Ayden
SAWYER
"Ayden, what the fuck are you talking about?" Nate asked again.
When he said he knew everything regarding Laney and I, I thought that literally meant everything. He said he spoke to her, so I was under the impression that she told him we were in a relationship and that she was pregnant. By the shocked and ashen look on his face, clearly that wasn't the case.
There was no putting that Genie back in the bottle. I let out a frustrated breath before I finally answered him. "Lanie's pregnant. We are pregnant."
We stood in silence for several minutes. I honestly wish I knew what Nate was thinking right now. Was he going to hit me? I mean, it was kind of justified. He did warn me not to make a move on Lanie. Now I just dropped a bomb on him that I did a lot more than simply make a move. I got his baby sister pregnant.
As soon as I opened my mouth to apologize, he came at me. He came at me and-- hugged me. I was so stunned, that I didn't move. I was frozen.
"Ayden, this is when you hug me back."
When I wrapped my arms around him, he laughed and patted me on the back. I was completely surprised by his reaction. I was not expecting this.
He pulled away from me and had the biggest smile on his face. "A baby?" he asked incredulously and his smile got even bigger. "I can't believe this."
Neither could I. "You're not pissed at me? You warned me not to do anything with your sister. She's pregnant, Nate. I was expecting a right hook from you. Not a hug."
Nate chuckled before looking away sheepishly. "Actually, Ayden, I have something to confess to you." His face turned serious. "I set this whole thing up. I invited you over for Christmas, because I wanted you and my sister to get together."
I lifted my hands and shook my head. "Wait-- you did what?" What the hell was he talking about? There was no way that...He knew how I felt about dating. Why would he...? Christ. I was losing it.
Nate shrugged before he continued. "I've known you a long time, Ayden. My sister needed someone like you. She deserved someone like you. I know how you felt about relationships and trusting people, so I thought that--"
"You thought that what, Nate? That it was okay to set me up with someone? What the hell were you thinking?" I knew how I was coming off. But I couldn't help it. I was exhausted, hot, dehydrated, injured, and of course I just found out my best friend set me up. That alone set off a whole new range of emotions. Anger, surprise, betrayal. I was so sure that Lanie was being honest with me. Was she faking the whole worry thing about her brother? She had to be. "God, I feel like an idiot. I can't believe that you and Lanie would do this. I thought I knew her. I thought I knew you."
Nate's expression turned angry. "Are you fucking serious?" he got in my face, but I held my ground. "Lanie had no idea about anything I did. If you really knew her, you wouldn't question that."
He scoffed and took a few steps away from me. I shook my head to try to clear it. "She- she didn't know?"
He turned back to me with a look that said I was an idiot. "Of course she didn't. All I did was invite you over for Christmas. I was hoping that you and Lanie would hit it off. But I wanted it to be natural. She had no idea I was involved." He snickered. "Believe me, she would kill me if she knew. I meddled in her life one too many times already."
I tried to process everything he said. He was right. Lanie wouldn't do something like that. But..."Why did you want she and I together?"
The anger faded away from his expression. "She's been through a lot of heartbreak. I want her to be happy. I thought you could do that for her." His voice turned quiet. "I know you have trust issues, Ayden, and I would never interfere with your life. I just thought she was good for you." He shrugged a shoulder. "And if it didn't work out, I wasn't going to say anything. But I was hoping. Why do you think I was hanging out with Jules so much?"
I laughed at that. "Lanie was so pissed about that."
"I don't doubt it," he quipped. "But it gave you time together." After a moment he asked, "So, are we cool?"
"Yeah," I breathed, "we're cool."
"I told you before, Ayden, we're brothers. For life." That cheesy grin on his face returned. "Now, can you tell me about this baby? You got a picture or something?"
I smiled back as I reached into my pocket and pulled out the ultrasound picture Lanie gave me. I handed it to Nate and pointed at the very small blob.
"That's the baby. She's almost eight weeks."
"Amazing." He looked up at me. "When did she find out? When did you find out?"
I slipped the picture back in my pocket. "She found out the morning of her birthday. She told me the morning after we got there." I eyed him cautiously. "You sure you're okay with this?"
Nate laughed as we started walking back in the direction of where we thought our stuff was. "I'll admit, I was hoping you guys would have time together as a couple before a baby was brought into the picture, but I'm glad. Lanie never talked about kids, but I could always picture her as a mother."
