“How are we going to get you to the hospital?” she said. “The roads are blocked.”
“I don’t know,” he said. After a pause, he added, “It’s in God’s hands.”
Ellie inhaled a shaky breath.
“Thank God, you’re still alive,” she said. Please, God, don’t take him from his family.
“You were ready to take a bullet for me,” he said, his voice soft with a hint of amazement.
Ellie wasn’t sure what to say. She looked down at the bits of lettuce stuck to his jacket, brushing them away as she processed what Michael had said. When Aidan had pointed the gun at him, she’d reacted on instinct—the instinct to protect a person she cared about.
“He threatened us with a gun, but he told everyone that I was the threat. I’m worried he’ll explain it all away,” she said. “The story behind it is hearsay, his word against ours. And he can twist everything to...”
Her voice faded away as Michael stroked her arm.
“That’s the good thing about getting shot,” said Michael, the corners of his mouth quirking up into the faintest hint of a smile. “Never thought I’d say those words.”
Ellie blinked as understanding registered. “He shot you from behind.”
“I think the bullet just grazed me.” Michael reached for his left side, then winced and slumped back against the counter. “If I had it in me, it would have been more solid evidence.”
“I’d rather pass on the evidence if it means your wound is easier to treat,” she said quietly.
It hurt to look at the pain in his expression, and something shifted deep inside her. Ellie felt a surge of emotions building, emotions she wasn’t prepared to think about. Emotions she’d told herself back in the police car she’d keep at bay. It was easier to focus on the threat that still lingered.
“Your friend witnessed him threatening us with a gun, too,” she said. “I hope it’s enough.”
“You’re not alone,” said Michael. “We’re in this together.”
“I guess you’re stuck with me,” she said, trying to smile, trying to hold back her alarm at how quickly his energy seemed to be fading.
Michael shook his head and he rested his hand on hers. She looked at the hand covering hers, callused from hard work, then back into his dark brown eyes.
“I know it started that way, when I found you on the mountain, but this has become something else for me” he said. His eyes were filled with so much warmth and understanding, a balm against the worries that threatened to crowd in. “I want to be by your side. And I don’t just mean in fighting to stop Aidan.”
Ellie bit her lip as her heart pounded in her chest, as warmth flooded through her. Michael felt this connection, too, something beyond the race for their safety. How could she feel so strongly for someone she had just met—and only six months after Sean’s death?
Before she could put any of these thoughts into words, the doors to the kitchen opened and a woman strode in with an Afro and a blue jumpsuit with Air Evac stitched on the breast. Behind her was a gurney stretcher, followed by another woman with a long braid down her back.
“Michael Tang?” said the first woman. “We’re going to airlift you to the hospital. It’s a service Miner’s Peak Resort provides for its guests, and Aman tells me that you were just about to check into a room.”
Ellie closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. Thank you, God.
Michael’s hand still rested on hers, and she didn’t want to break the connection, but she turned her palm against his and squeezed his hand. Then she forced herself to move away. The two medics helped him onto the gurney, and she fought against the tears that threatened to well in her eyes. Ellie had so much to say to him. It was overwhelming, and she didn’t know if she was ready to speak in front of all these strangers. Besides, her feelings weren’t what was important right now. Michael needed to get to the hospital.
“I’ll be waiting for you,” she said as he lay back on the gurney.
Michael met her gaze and gave her a small nod, and then he was wheeled out the door.
“You’ve lost a lot of blood,” said the medic with the long braid. “I’m giving you 250 milliliters, which we’re hoping will stabilize you for the ride.”
Michael nodded. The wooziness had set in the moment security had taken Aidan away. Michael had pushed the feeling aside as long as he could, but now that Ellie was out of danger, he could feel how close he was to drifting off. The thought sent a jolt of panic through him. What if something happened and he never woke up? There were things he hadn’t said, things he needed to say.
“May I use my phone?” he said to the woman with the Afro as she took his blood pressure on his other side.
“I’m sorry, but phone calls aren’t allowed for safety reasons.”
Michael nodded. “Do you have a piece of paper and a pen?”
The woman nodded and rummaged through her bag.
Michael had told Ellie how he had felt, and though she hadn’t answered, he felt comforted that she knew. But since Sunny’s death, there had been so much distance between him and his parents. Michael couldn’t bear to leave things this way.
The woman pulled out a notebook and handed it to him, along with a pen.
“Thank you,” he said, and he began to write. He apologized to his parents for not being a good enough son to them, for planning to leave behind the ranch that the family had worked so hard for. A ranch that might not make it if he didn’t help them. He apologized that he had made a plan that wouldn’t honor them as their son, and he promised that if he made it through, he would be there for them. He would continue to work the ranch that their family had struggled so hard to get. But if he didn’t make it, he asked them to watch out for Ellie. For his sake.
Michael finished the letter, folded it and handed it to the woman. “Can you please make sure this letter stays with my belongings?”
She nodded.
It’s in God’s hands.
His own words had surprised him back on the kitchen floor. Now, he found that he was praying. Michael prayed, all the way to the hospital, and he prayed as he was wheeled into surgery. He prayed for his mother and father, for his grandparents, his aunts and uncles. He prayed for Isabel and the rest of the staff at Tang Ranch. And he prayed for Ellie. Always Ellie.
It had been so long since he’d talked to God, and if this was his end, he wanted this connection. It’s in Your hands.
FIFTEEN
