Haynes, K. R. - The Light in Her Eyes [In Her Eyes] (Siren Publishing Classic) (31 page)

Staring into the eyes of his boss and team members, Randall wondered if any one of them had talked as he continued to report back about the explosive device he discovered down in the cellar.

They had measures in place for this, plans if any live or non-live bombs were discovered. Randall grabbed his bomb suit and with Mick’s help he pulled the damn heavy thing on. No words were said between the two of them. Randall knew Mick was remembering their little convo back at the station. Glancing up at him as he slid the helmet over his head, Randall gave his friend a subtle nod to confirm he was down with what he told him earlier.

With the helmet strapped on and the body suit zipped and buckled up he was ready for action. Drawing in a steadying breath, Randall moved out of the makeshift command centre set up in the back of one of the bomb squad’s trucks. He and Murphy approached the building silently.

With Murphy covering the entrance to the cellar, Randall made his way down the creaking staircase. His eyes remained firmly fixed on the live bomb ahead of him. He kept his movements gradual on his approach, and his eyes constantly searched the area around the device, checking for any trigger points or trip wires linked to it.

Nothing linked to it so far.

Crouching down in front of the device, Randall reached out with a glove-covered hand and slowly lifted the metal casing off the top of the bomb, his hands rock steady even if his heart was beating a million miles an hour. Beads of sweat littered his forehead, trickling into his eyes.

Blinking his eyes to remove the sweat gathered there. He spoke into the headpiece attached to the inside of his helmet. “Okay, boys and girls, looks like a regular, everyday backyard bomb. It should be easy enough to defuse.”

Grabbing his wire cutters from the belt around his waist, in the back of his mind Randall knew he had done this a thousand times. Yet his gut instincts were screaming at him to choose wisely. Closing the wire cutters around the white wires linked to the heart of the bomb, Randall snipped them free from the explosive. He watched stunned as the digit clock counted down the remaining seconds in the flicker of an eye.

The whole room shook as the bomb exploded around him. Randall found himself thrown hard against the brick wall. Agonising pain exploded within his body. “Chloe.” Her name fell from his lips before he was sucked under by the blackness shadowing his mind.

Chapter Forty-Seven

Stepping free from the shower, Chloe cursed when she heard her phone ring for what must have been the sixteenth time in the past fifteen minutes. “Can’t a girl even have a shower in peace?” she huffed to herself.

Dismissing the ringing of her phone, Chloe dried herself off and pulled on a pair of skinny denim jeans and a loose-fitting hood jumper, being that it was getting cooler outside these days. Trudging into the kitchen, the damn house phone started ring. Ignoring it and letting it go to voicemail, she headed over to the fridge to start prepping for tonight’s dinner. Candlelight, a hearty meal, and Randall’s company were on the menu for tonight.

Upon hearing Mick’s strained voice echoing over the answering machine, she froze midstep. “Chloe, are you there? Pick up, for god’s sake…Shit!” Alarmed by the tone in his voice, Chloe picked up the receiver.

“Mick, it’s Chloe. Is everything all right?”

“Chloe, where the fuck have you been?”

“Excuse me?”

“Sorry, gorgeous, I didn’t mean to raise my voice at you.”
Shit
. “Where are you? I have been trying to get hold of you for the past twenty minutes or so.”

“Why? Has something happened? Oh god, is Randall all right?”

“Chloe, where are you right now?”

“I’m at home. Why? Is everything all right, Mick?”

Hearing Mick cleared his throat, Chloe knew instantly that everything was not all right. She just hoped what she was about to hear wouldn’t crush her into a thousand tiny pieces of nothingness. “Chloe, sweetheart, it’s Randall. There’s been an accident.”

“Ohh, god…no…” Drawing in a shuddering breath, she said, “Please don’t tell me he’s…”

“Randall’s alive, sweetheart, but he’s in pretty bad shape. They’ve taken him to the hospital, the same one you were taken to. Can you get down here?”

“I–I don’t have a car. It was ruined in the fire and I haven’t had time to replace it.” Chloe could hear her voice breaking as she spoke. Tears stung the backs of her eyelids but she refused to let them fall. She had to remain strong, for Randall’s sake.

“I’ll send a patrol car around to the house to pick you up and take you to the hospital then. Be ready to leave in ten minutes.”

Chloe ended the call with Mick after saying good-bye. She still couldn’t believe it. Randall had been hurt. She stumbled around the bedroom, packing a small bag with a change of clothes for both her and him. She shoved a few toiletries into the bag as well. God knows how long he was expected to be in there for, or what injuries he had. Mick hadn’t divulged what sort of condition Randall had been in when he had been rushed to the hospital.

An accident in his line of work could only be severe enough to cause injuries requiring hospitalisation, if there was a…bomb explosion.

Collapsing to her knees on the bedroom floor she cried out, “Oh god.”

“Jon.” His name fell from her lips on a hushed, agonising whisper.

After regaining her composure, snatching up her purse and keys from the hall table, Chloe locked up the house and waited on the front porch for the patrol car to pull into the driveway.

No matter how long Randall stayed in hospital for, Chloe was determined to stay with him the whole time. She wasn’t going to leave his side, not until he walked out the damn hospital on his own two feet.

* * * *

The hospital waiting room was packed with fellow officers who served alongside her Officer Randall. On her arrival, Chloe felt out of place, like she didn’t belong there. She knew none of these people, except for Mick. She was a little taken aback by the amount of support shown to her by Randall’s fellow team members.

At first she found herself shying away from their attention, finding their caring and support too much to handle, when the condition of Randall was still so unclear. Jake strolled in to the hospital not long after her arrival and stood quietly near her watching over her. An unspoken agreement, she thought, between him and Randall.

