Marshall had to look away. It made him sick to watch the doctor do that. It angered him to see them treat her as if she wasn't even human. He wanted to tell them that she was their lover, but he couldn't say anything. He had no idea how Drew would stand on the subject of their relationship to the outside world.

"Yep, she's first. Prep her for surgery. I'll take the shoulder second." The doctor turned to Marshall.

"Are you next of kin? Is she allergic to anything?"

"She's my girlfriend. She doesn't have any next of kin, and I don't know if she's allergic to anything or not." He might have just stuck his foot in a fresh pile of manure by calling her his girlfriend, but he wasn't about to let them kick him out.

"Well, she's got a bleeder we've got to sew up in surgery. She's lost a good bit of blood by the looks of her vital signs and the blood on the bandages. I'm going to have some lab tests done and depending on what those tell me, we might have to give her blood."

"Is she going to be okay?"

"Barring any unforeseen circ.u.mstances, she should be fine after surgery." The doctor turned to go, but Marshall stopped him.

"What about Jeb? The shoulder wound? He's my best friend and her other boyfriend."

The doctor stared at him for a few seconds then shook his head once. "The other patient is doing fine and will have to have surgery to remove the bullet. I don't see anything major with his recovery, either. However, if he doesn't calm down and watch his mouth, the nurses are going to take exception and treat him like the a.s.s he's being."

Marshall smiled at that. He could well believe Jeb was being a total a.s.s.

"I'll talk to him as soon as I see to Drew."

The doctor huffed out a breath and walked out of the room. The nurses shooed Marshall out so they could prepare her for surgery. Outside the room, Kenny and Robert stood waiting with anxious expressions on their faces.

"What did the doctor say?" Kenny demanded.

Marshall repeated everything to them. Kenny ran a hand through his hair. Both men were holding their hats. Marshall realized he didn't even know where his hat was. Somewhere out on the ranch, he supposed.

"Look, watch her door, and don't let anyone in there that isn't a nurse. I'm going to go calm Jeb down before one of his nurses does something drastic to him." Marshall hurried off to the other treatment room.

He found Jeb fussing with one of the nurses about letting him go check on his girlfriend. The nurse had her hands on her hips, glaring at him.

"Jeb, I'll tell you about Drew, man. You need to calm down or they might knock you out. I can't watch both of you."

"You're supposed to be with Drew right now. I told you not to take your f-"

Marshall interrupted him. "Calm down! They kicked me out to get her ready for surgery. Kenny and Robert are watching the door and won't let anyone but a nurse in. I figured you needed to know what is going on."

"Is she all right?" Jeb's voice shook.

"She has a nicked vein they think. They're taking her to surgery before they do you. The doctor says she'll be fine."

Jeb seemed to relax all over at that. His friend had lines on his face that hadn't been there before. Neither one of them was handling Drew's injuries very well.

"Have you heard back from the sheriff yet?" Jeb asked.

"No, but it's only been an hour. We should know something by the time you get out of surgery."

"Sir? I need to ask you to leave now. We need to get him ready for surgery."

"Jeb, cooperate with them so they don't tie you down or gag you."

"Just watch after Drew, and I'll be fine."

Chapter Nineteen.

Drew fought her way through the dense fog, trying to wake up. She had never been this sleepy before. She'd always been able to wake up in an instant if she needed to. She needed to now. She wanted to know how Jeb was. She needed to know that he was all right.

"She's trying to wake up," someone above her said.

"You said she woke up in recovery. Why isn't she still awake?"

"They gave her something for nausea, and it knocked her back out. Don't worry. She'll wake up soon."

Drew recognized Marshall's voice. Why wasn't he looking after Jeb? Fear lanced through her chest. What if something was seriously wrong with him? She finally managed to open her eyes to mere slits.

"Marshall?"

"Hey, baby. You're awake. Are you hurting? Do you need something for pain?"

"Jeb?"

"He's doing fine. He's still in recovery, though. They operated on you first." Marshall squeezed her hand.

"Operated? Why did I need surgery?"

"That bullet wound you had in your thigh hit a vein, and you were bleeding pretty badly. They didn't have to give you blood, but it was iffy there for a while."

"And Jeb's okay?"

"He's fine. If the nurses leave him alone. He was acting a complete moron earlier." Marshall grinned down at her and took her hand. "I'm so glad you're okay. I was scared to death we were going to lose you."

"Naw, I'm tougher than that." She closed her eyes and sighed. "I think I'll take a nap now. Why don't you climb up here with me? I like sleeping between you and Jeb."

There was a loud bang and then a "sorry" that jarred her eyes back open in time to see a nurse hurry out of the room.

"Darling, I think you just scandalized that poor nurse," Marshall said with a chuckle.

"What did I do?"

"Nothing, baby. You were just being you. Take a nap. I'll be right here when you wake up."

"Okay. When Jeb wakes up, tell him I love him. I love you, too, Marshall."

"I love you, Drew."

She drifted back and forth between sleep and consciousness for several hours before she woke up to find Kenny and Robert talking to Marshall beside her bed.

"You three planning on ganging up on me or what?"

