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Gail swung the gun around to point at him.
Looking at her, Colt said, “It’s empty, Gail.” It wasn’t. He had counted the shots fired himself, he knew how many there were in the mag and knew how many she had shot off. It was just dumb luck, honestly. A bluff.
Unfortunately, she didn’t fall for it. Eyes narrowing, she moved to curl her finger, pull the trigger. Colt moved faster, grabbing the barrel with his free hand to yank it down. He moved just in time. The gun moved down.
A sharp crack split the air.
Something struck him in the stomach.
Oh. Blinking, Colt stared at her oddly. His eyes went to Tom, who was staring at him in horror. Blood spattered Gail’s face, Tom’s face, the seats and inside of the helicopter. With a shaky breath, he glanced down. There, under his sternum and just to the left, was a gunshot wound. Colt looked up again. In front of him, Gail seemed…shocked. It was like, despite her casual behavior in framing Colt for Henry’s murder and the casual idea of a murder-suicide, she hadn’t expected to actually be able to shoot Colt. She hadn’t expected to actually be the one causing any bloodshed.
Looking at her, Colt tilted his head to the side. The pain hadn’t really set in. It was going to set in, he knew that much. He’d been shot before (wearing a bulletproof vest, it was part of his stunt guy training, and the blanks had been close-range). As he looked at Gail, who started trying to fire again and gasped quietly when she heard the gun clicking this time, Colt felt his grip on the helicopter loosen. I need to—get down. Somehow. Need to fall.
Ha. Guess I really am the Fall Guy here. Raising his hands, still holding tight to the recording box, Colt flashed a grin and then flipped both Tom and Gail off. Then, he let himself tilt back further.
The helicopter dropped away. The world flipped. Pulling the recording box to his chest, Colt sucked in a breath. The pain was definitely kicking in now. Fun. Damn that hurts. Jody’s going to kill me, we’re going to have to put off those spicy margaritas and bad decisions for a little bit. If I make it.
The wind rushed around him.
An airbag slammed into his back. The air rushed out of him. Orange and black nylon rose up around him. The recording slipped from his hand.
He tried to move. Really, he did. When he tried, though, pain shot through his stomach. The ringing in his ears was still there. “Colt!” Jody’s voice screamed off to the side. Groaning, Colt twitched his arm. There was a spreading stain on his shirt. That was going to be fun to replace. Costumes like the ones for Metalstorm were expensive. Hopefully he didn’t have to pay for it.
The air bag shifted off to his left. Tilting his head to the side, he caught a flash of Jody. Scrambling across the air bag, she hurried to his side.
“Colt!” Her voice pitched up in a panic. Above their heads, the helicopter spiraled out of control. It crashed somewhere. Probably. Maybe. If it flew off, whatever. They had the evidence. They had what they needed.
“Jody,” he rasped as she scrambled to his side. Soft hands brushed his cheek. Glancing down at his stomach, Jody gasped sharply. Blue eyes flicked from his face to his stomach and back.
“Colt, oh my gosh, what did she do,” she pressed her hands to the wound. Around them, the air bag began to deflate. Pain shot across his skin. Grunting, Colt shifted. His back hurt. His stomach hurt. The pain was getting worse, like Jody had stabbed him with that pen a thousand times. And if the pen had been superheated. And a knife. “Colt, Colt, stay with me, stay with me.”
“Got the—recording.” Holding up the black box, Colt tried to hand it to her. It bumped against her shoulder instead.
Shaking her head, Jody said, “Forget the recording, we need—we need to get you an ambulance.” Raising her head, she shouted something. The world was blurring. Everything was oversaturated, coming in and out of focus like those indie monster-survivor movies Jody enjoyed watching on Halloween. Did she still enjoy watching those?
“Hey, Jody—” Swallowing thickly, Colt tilted his head to the side. Their gazes met again. With a weak smile, he asked, “Do you still watch…what was it? That indie Cloverfield knockoff?”
