Chapter 32

May could smell gasoline and she could feel something wet dripping onto her ankles. She shifted her legs again, trying to pull herself more fully under the jeep. She heard the high pitched snap of bullets and felt dirt spray against her legs, peppering her feet with tiny cuts. She hoped with all of her heart that Hope had made it to the trees. She had told May to run, but she couldn't. She had jumped out of the jeep and landed wrong, her foot refusing to take her weight. Hope had pulled her to her back in a fireman's carry, ready to run her to the forest, but there was not enough cover for them both. May had rolled and tumbled to the ground. Hope had dropped down immediately, but the bullets had started flying, almost as if they were trying to separate them. For that, May was glad, because when she told Hope to go, that she had to get help and come back to her, Hope had listened. May leaned down again, but she couldn't see anything but grass and dirt.

If Hope didn't get help, if she died out here, Jericho would be so upset. She worried that he would hurt himself. She never should have left him with Kit thinking she was angry. She hoped he remembered how much she loved…

An earsplitting, bone shaking roar pierced the cacophony of battle sounds, drowning out everything. The humans stopped shooting, and May could hear them yelling out to each other. She had no idea where the roar had come from, it seemed to come from everywhere, like a tornado of sound that dropped out of the sky. And then there was screaming, roaring and snarling: New Species had arrived. There were the sounds of gunshots, but none of them came close to her.

The roar sounded again, and May covered her ears.

"MAY!"

It was Jericho, she looked under the jeep, trying to see where he was, "JERICHO!" she yelled, "I'M OKAY!"

"MAY!" he yelled again and then she could hear his feet pounding against the ground. She heard a shot, and a second later heard the sound like a spark catching. She looked behind her and saw flames flickering from underneath the jeep.

"JERICHO!" she screamed, and pulled herself from under the jeep, strong arms caught her up, holding her tight. His smell enveloped her and his burgundy eyes took in every detail of her countenance. He pulled her, and they began to run, her ankle screaming at her.

She heard another shot and then a grunt from Jericho, "Keep going," he said breathlessly, his face pale, and his eyes dark.

A huge boom sounded from behind them, and May felt a searing wave of heat that lifted her up. She would have been tossed if not for Jericho, who covered her with his body. She squeezed her eyes tight before she was slammed back down.

But she never touched the ground, instead, Jericho's arms tightened around her and his body cushioned her fall. He hit the ground with an oomph, but didn't let her go.

"Jericho," she said, pushing her hair out of her face, and moving off of him. Her hands moved along his body.

"I'm sorry," he said to her, drawing his eyebrows together and wincing in pain.

May shook her head, "No no," she said, "you don't need to be sorry. Where do you hurt?"

She started at his head and worked her way down his body, becoming strangely calm. She put her fingers on his wrist, and leaned her head to his chest. She could hear him wheezing and his pulse was thready. Her mind started clicking through her medical training. Her hands moved over his shoulders and arms, her fingertips coming away red. Gunshot.

She knew the internal injuries that could result from the pressure wave of the explosion, collapsed lungs, burst alveoli, severed blood vessels, traumatic brain injury.

"May," he choked, reaching for her, his hand coming up to cup her cheek. She grabbed it, and held it to her face.

"I need to get him out of here!" she screamed, praying someone would hear her, and bring her a med kit, something.

If he was already having trouble breathing, he had internal trauma. May's brain went into overdrive; ticking off possibilities, fear winding it's way to her heart.

"You're going to be okay," she told him, staring at him, willing at him to believe her, "you stay with me okay? I need you. No one else can keep me safe. I need you."

A body landed next to hers; and May looked over to see an out-of-breath human, "What happened?" he asked, pulling a kit from across his back.

May heard a helicopter overhead, so she had to yell as she started listing Jericho's symptoms, and their possible causes. Before she knew it, he was being loaded onto a backboard and they were running him toward the helicopter. She followed, each step agony.

At the helicopter, one of the humans stopped her, "I'm sorry," he yelled over the noise of the blades, "there's not room!"

