∞ The Tethered Ones ∞

Chapter 17

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• Luna •

Luna couldn't remember hearing the gun go off. She couldn't remember where it was when she had dropped her hold on Chase like he was a sack of potatoes. She just knew she was hit by a bullet, and the sharp, piercing ache was agonizing.

Her face was wet.

She feared that she was going to die in minutes, possibly sooner, and she'd failed Amir and her daughter. Failed them, because Amir would lose the one piece of his life that meant something to him, and Sarah would lose her mother. She'd been through enough trauma and wouldn't be able to endure this one.

That thought shattered her heart.

A shudder rolled through her body, and she tried to keep her breath steady. She didn't want to die in the same space Chase was in. She'd rather die afraid and alone than be beside him. He disgusted her, and she was elated that she didn't see him move. Not one finger jerked.

She kept her eyes focused on the ceiling as she blinked and reopened them, trying to stay awake.

The front door opened and a familiar voice called out, "Luna? Something's happened to Amir. He collapsed on the lawn."

She tried to yell to Lily, but her lips wouldn't move. She tried again. "Help!"

Footsteps crept close to the bedroom door and then, "Oh my God, Luna!"

Her friend from St. Matthew's rushed to her side and knelt, placing her hands over her wound. "Luna! Stay with me!" She pushed her bloodstained hands away and replaced them with another towel. Lily's horrified gaze slid to the right and gasped after seeing the other body. "God, what happened?"

Luna worked to get one word. "Amir . . ."

Lily blinked rapidly as she put pressure on the wound, her eyes brimming with tears. "Sergeant Trent is checking on him. I think Amir's okay. He said he felt light-headed when he was walking to the guest house."

"Oh . . ." was all Luna could choke out.

"You're going to be okay. Both of you. Got that?"

Luna nodded. "Why . . . are you . . . here?"

Lily moved over an inch and continued to press her hands on Luna's side. "Dr. Kim brought me here. It was under my uncle's orders. He's the mayor."

She coughed out a response and something wet and tangy covered her mouth. It had to be blood because Lily's face paled even more and closed her eyes.

Her lids were way too heavy, and she didn't know what was going to happen. Her consciousness kept fading in and out, and she could feel her heartbeat decreasing.

But she had to hang on. She had to live. She needed to see Sarah. She needed to tell Amir everything she'd never gotten to tell him and explain who her ex was. Helping him with his memories was important to her, and nothing else mattered.

So she forced her eyes opened and kept them on her friend, watching her continue to stop the bleeding.

'I'm coming, Moon,' Amir's thoughts filtered through her mind, and she moved her hand to her chest, placing it over her shoulder.

"I need to get you help," she insisted, but Luna shook her head.

"I can't . . . hold on . . . much longer," she gasped out. "Stay."

Tears raced down Lily's cheeks.

And then there were voices. Luna recognized Sergeant Trent's and Nurse Smith's. There was a thud at the doorway and then he was there, his exquisite face pale and stained. She'd never seen him so peaked, and if she concentrated enough, she could feel his heart laboring with hers. His hands shook as they touched her cheeks, smooth under her chin.

"Amir . . ."

"Shh," he said, holding her close to his waist. "Don't talk. Everything's going to be okay."

He turned to Lily and slowly removed her stained hands. "You can stop now."

When the nurse barged in, she ran over to Chase and checked him over. "He has a pulse. We need two stretchers. Now."

"I'll get them," Lily said as she backed up and dashed out the door.

"What the hell happened?" Sergeant Trent screamed, his tone reverberating in the room. "There's glass everywhere."

Amir sucked in a deep breath and turned toward him. "I don't give a damn about the glass! My wife is bleeding and needs help!"

The sergeant then scooted to the other side of Luna and looked down. "I don't see an exit. The bullet is still in her."

"Oh, God," Luna cried out, pain shooting down her spine.

"Then I need to perform an emergency surgery now," said Amir, but Nurse Smith threw her hands up to protest.

"No, Mr. Khan. You are too close to the patient," she said.

"Let me do it," Sergeant Trent urged. "I've been trained for this."

Amir shook his head as the nurse adjusted Chase's body in the corner.

"I can do this," he said.

Luna just kept her hand folded over his.

"This is crazy," Nurse Smith said, staring at him.

"I can do something else!" Amir yelled, turning his gaze to both of them.

"Whatever it is, you need to hurry," Sergeant Trent stated. "She's already lost a lot of blood. She may be too far gone."

"She'll be fine," Amir seethed. "I can heal her."

Nurse Smith's jaw dropped. "Are you out of your mind?"

Luna couldn't figure out what they were talking about. And how could he heal her?

When did my husband become Superman?

"I don't . . . understand," Luna murmured, her mouth filled with red liquid.

"Don't worry, baby. I've got you," he said.

"Do even know how to heal her?" asked the nurse.

It took him a moment to respond. "No, but I'll figure it out."

"How do you even know you can heal somebody?" Sergeant Trent questioned.