“What are you talking about?” She asked. Lifting a shaking hand, Colt brushed his fingers against her cheek. He pulled a few loose strands of hair behind her ear. Shaking her head, Jody glanced at him. There was movement around them. The air bag had fully deflated. The world was beginning to narrow down, tunnel vision and stuff. Awful thing, really.
It was like he was back a year and a half before. Lying on the ground, Jody above him, people rushing over and screaming and shouting.
“Those…monster movies you like. The indie ones.” Chuckling weakly, Colt dropped his head to the side. There was blood on Jody’s cheek now. Oh. I guess—that’s mine. That must be mine. He glanced down at his stomach. There was more blood on Jody’s hands, between her fingers and painting his wrists. “I think…I think I—” He sucked in a breath. It was getting harder to breathe, like Tom was sitting on his chest or something like that.
“Ssh, ssh, save your strength. It’s going to be fine.” Looking up, Jody looked at someone else. “The paramedics are almost here, we’re not that far from people and they got someone close. We’re going—it’s going to be fine, Colt—”
He touched her face again. Pausing, Jody looked at him. There were tears in her eyes. Carefully, Colt used his thumb to wipe one of the ones sliding down her cheek. It left a smudge of blood behind. When had he touched his own injury? He hadn’t, had he?
“I’m—really sorry. For leaving.” With another gasp, he continued with a wet laugh, “It’s—it was a dick move. I shouldn’t—I shouldn’t have done it.”
“Colt—”
“I’m sorry.” The world was getting darker. Really dark, really fast. The sun was shining down on Jody through the air bag smoke. It turned her hair a pretty, pale gold color. “You’re so pretty.”
“Colt—”
The world dropped out.
It felt like an eternity between Colt passing out and the medevac helicopter arriving.
Sobbing, Jody pressed her hands against Colt’s stomach. He’d gone pale and quiet, wheezing in breaths. Praying that it was just shock, that he had just passed from blood loss, she glanced around. Dan and the stunt crew were sprinting up, panic on their faces. The medevac helicopter was coming down. There was so much going on. Panting, Jody turned back to Colt. She didn’t dare rub at her eyes. She had to keep her hands on Colt’s stomach, on the gunshot wound.
Gail had shot him, or maybe Tom had. It didn’t matter. One of them had shot him, and he was bleeding out under her. “Ma’am, ma’am—it’s okay.”
At the frantic movement of the paramedics, getting him strapped into the gurney so they could move him, Colt stirred. He let out a low moan, eyes cracking open. One of the paramedics quickly worked to get an IV started. If she had to guess, it was filled with painkillers or something like that. They didn’t go through his arm, though. Instead, they went through his neck, strapping some kind of mask to his face. One of the others started to work with the mask. It was pushing air into Colt’s lungs. She knew that much about medicine, had learned a bunch about it after he got hurt the first time.
They let her hurry along with him, a splutter of “I’m his partner” coming from her lips. She glanced back at Dan in a panic, the man shooed her on. Then, she was in the helicopter with Colt and the paramedics, holding his hand and watching his face. Glazed eyes cracked open. Tilting his head to the side, he looked at her and wheezed in another breath.
Weakly, he cracked a smile.
Jody tried to smile back at him, but it came out watery and weak.
When he woke, he was lying in another hospital bed.
A warm hand was wrapped around his own. Tilting his head to the side, Colt swallowed. His eyes landed on Jody. She was curled up by his bed, head resting on her arms and snoring softly. Smiling, he looked around the room. This is different. This is new. There were a few gifts sitting on the bedside table. Flowers. New flowers, living flowers, in a vase, and didn’t that just hurt. His chest ached. This is very new.
Something made Jody wake up. He didn’t know what, but she jolted awake and then lifted her head. Their eyes met. “Hey, Jo.” He rasped. Wow, his voice sounded like shit. He sounded like shit.
