Love

by Lacey Weatherford

  Cursing, I realized I’d left my phone on the kitchen table. Cami’s should still be in her pocket, but first I had to get her to safety. Hopefully, whoever was shooting couldn’t see us anymore, either.

  I slid the gun into my pants and bent to gather Cami in my arms, she was a dead weight, her head rolling back and her arms flopping out to the sides. Carrying her to the back door, I scrambled to turn the knob with my wet hands, finally swinging it open. I waited for a second to see if anyone would fire at us before dashing out into the pelting rain. Across the backyard, past the patio, I ran straight into the woods for cover. The truck was parked out front where the shots had been fired. There was no way I would risk going to it. There was only one other alternative I could think of, and that was to try and call for help, then see if I could make it the distance to Mark’s grandfather’s land.

  Slipping and sliding, I scurried my way down the hill, trying my best to stay upright. Reaching an outcropping of rocks, I sat down and scooted against them, holding Cami in my lap. Digging in her pocket I found her cell phone. Trying to shield it from the water, I hit the speed dial that would go to Chris. He answered on the second ring.

  “Cami?” he asked, sounding concerned.

  “It’s Dylan,” I huffed out, my voice shaking. “They shot her Chris! They shot her! I need help! Get an ambulance and the police here, now!”

  “Where are you?” he asked. I could hear him talking to someone else.

  “In the woods behind the house,” I panted. “It’s raining really bad, but it was the only direction I could go. The keys are in the house still. I’m on foot carrying her. I’m afraid they’ll try to follow us.”

  “Is there anywhere you can go?” he asked.

  “There’s another farm about a mile and a half from here. I’m heading in that direction. I need to go, Chris. She can’t wait. She’s unconscious and I’m afraid she’s losing too much blood.”

  “There’s tracking on your phone. I made sure of it. Check and make sure your location app is on.” My hands shook as I did what he asked, fearing that the phone was going to get damaged and die on us.

  “It is.” A burst of lightning made me jump, illuminating the dark stain spreading across Cami’s white shirt.

  “Keep moving. The police are on their way and they’re dispatching an ambulance and a helicopter to your location, but the helicopter is coming from Show Low, so it’s going to take a bit for it to get to you. You need to get as far away as possible from the house. The medical teams won’t be able to come in until the scene is cleared for them to arrive.”

  “She doesn’t have that much time, Chris.” A sob escaped me and I could feel my tears mixing in with the rivulets of water running down my face.

  “Get going. I’ll get help to you, I promise. Be careful.”

  I slipped the phone into my front pocket, before pulling my shirt off and tearing it into strips. Tying them together, I wrapped them around Cami’s stomach, hoping I was doing something to help staunch the blood flow. Crawling to my knees, I picked her up again, wishing I could toss her over my shoulder in a fireman’s carry, but her pregnant belly wouldn’t allow for that. I continued on, in what I hoped was the right direction, working my way down the hill toward the stream and the meadow.

  Falling in the mud, my knee slammed into a rock and I winced, sliding about some more before slipping on my butt a good part of the way down the hill. It wasn’t a comfortable ride, but I managed to hang on to Cami. I didn’t think I was too far away from the stream now. Lifting her again, I stood and hurried forward. Another flash of light revealed the water rushing by. The storm had obviously raised the water level and what used to be a smooth babbling brook suddenly appeared much more treacherous.

  “Damn it!” I cursed, panting as I tried to figured out what to do. Gently, I laid Cami on the ground, digging the phone out of my front pocket again, relieved to find it still working.” Chris answered immediately.

  “I’m at the base of the hill by the stream,” I gasped out. “It’s risen significantly though, and it’s moving pretty fast. I don’t know if I can cross it and hold on to her, too.”

  “We’ve got you up on the maps. According to this, if you keep to your left and follow the stream, it will take you back toward the highway.

  “There’s a slope from the house to the meadow in that direction,” I replied. “If anyone was out looking for us they’d be in that direction.”

  “The sheriff’s department is near your location, now, if we can get you to a road to meet them. Ambulance is coming fast behind them. You’ve got to try to get to the road. Do you have your gun?”