The wait for answers was entirely too nerve-racking, to say the least. The ER doctor had briefly been in the waiting room
to advise everyone that Randall had been stabilised and they were still working on controlling the bleeding from the injuries he had suffered. An hour or so later the doctor showed up again asking if any family members were present. Upon hearing the doctor’s request, Chloe walked sombrely up to the doctor and tried hard not to focus on the blood splattered all over the front of his blue scrubs.

Keeping her voice low so only the doctor treating Randall could hear her, she told him. “I’m his newly wedded wife.” The doctor nodded at her and asked her to follow him.

Knowing they might need her to fill out some paperwork for his medical history, Chloe grabbed Mick. They both followed the doctor out of the waiting room toward the emergency department. Her heart raced, making breathing increasingly difficult. She clutched onto Mick’s arm for support. He bent down and murmured something into her ear. But for the life of her, Chloe had no idea what he said to her. His words of probable support meant nothing to her at the moment. Her sole focus was on Randall.

The doctor ushered them both into a tiny, sparse office. The room was cold, Chloe thought, too cold. Rubbing her hands up and down her arms, she tried to focus on what the doctor told them. But she was too cold and numb inside herself to concentrate on his actual words.

Her chest ached when the doctor told her that there was a possible chance Randall wouldn’t make it through surgery. He had lost a lot of blood, and had suffered multiple injuries during the blast. The bomb-suit he wore had protected him from the blast but wasn’t enough to protect him from sustaining multiple injuries.

Tears threatened to fall from her eyes when the doctor told her she could have a minute alone with Randall to say good-bye in case the worst happened and he died on the operating table. She had to be strong, couldn’t show her fear at losing him. She couldn’t allow herself to think about losing him. She couldn’t show any sign of weakness to the man in the blue scrubs by crying. Oh god, what would she do if he didn’t make it through? No, she could not go there, not now. Randall was strong. He’d get through this. Chloe had to keep on reminding herself of that fact.

Mick filled out the medical forms for her when she just stared at them. Chloe knew none of the information they asked of her. Knew nothing about any allergic reactions to any medications or what previous injuries Randall might have suffered in the past. She had never felt so disconnected from the one she loved until now. She realised then that during their time spent together they had not once discussed the important issues like medical history. Sure, Jon had told her he was “clean” to have sex without a condom, but she couldn’t very well put that down on his medical record now, could she.

With the ER doctor’s assistance, Chloe staggered into the curtained-off room Randall was in. The sight of his almost lifeless body lying still on the hospital bed had her paling. If it wasn’t for the doctor holding her upright she would have collapsed onto the hard, cold floor.

“Oh god,” she gasped, to no one in particular.

Nurses were hovering all around him, attaching machines to his body and attending to the drip in his vein feeding him the medication needed. Randall himself was unconscious in a medically induced coma, she heard someone say.

Her heart ached for him. Chloe wanted desperately for everyone to leave the room, to leave her and Randall alone. For him to wake up and tell her this was all a bad dream, a very bad dream. Hearing the doctor behind her clear his throat, Chloe knew her one minute was up. Bending down, she brushed her lips across his forehead. “Don’t leave me. Please don’t leave me, Jon,” she whispered into his ear before leaving his bedside.

Standing out near the nurse’s station with Mick by her side, Chloe clutched onto his arm, needing the support. Seeing the medical staff wheel Randall out of the ER room made it all seem so real. They were taking him up to the theatre for
emergency
surgery. The doctor had told her he would be down to speak with her after the surgery was completed.

When the elevator doors closed and she could no longer see Randall, Chloe allowed Mick to walk her back to the waiting room. As soon as she entered the cold, sterile room a familiar face came running toward her. Mary J. Chloe burst into tears when she felt her friend’s arms encircle her in a bear hug. She held onto her friend, allowing herself to release the agonising pain and the fear that there was a chance she could lose Randall. Her whole body shook from the force of her cries. The other officers in the room discreetly left the room, leaving Mick and Jake alone with the two women.

Chloe was vaguely aware of the two men speaking quietly to each other. What they were saying, she had no clue. Jake left not long after their conversation though, saying something about investigating some new leads. Mick left to go grab some food and coffee from the hospital cafeteria, even though Chloe told him she wasn’t even hungry.

For hours, the three of them sat in the waiting room. Every so often one of the officers who had waited with them earlier in the day would pop in to see if there was any news on Randall’s condition. Mick was the one who spoke to them. Chloe, well, she just couldn’t find the words to speak. Her mind was constantly on Randall, worrying if he’d make it through the operation, or if she would ever get to experience his possession of her body ever again or ever hear him whisper his words of love to her.

A little before midnight the doctor stopped by to see them. Randall had made it through the long operation, which had been successful. There were no complications. Chloe sighed in relief at hearing that. “Right now he’s in recovery and will be taken to a private room in intensive care,” the doctor told them. Then he turned his focus on her. “Being that you’re his wife you can go up and see him for a bit.
He will be taken to ICU room 103.
”

The doctor left them alone in the waiting room after that.

“His wife?” Disbelief was evident in Mick’s voice as he said, “You told them you’re his wife? Are you insane?”

Chloe turned to face he him and said, “It was the only way they would let me see him. I didn’t think telling them I’m his lover and submissive would pass as family.”

“Oh boy, I can’t wait till Randall wakes up and hears this, gorgeous. You better get used to sitting on a sore ass for a while, because no doubt Randall will have you over his knee for lying to the medical staff, sweet thing.”