Slowly, she moved up, moved to hug him. It was gentle, it was delicate. She didn’t even rest her full weight on him. Shaking, Colt raised his own hands to wrap them around her. He could just feel her heartbeat. The smell of her shampoo hit him, pumpkin and vanilla. Where did she even find pumpkin and vanilla shampoo? It did something for him, he loved that smell. It was great. Her hair was practically shoved in his nose, it was hard to avoid.
After a little bit, Jody sat back on the bed. Propping herself up on her elbows, cradling his face in her hands, she looked at him. Her eyes flicked around her face. “Colt. Colt.” She whispered. “You almost died. Again.”
Taking one of her hands, he guided it to his chest. Her eyes flicked down once, following his fingers. Pressing her hand over his heart, the thin fabric of his hospital gown shifting and crumpling, Colt looked at her. He cracked a weak smile. She stared at him, eyes tearing up. With what might have been a sob and might have been a laugh, she dropped her head down against his stomach.
Pain, muted by painkillers but still there, flared through him.
Grunting, Colt curled in on himself. His hands flew to his stomach. Jody shot upright, hands hovering over his stomach and apologies flying from her lips. Shaking his head, he sucked in a few breaths. Waited for the pain to pass. His back and hips had done this plenty of times since his accident (not really an accident, though—had he even told Jody about that part yet? He could have sworn he did, maybe he should keep it to himself for a bit. She had better things to worry about—)
Wait. Tom. Gail. The recording. Snapping his eyes open, he turned to Jody, “The recording. We got the recording, right?”
“What?” She stared at him. Shaking her head, laughing tearily, she nodded, “Yes. Yes, Colt, we got the recording. Worry about yourself for once, please?”
“Mmm, not right now. How are you? Did Gail shoot anyone else? What happened? I thought the helicopter crashed.” His throat hurt. His voice still sounded like shit.
“Hold on, hold on. Let’s—you need some water. I should have thought about that. Here.” She spooned ice chips into his mouth. “Okay, okay, uh—I’m alright. No, Gail didn’t shoot anyone else. You got shot in the stomach, needed some surgery. The police have the—the thing. You’re cleared. Yes, Metalstorm is still on,” she shot him a look at that part, then continued (he smiled around the ice chips), “and Tom blew himself up.”
“Tom what?”
“He wandered into the pyrotechnics area trying to get—to get—whatever on his phone.” She waved a hand in frustration, shaking her head as she sank into her seat. “It’s been a crazy few days. You’ve been out for four days. The helicopter crashed. It’s—we’ll handle it later, Colt, please.”
Her hand went to his, and he clutched it. “Okay.” He said. “Okay, Jody. And you’re okay?”
“Yes, yes, I’m fine.” She smiled at him. Wow. Even under hospital lights, she was so pretty. “I need to call a nurse.”
Reaching over, not letting go of Colt’s hand, she hit a button on the side of his bed. Colt looked at it. Taking a breath, he watched her. He’d almost lost her. She’d almost lost him all over again, except this time it could have been permanent. Was Gail even going to face prison time for what she had done? Was she—
“Colt.” Jody’s hand settled on his arm. Leaning over, she pressed a kiss to his forehead. That was nice. He liked that. Relaxing into the bed, he looked at her. “Focus on me. Look at me. Don’t think about anything else. Please?”
Nodding, Colt stared at her. She eventually reached out and touched his face. Her palms were so warm, settled on his cheeks. Her thumb swept under his left eye. Eyes fluttering, he peered at her.
“You’re crying.” She whispered, eyes flicking around his face. Worry furrowed her brows, her lips twisted into something equally as misplaced. He wanted to kiss it away. He wanted to kiss her. He really did. Though, considering how many drugs he was probably on, he had a feeling he couldn’t actually do that. Not yet. Not without some serious pain later. There’d be time later, so—“Are you okay?”
