"Get your emotions under control, Caitlan!" Mary ordered. "Now, before it's too late. You must be the one to save J.T."
Mentally shaking herself, Caitlan dropped her hand back to her side and concentrated on the situation, trying to anticipate Randal's next move.
Randal's tirade continued, his rage mounting without any provocation from J.T. "I hate you, J.T.," he seethed, his fingers tightening on the gun. "If I can't have the ranch, neither will you!"
In what seemed like slow motion to Caitlan, she watched in horror as J.T. lunged toward Randal, his intention to dislodge the gun from his cousin's hands. Fear tore through Caitlan and she bolted forward to intercept J.T.
Randal's eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected commotion. He jerked out of the way and leveled the barrel on J.T. again, his finger squeezing the trigger. A maniacal expression contorted Randal's face.
"Johnny, no!" Caitlan shoved J.T. aside with the force of her propelled body just as a loud crack exploded in the air. An excruciating, ripping pain pierced her chest like a lance of fire.
The impact of the bullet threw her back, and she stumbled into J.T., knocking them both to the dirt.
J.T. rolled to his knees on the ground and shook his head as all hell broke lose around him. He was vaguely aware that it was Mike who rushed at Randal, unarmed him, then threw him on the ground and pinned him there. The other men swarmed around, assisting Mike in any way they could. One of the men shouted to call the sheriff.
J.T.'s head cleared and his gaze landed on Caitlan's limp form laying feet away from him. He scrambled over to her, a deafening roar filling his ears and a sense of dread seizing his insides. He stared in horror at the blood soaking Caitlan's sweatshirt near the vicinity of her heart. She'd taken a bullet for him!
"Caitlan! Oh, God, Caitlan, no!" He scooped her gently into his arms and cradled her close, desperation ruling him. Touching his fingers to her neck, he felt a faint pulse, reaffirming that she still lived. She can't die, he tried to reassure himself, but the panic within him wouldn't subside.
Gingerly, he touched the bright red spot on her sweatshirt. His fingers came away wet and stained, and he moaned like a wounded animal. "Shit, you're bleeding!" he said in disbelief. "You can't be bleeding… "
Her lashes fluttered open and she attempted a smile. A smile, for chrissakes! Pain bracketed her mouth. Her eyes were glassy but more brilliantly violet than he'd ever seen them before.
"I'm not… invincible, Johnny," she said in a wispy voice. She gasped for breath, then an anguished groan slipped past her lips.
Despair clutched at J.T. "Call Dr. Henson!" he bellowed as Frank came running up to the scene. "And have him get an ambulance here immediately! Caitlan's been shot!"
Frank bolted toward the house, and J.T. glanced back at Caitlan, whose face had gone deathly pale. The pain and tears he'd never shed for Amanda gathered in his throat. "Please don't leave me, Caitlan. Please!" he rasped. "Hold on just a little longer."
"It hurts," she said, her breath catching. "I didn't think it would hurt so much."
"Shh," he soothed, brushing her hair away from her face. A tear seeped from the corner of her eye, and he tenderly wiped it away with his thumb. "Baby, hang in there. You've got to hang on!" I won't let you leave me, not without a fight!
Caitlan lifted her hand to his face and touched her fingers to his lips, wincing at the effort it cost her. "Johnny, I have to leave. My mission is over." She drew a breath that trembled the length of her body. "I was sent to protect you. Johnny… I told you I couldn't stay."
A broken sound of torment passed his lips and he shook his head in denial. "No!" Grabbing her hand, he pressed her fingers to his mouth, absorbing her warmth, her softness, everything about her.
She gave him another shaky smile, enough of an attempt to crease the dimple in her cheek. "I never thought it would hurt so much to leave you again," she whispered. "Let me go, Johnny." Her voice was barely audible. "We'll be together eternally… I promise."
"You can't leave me!" Holding her close, he rocked her in his arms. A sob caught in his throat and tears burned his eyes. He lifted his gaze to heaven, ready to bargain away his soul if he had to. "Please don't take her from me again," he pleaded, his voice rough with emotion. Surely if there was a God in heaven he would spare him this loss. "I can't live without her."
He placed her palm over his beating heart, willing to sacrifice the very life of him for her. In the distance he could hear the scream of an ambulance's siren and knew she'd be leaving him soon. Knew, too, that he was powerless to stop her inevitable departure from earth. Again.
The tears he'd held at bay for so many years broke free, filling his eyes so that his vision blurred. In desperation, he grabbed the medallion that had linked them so many times and pulled it off her, clutching the warm gold in his palm.
"God, Caitlan, I love you!"
"I love you, Johnny," she whispered.
A strange, shimmering warmth invaded J.T.'s heart and soul upon their simultaneous declaration. Then she was being lifted from his arms by two paramedics, and it was like they were tearing his heart from his chest. J.T. knelt there, too paralyzed by the loss to move as the two men gently placed Caitlan on a stretcher and hurriedly carried her toward the waiting ambulance.
I'll love you forever, Johnny, he heard whispered on the breeze.
And minutes later, as the ambulance pulled away from the drive, J.T. knew this was the end. Caitlan was gone, and she wouldn't be coming back. Slowly, defeatedly, he stood. An absolute emptiness enveloped him, as dark and black as the sky above, and he knew he'd never be the same again.
"No!" he raged to the heavens, his anguish echoing on and on. He choked on a deep sob, his heart and soul twisting with such agony, he wanted to die. Indeed, a part of him haddied with her departure.
The medallion in his palm retained its warmth, and he defiantly slipped the chain over his head. It was the only connection he had left to his one true love, and he refused to give it up. He refused to let the memory of her being at the Circle R fade.
Thunder rumbled and lightning streaked across the sky, signaling the arrival of the storm. Bloated clouds floated overhead, and the temperature dropped to an icy chill.
With an odd kind of detachment J.T. watched the sheriff take Randal into custody and take statements from the men who'd witnessed the ordeal.
Mike approached J.T., his gaze going over him with concern. He shoved his fingers through his hair, still shaken by the incident. "Are you okay, J.T.?"
No. I'll never be the same again. J.T. looked at Mike, wondering if his eyes reflected the bleak despair eating away at him. He knew he owed Mike his gratitude for helping to apprehend Randal, and an apology for suspecting him of the incidents that had happened around the ranch, but at the moment he couldn't summon the words for all the anguish swirling in him.
"Caitlan's gone," he said instead, his voice sounding oddly distant even to his own ears.
Mike gave him a perplexed look. "They're taking her to County hospital. The paramedics said it looked like the bullet went clean through her shoulder and she should be fine. Heck, she'll probably be able to come back in a week or so-"
"She won't be coming back," J.T. said, his tone harsher than he'd intended.
Mike nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I guess she'd want to go back home to be with her family."
J.T. glanced up at the heavens. Caitlan's home.
Scrubbing a hand down his face, he cursed all the lonely years he'd have to endure before they were joined again.