"Aw, h.e.l.l. Did we wake you up?" Kenny asked with a sheepish expression.

"No, I was listening to you for a while before I opened my eyes. How is Jeb doing?"

"He's a h.e.l.l of a lot better than you are. He needs his a.s.s whipped," Kenny told her.

"What's he doing?" She tried to sit up but found she didn't have the energy to pull herself up in bed.

"Here, don't move. I'll help you." Marshall pushed the b.u.t.ton to raise the head of the bed and then repositioned her leg so he could lift her a little higher. "How does that feel?"

"Better than you feel." She rearranged the covers so she could check out her leg. "That's an awfully big bandage."

"The nurse said it's a pressure bandage to be sure you don't start bleeding again. They plan to take it off in the morning." Marshall covered her leg back up and glanced at Kenny and Robert.

Drew smiled. Kenny and Robert were more interested in each other than her leg, but it was touching that Marshall cared that someone else saw her.

"I want to see Jeb. When can I go?" she asked.

"Not 'til tomorrow after they check your incision. I already asked, 'cause I knew you would ask me."

"He's really okay? You're not just telling me that?"

"He is just fine. Driving the nurses crazy, but fine," Kenny a.s.sured her.

"Either you get a d.a.m.n wheelchair and take me to see her, or I'm going to walk over there and see her. If that means jerking this out of my arm"-he indicated the IV in his arm-"then I'll do it." Jeb was just about ready to explode.

He needed to see Drew for himself. It didn't matter that everyone a.s.sured him she was doing fine. He wanted to see her, needed to see her. She was too d.a.m.n important to him to take anyone's word, even Marshall's.

"You are by far the most obstinate, rude, crude man I've ever had the misfortune to take care of. I'll get your wheelchair, but you are going to promise me that you will stay in bed once I take you to see her."

"I promise I'll stay in bed until I need to see her again."

The nurse growled at him then turned on her heel and walked out of the room, mumbling as she left.

Jeb settled back against the pillows and sighed. He was tired and wanted a nap but not until he saw Drew. As far as he was concerned, they could set him up a cot in her room so he could be with her. Not only did he miss her, but he was worried someone would try and hurt her. They hadn't caught whoever had been shooting at them yet. If they would shoot at them in broad daylight, they might try something in the hospital.

A few minutes later, the nurse returned with a wheelchair and a pill. He eyed it suspiciously.

"Either you take the antibiotic, or I won't take you to her room."

Jeb swallowed the pill with a sip of water and then climbed carefully out of the bed to sit in the wheelchair after the nurse disconnected him from the IV. She arranged a blanket around his legs, and he appreciated that when he realized he had a gown on. h.e.l.l. He should have realized that a long time ago. He really was worried about Drew. Not even the sling on his right arm bothered him as much as he was worried that Drew could have been killed.

The nurse wheeled him down the hall to another room and knocked on the door. Marshall came to the door and smiled when he saw him.

"Should have known you'd figure out a way to get here." He stepped back and let the nurse push him into the room.

"He's bossy and needs to be in bed himself," the nurse complained.

"I'll watch him and call you when he gets tired." Marshall took the chair away from her and hurried her out before Jeb said something to p.i.s.s her off.

Jeb was standing up and walking over to Drew's bed before Marshall could get to him to stop him.

"Man, you've had surgery. You need to be in bed yourself."

"I'm fine. Just a little tired. Has she been awake?"

"Yeah, she was while Kenny and Robert where here. She just drifted off again. She's tired but doing okay."

Jeb took her hand in his on the uninjured side. He gently squeezed it and brought it to his lips. He couldn't bend over. He was scared he'd fall on her. His shoulder hurt like the devil, but he wasn't taking anything for pain until he saw her. He was sure whatever they gave him would knock him out.

"Love you, Drew. You scared me to death when I saw all that blood on your leg. Don't you ever do that again." He leaned against the bed, watching her sleep.

"Here, sit in the chair, and you can hold her hand," Marshall said, pushing the wheelchair closer to the bed.

"I'd rather get up in bed with her," he complained.

"Yeah, well, she'd rather be between us, too, according to what she said earlier."

"She really said that?"

"Yep, right in front of a nurse. The poor thing dropped her clipboard and ran out of the room." Marshall chuckled.

"Marshall?" Drew's voice stole both of their attention.

"Hey, baby." Jeb squeezed her hand and leaned forward so she could see him.

"Jeb. You're supposed to be in bed. You were shot," she whispered.

"So were you," He leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips before wincing and sitting back.

"I'm fine, Jeb. You need to go back to bed before the nurses get us in trouble," she teased.

"No one is going to keep me from seeing about you."

"But I'm okay. You can see for yourself now that I'll be out of here before you will."

"I kind of doubt that, baby. You lost a lot of blood. They were going to give you blood, but the doctor said he'd rather you just make more of your own since you weren't going anywhere soon." Marshall looked at Jeb when he told her that.

Jeb understood what his friend was telling him. She had almost lost too much blood. They had to figure out who was trying to kill her now and stop him. One way or another. If that meant he would go back to jail, then so be it. He knew Marshall would take good care of her, and Kenny and Robert would watch out for her as well.

"Jeb?"