The Shooting

by Chris Taylor

  “Mm, mm.” She tried to speak over the tube, but the effort was far too great. Her heart hammered against the strain.

  “Oh, my goodness, she’s waking up! Lily’s waking up!”

  Lily frowned at Marguerite’s joy-filled words. Her mother-in-law sounded like it was nothing short of a miracle.

  Why wouldn’t she wake up? Just how long had she been asleep? Had they thought she was going to die? The questions came at her fast and furious until she squeezed her eyes shut to block them out. A moment later, a man spoke in a voice she didn’t recognize.

  “Lily, can you hear me? It’s Doctor Reeves. Nod, if you can hear me.”

  She nodded and was rewarded with a cry of relief that came from Marguerite’s direction. Lily opened her eyes again and looked around for her husband.

  “Tom?” she managed in a voice so hoarse she tried to clear her throat.

  “He’s here…in the hospital,” Marguerite replied a little hesitantly. “I’ll call Brandon. He can pass the news onto Tom and let him know you’re awake. Tom will be beyond thrilled and excited. Everyone will be. I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to have you back with us.”

  Lily tried hard to concentrate on her mother-in-law’s words, but they were confusing and made no sense. If Tom were here in the hospital, why would she call Brandon? Had something happened to Tom’s phone? She thought about it a moment and then decided it must be that. Nothing else made sense.

  She opened her mouth to make another attempt at conversation, but was scolded by the doctor.

  “Save your energy, Lily and don’t try to speak. You have a tube down your throat that will make it nearly impossible. The tube has been helping you breathe, but we don’t need it any longer. Now that you’re conscious, we can get rid of half this stuff that’s been crowding up your bedside.”

  He offered her a reassuring smile that softened the hard planes of his face. He was probably a little younger than she was, but fatigue and countless long and stressful hours had aged him. Not that it mattered what he looked like. All that mattered was that he’d managed to save her life.

  Marguerite patted Lily’s hand and murmured something about going outside to make some phone calls. A few minutes later and doing her best not to gag, the breathing tube was removed and Lily got a chance to speak.

  “Th-thank you, Doctor Reeves. I-I appreciate everything you’ve done.”

  He smiled and accepted her thanks, graciously. “Call me Matthew. We don’t stand on formalities around here.”

  She smiled back at him and then lifted her arm still connected to the IV. “What about this? When can it come out? I hate needles.”

  Matthew grinned. “You’ll have to wait a little longer for that one. Besides, the needle’s removed right after it’s been inserted. All you have in your arm is a thin plastic tube. If you continue to improve, we’ll move you out of the ICU and onto a ward, but the IV will have to stay in as a precaution. It appears we’re no longer in danger of losing you, but you still have a long road to recovery.”

  His expression turned serious. “Bullet wounds are often slow to heal and yours caused considerable trouble as it passed on its way through. Give your body the time it needs and before you know it, you’ll be as good as new.”

  Lily held his gaze a moment longer and then slowly turned away. She’d been shot by a pupil in her class. A boy who was all of eleven. The shock of what had happened washed over her again. If there was one thing she was certain, she’d never feel new again. The thought was beyond depressing. She swallowed a sigh. She wanted Tom. She needed Tom. Whatever could be keeping him?

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Seventeen years earlier

  From his position on his battered couch, Tom stared at the phone in his hand and cursed softly under his breath. The afternoon was as good as done and soon it would be nightfall. It had been a whole week since he’d seen Lily and he was just as confused as ever.

  One minute, he wanted to push thrust aside her deception and just welcome her back with open arms. The next, he wanted to strangle her for keeping something so important from him and not loving him enough or not trusting him to make things right. No matter how many times the thoughts chased themselves around inside his head, he still didn’t understand it.

  Why hadn’t she simply told him she was pregnant? Okay, a baby hadn’t been in their plans—at least, not in the immediate future—but they loved each other. They’d get married because that’s the way it had to be and they’d live happily ever after. What was wrong with that?