  “I do. Leaving now.” I put the phone back into my pocket and leaned over Cami.

  “Cami!” I shouted, shaking her. “Wake up, honey! I need you to wake up!” Nothing. Reaching to her neck, I felt her pulse beating, but it was faint. The clock was clicking down rapidly. Not wanting to waste anymore time, I gathered her in my arms again, moving as fast as I could along the edge of the stream. Thankfully the sounds of the water and the storm would be enough to muffle any sound I was making. I couldn’t see a thing, except for when the lightning flashed briefly. Stumbling through brush and thick stands of trees, I could feel my skin ripping as branches tore at me. Fatigue was quickly spreading though me and I could feel my arms and legs trembling as I struggled to remain upright. Fire seemed to spread through my lungs with each breath I took. I felt like I’d swallowed a gallon of water and my eyes were stinging from trying to see through the rain.

  None of that mattered. I had to get Cami to safety. She’d been unconscious the entire time and I was praying for Divine intervention with every step.

  Wanting to weep with delight when I saw the several pairs of code lights flashing in the distance, I noticed the bobbing of flashlights as people ran in my direction. I heard the low flying chopper the moment before the searchlight illuminated me in its brilliant glow. It seemed like hours had passed, but suddenly there were officers everywhere. Two men quickly took Cami from me, carrying her off. I fell to my knees in exhaustion, gasping for breath, as I watched them moving with her toward the waiting vehicles. Strong arms grasped me on each side, lifting me back to my feet and two officers slid under my arms, attempting to help me along. I did my best to run and keep up with them, my eyes never leaving the men that carried Cami.

  “He’s injured, too,” I heard the officer at my left side call out to the ambulance crew. A medic turned and I saw it was Mark, his eyes wide in horror.

  “Don’t worry about me. Take care of Cami,” I gasped out. “She’s my wife.”

  “The helicopter is going to land in the staging area just down the road,” another officer barked out. “They want to know if this is going to be a hot load?”

  “Yes, it’s a hot load. She’s in bad shape. Tell them to get ready for two patients. One on a backboard and one in the jump seat.”

  I couldn’t stop the sobs that wracked my body as I watched them put her on a gurney and put her into the back of the ambulance to get her out of the rain.

  “Start up two large bore IV’s with blood tubing,” Mark shouted to Jake as he started hooking her up to the heart monitor. “We need to get some fluid in her and get her pressure up. How far along is she?” he called to me.

  “Six and a half months,” I managed to choke out. “She’s twenty years old.”

  I started shivering hardcore, recognizing the signs of what was happening to me. “I think I’m going into shock,” I mumbled, feeling my vision sway before me.

  “Take him to the front seat,” one of the officers shouted. “And get this rig turned around and head for the chopper. We don’t have time to waste!” I was shuttled to the front of the ambulance and helped inside. Slumping against the seat, I heard all the doors start slamming as another officer climbed into the driver’s seat. Making a U-turn we headed down the road to the waiting chopper, it’s blades whirling in the air.

  Another Sheriff signaled for us to s
top and the flight crew jumped out and ducked, running toward us. I could hear Mark shouting out vitals and information to two crewmembers, as the sheriff and another medic helped me out and began shuttling me toward it. The heavy sound of the blades whipped loudly through the air as we approached. The medic jumped on-board and pulled me inside, helping to seat and buckle me into the harness. “Are you hurt anywhere else besides your arm?” he asked loudly. I shook my head, glancing down and seeing that the wound was deeper than I’d originally thought. He started wrapping some gauze around it, but I didn’t care; my gaze drifting, instead, to the gurney that was being rolled toward me. Cami had been intubated and was being bagged. I couldn’t stop the gurgle that rippled through my throat, and I felt like I was going to strangle on the spot. She was slid on a backboard into the gurney spot and locked into place. The other two medics hopped in after her and the doors were closed.

  “Where we headed?” the pilot called over his shoulder. “Are we bypassing Show Low to go to Flagstaff?”

  “She won’t make it to Flagstaff,” the medic replied, and my I felt my body convulse in a shiver. “We need to go to Show Low and get her stabilized.”

