Chapter 28
“Leave,
get out, NOW!” Mollee yelled and the officer took three quick steps away as
everyone used all of their strength to keep me from moving my injured arm and
ribs
“She’s
going to puncture a lung” Brian said loudly over my screaming
“We
have to do something!” Howie shouted above the chaos
“Brian.
Sing. This is us. GO” Aj yelled and Brian, with the training that comes with
having to sing a song every night in front of a live audience for months at a
time, began perfectly in key and time
Got a million reasons to run and hide
I don’t blame you for being scared
About a novel long, all the pain that he’s caused you
I’m fully aware
In
my world it was as if a car had driven by the window playing a familiar tune.
It was enough to distract me for a second and my screaming died down but I was
still staring at a rage filled Rich. Howie, seeing the improvement, jumped
right in
If I could change the story’s ending to me and you
Don’t know the meaning of pretending what to do
Don’t know the meaning of pretending what to do
My
vision was swaying between my memory and the hospital room in front of me. My
breathing was still out of control and every time my memory won out over
reality, another shot of panic raced through me. The guys looked at each other
and Mollee nodded vigorously to keep going as she rubbed a soothing rhythm into
my shoulders
I could be the one, give you all my love
Forget what he has done to you I'm here now
Open up to me. Love will set you free
If ever you believe it please believe in me
Open up to me. Love will set you free
If ever you believe it please believe in me
My
memory was losing the battle. Rich was fading away and as Aj took a deep breath
by my head my vision suddenly became crystal clear as I met his eyes
I know everything isn't meant to last, box up all
those photographs
You're moving on
Wish I could flip back over that hour glass and refill the better half
My
breathing was slowing and Aj mouthed along with the words as Nick sang
And it’s a miracle how broken hearts can mend
Won't you dry up all those teardrops and start again
Won't you dry up all those teardrops and start again
As
the guys broke into the chorus again I slowly focused on their beautiful voices
and pulled myself completely out of my flashback. I blinked and took a big gulp
of air, like I’d been holding my breath swimming under water, and the guys
stopped singing to assess my condition
“Holy
shit” I gasped and because it had been so tense in the room everyone
immediately burst into laughter
“I’ve
heard of the power of music to heal but that was extraordinary. I got paged to
a 911 call and ended up going to a concert instead. How are we doing?” The
doctor asked from the door
“Are
you back?” Aj asked me still holding my gaze
“I
think so. Thanks guys” I said a little breathlessly
“If
I could just get in there to make sure no damage was done?” The doctor asked
unable to find a way through my protective wall of people. No one moved at
first, unwilling to break the amazing bond that was flowing between all of us
after they had come to my rescue…again.
“Guys,
I’m ok” I assured them after a moment and Howie, being the first to snap out of
it, stepped cautiously aside
“Thank
you” The doctor said stiffly. She checked out my ribs and arm and throat as
usual and then sat in the little vacant space next to my bed “So you seem to be
ok but we need to try and keep the movement down to a minimum. For the next
week or so it is going to be critical that we keep you as immobile as possible
to give your ribs time to heal and keep the danger of a punctured lung as far
away as possible”
“I’m
sorry. The officer triggered a flash back. I get them sometimes and now I have
lots of fuel for it so I guess I’m more sensitive” I started but Mollee
interrupted me
“You
have nothing to apologize for. It was a stupid idea to get you talking about
what happened so quickly” Mollee said and I shook my head
“No,
that’s not the problem. I want to talk to the police” I said and immediately
met with protests around the room “Guys! I can do this. I just…is there a
female officer I could talk to?”
“I’m
sure we could get one if it meant getting your statement sooner. I’ll go check”
The doctor said quickly turning for the door. It seemed she was constantly
trying to get out of the room as fast as possible. I had to smile a little. How
many patients of hers have an entourage like I do?