  It appeared Lily had seen things differently. In fact, if he hadn’t run into her at the school, he might never have known. Had she been planning to tell him at any stage that they’d made a baby? The fact that he didn’t know the answer was deeply troubling.

  Perhaps she didn’t love him in the way that he loved her? Perhaps she loved him, but loved him for now. Perhaps she didn’t think her love would last a lifetime? There were so many questions left unanswered. The turmoil was turning his life upside down.

  Ever since he’d discovered she was going to have his baby, he’d been at odds with the entire world. His lack of sleep had him tired and irritable and he was embarrassed to admit his colleagues had borne the brunt of it.

  He snapped at the slightest thing. He couldn’t concentrate enough to conduct even the most basic of interviews in a halfway competent fashion and he had half-finished reports piled up all over his desk. His professional life was beginning to mirror his personal life and Tom didn’t like that one bit. He’d always relished the fact that he could control all facets of his life with relative ease. Each part compartmentalized, separated one from the other. The discovery he was about to be a father was doing his head in.

  It wasn’t the thought of being a dad that tortured him. It was the fact that the baby’s mother had kept it from him. It would never occur to him to keep the existence of a baby from the woman that he loved. Okay, so he hadn’t told her about the broken condom and he still felt a measure of guilt over that, but as far as he knew, it hadn’t been an issue. They were together a couple of months. He assumed the malfunction hadn’t resulted in anything but a little stress on his part.

  Thinking back, he’d given cursory thought to whether or not she’d had a period during their time together, but the fact was, they hadn’t slept together regularly enough for him to know for sure. He’d done a stint of night shifts for a week during both months and had barely seen her during that time.

  He’d relied on the fact that she’d tell him if she was pregnant, particularly given he’d put the very question to her. Maybe it was stupid and looking back, it was definitely naïve, but that was the truth of it. He couldn’t imagine keeping the existence of a baby from its father. Lily had done just that and it infuriated him.

  With another curse, he scrolled through his contacts and found the number he was after. To his relief, it was answered after the second ring.

  “Dad, it’s Tom. How are you doing?”

  “Tom. Good to hear from you, son. How’s the city treating you?”

  “Yeah, you know, busy. There’s no shortage of criminals around here, although, I must admit, since moving to the north shore, things have quietened down a bit. Or maybe I should say the focus has changed. Not so many callouts to scenes of violence, but plenty of drug-related crime.”

  “Well, I’m proud of you son, for being willing to put your life on the line to keep the rest of us safe. Now, what’s really going on?”

  Tom bit back a smile at his father’s bluntness. As the first-born son, he and his dad had always been close. Duncan, his father, knew him better than anyone.

  “Why do you say that?” Tom countered, not quite ready to spill his guts.

  “It’s six o’clock on a Friday night. No single, young man calls his father at that time of the day unless something’s wrong. If everything was all right you’d be down at the pub having a few beers with your mates.”

  This time, Tom let the smile t
ake over his face and immediately felt better. He’d made the right decision to call his dad. Now he just had to find the courage to talk to him about what had happened. He cleared his throat of a sudden rush of nerves.

  “You’re right, Dad. I…I need your advice.”

  “Sure, son. What’s the problem?”

  His father’s easy attitude relieved a little more of Tom’s tension and he drew in a deep breath and eased it out. He hadn’t told his family about Lily. They’d only been together a couple of months. They were still in the getting-to-know-each-other stage when she’d called it quits. At the time, he’d been grateful he hadn’t mentioned her to his family. It meant he hadn’t had to endure the embarrassment of telling them it was over.

  Now, he wanted to tell his dad everything and he wanted his opinion, maybe, his advice. Tom was going to be a father any day and he wasn’t even on speaking terms with the baby’s mother. It was time to come clean.

  “It’s about this girl called Lily.”

