3. Ghost

I cradledAllison's face in my hands, pressing a gentle kiss to her soft lips, giving her breath before I sprang into action to help Viper save her life. Once she could breathe, she was rushed down to surgery, and I looked at Viper.

"How did this happen?" Viper demanded. "You promised to keep her safe, you fucker. I want you to tell me how my sister ended up getting shot four times before I kill you."

"I don't know," I replied, anguish surging through my body. Rising to my feet, I followed the gurney that rushed to take Allison to the operating room. Viper was right next to me.

"Explain to me what the hell went wrong?" he demanded.

"I killed the first guy, and then these two showed up. I told Allison to run to safety where the others were. She didn't listen to me; I thought she had followed my orders until one of them pulled out his gun," I took a shaky breath and continued talking.

"When the bastard pulled the gun out, I heard another gun go off, and the man turned so fast and started shooting. I shot them both, which was what I was about to do before Allison fired her shot. It was too late," I explained.

"Where did she get the gun?" Viper demanded.

"The first Russian had it in his boot. She must have grabbed it when I went after the other two. She followed me; I should have watched and ensured she left."

"You didn't have time to ensure she had done what you told her to do. Allison would never leave you to take care of those men yourself. She loves you too damn much," Viper frowned, glancing over at me.

"This has gone on for six years, and you need to fix this when she wakes up. Either the two of you are together, or you are apart. You can't have it both ways any longer. My sister wants a family, and if she will never forgive you, I want you to make sure she knows it's time to move on. I want you to tell her when she's better that it's over. Tell her if she can't forgive you, then you don't want to be with her."

"I haven't done anything to be forgiven for, and you damn well know it! Allison is the only one who doubts that. If she trusted me as she should, she would know I'd never cheat on her. She knows how much I love her. I would never do that, and I'm tired of defending myself for something I didn't do," Ghost declared before walking away.

"Where are you going?" Viper asked, puzzled.

"To the operating room. I'll make sure nothing happens to Allison during surgery."

"They won't let you in. Let's wait in the waiting room. My brothers will be here soon," Viper suggested.

"How would your brothers be here soon? We haven't called them," I said.

"No, but I'm sure Jacob did," Viper explained.

"Yeah, I forgot Jacob was there; I'm sure the whole mountain knows about it by now. Why don't you come with me to the surgery room? At least you'll know what is going on instead of being in the waiting room not knowing anything," I said. That's when I looked at Viper and then down at myself. The both of us were covered in Allison's blood.

I leaned against the wall before I slid down; Viper slid down next to me, and I glanced over at him. "I can't think about her losing all this blood; I can't lose her. I know we aren't together. But I know where she is. When she comes out of this we are going to sit down and talk, if I have to tie her down. She had to know that I would never cheat on her, no matter how drunk I was," I said.

"She has it all warped inside her head, letting her thoughts take over and grow out of control. No telling what all she's let her mind imagine," Viper explained. Why don't we shower and change our clothes?

"I'm going to call Bailey and have her bring me something to wear, and I'll shower here. Do you want me to have her bring you something?" Viper asked.

"She can have Izzy watch the kids, so she won't have to worry about them," he said looking down at his clothes he wiped his sleeve across his eyes and walked away.

I put on a hospital gown and walked into the surgery room. I stood against the back wall as they operated on Allison, and then things changed. I saw panic in the nurse's eyes as she looked at me, and I realized it was Sammy, my cousin.

I didn't care what they said to me; I walked over, took Allison's hand, and begged her to live. "Sweetheart, please fight to stay here with me. I don't want to be on this earth if you aren't here. I love you so much. Please don't leave me."

The doctor continued his frantic work while I whispered in her ear how much I loved her. I heard a sigh like everyone had been holding their breath, and I looked at Allison, who was once again breathing.

"Get him out of here, Levi, leave," Gordan Cantrell said, not taking his eyes off Allison. I was surprised he remembered me. I hadn't seen him since high school. I glanced his way and remembered Sammy saying he was a surgeon.

"Save her," I said before leaving the room. I sat in the waiting room with everyone. I had on clean clothes. I didn't join in on any conversation with my family or Allison's family. All I could concentrate on was Allison in that surgery room.

After four hours, I got up and headed back to the operating room. Viper and his brothers followed me. We waited outside of the room another hour before the doctor came out and looked at us.

"She's still alive. The surgery is over; now we all pray for the next forty-eight hours. That's when we will know if she's going to live. They'll take her to the intensive care unit; she can have two visitors at a time, no more than that."

I didn't like the sound of that. He didn't say she would be alright. "Wait, is she going to be alright?" I asked, stepping around the others to get closer to him.

Gordon repeated what he had said. "We need another forty-eight hours before we know if Allison will live. You and the Delta Force Team know more than most what a bullet can do to your body. Plus, she hit her head, so there are a lot of injuries Allison has to overcome."