“Drink,” Diego insisted. “You don’t, you’re done and he’s dead anyway. You’re all he’s got, Rubin, so take a minute and rest your brain. You’re bleeding.”
“I am?” He brushed at his eyes again. He was. His eyes and ears. Not a good sign. He would have forced Joe or Jonquille to stop if either of them were that far gone.
“This is your last shot,” Diego said. “You don’t get it this time, we’re calling it.”
“That’s on me, brother. He’s still alive. I fight for him,” Rubin said softly. “He’s fighting, I’m fighting.” He sucked down the cold water, letting it pour down his throat. Once more he stood up over the body, this time with Diego’s support on one side and Wyatt’s on the other, and he began working again.
20
Lightning flashed across the sky, great forks streaking in every direction, a wild display of nature’s power. Thunder roared simultaneously, shaking the ground, shaking the house so the walls seemed to dance, undulating together with the white-hot veins in the heavily laden purple clouds. The wind whipped tree branches into a frenzy of movement, making the Spanish moss dance like mysterious veils. Leaves and twigs whirled free into the air, tossed about by the unpredictable squall as it burst through the woods, first in one direction and then abruptly changing to another. Jonquille slipped her hand into Rubin’s and watched as rain poured into the wide expanse of water, adding to the river and the rich ecosystem.
“You were so right about this exact location, Rubin,” she whispered in awe. “It truly is beautiful and so different from one moment to the next.”
Just an hour earlier, the weather was sunny and the snowy white egrets were out in full force. She was coming to love to sit on the shaded deck with Rubin, watching the birds as they patiently stalked bullfrogs and fish, shrimp and mice. She enjoyed their beauty as they moved with grace on their long stalk-like legs in the shallow water in the cool of the cypress forest just down from her new home.
She couldn’t help allowing her gaze to drift over Rubin, assessing him carefully as she’d been doing the last two weeks. He was still a little pale, but she knew he was far stronger and feeling much better. He wouldn’t like it if he knew she was still just as anxious about his health as she’d been when they’d had to fly him home from Chandler’s property in a helicopter, with a man she didn’t know attending to him because she was too exhausted to do so herself. That man had been flown in from another GhostWalker team, one from San Francisco.
She’d had to rely heavily on Paul Mangan to save the man she loved and care for him while she recovered. The GhostWalkers barely allowed her to get up the first two days and certainly didn’t allow her in the room with Rubin. Diego brought her news, but he always looked grim and bleak when he told her Rubin was alive, but still not conscious.
Rubin had remained unconscious for several days, and each one of those days had been agony for Jonquille. Once she was up, she realized she wasn’t alone in the endless anguish while she waited for Rubin’s brain and body to heal. Diego was just as miserable and anxious as she was—if not more. She spent time with him, just going for walks without speaking, sitting beside him on Nonny’s porch or holding vigil in Rubin’s room when Paul would allow it.
She grew closer to Diego, feeling like a sister to him, protective and protected by him. They were already forming a family, already had formed a family in the short time they’d been together. The intense situation and their love for Rubin simply strengthened their bond. The GhostWalkers made it easy for Jonquille to be around them, keeping their energy down so she wasn’t bombarded all the time, but the little ones sometimes made it difficult and she would have to go into the swamp and rid herself of the crackling fireworks.
Roch had also been brought to the Fontenot home, only because, like Rubin, he needed the care of a psychic surgeon and, although no one was saying so, clearly that was what Paul was. Nonny and Wyatt were rarely away from Roch. The oldest brother, Raoul “Gator” Fontenot, arrived by private plane the following day and, like Nonny and Wyatt, didn’t leave Roch’s side other than to check on Rubin numerous times. Jonquille liked him for that.
When Rubin finally woke and was able to sit up and have visitors, it was all Jonquille could do not to have a complete breakdown. She just sat on the bed with him and cried. Diego didn’t say a word, just sat across the room looking at his brother as if Rubin had died. Rubin kept his arm around Jonquille and his eyes on Diego. In the end, the three of them just stayed silent that first hour’s visit, other than her silly weeping, but it was intense. And she felt love in that room.
Everyone was wonderful at the Fontenot household, but there were too many people, and Jonquille was just grateful she had Rubin back and they were finally in their own home. She couldn’t breathe with so many people around her. Diego brought groceries and did most of the cooking for them. He was a rock they both leaned on. She didn’t want Rubin to do anything but rest and recuperate.
She realized why Diego and the others on his team watched over him so closely. He was a brilliant surgeon. He did what others couldn’t do. She doubted if anyone else could have saved Roch Fontenot, or even if they would have had the strength and endurance let alone the knowledge to do so. He also had the tenacity to keep going when others would have given up. She would have given up. She knew she would have. Even after all the work Rubin had done on Roch, when she arrived and saw what a mess the man was, she thought the case was hopeless and Rubin was risking his life for nothing. Rubin’s team understood what they had in him. He didn’t want to be treated any differently, she could understand that as well, but he was different and he had to come to terms with that.
“Lightning Bug, stop looking at me like that.” There was a trace of amusement in Rubin’s voice.
“How am I looking at you?” She knew. Her heart was in her eyes. She adored him and she didn’t try to hide it. Diego wasn’t out on the porch to make it into a joke. They weren’t in their bedroom to make it sultry and sensual. She didn’t care what he thought. The sun rose and set on Rubin for her. It always would.
“I’m afraid you’re going to have to get used to it, honey,” she said softly. “I’m always going to look at you this way because it’s the way I feel about you.”
Lightning flickered across the bottoms of the purple-blue clouds roiling overhead and this time, she felt the answering jolt in her body. Her hair moved subtly, lifting toward the sky, and the little fireflies began to dance around her midsection.
“I’m going to have to walk out into the meadow until the storm passes. You stay here, Rubin,” she directed and went to push up on the arms of the wooden rocking chair. The rocker had been hand-carved by the two brothers. She loved it so much. It was her favorite piece of furniture.
Rubin put his hand over hers. “Stay there, Jonquille. We can practice right here. The water, you, perfect attraction for lightning.”
Trepidation seized her. Her tongue touched her lower lip. “You’re too close. So is the house. One miss and our beautiful home is toast.” And so was he. Her man. Her everything. She’d come too close to losing him already. That miss was too near. How did one tell a strong man no? Her heart began to accelerate like a race car out of control. She almost started hyperventilating. “Rubin …”