  “Ah, somehow I guessed it was going to involve matters of the heart.”

  “Yeah, well, I don’t know about that. We’re no longer together, but…I ran into her a week ago and she’s… She’s pregnant. We split up more than seven months ago, but she tells me the baby’s mine.”

  There was a pause before his father responded. “Do you believe her?”

  “Yes, Dad. I do.”

  “Because you can always get a DNA test after the baby’s born.”

  “No, I believe her. At least, I think I do. There was a hole in the condom and—” Tom’s face flamed, but he forced himself to continue. “Anyway, the timing works out. The thing is, I thought I knew everything there was to know about her. She was the most honest and genuine person I’d ever met. I would have trusted her with my life. Now…I’m not sure that I’ll ever trust her again.”

  “That’s understandable, Tom. Keeping a pregnancy from the baby’s father is way up there on the scale of deceit.”

  “Yeah, you can say that again. It’s why I’m so damned mad at her. Why didn’t she tell me? I loved her. I told her over and over again. I might not have mentioned the word marriage, but she sure as hell knew how I felt. A baby wasn’t in our immediate plans—hell, I’m only twenty-two and she’s in her second year of college—but it wouldn’t have been the end of the world. We could have gotten married long before she started showing. Now, it’s all too late.”

  “Have you asked her why she kept it from you?”

  “Yes! No! Hell, I don’t know. I don’t know what I said. I was shocked to discover she was pregnant and hadn’t told me. I-I got angry and shouted at her and then I kind of stormed off. The only thing I remember her telling me was that she was sorry, whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean. That was a week ago, I haven’t heard from her since.”

  “Do you still love her?”

  “Of course I do! My life’s been shit these last seven months. Just ask the people I work with. Even the boss had a word with me the other week about my short fuse. He’s concerned it’s delayed shock to something I’ve witnessed on the job.” Tom’s bark of laughter was humourless. “Ha! Work-related. I wish it was that easy. Work’s the least of my worries.”

  Duncan Munro was silent for a moment and then spoke again. “You say you still love your Lily. I take it then that her deception isn’t unforgivable?”

  Tom opened his mouth instinctively to voice a protest and then closed it again. Could he forgive Lily for not telling him? Did her dishonesty matter that much? Or was his dad right? Did he love her enough to find a way to work beyond it?

  “I…I guess so, Dad. If I’m honest, I’m more hurt than angry. I thought we had something really special. I thought she felt the same way. Finding out that she kept the baby from me is a huge shock. It feels like she didn’t really care for me at all. What kind of person keeps something like that from the one they love?”

  Tom’s voice hitched on emotion and he struggled against the lump that had lodged in his throat. Even a week later, the knowledge of Lily’s deceit still choked him up.

  “It’s all right, son.”

  Duncan’s gentle tones soothed Tom over the phone. He dragged in a ragged breath and blew it out slowly.

  “You have every right to feel angry and hurt,” his dad continued. “You’re the father of her baby. You have a right to know. I understand exactly how you feel and I’m behind you all the way, but I know you as well as I know myself, Tom. You wouldn’t have fallen in love with just anybody and for you to still be in love with her and be prepared to forgive her tells me a lot about the kind of person she is.”

  Tom heard his father draw in another breath before continuing.

  “She must be someone very special to bring out so much loyalty in you. You don’t give your heart easily. You’ve always had standards that shoot up to the sky. She didn’t do the right thing by keeping the news from you, but…perhaps she had her reasons? I think you owe it to her to let her explain.”

  “But, Dad—”

  “Relationships don’t follow a nice even path, son and the road to true love is often plagued with potholes. If you believe in your heart you can forgive her and still love her with everything that you are, you need to talk to her. She must have reasons why she kept the baby from you and if I had to guess, I’d bet those reasons are good.”

