

“Yes,” both he and his mother said.

“Miss O’Donnell is doing well; she’s stabilized and the bullet went straight through the arm.”

“Can I see her?”

“I’ll have a nurse come and get you as soon as she’s out of recovery.”

Jake paced around the room, while everyone sat silently staring at either their hands or the walls. Belle, who was sitting beside Declan, cried into his shoulder and Jake heard Branna’s father speak softly to her.

People pushed cups of coffee into his hand and Jake drank without tasting a drop. Newman arrived with Mikey in his arms. The boy was crying and looking terrified, but Jake couldn’t do more than place a hand on his head and kiss one damp cheek before he continued his pacing. His mind was on her, Branna, his love. Finally, after what felt like hours, a nurse finally arrived.

“Mr. McBride, if you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to Miss O’Donnell.”

He looked at Declan, who nodded that he wanted Jake to go to her first and then followed her from the room.

She had her eyes closed when he walked into the room, lying there in the blue hospital gown, looking small and vulnerable connected to machines with her heartbeat beeping on the monitor. Bending over her, he placed a kiss on her lips, and kept it there for long drawn out seconds.

“Jake?”

Her eyes were unfocused, still coming out of the anesthetic. “Hey, Rosebud.” Stroking her cheek, he tried for a smile and failed.

“You okay?” She lifted her good hand and touched his cheek.

“I am now that I know you are.”

“Is Macy all right?”

“The doctors are checking her over, but she seems okay,” Jake said.

He couldn’t stop touching her, running his hands over her hair, and stroking her face. He could have lost her today.

“I’m all right, Jake, really.” Her smile was soft and sweet.

“Jesus, Branna,” he bent at the waist and got as close to her as he could without causing her pain. “Seeing all that blood and you lying there—”

“Shhh, Jake I’m here with you now, everything’s okay.”

It would take him awhile to get that fact into his head, because right now all he could think about was that she could have been taken from him tonight.

“Did they get him…Macy’s husband?”

“Cubby got him, and he and Buster put a few in for both of us, plus a few for Macy, before he locked him up nice and tight.”

“Good, now Macy is really safe,” she whispered, as her eyelashes began to lower.

“I need you to know how much I love you, Branna, and how much you mean to me.” He kissed her again.

“I know,” she whispered, as sleep pulled her under. “And ditto,” she added, and then Jake felt her body grow weightless as she succumbed to the sleep her body so desperately needed. He stayed there, breathing her in, feeling her heart beat until he had himself under control. Only then, did he go and tell the people who loved her almost as much as him that she was going to be all right.

“I want to take this brace off.”

They’d let her out of hospital a week later, and Branna was not what you would call an easy patient. Luckily, Jake had experience with the difficult ones, so he was up for the task.

“Funny girl.”

They were on the front porch of her house. He was sitting with his feet braced on the railing, and she was in his lap, her feet between his.

“Macy’s doing well, don’t you think, Jake?”

“She is, but it will be a slow process, Rosebud. Brian has abused her both physically and mentally for years; it will take time to reverse those effects.

“Did you know that her parents blame her for the humiliation they’re now suffering since this has come out?”

“You’re kidding me?”

“No,” Branna looked up at him. “I told her they were just as worthless as Brian, which was probably not respectful, considering they’re her parents, but seriously, who does that to their only child when she’s already hurting?”

“They’ll have their share of guilt under all that B.S., baby, and you can bet that and the fact that they’ve always believed themselves to be above everyone else, will be driving their reactions.”

“They better not come near me.”

“I’m scared.”

“You should be.”

He kissed her because he could, and her lips would tempt a saint…plus the fact that he wouldn’t have her alone for too much longer, not that she knew that yet.

“Jake, would you be okay if I let Dad live here and I moved in with you?”

He’d known this discussion was coming. They couldn’t keep going back and forth; sooner or later, they had to call one of their houses home, and things were getting better between father and daughter every day. The bonds were strengthening, but they didn’t need to be living on top of each other for that to happen.

“It’ll be a bitch, but I’ll manage, I guess,” he drawled. “Plus, with you comes Geraldine, so it’s a win-win all around.”

“Ha.”

“I can’t reach my pocket, Branna, can you get that envelope out that’s in there?”

“Who gave it to you?” She sat upright, and using her good arm, stuck her fingers into his pocket and pulled it out.

“Ethan.”

That wasn’t strictly a lie. Ethan had picked it up for him, but Jake had chosen it.

“Here,” she tried to hand it to him.

“You open it.”

She did, slowly, as she was one handed. Opening it wide, she looked inside. Her eyes then went to his before putting her hand in and taking out the ring.

“Marry me, Rosebud. Be my wife, and let me love you the rest of our days.”

“Oh,” Jake watched as she bit her lip. “I-I,” she sniffed. Branna didn’t like to cry, especially not in front of people.

“I’m dying here, baby.”

“Yes, oh yes. I love you so much.” She threw herself at him, then yelped as she hurt her arm.

“Will you take care?” He eased her away from him, lowering his head to look in her eyes. She had dark smudges beneath her eyes and was still too pale, but he was working on that.

“I keep forgetting.”

“How? You’re wearing a brace and have a hole in your arm.”

“You make me forget.”

“Nice answer.” Taking the ring, he put it on her finger, then kissed her soundly, only pulling back as the first car arrived, followed by the second and third a minute after that.

“Why are there cars pulling up outside my house?”

She didn’t seem particularly worried about the fact that doors were slamming and their friends and family were making their way towards them, arms loaded down with food and bottles clinking.