Free Hide My Light: A Romantic Suspense Thriller Novel (Hide Me Series Book 3) by Lisa Ladew

it with her fingertips, like something moving under there. She looked at his face. He was still unconscious, a bubble of blood on his lips. His skin was white as wax paper and his half-closed eyes looked dull and lifeless. She wanted to check his pulse again but she didn’t dare move her hands. She knew something was happening. Instead she turned inside again and asked.
    Still alive?
    Yes, and healing , the answer came back.
    What else can I do ? she asked, but this time there was no answer.
    “Are you doing it, Katerina? Are you fixing him? Can you fix him?” West asked, desperation overtaking him.
    “I’m trying,” she said, tiredness sweeping through her now. The hunger had not abated, but she was now too tired to care about it. She shook the thoughts out of her mind and focused. She had to do this - hunger and fatigue were not important. Blaise was important. He couldn’t lose his life. She had to fix him. Had to save him. She would not be responsible for another death. Especially not Blaise’s death.
    Yells and footsteps sounded from the hallway. Deep, angry voices shouted back and forth. “Police!” someone yelled, pounding on the door.
    West looked at her, imploringly. She nodded. “Open the door. It has to be good enough,” she said, pulling one of her hands from Blaise’s skin and taking the towel from West. He got up with a forlorn look back and then ran to the door. Katerina kept her eyes open only by pure will.
    Her hands were no longer warm.
     
     

Chapter 11
     
    In the ambulance, West sat in the jump seat at the gurney's head, holding Blaise’s hand. He turned behind him and looked at Katerina in the passenger seat, next to Beth, who was driving them to the hospital, lights on and siren blaring, with a triple police car escort. Katerina’s eyes were closed and her head was slumped over. He wished she was back here with them, but she had told him there was nothing more that she could do and she looked so tired, so worn out. He was worried for her as well as for Blaise. What if she had done something to herself while healing him?
    Blaise moaned and West swallowed hard, squeezing his hand.
    Jerry Mansko bent over Blaise, working on him. Jerry took the stethoscope out of his ears and turned to West. “His lungs are both clear. His rhythm is normal. His blood pressure is low but that’s to be expected with all the blood he lost. The bleeding seems to have stopped completely. I’ve seen a lot of gunshot victims, West, and I’ve got to tell you, I think his chances are really good.”
    A lump formed in West's throat.
    “Is he a friend of yours?” Jerry asked.
    “My best friend,” West said simply, unable to imagine a world without Blaise. Unwilling to imagine it.
    The ambulance pulled into the hospital and Jerry and Beth quickly unloaded Blaise as multiple uniformed police officers hovered around them, horror written in their eyes. West ran along with the gurney, holding Blaise’s hand, talking to him softly. Once in the ER, Blaise was quickly sent into surgery and West could no longer follow. He looked around for Katerina but she was nowhere to be found.
    West went back to the ambulance and found Katerina asleep in the passenger seat. He shook her awake gently. “Katerina, are you OK?”
    Katerina sat up groggily. Her lips were cracked and dry. There were dark slashes under her eyes and the hollows under her cheekbones looked sunken, like she had lost weight since that morning.
    “Katerina, we are at the hospital, let me take you inside sweetheart. I will get you something to drink.”
    “Blaise?” Katerina asked sleepily.
    “He’s in surgery.”
    Katerina nodded. “A drink sounds good,” she whispered.
    West helped her out of the passenger seat and was dismayed to see how unsteady she was on her feet. They walked into the hospital through the emergency room waiting room and headed to the main lobby and cafeteria area. Warm smells of good food drifted down the hallway towards