"Hey. Are you all going to sit there and watch her die?" Lily said as she returned with two stretchers and a medical bag. "Dr. Kim is on his way."

Luna shook, and then her body shut down. She froze to a point where she was hardly breathing as her eyes became blurry.

Amir's warm hands covered her wound, a bright, whitish glow illuminated his body. The rest of the room had slipped away. She didn't know what he was doing, but she could feel his fingers reaching into her body, searching for the bullet. He was weak, and she didn't know why he didn't let anyone perform a surgery on her. Maybe it was too risky.

Heat flowed through her, and then she wasn't really aware of anything. Her mind went . . . blank. Amir's voice was in her thoughts, urging her to stay with him.

Then she felt it.

A sharp object entered her flesh, causing her to wail from the pain. She'd never thought she'd see the day she'd be awake while having surgery, but it stung horribly. She'd figured someone must have given him medical equipment as he continued slicing her body. Amir's fingers kept digging into her skin, causing a fierce ache to fill her body and radiating down to the soles of her feet.

"I'm so sorry, Moon," he said near her ear. "It'll be over soon."

She nodded, and her lips trembled. Her body felt light, airy, and whole. Minutes, and hours had gone by like a blur, and then she could see he was done with his procedure and began stitching her up.

'Amir . . .' she murmured. He gave her a slight smile and cupped her cheek with his hand.

His light returned, and she closed her eyes, the heat of his touch electrifying every cell in her body. It eased down her veins and settled into her bones as warmth and safety pulled her under.

'You can sleep now,' he whispered into her mind.

• • •

When Luna opened her eyes again, a lamp somewhere in the room flickered on the ceiling and bounced against the walls. She couldn't move her waist. As she dragged in a deep breath, an earthly aroma surrounded her.

"Amir?" Her voice was hoarse, and her mouth was dry.

The bed she lay in was dipped and out of the dim light came Amir. Half of his face was hidden in the shadows, and his eyes glowed like polished marbles.

"I'm here, Moon," he said, reaching for her hand. "I'm not going anywhere."

She swallowed, keeping her eyes focused on him. "I can't feel anything."

He sniffed and moved closer to her cheek, kissing it softly. "I gave you an anesthetic and a muscle relaxer to help you recuperate."

She tried to smile and even laugh, but it hurt her side too much. He lifted his arm and brought her to his chest. "I just want you to feel better."

"I'll try." She flexed her fingers and took a breath. Catching his gaze, her lips trembled. "You . . . you cut me open?"

He nodded. "I couldn't let you die."

She let out a soft whimper. "So, you don't have some sort of healing powers?"

There was a deep, throaty chuckle, and then he grinned. "I have them, but they weren't the ones that got me into medical school."

She coughed and smiled. "My miracle doctor."

He stared at her and graced her skin with the tips of his fingers. "Whatever it takes to keep you alive."

"I felt the scorching pain like it was a hot iron rod slicing down my flesh. Your fingers were moving in all types of directions, and then there was . . ." She paused, shuddering. "It hurt."

Amir cupped her cheek and brought her eyes to meet his. "Try not to talk. Okay?"

She blinked several times, and then murmured, "I know, but I can't help it. I thought I experienced real pain before but nothing beats . . ."

He shushed her with his finger. "Mrs. Khan. I won't have you make another peep. Doctor's orders."

She giggled-coughed, even though it caused a fire to burn inside her chest. "How long was I out?"

"Almost eighteen dreadful hours."

Her heart plummeted. That was nearly two days she'd missed.

When he looked down, he noticed her stitches opened a little, so he grabbed a fresh gauze pad and placed it gently over her incision. "Here."

His fingers then felt around her waist, finding the edges of her blanket and pulled it up. "There you go."

"Oh." She sniffed and then thread her fingers with his. A second later, she realized the blanket was over her completely nude body, and a fire swept over her face, then down her neck.

Wincing as she gripped the blanket, and then asked, "Is there something you need to tell me?"

He stared back at her. "You . . . don't remember?"

She adjusted her waist a little, and it took her a moment to process everything. When she did, she tried to sit up, but Amir stopped her with his hand. "You shouldn't move, baby. It's just a small scar. It'll be healed soon." He placed his large hand over her injury. "I don't want your stitches to open more than they already have."

"All right," she whispered. "You're my doctor."

He chuckled. "Well, I helped with your recovery, and Lily helped get you cleaned up. So did Nurse Smith." His eyes searched her face. "They put you in the bed. I didn't . . . help . . . with that. I couldn't."

Nurse Smith cleaned her naked body? Out of everything she'd learned, she was disgusted by the fact that the nurse touched her. She was about to be sick to her stomach. She didn't mind Lily, because they were friends at St. Matthew's. Their rooms were next to each other, and they both had to undergo the same treatments as everybody else had.

But Nurse Smith? Gross.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked when she didn't make a sound for ten whole seconds. He reached up and touched the top of her head, then laid his palm near her cheek. "If you want, I can still try to heal you."