“Kat
what are you doing?” Aj asked softly with more sadness in his voice than I
liked
“Healing”
I said simply and was met with multiple looks of pity
“Kat,
this is Officer Vega” The doctor said briskly escorting a young woman with
beautiful brown doe eyes into the room
“Maria”
The officer said giving me a small smile. Already I felt better as she pulled a
chair to my bedside but left enough space between us so that we couldn’t have
touched even if we’d wanted to “I’m sorry about my partner. This is his first
case of this nature”
“It’s
ok. I’m sorry if I scared him. It’s really nothing against him-” I started but
was stopped by Maria shaking her head
“It
was my fault. I didn’t get the message that they were sending him in and I
didn’t have time to prepare him for the state you would probably be in. Let’s
just get this done then. I’m putting this tape recorder here so you’ll never
have to repeat this ever again. We have enough people here that should anyone
question the validity of your statement you would never have to be called in
personally. If you could start off saying your name, the date and reading this
prepared introduction?” As she talked Maria set out a tape recorder, put in a
fresh tape and handed me a piece of paper that I read quietly. Aj’s hand on my
shoulder tightened in support and I gave him a grateful look as I finished and
handed the paper back to Maria “Alright, let’s start with the airport. I’m told
the accused approached you in line for the bathroom?”
“Well
it started a bit before then. R-rich” I stumbled over his name but rebuked
myself silently. I was strong enough to say the bastard’s name “had been
leaving me voice messages for the past week”
“What?”
Was the simultaneous reply from everyone in the room except Maria who glared at
everyone for their interruption
“Please,
it is essential that we get all the way through this with as little distraction
as possible, both for the law and for Kat herself” Maria scolded
“I
didn’t know it was him at first” I confessed to my shocked friends “But I had
received weird messages for the past week that only played songs and all of
them were pretty threatening. I still have the last one saved on my phone, I
think. The gist of them was that I was going to pay for something I’d done and
it wasn’t going to be pretty”
“And
you say you had no idea who these messages were from?” Maria prompted
“Not
at first, no. I just thought someone had found my number and was harassing me
for my newly public relationship with Aj. Which I guess was true in the end,
but I never imagined that person was Rich” I explained shyly. It really seemed
like I was impossibly stupid now that I was saying it out loud. Why had I never
spoken up about those messages? My frustration with myself only continued as I
explained how I had gone to the bathroom alone, been knocked out from some sort
of sleeping agent, and awoke in the car. As I went through the event I actually
began to feel stronger. I was talking about this and I wasn’t falling apart. In
my own way, I was fighting Rich without lifting a finger. As I described my
secret phone call and how Aj had received it, I was interrupted for a second
time
“It
wasn’t me” Aj said and received a look of death from Maria “I’m sorry, I don’t
mean to interrupt but I want the record to be completely accurate and the truth
is that I didn’t receive your call”
“What?
Then how did you find me? I remember just pressing send so the call should have
gone to the last person I spoke with” I reasoned
“That
wasn’t me” Aj said with a bit of emotion crossing his face that I couldn’t
identify “It was Josh”
“What!?”
Now it was my turn to be completely surprised
“Josh
was the one who got your call sweetheart. He must have been the last person you
called. He called the police who put the tracker on your phone before Rich
destroyed it. He was the one who called all of us who were frantically
searching the airport for you after discovering you weren’t in the bathroom
after twenty minutes” Mollee explained brushing some hair off of my forehead
“If
it weren’t for him we may not have gotten to you in time” Aj said gruffly and I
immediately realized what emotion I had seen from him. It was regret. Regret
and guilt.
“Where
is he?” I asked with tears in my eyes “Where’s Josh now?”
“The
lobby” Nick said simply
“What?
Why isn’t he in here?” I asked incredulously as Maria, no longer in control,
seemed to shrink away from the bed
“There weren’t a lot of friendly vibes around here for him” Howie explained
with a sideways look at Aj. I looked at him too and he gave me a pleading
glance
“Once
I finish up here will you get him for me Howie?” I asked quickly. I was annoyed
that my hero had been exiled to the lobby by my jealous boyfriend but I
couldn’t bring myself to really be angry about it
“Kat
I appreciate what he did for you, for all of us, and how he was able to save
you when we couldn’t but he still loves you and I couldn’t handle him in here
looking at you like that, like he was going to lose the love of his life” Aj
rambled but I met his eyes and quieted him with a look
“Alexander”
I said tenderly “No one here is asking you to defend your actions when you were
in such pain, especially not me. I just want to be able to thank him in person.
Do you think you can handle that?”