Reaching up, he held her hand, “As long as you’re here, ‘m fine. Stay?” This time, she burst into a wet, watery laugh. Now, she was the one crying. “We should move in together.”
Leaning in, Jody kissed his forehead again.
“Colt!”
“Dan!” If he could have run to him, Colt would have. Of course, instead, he was left with Jean-Claude running to him and Dan being dragged by the Kelpie. Tail wagging, Jean-Claude jumped into Colt’s lap. Pulling to a stop, panting because Jean-Claude did not care how much stamina they had, Dan sent a smile Jody’s way. “Jean-Claude! Jean-Claude, ça va, mon ami? Ah, bon chien, chien-chien,”
Jean-Claude put his paws on Colt’s knees, licking his face as Colt rubbed his ears. His tail was wagging up a storm. “How have you been, Jody? You both look well.” Dan said.
“Ah, couche, couche, Jean-Claude.” Colt raised his head, glancing at Jody. Smiling his way, she turned back to Dan. Following her gaze, Colt shared a grin with his friend.
“We’re doing well, thank you. I’m going to go grab our drinks. Usual coffee orders?” She glanced between them all. Smiling, Colt nodded. She touched his arm, kissed the top of his head, and then nodded to Dan before ducking into the café. Colt watched her go.
With a sigh, he leaned back in his wheelchair. A comfortable quiet, broken only by the cars driving by on the street, settled on the shoulders. He turned to Dan. “Back in the wheelchair, huh?”
“Yup.” Patting the wheel, Colt said, “This old thing follows me everywhere. She’s great. Jody’s adapted to everything in stride. Like that.” He snapped, catching Jean-Claude’s attention. With a quiet apology, he rubbed the dog’s head.
“She’s amazing like that.” Dan agreed. “You moved in together?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s good. You deserve each other.” With a sigh, Dan settled into his own seat. “How much has she been working?”
“Every day. She’s so cool.” Colt said. He and Dan shared another look. Then, he glanced down at Jean-Claude. “You’re taking care of Jean-Claude still? Didn’t Jody sign the papers already?”
“It’s temporary. We’re waiting until you’re settled down a little more.” Instinctively, Dan glanced down at Colt’s stomach. Colt’s hand settled over the wound. “How’s your…”
“Everything?” Colt laughed. “Well, I beat the shit out of my back in that fall, so there’s still some bruising. I haven’t broken anything again, though. The doctors checked.” He rubbed his chest, taking a deep breath. “I still have some slight breathlessness. That part sucks.”
“Still on your pain meds?” Dan asked. Colt grimaced. Looking at him, Dan said, “Colt.”
“I know, I know. I just—I don’t like feeling—” He waved a hand around by his face. “Tweaky.”
“Are you at least taking ibuprofen or something? Or taking it easy?” Dan stared at him. Colt stared back. Affronted, Dan repeated, “Colt. You know the doctors told you to—”
“Are you trying to get him to take his meds again?” Jody asked, appearing with their drinks. She set a small, brown paper bag down by Colt, then passed another to Dan. “I hope you still like cheese Danishes, Dan.”
Colt pulled a chocolate croissant from the bag. The pastry was warm. Taking a bite, he moaned, “Mmm, Jody. You are a goddess.”
“Hmm. You still need to take your meds.” She pulled a small bottle of painkillers from her purse. "They’re over the counter. Nothing too powerful.”
Colt stared at the bottle like it might grow teeth and bite him. “If you take the meds, Jean-Claude can go home with you guys quicker.” Dan argued.
On his left, Colt noticed Jody smile at him. “We can go get some spicy margaritas. Go to a beach somewhere.” Leaning in, eyes sparkling, she quietly added, “Make some bad decisions.” Colt bit the inside of his cheek. Jean-Claude looked up at him. A low whine left the dog. Taking a breath, Colt growled.
Reaching out, he grabbed the bottle and said, “I hate both of you.” Dan barked out a laugh, and Jody snorted.
“We love you, too, Colt.”