The nurse checked his vital signs and then left us alone.
“You’re okay?” he asked.
“I’m perfectly fine, thanks to you.”
He closed his eyes for a moment and then looked back at me.
“I’m glad.”
“I can’t say that I agree,” I told him. “That was a stupid thing to do, and I’ll never be able to thank you enough for it.”
“Any time,” he said softly.
“You better not.”
“If anyone ever points a gun at you again, you can bet your ass I’ll be between you and the gun.”
I brought his hand to my face and kissed each of his inked knuckles.
“I thought I was going to lose you,” I whispered. “When you were there in the kitchen…and there was so much blood…I couldn’t even think.”
“I’m okay,” he said. “The doctor said so. All the tests were good—no spinal damage. I’m going to be fine.”
I leaned my cheek on his hand and bit my lip as I looked down at the bandage.
“I’m okay,” he said again. “The only thing that matters to me is that they didn’t get you.”
“She might have missed me,’” I said. “You jumped right in front of her.”
“I wasn’t going to risk it.”
I shook my head at him and was about to say something else about how stupid he was when Redeye appeared in the doorway.
“Thanks, I got it from here,” he said to the nurse. He walked over and leaned close to me. “If anyone asks, I’m your brother.”
He winked and then looked over at Aiden.
“Well, Hunter,” he said, “you look like absolute shit.”
Aiden started to chuckle then cringed.
“Motherfucker.” He hissed through his teeth and placed his hand over his stomach. “Don’t do that.”
“Well, someone around here has to be the one to tell ya,” Redeye insisted. “I don’t think you’ve looked this bad since that party last spring when you and Clutch decided to turn Disney movies into a drinking game!”
“Oh, don’t bring that up,” Aiden said. “I still have flashbacks of Clutch naked in the pool, pretending he was a mermaid.”
Redeye snickered.
“I’m not going to keep ya,” he said. “I just had to see for myself that you were all right. I’ll make sure Chloe’s taken care of while you’re out of commission.”
“Thanks,” Aiden said. “I appreciate that.”
“My pleasure.”
Redeye moved to leave but looked back at us from the doorway. His eyes dropped to our linked hands, and he grinned.
“Nothing says love like taking a bullet to the stomach.” He turned and sauntered out.