She coughed and shook her head. She'd been shot. That moment was on repeat, and she'd come close to death. It was almost hard for her to process it, but she did. She knew she needed time to adjust to the pain and learn to strive through it, in case Amir wasn't there next time to help her.

No pain, no gain, she thought.

"I shouldn't be talking, but I need to know something," she said, swallowing her spit. "Is . . . is he dead?"

He sucked in a breath and then exhaled, his dark lashes fanning his cheeks. "No. You did not kill him. You did, however, put him into a coma."

"What?" she croaked.

"He's alive. It's a good thing."

Stupidly, she adjusted her back and sat up, groaning a little. "How can that be a good thing? That thing keeps coming after me, after us."

Amir chuckled. "Thing?" Tilting his head to the side, he narrowed his eyes. "If Chase died by your hands, you'd have to live with that for the rest of your life. That's not a burden I'd wish upon anybody."

He made a point. She didn't think about that, even though she wished he'd stay out of their lives. He was like an annoying fly who wouldn't stop coming around until you smashed it against the wall, which she'd done twice now and couldn't wait to do it again.

She snorted and then turned to her husband, giving him a soft smile. "Point taken. Maybe torturing him would be just as satisfying."

He laughed. "I love it."

"Love what?"

"That my wife brought a rocket launcher to a gun fight."

She tried to hold it in, but she couldn't anymore. His joke caused her to burst out laughing.

When Amir touched her lips, he lingered his thumb around her chin. "Who is he to you, Luna?"

Her body jerked when he called her by her name. She was so used to him calling her by her nickname, but to hear him say that caused her soul to shake. She didn't want to tell him about her ex, not yet, anyway. She wanted to wait until both of them were away from there and with their allies. But now is as good as a time as ever, she supposed.

She closed her eyes for a moment, soaking in the low hum and warmth his presence brought. "Chase is . . . Well, he's an asshole."

Amir laughed a little and turned on his side. "That I know. But there is something more to it. I can feel it."

She inhaled, and exhaled, trying to remain calm. "He is my ex." Her stomach felt empty after uttering those words. She hated to even think of Chase being her ex because he was a stalker, manipulator, cheater, and rapist. He deserved to burn in Hell for all of his crimes, but he still kept living like he was an immortal God. He wouldn't stay down and kept coming back for more.

"Your ex-fiancé?"

She nodded as a tear slid down her face. "Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me before?" he asked, his voice low and soft.

"Because . . ." she sniffed, trying to collect her thoughts. "I wanted to protect you. If you knew you were working with him, there's no telling what you'd do."

"I'd kill him, that's for sure," he said, dropping his arm. "I could tell within the last few days that he and I had a history. I just couldn't piece it together until now. I want to go into his room and turn off his machines."

She knew how he felt.

She felt it, too, and she wanted to do the same.

But neither she nor Amir would stoop that low. They'd never kill somebody for revenge, even if it was their worst enemy.

"There is something I need to tell you, and it isn't good," she said, looking away for a moment.

"What is it?" he asked.

Her nose wrinkled, and her eyes burned in their sockets. She had to tell him now about his family. About what Chase had done to them. "It's your parents, Amir. Something has happened to them."

His jaw opened. "What happened?"

When she adjusted herself under the blanket, she went into detail and explained why she went off on her ex earlier. Amir curled his fists and seethed through his teeth and almost hopped up out of bed, but he was stopped by her demand. He was livid and she could sense the rage inside his soul boiling.

After a few minutes of silence, they held one another, calming each other down. Glancing up at him, she whispered, "How did you know I was in trouble, A?"

"There was a strange meeting earlier," he explained. "Once it was over, I'd realized I didn't see Nurse Smith or Chase anywhere and I knew then I had to come to you." She curled an arm around his waist and listened to him. "When I stalked toward the guest house, a red-hot feeling struck my chest. My body froze. Then, I heard a gunshot, and Sergeant Trent and Lily had then rushed to my side. My world had flipped upside down. I thought I'd lost you, Luna. God, I was . . ." He trailed off as a few tears filled his eyes. "I don't ever want to feel that way again. You'll never leave my sight."

"It was my fault."

Amir shook his head. "No, it was that idiot's fault. Chase brought the gun."

"But I challenged him."

"He came after you. You did nothing wrong but try to protect yourself."

She shrugged and then winced from the small ache. "Maybe."

"I'm serious. Chase is a psychopath. Once he wakes up, we're going to talk, me and him. He isn't going to get away with this."

Snuggling against his shoulder, she nodded. "Okay. Just don't do anything you'll regret. Believe me, there are many things I regret doing and taking him back was one of them."

"Oh, baby, I love you," Amir whispered into her ear. "I'm going to tell you that until we're old and gray."

"Sounds perfect." She tipped her chin and ran her cheek against him. "Thank you for saving my life. Our lives."

"There's no need to thank me, Luna. You are my lifeline."

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"I want a love like Amir and Luna. This was written so well." - bookfanatic2021 🥰