"I'm a doctor!" she yelled back, a little bit of a lie, she had gone to med school, she just wasn't a doctor yet.

He didn't utter another word, just pulled her arm and got her on the helicopter.

"I need oxygen, get him warm, how are we on the IV push? Find the gunshot site and stop bleeding. I want the hospital ready with blood, x-rays and ct scans. He most likely has blunt force trauma, possible shearing, and blast lung."

May worked steadily, keeping her eyes on Jericho, who stared at her with complete attention. She looked down, checking his IV line, and when she looked back up, his eyes were closed.

"Pulse!" she called out.

"Dropping," the medic called out.

"No no no," she said, and started calling out what she needed. She felt the helicopter touch down and then Jericho was being pulled away from her. She tried to follow, taking a shaky step out of the helicopter, but her leg collapsed underneath her.

"Are you okay?" someone asked her

"Yes," she answered and hobbled after Jericho.

He was whisked into a bay, and May made to push through the doors when a tall New Species nurse stopped her, "You can't go in there."
"He's my mate," she choked out, "please."

He shook his head, "I'm sorry," he told her, "wait here. We'll tell you what's happening as soon as we know."

May felt her leg give way and she slid to the floor.

Don't leave me, Jericho, she thought, I need you. Please. I love you. Don't leave me.

She waited an eternity, her body growing numb even as she shook with cold. She heard a door slam and then, "May," Hope's voice choked out.

May looked up with bleak eyes, "They won't let me see him," she said, in a voice she didn't recognize.

Tears streamed out of Hope's eyes and she sat down next to May, pulling her into her arms. May leaned her head on her shoulder, wanting to cry, but she couldn't.

"He will be fine," Hope said, rubbing her face in May's hair, "He is a strong male, and he would never leave you unprotected. He will fight to stay with you."

May nodded her head, "I love him," she said.
"I know," Hope replied, "he knows. He will live."

Hope pulled back, looking May over, "Are you alright?" she asked.

May nodded, opening her mouth to speak, just as the door to the trauma bay opened, "May?" the doctor, a young pretty woman asked, pulling off her mask.

"Yes?" May asked, her heart thumping as she attempted to get to her feet.

"Jericho is going to be fine," she said, smiling.

"Thank God," May cried, the tears she'd been holding back running freely down her face.

"He has multiple broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and some internal bleeding that we got under control. He doesn't appear to have any brain trauma, but we're going to need to keep giving him x-rays to make sure we didn't miss anything. We've been able to give him healing drugs, and expect him to start waking soon."

May nodded, her hand covering her mouth, "Okay. Can I see him?"

The doctor hesitated, "He may act out of character when he awakens. It's because of the drugs we had to give him. They tend to make New Species more aggressive."
May nodded quickly. It didn't matter. She just wanted to see him.

The doctor led her inside, glancing briefly at May, "Are you alright?" she asked, watching May hobble.

"Fine," May answered, "I just twisted my ankle." Her eyes focused only on Jericho.

May had never seen him so pale and still. She took in the wires and monitors and choked.

She reached out a hand, tracing her finger down his arm until she could hold his fingers. His body was hot, touching him was like holding her fingers in front of a flame. He was fighting right now, trying to kill off infections and heal bones. Her poor mate. She leaned down, pushing his hair off his forehead, and kissing it. His hair was matted and messy and she began to finger comb it; holding it away from his head so it wouldn't pull, and working out the snarls.

"Would you like a comb?" the nurse from earlier asked.

May jumped, not having heard him come in, and nodded. He handed her a comb, and May took it. She spread Jericho's hair out as well as she could and began working out the tangles. She hummed under her breath, and was careful not to pull. Soon his hair was shiny and smooth. She put the comb away and used her hand, leaning forward until she could rest her head on the pillow and feel Jericho's breath on her face. She was where she needed to be. She reached out her hand, putting it on his chest, soothed by the regular rise and fall of his breathing. He was going to be alright.

"I love you so much," she whispered to him, studying his face. She smoothed his eyebrows and kissed his cheek, "Wake up soon, okay. I'm waiting for you."