“I
just… I didn’t know why you chose to call him over me. I thought that maybe
when you were faced with life or death that you had realized who you really
loved… that you chose him over me” Aj said quietly
“It
was nothing like that-” I started
“I
know that now. I do. I understand. I’m sorry I was a jerk to him. I’ll
apologize when he gets here too. He saved my life too you know. If you hadn’t
pulled through, it would have been the end of me” Aj choked out behind tears
“Hush
my love its ok, I’m not angry. And I am ok. I’m going to be just fine” I
assured him wiping away his tears with my good hand
“If
we could just finish up here…” Maria said tentatively after a few minutes of silence
“This
is what it’s always like with the two of them. You can’t get a word in edgewise
once they start talking about how much they love each other” Nick joked
breaking the tension
“Ok
jerk” I said with a laugh. Slowly, this time without interruption, I managed to
relive the whole ordeal for Maria. She offered to fill in details I didn’t
know, like what exactly happened after I blacked out that final time but I
declined. I was here, I was safe, and that asshole was in custody. That’s all
that mattered to me.
“Katrina,
thank you so much for your time today. I promise that by being so strong now
you will likely not have to deal with this personally in the future. I’ll leave
you to your friends, you seem to be in very good hands” She said with a small
smile for the five people in the room that seemed to be much worse off now that
they had heard the full story with details. Maria left the room and the silence
lingered for a moment until Howie broke it
“I’m
going to find Josh for you” he said quietly backing out of the door. His
composure seemed a little less intact than was usual and I suspected what he
really needed was a moment to himself. Brian was mumbling a bit under his
breath and it took me a moment to realize he was praying. Mollee was holding onto
Nick and Nick was holding onto Mollee with equal force. They seemed to be
literally holding each other up.
“Aj?”
I asked quietly. He hadn’t moved since I stopped talking and he seemed to be
frozen in some state of extreme discomfort “Aj, it is over. It’s done. Look at
me”
“I…”
he attempted but nothing followed. His eyes met mine and I reached up my good
hand to caress his cheek. He leaned into it and then broke down “I’m so sorry”
“Stop,
there was nothing you could have done. It’s over .It’s all over now” I repeated
stroking Aj’s hair as he cried into my shoulder. Aj’s sobbing seemed to snap
everyone else out of their dazes and soon everyone was there around Aj and I,
hugging and crying.
“It’s
going to be ok” Aj said after a few minutes when he had cried himself out “I
just needed to get it out”
“I
know my love. I know” I said kissing his hand. The door opened and everyone
jumped
“Sorry,
it’s me, I have Josh” Howie said quietly before stepping aside and letting in
that wonderfully floppy head of brown hair.
“Hey
stranger” I said holding out my good hand to him “Or I guess I should say hero”
“None
of that” Josh said with a half smile as he took in my injuries and then sent a
worried glance to where Aj was standing
“Josh”
Aj started taking a deep breath “I was a complete douche”
“Sure
were” Josh said simply and everyone, being so tense to begin with, started to
laugh. Soon we were all laughing, laughing so hard we were crying, tears of
happiness mixing with the tears of anguish on our faces.
“Seriously,
I’m sorry for how I acted. Thank you so much for what you did for Kat. You
saved her and for that we will be forever grateful” Aj said once we had all
calmed down a bit. He held out his hand to Josh who took it and then pulled him
into a hug
“Alright,
my turn” I said urging Josh towards me so I could hug him too. When he was
close I tilted my head to his ear and whispered to him “You saved my life. You
are incredible”
“I
just answered the phone” He said softly but I could tell something had eased
his anxiety a bit “I’m just glad you’re awake and ok”
“I
am both of those things. Ok. Time to get down to business” I said once Josh had
stood up. I kept a hold of his hand though, not willing to let my hero leave me
just yet
“My
sister, ever the task master” Mollee joked and I narrowed my eyes at her
“I
don’t know how you all managed to get back to the west coast” I started
indicating Josh, Brian and Howie “But it’s time for you to go home”
“I
can stay” Howie started “Leigh understands”
“Me
too. My Leigh too” Brian jumped in
“Your
wives and children have been without you for weeks. You’ve been across the
world and on top of everything they will want you close when you update them on
what happened with me. Tragedy does that to people so not a word from any of
you. Get over here and give me a hug and then out you go. Get a flight and get
some sleep” I said with authority
“I
love you” Howie said being the first to follow orders and give me as a big of a
hug as he could with my ribs “I am bringing James and Leigh to LA as soon as I
can to check on you. And I’m calling you when I land. Be good and listen to the
doctors”
“You
are a jerk for making me leave” Brian started “But I really do want to take
Leighanne and Bailey and hold them tight”
“That
is precisely what you should do then” I said giving him a big hug before
turning to Josh “As for you, you have done enough for me. You need to go home.