  “Roger,” the pilot responded, picking up his radio. “Dispatch, Eagle One headed to Summit Regional with level one trauma and second patient on board.”

  “Copy Eagle One, en route to Summit Regional with level one trauma. Twenty-one thirty-two,” the dispatcher’s voice came back using the military time.

  The medic leaning over Cami slipped his headset on. Another headset was gently placed on me. I heard a voice crackle through the radio as the chopper powered up, lifting off the ground into the air, leaving the mass of swirling code lights behind. “Eagle One, requesting patch through to Summit Regional,” he said.

  “Copy Eagle One, patching through to Summit Regional.” A few seconds passed and then the radio crackled, again.

  “This is Summit Regional. Dr. Gunter speaking.”

  “Summit Regional, this is Eagle One. We’re flying into your facility with two gunshot wounds. Patient one is a level one trauma, gunshot wound to the abdomen on a twenty-year-old female approximately twenty-seven weeks pregnant. Patient is intubated with large bore IVs times two with blood tubing. Acquiring vitals at this time. Patient two is a,” he paused, glancing at me.

  “Twenty-four,” I said, my teeth chattering. I couldn’t control myself.

  “Twenty-four year old male,” he continued, “with a gunshot wound to the left lateral arm. We have an estimate time of arrival of twenty-five minutes.”

  My heart stopped and I could barely breathe. Twenty-five minutes. I didn’t think Cami had that long.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Dylan-

  X-rays of my knee hadn’t shown anything and the wound to my arm had been cleaned and stitched. I’d been given an IV, but refused any pain meds. I didn’t want to be sedated while Cami was in surgery.

  After being treated and released, I sat in the surgery waiting room, waiting for news. Now, dressed in the pair of scrubs I’d been given, I stared at the bruises and scratches on my arms as I leaned against my knees. Every few minutes, I glanced up at the clock, sure that another hour had passed. Time seemed to be moving at a snail’s pace, each second slipping slowly by. She’d been in there forever.

  A door opened and I was surprised to see Chris enter. I stood to greet him. Wrapping his arms around me, he hugged me tightly. “I’m so sorry, Dylan.”

  “Don’t be. If it wasn’t for you . . . .” Letting the sentence trail off, I couldn’t say anymore, fearing the news that was still to come. He released me and we both sat down. “How’d you get here so fast?”

  “I managed to snag a helicopter of my own. Your parents and Sheridan are catching a fixed wing flight, probably as we speak, and Cami’s are trying to get here, as well. I didn’t want you here alone, since we still don’t know who’s behind this. Did the police come to get a statement?”

  “Yeah, while I was in the ER.” I glanced at the clock, again. Every minute that ticked away seemed to take a piece of my soul with it. I knew the longer she was in there, the worse things were. “What’s taking so long?” I asked in frustration.

  “Take it as an encouraging sign. It means they’re still working on her, right?”

  At that exact moment, the door opened and a doctor in surgical gear stepped through. “Mr. Wilcock?” he asked, looking straight at me.

  I stood. “Yes?” My heart was beating a million miles a minute and I briefly wondered if this was what it was like to wait for execution.

  “I’m Doctor Talley. I performed the surgery on your wife. She’s in recovery, now.” I felt faint, relief seeping through my limbs. She was still alive. “I’m not going to mince things,” he continued. “She’s not doing well.” My relief was short lived. “She coded once on the table and we had to revive her. She was right on the brink, due to the significant amount of blood she lost into her abdomen. We’ve had to give her quite a large transfusion to replace it, but the bullet has been retrieved and the area repaired.”

  “And the baby?” I asked, still reeling from the fact Cami had coded.

  The surgeon shook his head. “I’m really sorry, but the baby’s umbilical cord and placenta suffered trauma from the bullet. We weren’t able to save him. He died in the womb and we had to perform a C-section on your wife.”

  Raising my hand to my mouth, I attempted to calm the overwhelming grief, but I was unable to stop the choked cry that escaped. My body shuddered as tears ran down my face. Chris put his arms around my shoulders, squeezing me tightly for support.

