by Jenna Harte
“What’s going on here?”
Mitch swore inwardly as Julia’s voice broke the moment, causing Sydney to jerk away from him.
Julia glared at Sydney with accusing eyes. “You’re supposed to be meeting Patrick.”
Sydney wiped her tears. “I am.”
“Then why is he here? You said it was over with him. You always say it’s over and then you fall back in his bed.”
“That’s not what’s happening.”
“Why don’t you leave her alone?” Julia’s nostrils flared.
He started to reply when Julia pointed a .22 caliber pistol at him.
“Julia, what are you doing?” Sydney shot up and stood in front of him.
Mitch’s instincts had him jumping up and pushing Sydney behind him. Not that she’d stay there. She kept trying to get to Julia. He was in a tug-of-war as he figured out how to keep Sydney out of bullet range while disarming Julia.
Julia stepped back, out of his reach. “I’m doing what I should have done the first time. He only hurts you, Sydney. Why do you keep letting him? Patrick can give you everything.”
Mitch’s eyes and brain worked overtime. He scanned the area, discouraged by all the people and children who could be hurt if he handled it wrong.
“What are you talking about? Put the gun away. Julia, this is—” Sydney tried again to move forward.
“Do you see I’m trying to protect you?” Mitch pushed her back. He’d liked her newfound assertiveness, but now it scared him to death.
“It’s not me she wants to hurt.” Sydney pushed him.
“Not this time.” Mitch pushed her back.
Sydney stopped abruptly. Her gaze shot to his. Her mouth fell open. She turned to Julia. “You stabbed me. You tried to kill me.”
“I wasn’t trying to kill you. I was trying to make you see how good Patrick is. He took good care of you. He’s always there for you. We always said we’d be together. The three musketeers.”
The fight went out of Sydney, allowing Mitch to push her back behind him. “I’m not a threat to the three of you being together.”
“Yes, you are.” Her voice was matter-of-fact, but she waved the gun threateningly, and Mitch hoped to hell that she’d had enough training with it to not accidentally set it off.
He lifted his hands in surrender, unable to decide if the sudden calm in Julia’s voice was a good sign. “I’ll admit I came here hoping to have another chance, but she was telling me to take a hike. She doesn’t love me.”
“Yes, she does. She always has. And as long as you’re alive, she always will.”
How ironic that the words he wanted to hear — that Sydney loved him — came from the woman about to kill him.
“Even so, she’s not willing to risk it. Let her go.” Movement behind Julia caught his eye. Patrick. “Your brother is coming. Let him take Sydney away from here.”
“Of course I will. It’s you I’m getting rid of.”
“Julia, no.” Sydney escaped from his protection and made a grab for the gun, but Mitch held her back again.
“What’s going on?” Patrick’s expression turned from curious to alarmed the moment he saw the gun. “No, Julia. What are you doing?”
“I’m protecting my family.”
Bullets were fast, but Mitch had a nanosecond to realize Julia had fired the gun before the bullet pierced his chest. Even as he fell back, he tried to block Sydney. His head hit something… the park bench?… before he landed on the ground. Whatever he bashed his head against hadn’t been hard enough. He was going to be conscious during his death.
Fire burned in his chest. He could feel the blood and life draining from him.
“Mitch!” Sydney dropped to her knees beside him, pressing the handkerchief to his chest.
“Jesus, Juls, what did you do?” Patrick’s panicked voice cut through the fog.
“He won’t get in the way anymore.” Julia’s voice sounded calm, considering what she’d just done. “Is he dead?”
Mitch wasn’t afraid to die, but he wasn’t ready for it now. His best chance at avoiding getting shot again was to pretend he was dead. It shouldn’t be that hard. He was nearly there. He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing.
“Oh, God, Mitch. No, no, no, no…” Sydney wept over him, her hands pressed to his chest.
“Have you gone insane? Give me that!”
Mitch was sure only a few seconds had passed from when Julia shot him until Patrick made an attempt to get the gun, but it felt like an eternity.
“What were you thinking? Oh my God, Julia… I’m calling 911.”
“No, don’t,” Julia screeched. “He’s in the way.”
“I can’t believe you did this! Yes, I have an emergency.” Patrick rattled off their location in the park.
“Mitch.” Sydney kept her hands over his wound, jiggling him. “Come on, Mitch, wake up.”
Hoping Patrick was successful in wrangling the gun from Julia, he peeked an eye open.
“That’s right, Mitch. Stay with me.”
One look in her eyes told him it didn’t look good. She would know. She was a doctor. So there was only one thing left to do.
He reached for her hand, slick and warm from his blood.
“Syd.” His throat was dry and gritty, like sandpaper. His lungs burned with the need for air he couldn’t suck in.
“Don’t talk, Mitch. Save your strength.”
He squeezed her hand. “Syd. I love you.”
“Just lie still. Help is coming.”
She wasn’t paying attention. “I love you. I never stopped.”
Her tear-filled eyes gazed into his. “Oh, Mitch.”
“I messed up, but I’ve always loved you. Always.”
“Then fight.” She leaned over and pressed her lips gently against his. “Fight.”