I smiled at his words. I could see her as a mother, too. She was beautiful, caring, and truly amazing. I may have been angry at the fact that Nate kind of got into my business, but it actually worked out. Lanie and I fell for eachother hard and fast. Now that I thought about it, if I had the chance to do it all over again, I wouldn't change anything.
"You love her, don't you?"
Nate's question pulled my thoughts back to the present. "Yeah. I love her."
"Good," he said with a warm smile. "It's about time she-"
BANG-BANG-BANG
On instinct, my hand went to the weapon I had strapped to me. I looked to the left and saw the shooter who was crouched low behind a rock-wall. Years of training and experience took over and I hid behind a tree. "Nate? Nate!" I called. Everything happened so fast, I didn't see if he got hit or not. "Nate, answer me, man."
When no answer came, dread filled me.
BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG
"Fuck!" Splinters of wood from the tree I was behind flew in all directions. I needed to shoot this bastard. But first, I needed to wait for the--- The sound of reloading was perfectly timed. The shooter ran out of bullets. I took advantage of the situation and came out of hiding. Two perfectly aimed shots later, he was dead on the ground. I ran over to the shooter first to make sure he was dead. I've been tricked once. I wasn't going to let it happen again.
I put two fingers to the side of his neck. No pulse. I took his weapon and ammo before searching his pockets for..."Thank God." A working sat-phone. I got to my feet and ran quickly to Nate who was laying motionless on the ground. Bile rose in my throat when I saw the pool of blood that was forming around his body.
I fell to my knees beside him and my eyes went to the gunshot wound to his stomach. I lifted his shirt at the same time I slid my other hand to his back. No exit wound. Fuck. We needed to get the bullet out.
I checked his heart rate and it was getting tachycardic, which wasn't good. "Nate!" I yelled as I slapped his cheek. "Nate, wake up!"
He gasped and his eyes opened wide. He started coughing and immediately tried to get to his feet.
"Whoa, whoa. Stay down. You've been shot. I need something to apply pressure while I find my med kit or you're going to bleed out."
He glanced down at his wound and groaned. "Fuck. Did you get the asshole?"
"Dead." I took off my shirt and pressed it to his wound. It was going to have to do.
Nate laughed as he said weakly, "I love you, Ayden, but I have no interest in seeing you without your shirt."
I chuckled as I applied pressure. "Yeah? Well, you should be so lucky."
"Alright, I need to find my med kit. I need you to apply pressure here. Don't let it go and don't pass out." I handed him the sat-phone. "Here, call our lieutenant and have him bring a medi-vac. We need to get you to a hospital."
I started to get to my feet and Nate reached out to grab my arm. By the look in his eyes, I knew what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth. "If anything goes wrong--"
"Shut up, Nate." I didn't want to hear any goodbye shit. I didn't do goodbyes and I wasn't going to start now.
"I'm serious," he said with a grimace. "I need to know that you'll take care of Lanie. Just in case."
My voice was a lot rougher than I meant it. "Of course I will. I promise."
Nate smiled up at me. "And tell her I'm so proud of her," another cough, "and she's going to be a great mom."
I slapped him teasingly. "Tell her yourself, asshole. I'll be right back."
I got to my feet finally and ran to find my med-kit. There was no way in hell I was going to deliver any sort of goodbye news to Lanie. Fuck that. Nate was going to be fine. I was going to be fine. Everyone was going to be fine. Just up ahead I saw my med-kit under some bushes. I breathed a sigh of relief as I got it and ran back to Nate.
Just as I feared, Nate had passed out. This wasn't good. I saw the sat-phone in his hand and it was clearly dead now. I just hoped he was able to get through. Luckily, he still had my shirt pressed to his wound. I opened my kit and put on my sterile gloves before I removed my now bloody shirt.
I let out a deep breath as I grabbed the tools necessary to remove the bullet. I knew the pain from what I was going to do was going to shock him awake. Even though he couldn't hear me now, I whispered, "Nate, I'm sorry, brother. But this is going to hurt like a motherfucker."
I poured iodine over his stomach, and as soon as I inserted the elongated forceps into his wound...
"Ahhhhh!"
"I'm sorry," I whispered as I continued to try and save my best friends life.