  “Does Cami know?” I managed to ask.

  He shook his head. “She’s not awake, yet. We’re keeping her sedated to try and let her body recover a little from the shock it’s been through. I’ll send someone out to get you in a few minutes, after they get her situated.” He paused, staring at me sympathetically. “I feel the need to warn you. She’s not out of the woods, yet. I’ll be having her admitted to the surgical intensive care unit after recovery. We’ll see how things go in the next day or so and reevaluate, as needed, from there.”

  I nodded. “Okay. Thank you for your help.”

  He shook my hand. “Sorry we had to meet under these circumstances.”

  “Me, too,” I replied. I stood there numbly, staring at the door as he disappeared through it, trying to process everything I’d been told. “If she makes it through this, Chris, losing that baby is going to kill her. I don’t know how she’ll overcome it. Hell, I don’t know how I’m going to overcome it.”

  “We’ll just take things one day at a time, okay? Small steps until we can work our way back up the ladder.”

  Anger suddenly coursed through me. “I can’t lose her. I want you to find the bastard that did this to her and string him up by his balls. Do you hear me? I mean it. I want whoever’s responsible for this to pay, just like she’s having to pay.”

  “Hey. Hey, Dylan.” He grabbed me by both shoulders, staring me straight in the eyes. “I don’t want you worrying about any of this. I promise you, I’ll see that it gets taken care of. And as far as Cami, we’ll get an officer stationed outside her door and anyone who doesn’t have clearance won’t be given access to her, okay? We’re gonna get to the bottom of this. I swear it.”

  “You won’t need an officer,” I growled. “I’m not leaving her side for a minute until the perpetrator is caught.”

  “You’re too close to the situation. Come on, man. Take a deep breath. Let the police do their job.”

  “Because that’s worked so well for us?” I saw the hurt in his eyes and felt bad; knowing he’d take the blame, personally, for what happened. But I couldn’t deal with that right now.

  A nurse appeared in the doorway and my attention snapped in her direction. “Mr. Wilcock? If you’d like to follow me, I’ll take you to see your wife, now.” She glanced at Chris. “I’m sorry, but we only allow once person back at a time.”

  “No wo
rries.” He patted me on the shoulder. “Go see Cami. I’ll take care of everything on my end.”

  I nodded, leaving him to follow the nurse down the sterile looking hallway. She led me through a swinging door into an area that had a bed sectioned off with a curtain. Stepping behind the curtain, I froze, hardly recognizing Cami. Her hair was tucked up in a surgical cap and her face looked gaunt, and sallow. Several bandages were on her arms, covering cuts from the window glass. She was still hooked up to a ventilator, and listening to the sound of it breathing for her made ice creep into my veins. Wires and tubing were running all over her. I didn’t even know where I could touch her without disturbing something. Glancing to her stomach area, I could tell it was obviously flatter, and intense pain stabbed me in the heart, making it all real.

  Moving to the bed, I leaned down next to her ear. Placing my hand on her covered head, my thumb drifted to lightly stroke her forehead. “Cami,” I whispered hoarsely. “Cami, honey. I’m so sorry I didn’t protect you well enough. Please, I beg you, don’t leave me. Give me another chance.” The knot was back in my throat and my tears fell onto the bed. “I can’t live without you.”

  The only reply was the beep and sound of the machines she was attached to, but I didn’t care. Standing beside her, I continued to stroke her forehead, occasionally bending to kiss her there, as well. I didn’t want to ever leave her side. I didn’t even want to sleep, because it meant I wouldn’t be able to look at her.

  “Mr. Wilcock?” I turned to find the nurse standing beside the curtain. “Can I speak with you over here for a moment? I need to ask you a few questions.”

  Reluctantly, I moved away from Cami, following after the nurse as she led me toward the big desk in the middle of the room. “I’m sorry to pull you away from your wife, I know you want to be with her right now. I’m just always reluctant to speak about certain things in front of the patient. You never know what they might hear.”

  “Okay.” I had to admit, she had me a little on the nervous side. I didn’t know if I could take any more bad news tonight.