He still hurt, but a sense of peace spread through him. She knew he loved her. Now he could go. He closed his eyes and let the darkness come.
Sydney sat in the hospital in a daze. Even as she replayed it in her mind, she couldn’t put what happened together in a way that made sense. Her best friend from childhood had stabbed her, stabbed Jenny, and shot Mitch. Yes, Julia had always been adamant the three of them stay together, but how could she commit murder to make it happen?
Julia’s actions brought home just how earth-shattering, life-altering, a betrayal could be. How could she not have seen how unhinged Julia was? No wonder Mitch had closed off the world. She didn’t know if she could have confidence to make the right decisions about people when one of the friends she trusted the most could commit such a heinous act.
And Mitch. Oh, God. She squeezed her eyes shut, as if it would rid her mind of the memory of him jerking and falling to the ground. The warmth of his blood as it oozed through her fingers, despite her attempt to stop it.
She remembered his memories of losing Brian. Of holding his best friend and not being able to do anything to save him. Her heart had broken for him as he spoke. Now she understood that torture. She knew the helplessness and hopelessness of holding someone as he waited to die. And the guilt. So much guilt. Because of her, he was fighting for his life.
“Syd, I love you.” His words echoing in her mind made the guilt even worse. Why hadn’t she told him she loved him back? What if he died without knowing she loved him too? She’d always loved him. She loved him even more now.
If he lived, and he still wanted a relationship, even just friendship, she’d give it to him. God, please let him live.
“Hey, you okay?” Patrick sat next to her in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs.
“I thought you’d be with Julia.” She didn’t hold it against him. Patrick and Julia were so close. She imagined he was feeling the same shock, maybe even worse. He was a psychiatrist and somehow hadn’t seen how disturbed his sister was.
“If he dies, Patrick…”
Patrick put his arm around her. “You’re getting ahead of yourself. I’ve called his family and they sh
ould be here any moment.”
“You called? God, I should have done that.”
“It was the least I could do. Julia has been arrested and will be given a psychiatric evaluation within the next few days.”
“How could she do this?”
He shook his head, leaned forward, and rested it between his hands. “I didn’t see it either, Sydney. I just didn’t see it.”
Sydney pressed a hand on his back.
“Maybe if I’d told her sooner about me…”
“What about you?”
He turned his head to look at her. “I’ve been seeing someone. Not for long, but I care about her. I hadn’t told Julia because you know how she is…” He paused. “The fact that I say that suggests there were signs and I ignored them.”
Sydney rubbed his back. “I’m glad you’re seeing someone.”
“What can I do for you? Do you want me to call your parents?” He straightened and scrubbed his hands down his face as if the gesture could rid the guilt and horror. She’d already tried that and knew it didn’t work.
“I don’t want to deal with them now. They’ll find out soon enough.”
“Are you sure? What else can I do?”
“Nothing, unless you can turn back time.” For a moment, she thought about what her life would have been if she’d ignored her parents and married Mitch when he returned from boot camp. But going there was simply an exercise in torment. That was the thing about life. One couldn’t ever really know what might have been. She only had now. And now she was in more pain than when she’d been stabbed.
“I’ll sit with you until his family arrives.”
“Thank you.”
When Mitch’s parents arrived, along with Lexie and Drake, there still wasn’t news about Mitch’s condition. He’d lost a lot of blood. The possibility the bullet had hit a vital organ was strong. But they prayed the doctors could fix him. You’re broken. Oh, God.
His family sat in the same waiting room, but Sydney had no right to join them. Mitch was fighting for his life because of her. So she stayed on her side with Patrick, until he left in the early hours of the next morning.
When the doctor came in and told them Mitch would survive, Sydney nearly fell to her knees. His parents were allowed to see him, but not her. She understood. She wasn’t family. Still, she held vigil. When he could see guests beyond his family, she’d be there.
“Doctor Preston?”
She looked up at Drake. “Under the circumstances, you should call me Sydney.”
“You’re exhausted. Let Lexie and me take you home.”
Sydney shook her head. “No. I can’t go until I see him.”
Drake sat next to her. “It will be a while. Besides, you look terrible. It won’t do him good to see you like this.”
“What do you mean a while?”
Drake took her hands. “His parents are worried… because of the situation… you might put him in danger.”
“But Julia has been arrested.” Her words didn’t have much oomph behind them. In reality, she was too tired to fight and couldn’t blame them. She’d brought nothing but pain and violence to Charlotte Tavern.
Mitch’s parents entered the room. His mother was crying, but her softened expression suggested they were tears of relief. “He said, ‘Mom.’”
“And then he was out like a light. He always was a deep sleeper.” Mitch’s father had his arm around his wife and pulled her closer. It made Sydney think about what Mitch had told her about his parents’ love that first night in his home.
“Why don’t we take you to the apartment?” Drake stood.
“Oh, I can’t leave.” Mitch’s mother fluttered her hands.
“Mom. You need your rest,” Lexie said.
“I’m not leaving. They said I can stay with him.”
“Let me get her situated and then you can take me to get some rest,” Mitch’s father said.
“When can I see him?” Lexie’s tear-filled green eyes, so like Mitch’s, demanded more than asked.
