Nora Roberts Land(120)
The effort to converse tapped him out, but he knew she needed the reassurance. Hell, he needed it too. He was bleeding out in a cave. “I take it we can’t just walk out of here onto a bed of snow?” he said.
She swiped a hand under her runny nose. “Not unless you like walking through demolition land. The snow curved against the wall like a crescent. The drop’s still too steep. Plus, you can’t move. You’ve lost a lot of blood.”
“It’s not bad,” he lied. “I want you to go for help.”
“No! I’m not leaving you.”
“Meredith—”
“I’m not!” A tear slid down her ruddy cheek. “Please don’t ask me to do that.”
Pain radiated down his shoulders to his fingers. His breath hissed out. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, realizing that she still didn’t know why he’d hurt her. His throat tightened. “It’s not what you think.”
Those bright green eyes grew wetter, putting his heart and his shoulder in a dead heat in the race for most painful. Her palm touched his cheek, and she gently caressed his stubble. “Don’t waste your energy. Tell me when we get out of here.”
She kissed his forehead and rested her face against his for a moment. He squeezed his eyes shut. God, he’d missed her.
A motor puttered in the distance. He strained to hear. “Help?”
She stopped the pressure, laid him down carefully, and crawled over to the edge to look out.
His wound pulsed and throbbed in vicious beats, blood flowing freely. He pressed his hand to it.
“Oh, God.”
He leaned up, his stomach sinking. “What?”
“No.” She tunneled back to him on her knees. “It’s Barlow and Kenny. They’re coming back for us. They’ve got climbing equipment on the back of their snowmobiles.”
Tanner cursed and tried to sit up. “Fuck, we’re sitting ducks in here.” He wove, seeing stars.
“Lie down! You’ve lost too much blood.”
He grabbed her arm. “No, I won’t lose you. Get out of here. Now.”
“No!”
“Leave me. I’ll be dead anyway if no one comes.”
Her eyes could start a fire. “Don’t say that!”
“I can give you a chance. I’ll jump and go in the opposite direction.” Something. He would not let her die.
Tanner felt for the wall and leaned against it. The pain in his shoulder made it hard to concentrate. “Let’s go, dammit!”
“No!” She angled herself between him and the opening. “I’m not letting you sacrifice yourself for me. We stay together. We’re a team. Remember?” A sob rushed out, and she pressed her hand to her mouth to contain it.
He broke. He lifted his good hand to her. “Come here.”
She crawled forward to join him. He touched her cheek, looking deep into those scared green eyes. “Let me do this,” he uttered softly, shutting out the pain.
Her face crumpled, and she swayed into him. He curled his arm around her, drawing her close.
“It’s the only way,” he whispered. He nudged her face up and fitted their cold lips together.
Love overwhelmed him.
“I want to do it.”
When he pressed his forehead to hers, her breath shuddered out over his lips, and her small frame shook. He wanted so badly to protect her.
She pushed back and crawled to the cave’s mouth. “I don’t want to lose you either.” When she turned, he saw a new determination in her out-thrust chin.
“Meredith!” he cried, terror’s deep claws piercing his insides.
She leaned out of the opening, preparing to jump, and he dragged himself after her, moving as fast as he could. There was no way she was going out alone. Halfway there, he picked up another sound—one he knew all too well from being embedded with the military.
“Wait! It’s a chopper.”
A shot pierced the wall near Meredith’s head, and a rock pinged down, skidding across the floor.
“Come back here! We’ll wait them out. Help’s on the way.”
She crawled back to him and cupped his face in her hands. “All right. We’ll both wait. Together.”
He leaned his head against the cold rock and tucked her close. He took her bleeding, freezing hand in his nearly numb one, careful of the blisters from the climb. God, now more than ever, he needed this connection with her.
“No martyrs.”
“No martyrs,” she agreed.
They had too much to live for.
Chapter 55
Dare’s Rescue Patrol sure earned their money today,” Meredith said, trying to joke so that she wouldn’t cry. Her eyes tracked to the back of the hospital, where Tanner was being operated on. She took a warming sip of coffee.