The Way of Grace (Miller's Creek Novels) (60 page)

B
efore he realized it
, Jason wiggled free from his grasp and slammed a fist into the side of his head.
Matt reeled
from the blow
, but forced himself to ignore it
and focus on his goal of stopping Jason before he did any more damage
.

The man
stood and made a move toward the gun, but Matt grabbed his ankle and pulled him to the floor.
He yanked the guy’s arms behind his back
and
placed a knee along
his
spine right between his shoulder blades.
That should hold him.

Matt
bare
ly had time to glance
Gracie’s
wa
y before Ernie and others came thundering into the room. “Come get this guy so I can
help
Gracie.”

The policemen
moved quickly to cuff
the man
, while Matt crawled to Gracie
, cradled her head in one hand
,
and gently stroked the hair around her face
.

Her coal-dark eyes opened slowly and a sweet smile curved her lips.
“
You came back. I sent you away. I didn’t want you to get hurt.
”
Her eyes were
glazed over and
drowsy-like, as if it were all she could do to keep
them
open.

Unstoppable t
ears
pour
ed down Matt’
s cheeks
. “
Yeah, I finally figured that out
, sweetheart.
W
asn’t the first time
you
pulled this stunt, huh
?
”
Like t
he night he’d found her screaming on the back porch. Were there others?

She moved her head from side to side.
“Is—is Elena okay?”
Her words came out in a faint whisper.

Overwhelming emotion rendered him temporarily speechless.
Here she lay, gushing
life
blood, and all she cared about was that Elena
—
the wo
man who had cost her everything—
was okay.
He
glanced
to where the
woman
slumped in a
chair behind the desk, her face pallid and drawn,
her
eyes wide and empty.
He swallowed against the sudden tightness in his chest.
Why Gracie
,
God? W
hy?
“Yeah, she’s fine.
How about you?
You handling
the pain okay?
”

She
shook her head slightly
, her speech
slurred. “No pain.” Her
heavy
eyes began to close.

Good. At least she wasn’t in pain.
Matt patted her cheek
to keep her focused
. “Stay with me, sweetie. No sleeping yet, okay?”

Voices sounded from
the hallway
, and then two p
aramedics
raced into the room, lugging a stretcher. They plac
ed it close to Gracie and checked
her over.
“Gunshot to the abdomen, no exit wound,” said one as he moved the earpieces of a stethoscope to his ears and listened to her heartbeat.
The other one inserted the IV.
“We don’t have much time.
Wish we could call for
a helicopter
, but not
in this ice storm
.”
He glanced up at Matt
, his expression sober
. “Keep her awake.
Talk to her.
Whatever.
Her life could depend on it.”

Matt’
s pulse roared in his ears
,
and tears formed in his eyes
at the thought of losing her
. H
e qui
ckly blinked them away. “Gracie?
”

“Hmm?”
Her eyelids
parted slowly.

“
Remember all our talks
about grace
?”

“
Mmm
-hmm.”

“Well, I think y
ou pulled
it
off
.”

The tiniest of frowns wrinkled the area between her brows.
“W
hat?”

“You l
ived up to your name.”

She didn’t answer, but blinked slowly, her gaze still trained on him, question marks in her big brown eyes.

“Don’t you see? What you just did for Elen
a. That’s what
Jesus
did
. He took what we deserved, took our punishment,
took
the bullet intended for us.”

Gracie
winced and closed her eyes
, but then opened them again.
“One big difference.”

He cupped her
precious
face with
one palm
. “What’s that
, sweetheart
?”

Now her gaze didn’t waver as she stared past him toward the ceiling.
“I deser
ve
death just as much as everyone else in this room.
Jesus
didn’t.”
Her eyes closed again.

A siren
sounded outside.
One of t
he paramedic
s
spoke to Gracie in a loud voice
. “Okay, Miss, we’re going to move you
to a stretcher and let you go for
a
ride.”

She didn’t respond.