“Why don’t you go back with your mom? They’re setting up a chair or bed or something for her to stay. You can only visit for a minute. Only your mom can stay the night,” Mitch’s father said.
Drake turned to Sydney. “Let us take you too.”
She shook her head. “I’ll make my own way, but thank you.”
Sydney didn’t make her way home. When she was too tired to keep her eyes open, she found a doctor she knew at the hospital and asked for a cot used by on-duty doctors when they pulled long shifts. She slept a few hours until the sun peeked around the edges of the dark drapes and then got up and made her way to the restroom. Drake was right. She looked terrible. She washed her face and ran her fingers through her hair. Then she headed to the ICU, where she was told Mitch was stable, but no, she couldn’t see him.
She planted herself in a chair in the waiting area and waited.
“For a friend with benefits, you sure stick.”
Sydney shot up from her seat, grabbing Lexie’s hands. “How is he?”
“He’s good. He’s asking for you.” Lexie smirked. “There’s a ton of information you can get from a guy when he’s on drugs. We got here this morning, and he’s higher than a kite. He’s insisting on seeing you.”
“Your parents…”
“Mitch gets whatever he wants. And right now, he wants you.”
Sydney nodded. Tears sprang to her eyes.
She stepped into his room, and her heart ached to see him in the bed with wires and machines beeping around him.
When he saw her, his green eyes glinted as much as they could through the haze of medication. He sent her a lopsided smile. “Hey, Doc.”
“Officer.”
“That’s detective to you.”
She tentatively glanced at Mitch’s parents.
“Let’s get some food. Mom, Dad, come on.” Lexie motioned for her parents to leave, while Drake held the door open.
“I can’t leave—”
“Yes, you can, Mom. Your grandbaby needs food.”
Sydney could see the tug-of-war in Mitch’s mother’s eyes.
“It will be okay,” Lexie insisted, taking her mom by the arm.
When the door shut, Sydney’s nerves skidded across her skin, much the same way they had at the party her freshman year of college when Mitch swept her off her feet.
“You okay?” His eyes inventoried her body, not sexually, although she felt warm and gooey inside anyway because he cared.
Then she rushed to his side. “Mitch, I’m so sorry.”
He took her hand. “Why? It wasn’t your fault. In fact…” He frowned. “I messed up. If I was really thorough, I’d have looked at her. She was in both cities.”
“But who’d have thought? God. I can’t believe I didn’t see it. How could she have fooled me?”
He squeezed her hand. “It’s difficult, I know.”
She appreciated that he didn’t give her some line to help her feel better. He knew there was no easy way to rid feelings of guilt and stupidity.
“But, you need to screen your friends better.”
She pressed his hand to her face. “Maybe you can help me with that.”
“Syd?”
“Hmmm?” She wanted to crawl into the bed with him, hold him, and rest her head on his chest to listen to the beat of his heart.
“I can’t remember… maybe it was a dream. When I was shot, laying there, I wanted to tell you I love you.”
Sydney swallowed the lump in her throat. “It wasn’t a dream.”
“Did you say it back?”
God, she hoped he forgave her for not giving him the most important words at what could have been the end of his life. “I didn’t have time. So I’m going to say it now. I love you, Mitch.”
It seemed to take him a moment to register what she’d said. “Like friend love or love love?”
Giddiness bubbled. Maybe they had a chance, after all. “Love love.”
He brought
her hand to his lips. “Me too. I’m going to mess up again, but it won’t be because I don’t trust you. It will be some other dumb reason. But consider the makeup sex we’ll have.”
“I’m counting on it.” Unable to wait a moment longer, she kissed him.
“Ah, Sydney.” His eyes closed, and a moment later, he was snoring.
Sydney smiled and watched as he slept. He was alive and he loved her. She couldn’t ask for more than that.
Epilogue
“You razzed me every time we stopped by the hospital, and now here we are for the second time today.” Kevin pulled the car into the parking lot. “I know it’s your first day back, but—”
“You’re going to complain? You getting tired of that pretty wife of yours?”
“Nah. And if you tell her otherwise, I’ll shoot you myself.”
“Just drop me off at the offices. I’ll catch a ride home with Syd.”
“I never thought I’d see it happen. The love bug bit playboy Mitch McKenna. Bit him good, too.”
Mitch smiled, willing to take the teasing. “See you tomorrow.” He exited the car and entered Sydney’s building, heading straight to her office.
He knocked twice on her door and poked his head in when she called, “It’s open.”
“I need a doctor.”
“Do you, now? My specialty is women. I’m not sure I can help you.” She stood and went to him.
Her wide smile, shining with love, made him wonder why the hell he’d been so dense before.
“You’re the only one who can.” His arms wrapped around her and pulled her against him. He smiled at the familiar and welcome jolt that came when he touched her. He kissed her and, for a moment, considered altering his plans to include an interlude on her desk. When her phone rang, he changed his mind.
“Let me take this and then we can go.”
“You’re my ride. I’ll wait by the car.”
She came out several minutes later, stunning him yet again with her beauty. He opened her car door to let her in, and then he got in the passenger side.
