“You got shot?” the doctor asked, shaking his head. “I can’t treat this here, I need to do x-rays and make sure everything’s out. You could have shrapnel in there.”

I sighed because this guy just didn’t seem to want to give up. “Look, Doctor, it’s all out, it didn’t hit anything major I can tell. I also have a broken rib or two. Please just patch me up so I can go back to worrying about my girl. I’ll get some proper treatment later,” I snapped, frowning.

He sighed but nodded and started to clean my wounds. I needed stitches in the back of my head, and butterfly stitches across the bridge of my nose. “Okay, that’s all I can do for now, do you have any cuts or anything on your legs?” he asked. I shook my head, I was pretty sure I had some bruises but no cuts. “But you’re covered in blood,” he protested, looking at my jeans.

“That’s not mine,” I answered quietly. That was Anna’s blood from when I’d carried her out of the building.

He nodded apologetically. “Right, well, I’ll order a chest x-ray and a scan for your bullet wound when you’re ready.”

“Thanks. You might want to go for a hand x-ray too, I think I’ve broken a couple of fingers,” I admitted sheepishly.

“Right okay, a hand x-ray too then.” He smiled weakly, scribbling on a pad.

The nurse handed me two pain killers so I swallowed them gratefully before moving to sit down outside Anna’s room again. I didn’t bother putting my shirt back on considering it was still wet with blood. I could see Anna’s parents staring at my two week old tattoo on my chest, but they didn’t say anything.

Melissa turned to the side. “Agent Franks, do you think you could get Ashton some clothes to change into?” she asked, smiling politely. He nodded and walked off, coming back a couple of minutes later with a surgical scrub set. I laughed humourlessly and quickly went to the bathrooms to change, washing my face at the same time. I was going to have wicked black eyes tomorrow – no wonder Anna thought I wasn’t a pretty boy anymore. I smiled for a split second before my heart broke again at the thought of her saying she’d marry me. I wanted to be her husband more than anything; I’d never let her down or hurt her. I sighed and went back to the chairs outside her room.

After about two hours of working on her, the same doctor came back down the hall. He didn’t look as tense as he had done earlier, and a spark of hope ignited inside me. My heart was beating erratically in my chest as I looked at him; waiting for them to say that words that would either make everything fine, or kill me. I felt like I was going to pass out.

The doctor came over to us, still in his scrubs. “Mr President, Mrs Spencer, your daughter has suffered immense bleeding, but we’ve managed to stop it at the source now. We had to remove part of her spleen, but she can cope without it. We’ve put her into an enforced coma to limit the damage and to give the site time to heal because we don’t want to have to go in again, that would be too risky. The operation was a success, and we’re very hopeful that she should make a full recovery, providing there are no post-operative complications,” he said, smiling.

I breathed a sigh of relief and closed my eyes; she was going to be okay. I couldn’t speak, I didn’t know what to say, this man had just saved her life and mine.

Melissa burst into happy tears and President Spencer put his arm around her, smiling. “Thank you, Doctor, can we go in and see her?” he asked, rubbing his wife’s back.

“We’re just going to have her transferred to a different room, after that you can go in to see her for a few minutes. She’ll be in the enforced coma for twenty-four hours to be on the safe side, and then we’ll bring her out of it slowly tomorrow. It’ll just give her body a chance to catch up,” he replied, smiling and turning to walk off.

“Doctor?” I called, stepping forward; he turned back to me and smiled. I held out my hand and he shook it. “Thank you. Thank you so much,” I said gratefully, feeling my heart start to slow down to a normal rhythm again. She was going to be fine; everything was going to be fine.

He smiled sadly. “You’re welcome.”

We sat and waited for a few more minutes while they cleaned her from surgery and then moved her to a private room in one of the wards. When we were allowed, the three of us, followed by the six secret service agents, followed the nurse to her room. As we entered, I stood back and let her parents approach the bed; he was still the President after all, not that it mattered either way, at the moment he just looked like a concerned father. They cooed and fussed around her bed, Melissa straightening the sheets and pillows, obviously not knowing what else to do.

Then President Spencer took hold of Melissa’s hand. “Let’s give Agent Taylor some privacy and go get a coffee or something,” he suggested. She nodded and they started walking towards the door. As he walked past me, he patted me on the shoulder affectionately, making me swell with pride. I ignored the pain that blasted in my shoulder and neck. I guess he really is okay with the idea of me and Anna dating. Either that or he’s lulling me into a false sense of security so that he can plot an assassination without me being aware. I smiled at my random thought.

Once they left the room, I walked to Anna’s side and sat on the edge of her bed, just looking at her. She was covered in red blotches and bruises on her face and neck. I smiled sadly and traced my fingers across her face; it was red and puffy from where he had hit her. She had a large lump on her forehead where he’d slammed her against the wall.