In swift and
seamless
motion, the first responders tied Gracie
to the stretcher in a matter of moments, covered her with a blanket,
and then carted
her
stilled form
outside into the wintry night air
, still thick with ice
.

Matt
followed,
his heart in his throat.
“
Which
hospital?”
He yelled the words to make himself heard over the sound of the chopper.

“Morganville to start out with, but
once she’s stabilized
they’ll probably send her on to Dallas.”
An un
spoken ‘if’
suspended in the air between them, and t
he solemn expression in the paramedic’s eyes shook Matt to the core. This was worse than anyone was saying.

T
he
ambulance pulled away, siren blaring, lights flashing
. Matt
raced to his car,
slipping and sliding in the ice,
fear stomping through his thoughts
, and
the cold air incinerating his lungs
.
His little green
Pinto
roared to life. He slung the car in reverse and tore down the road toward the highway that led to Morganville, one
tormenting
question
ricocheting
like a Ping-Pong ball
off the walls of
his mind.

What if he didn’t make it in time to tell her
how very much he loved her?

Grac
i
e cracked open her eyes to a steady beep somewhere near her right ear. The
room was almost completely dark
except for
a small
light above
where she lay
. She tried to shift positions to get a more comprehensive view of her surroundings, but couldn’t.
The place
looked and smelled like a hospital.

What had happened? She closed her eyes, trying to
remember. Yes, the gun Jason
point
ed at Elena went off, and she’
d jumped in
its path. The possibility that the other woman could be killed before making things right with God had been unthinkable to her.
But at what cost?

She
swallowed several times to get rid of the dry desert taste in her mouth, and then
twisted her neck to the left
to see a large window
cove
red in heavy draperies, with
crack
s
of light
rimming
the edges in blue
. Must still be
night.
She craned her neck even further at the sound of heavy breathing
. Two chairs
in
reclined position both bore
blanketed bodies.
Even in the dim light she could make out
Papa. But who was the other one?

The second person
startled awake and
sat up.
Gracie
tried to make out features
in the darkness
, but
without success
.
Maria, maybe?
That
would mak
e sense. Then the person
stood and sauntered
from the chair to
ward
the bed. Only one person she knew had that loose-l
imbed, free-spirited gait.

A sudden comfort wrapped around her
soul
. She could get through anything now.
Thank You, Lord.
Hopefully
she could soon give voice to
her feelings for him.

His face, covered with several days’ growth, leaned closer, his eyes
red-
rimmed with fatigue. “You’re awake.” He spoke the words with a sense of awe and wonder.

“As are you.”

He chuckled softly. “Yeah, but I’ve been awake. You haven’t.”
His voice broke and his chin
tremble
d
. He
fell to his knees, his head lowered
to the bed, his thick shoulders shaking with sobs. “Thank You, God, for bringing her back to us.”

Her heart went out to him, but it also leap
t for joy. He truly loved her. Of that t
here was no doubt. She laid a hand
, which seemed extraordinarily heavy,
on his head
, his hair length finally to the point where she could discern curls
. “
It’s
okay, Matt. I’m not going anywhere.”

The words seemed to hurt rather than help, because now his shoulders shook violently. Only after several minutes and obvious concentrated effort was he able to raise
his gaze to hers, his lashes wet and clumped. He l
ooked embarrassed
. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.”

“Please don’t apologize.” She struggled to find the next words to say. Part of her wanted to find out the details of
the past few days
, but a bigger part of her wa
nted to confess her love
. Unsure of how to best tell him her feelings, she opted for the first
choice
. “The details of everything that happened are a little fuzzy. Can you fill me in?”

His
sandy brown eyes closed slowly, as though
even the thought of reliving that time was painful.

“Never mind, Matt.
We can talk about it later.”

He lowered his gaze and shook his head, swallowing hard.
“No, it’s okay. It’s just—
” His voice cracked again. “Sorry.” He pressed his trembling lips together for several seconds before he
was able to look at her
.
“Jason meant to kill Elena. You stepped in front of the bullet.”