Navy SEAL Rescuer by Shirlee McCoy

problem—”
    “It’s not a problem, ma’am. Sacred Heart is closer, anyway, and
the sooner we get to the hospital, the better. Peter, Kent, can you two grab the
stretcher? I’m going to get some fluids started.”
    Both men departed, but not before Peter cast Catherine a look
that held a boatload of longing.
    Obviously, there was history between them.
    Not a surprise since Catherine had grown up in the area.
    But history that led to longing...
    That was a different kind of history than just friendship or
school chums or acquaintances.
    “Sorry about Peter being here, Catherine. I’m sure it’s
uncomfortable for you. If we’d known your grandmother was the patient, we would
have had another team member come along.” The older paramedic prepared Eileen
for the IV, swabbing her inner elbow.
    “I don’t really care who’s helping her, Nick. As long as she’s
being helped.” Catherine hovered a few feet away, watching anxiously.
    “She’s really sick. You know that, right?” he asked as he
inserted the catheter and hooked up the IV line.
    “I couldn’t not know. She’s faded
to nothing these past few weeks.” Catherine had been hoping it was the chemo and
not the cancer that was making her grandmother thin and gaunt. A few more weeks
and treatment would be over. Catherine would cook hearty meals and watch as
Eileen rallied.
    That’s what she’d been telling herself.
    Now, she was thinking she might not have that chance.
    She swallowed hard, touching Eileen’s cheek, calling her name
one last time. Hoping, praying, that Eileen would
answer.
    Tears burned behind her eyes, but she couldn’t let them fall.
If she did, she might never stop crying.
    Darius put an arm around her waist, tugging her to the side as
Peter and Kent pushed the stretcher into the room.
    She avoided Peter’s eyes, watching as Eileen was lifted onto
the stretcher, her body nothing more than flesh stretched over bones.
    Dying.
    The tears she’d been holding in fell hot and horrible down her
cheeks.
    “Shh.” Darius rubbed her back, pressed her head to his chest,
and she let him. Let his shirt absorb her tears, his hand ease her tension. Let
herself lean on him for just a minute, because she had no one else, and because
being in his arms felt better than anything had in a very long time.
    “Do you want to ride with us?” Peter asked, and she stepped
away from Darius’s comforting warmth.
    “Yes.”
    “Let’s go, then.”
    She followed the ambulance crew outside, Darius at her side,
his shoulder brushing hers.
    “Are you going to be okay?”
    “Of course,” she said, because she had no choice. Falling apart
wasn’t an option.
    “Make sure you stay in the hospital until I can get there, all
right?” He looked into her face, his eyes blazing with concern, and her heart
did its strange little shimmy again.
    “You don’t have to come to the hospital, Darius. I’m sure I
can—”
    “Let’s not waste time arguing, Catherine. You’ve been attacked
twice, and there’s no reason to believe the perpetrator won’t attack again if
he’s given the opportunity. We’re not going to give it to him.”
    “I can call Logan.”
    “Call him if you want, but I’m coming anyway. Eileen matters to
me. I want to make sure she’s okay.” He walked away, giving her no chance to
argue.
    She wouldn’t have argued anyway. Not after hearing the
sincerity in his voice, seeing it in his eyes.
    She climbed into the back of the ambulance, stiffening as she
met Peter’s eyes.
    Of all the people she didn’t want to see, he was at the top of
her list.
    Best friend. Boyfriend. Fiancé.
    He’d been all those things, but he’d never been the one thing
he’d promised he would be—husband.
    It was for the best.
    A man who would betray her trust, refuse to believe in her
innocence and throw her to the wolves wasn’t the kind of guy she wanted to be
married to.
    She didn’t acknowledge him as she sat next to Eileen and took
her