Make sure Tampa is the same”
“Do
I have to?” He asked quietly
“Yes”
I answered strongly and he let out a small laugh that didn’t reach his eyes.
His eyes shifted to the floor so I pulled him close to me “Are you going to be
ok?”
“Yeah,
I just… the last thing I heard was you scream. I’ve never heard anything like
that” He whispered shaking his head
“Oh
Josh” I said as a swell of pity rose like a wave in my chest. My hero was had
not been given a medal for his actions. Instead he now had something terrible
he would never be able to let go. I wrapped my good arm around him and he
hugged me carefully, letting small sobs escape into my shoulder
“Josh”
Mollee said with her maternal instinct on high as she came forward and eased her
way into our hug “You are going to be ok. We are all going to be ok”
“I’m
sorry. I just never want to hear anyone in that much pain. Especially not
someone I love” He said straightening up and wiping his eyes. I felt Aj bristle
a little next to me at the declaration of love but he shook himself and came
forward, placing his hand on Josh’s back
“I’m
so glad you got that call. Kat is so lucky to have someone in her life that
cares about her so much and can keep his head in a stressful situation. We are
all so lucky to have you as a friend” Aj said and I watched as a smile spread
across Josh’s face. It bounced from his lips to mine as my heart warmed
watching two men I loved showing respect and care for one another. Pride rolled
through me as I watched Aj let his jealousy go in favor of friendship.
“I’m
going to be ok Josh. But you should go. Go home and hug your parents and
friends. Aj and Mollee and I will make sure to keep you updated on everything”
I said squeezing Josh’s hand tightly
“Yeah,
I guess I should get home. It will feel good to hug my mom” Josh admitted
“Good.
Watch out for each other you three. We’ll keep you updated on things here” I
said as the three of them slowly walked to the door with many backwards
glances. When the door shut I turned my attention to Nick and Mollee.
“I
think we’re in trouble” Nick mumbled with a smirk
“You”
I started pointing to Nick “Need to take her to your place and get her to
sleep”
“If
you think for one second that I’m going to leave you here alone” Mollee started
“You
see, it won’t be an easy job” I said to Nick who laughed and took her by the
hand
“She
won’t be alone. She’ll be with Aj. Give them some time” Nick attempted
“She
is my sister. I almost lost her” She said with new tears streaming down her
cheeks. Nick looked helplessly at me
“Mollee
come here” I said pulling her to my side and looking into her eyes “I’m here.
I’m ok. The thing that will make me feel the best is knowing you’ve had a
chance to sleep. And eat. And shower”
“I
don’t want to leave you” She said tearfully
“I
know, but you smell” I joked and she let out a little laugh “It’ll only be for
a few hours. Just take a second and refuel yourself. I promise as soon as you
wake up and you’ve been fed and bathed Nick will happily bring you back. I’ll
be here. I’m hooked up to machines. I literally cannot leave”
“Will
you text me if the doctors say anything?” Mollee asked Aj
“Of
course, we’re a team in this” Aj assured her. Mollee took a deep breath and
then let go of my shoulder that she had been holding onto for dear life
“I
love you” She said quietly as Nick steered her towards the door
“I
love you more. You too Nick” I said and Nick nodded before getting Mollee out
and shutting the door. A moment of silence graced the room and I turned to Aj
“Good
luck trying to get me to leave” He said with a small smile
“Good
luck trying to get out of here without me. I need you here. I’m trying to
figure out how to get you in this bed with me so we can both get some rest” I
said grabbing his hand and squeezing
“I
think we can figure something out” Aj said through a yawn. After some careful
shifting he managed to squeeze next to me and drape his arm lightly across my
chest where it wouldn’t harm my arm cast or my ribs. I looked at him, suddenly
aware that we were finally alone, and moved in close so that my nose was
touching his as I gazed into his eyes
“Are
you going to be ok?” I whispered
“I
will if you will” He whispered back
“Good”
I said confidently and with that we both drifted to sleep.
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