Fever

by Carnal, MJ

  The clarity gave me a chance to shove myself off the ground and go full force at Adam, throwing myself in front of the gun.

  Kat let out a blood curdling scream. She knew I was hit.

  We both went tumbling back to the ground in a heap. Somehow, the gun fell from Adam’s hand and slid over to where Kat was standing. Adam took advantage of my pause when I’d looked up at Kat and flipped me over onto my back, straddling me. His hands were around my neck and he was choking every bit of air out of my lungs. He was going to kill me, right here in front of her, and I’d never know if she made it out. Oh, God, please give her the sense to pick up her damn feet and run!

  I had no way to yell at her to go with his grip being so tight. Stars began to cloud my vision and I felt myself blacking out. But then something happened. His hands loosened, and I looked up at him, confused. There was red seeping out of his dark gray shirt and spreading across his chest. Adam was looking up at Kat, with a bewildered look in his eyes as he registered what she’d done.

  “You shot me,” was all he said.

  “You don’t hold the power anymore!” Her voice rang loud and clear through the room. My chest swelled with pride that she slung my words at him.

  Adam slowly slumped down until his entire weight was crushing me. He was limp and I was too weak to push him off. Kat saw me trying to roll him over and she came to help me. I knew she didn’t want to touch him, but she gave him a good shove, and he moved.

  “Oh, God, where are you hit?” She asked, as she lifted my head onto her lap.

  Her small hands were flying all over me, trying to find the source of my bleeding. “Right here.” I showed her the center of my stomach.

  “Shit, I don’t have my phone. Shit!”

  I started to cough and felt lightheaded. “Kat, baby, listen to me. My phone is in my back pocket. Get it out and call 911.”

  She nodded and did exactly what I told her to do. I heard her on the phone with the paramedics, explaining what happened. I couldn’t keep my eyes open and my head was feeling really heavy.

  “No! You stay with me, damn it! I can’t live without you, please don’t close your eyes,” she pleaded.

  I desperately wanted to go to sleep. I was so tired. Her cries for me to stay awake held me there with her a little longer. I heard sirens screaming in the background and I thought to myself, thank God. She’s finally safe. Kat was putting pressure on my stomach and it made me groan. I remembered back to me holding Holt just like this. It seemed so ironic to me that she was now the one begging me to stay with her. Was this what Holt felt like when he was slipping away? I barely felt any pain. In fact, the only sensation I felt was how cold it was in the room. Had he known, just like I did now, that his time had come? The edges of my vision were melting away, and I knew it wasn’t going to be long.

  “I love you,” I croaked.

  “I know you do. Just please keep fighting, Timber. I can’t be alone.” Her small tears fell on my face and warmed my cooling skin.

  “He’s gone now, Kat. No more nightmares. I love you.”

  “No! Open your eyes!”

  And just like that she was lost to me.

  Chapter Twenty

  Kat

  I felt completely and utterly alone. The desolation I’d felt inside after Adam raped me the first time had been an unbearable thing to live with. When he attempted it a second time, I honestly wasn’t sure I wanted to live anymore. Except, the thing of it was, I had a light. A light that was a towering six foot three man that guided me back to wanting to live. He gave me so many reasons to fight for my life, to want to live for the next day and the day after that. But that will to live came with a stipulation. A price that was non-negotiable. I couldn’t do it without him by my side. My life became so entwined with his that I only felt like I could breathe when he was with me. Right now I was suffocating.

  “Hey, kid, how’re you doing?” Beaver spoke from behind me. He sounded tired. I was washing my hands in the sink, trying to get rid of any remnants of blood. I wasn’t sure if it belonged to Timber or Adam. But the simple fact that it could be Adam’s made me desperate to get it off.

  I shrugged my shoulders. “Not sure.”

  He looked over his shoulder, then back to me. “What did the doctor say?”

  Drying my hands, I pushed past Beaver and back to the chair that was sitting by Timber’s bed. “He said the bullet was lodged in his diaphragm and he had lost over half of his blood. They’ve given him several transfusions, but they aren’t sure how long he’s going to be out. He could wake up now, or a week from now.”

  Plopping down in the chair, I sighed. Beaver came over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. His small gesture made my lip quiver, but no tears fell. “Did they say whether or not he’s going to pull through?”

  “At this point it’s a 50/50. They told me there was nothing else that they could do. It was now up to him.”

  “He’s strong, Kat. And you give him a reason to fight.” I nodded, putting my hand over his. “Did the police say anything to you?”

  “They said that I’d need to come in at some point to give a statement. But because of the last time, there’s a record of what Adam had done. They said it was a clear cut case of self defense.”

  “Damn straight it was.” Beaver sounded angry. I’m sure he was upset with himself for leaving, but it wasn’t his fault. None of this was any of our faults. It all belonged to the person that was dead. I wished I could tell him so, but frankly, I didn’t have the energy for much more conversation.

  He stood there for another few minutes, and then told me he was going to go and call Mel and tell her what was going on. When I was alone in the room again, I let the silence swallow me.