  Duncan paused. “Everyone has baggage, Tom and not everyone believes in love at first sight. It was like that between me and your mother. I fell head over heels the moment I saw her, but let me tell you, she took a little more convincing.” He chuckled and Tom’s lips tugged upwards in a smile. “Perhaps your Lily is the same?”

  The question didn’t require an answer and Tom didn’t reply. Instead, he thought about what his dad had said and conceded it made sense. Lily had never struck him as the kind of girl who would be flippant with his feelings and she’d been more than upfront about the fact that her childhood had been less than ideal.

  Perhaps there was something there that had caused her to keep the news to herself? Did he love her enough to want to find out?

  Tom swallowed a sigh and quietly thanked his dad for his advice. After asking after his mom and with a promise to call again soon, he ended the call. He didn’t know why Lily had deceived him, but he owed it to both of them and their unborn child to find out.

  * * *

  Lily pressed a hand to her bulging belly and hoisted herself up the last stair. When she moved into the apartment with David more than a year ago, the two flights of stairs to get to their front door hadn’t bothered her, but now, due to give birth in a fortnight, the effort it took to climb them was taking its toll.

  Digging into her handbag for her keys, she unlocked the door and struggled into the hall. Setting her bags down on the kitchen counter, she breathed a sigh of relief. Some last-minute purchases for the baby had taken her out to the mall and despite the crisp winter temperatures, she was sweating beneath her clothes.

  It was Friday evening and, had circumstances been different, she would be out having fun with her friends, or even Tom. At the thought of him she sighed in resignation and braced herself against the stab of pain. She was too tired to do battle with her conscience. Besides, hadn’t she convinced herself that there was no use walking down that path?

  The thought of spending time home alone with her feet up on the couch watching movies was comforting and too inviting to ignore. She’d shower and change into her pajamas and order in takeaway Chinese. It sounded perfect.

  She headed into her bedroom and started stripping off her clothes. David had gone away for the weekend, so she had the apartment to herself. As much as she loved sharing it with him, it was nice to be alone. For months, she’d kept up a brave face to him and to the rest of the world and it was a relief to give up the façade, if only for a little while.

  Running into Tom so unexpectedly had been a shock of mammoth proportions and her heart had reacted before she could stop it. Just the sight of him standing
strong and sexy and confident, surrounded by a roomful of children had melted her insides.

  Though she still believed her decision to keep the baby news from him had been made for good and solid reasons, those reasons had quickly crumbled the moment she saw him at the school. She recalled every nuance of him, his smile, his touch, his kisses and they proved to be no match for the defensive wall she’d erected around herself by not telling him the truth.

  Not that he’d exhibited any tender feelings at the school. In fact, his attitude toward her had been anything but friendly. Even now, the memory of his anger, the sound of his harsh words, sent an ache deep in her heart. She couldn’t help but wonder if he’d ever speak to her again.

  As if it was attuned to her thoughts, the baby inside her kicked hard against her ribs and she gasped from the impact.

  “Hey, there, little one, you don’t have to be like that. I might have made a mistake not telling him, but don’t worry, your daddy will come around. One look at you and he’ll soften like a marshmallow in the sun. Just you wait and see.”

  Lily cradled her belly in her arms and prayed a little desperately that what she said was true. She pulled off her sweater and T-shirt and unsnapped the top of her maternity jeans. Her belly protruded over the waistband. She still marveled at her body’s ability to swell and expand to protect her growing baby. It was a miracle all in itself.

  The sound of her phone ringing from where she’d left it in the kitchen elicited a frown. Not bothering to adjust her clothing, she walked into the other room and picked it up. She glanced at the Caller ID and her heart skipped a beat.

  Tom Munro.

  His name was typed across the screen, added to her contacts so many months ago. Her chest tightened with nerves that warred with elation. He was calling her. That had to be a good sign, right? As if in agreement, the baby kicked again and Lily smiled on a half sob before she forced a deep breath into her lungs. She didn’t want to sound overwrought and emotional when she answered the phone.