  Timber was lying in a hospital bed covered in wires and tubes that were helping him stay alive. His IV was giving him a steady drip of fluids and pain medication, the tubes across his nose were feeding him oxygen, and his pulse was a steady light beeping on a machine in the corner of the room. I stared at him for a long time, willing him to wake up. I needed some sort of sign that things were going to be okay. I wouldn’t allow myself to feel closure that Adam was gone until I saw Timber’s eyes and I knew that his life wasn’t over as well. Getting up, I gingerly crawled into bed beside him. I rested my hand over his beating heart, counting the breaths that he took each minute. So much time had passed and my eyes were growing heavy. Sleep was taking over my exhausted body and I didn’t want to fight it anymore. I shut my lids and dreamed of crystal blue eyes and my light that saved me.

  *********************************************************************

  My palm was tickling and twitching, causing me to stir. I flexed my fingers, thinking that it might be me twitching. It didn’t take long for me to register that something was in my hand and it was tracing circles on my skin. My eyes flew open as I realized that I was still in the hospital and I’d fallen asleep. Turning my head to the side, I saw half-mast blue eyes watching me.

  “Hi, baby.” His voice was scratchy.

  “Timber? Oh my God, Timber! You’re awake.” I flew up, causing him to wince. “Shit, did I hurt you? Shit!”

  “Kat, it’s fine, I’m fine. Could I get some water though? I feel like I swallowed a bag of sand.”

  I put my hands on the sides of his face, searching every inch of him, drinking in the blue I’d feared I wouldn’t see again. “Jesus Christ, you scared me.”

  “Kat, the water.”

  “Oh my gosh, I forgot.” I got out of bed as gently and quickly as I could, getting him something to drink. When I brought it over to him, he yanked on the tube that was in his nose and slipped it over his head. “I don’t think you should do that. The doctors might still want that there.”

  After he chugged the water, he handed the glass back to me. “I’m pretty sure that I’m breathing just fine on my own.”

  “How are you feeling? Are you tired? Do you need any pain medicine? I feel like I should be doing something.” />
  “No, I need you to just sit for a minute so I can look at you.” I sat on the edge of the bed and took his hand. His eyes had black rings under them, and he looked sad. “Tell me what happened.”

  I looked at our connected hands. “We’ve got plenty of time to talk about that. Right now I want to know how you’re doing.”

  He thought about it, assessing himself. “I’m sore. I feel like I could sleep for days.”

  I figured as much. “I need to go get a doctor so they know you’re awake and can do whatever it is they need to do.”

  “Okay.”

  I went to the nurses’ station and let them know Timber was awake. A doctor followed me back to his room and started looking through his chart. “Hi, Mr. Nelson. I’m Dr. Tillman. How are you feeling?”

  “Like the biggest piece of ass.”

  I smiled at his candidness as Dr. Tillman cleared his throat. “Yes, well, you’ve been through quite a trauma. We went in and removed a bullet from your diaphragm and gave you several bags of blood. Fortunately, the surgery went well and we were able to patch you back up.”

  Timber looked over at me, his blue eyes understanding my worry. “Am I going to be okay?”

  Closing the chart, the doctor came over and listened to his heart with a stethoscope. “Well, it appears that way. Your heart is strong, your pulse is steady, and I have no doubt that you’ll make a full recovery. We’re going to have to keep you for at least a week to make sure any bleeding you may have isn’t more than what’s expected, and we need to make sure you’re able to get up on your own.”

  “Sounds good, doc.” He laid his head back and closed his eyes.

  “Miss Pierce, he’s going to need his rest. I’m going to have to ask you to go home and get some rest yourself. You can come back this afternoon when he’s gotten some sleep.”

  Timber’s eyes opened and he was watching the exchange between the doctor and me. I dug my heels in and shook my head. “No, I’m staying.”

  “I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist.”

  I bit my tongue and prayed I didn’t yell. “And I’m afraid I’m going to have to respectfully decline. I’m not leaving him.”

  “Well, keep in mind that he’s only going to heal faster with rest.”

  “Understood. Thank you.” It was my way of dismissing the doctor and telling him to fuck off. They couldn’t pry me away from Timber right now if they tried.

  When we were alone again, Timber’s eyes were closed but his lips were tipped up in a small smile. “Well. You told him, didn’t you?”

  “Shut up, you’re supposed to be resting. That means no talking.” I curled back up next to him, careful to not jostle him too much.

  “Don’t make me laugh, Kat, I think it might hurt.”

  “I think you’re right, so stop talking.”

  He peeled one eye open and looked sideways at me. “You’ve gotten mouthier since I’ve been out.”

  “Timber,” I scolded, closing my own eyes. I knew he was grinning at me.

  It was quiet for a bit, but then he asked the question I knew was coming. “Is he dead?”

  I turned my head to look at him, and he did the same. “Yes.”

  “You shot him.”

  “I couldn’t let him hurt you.”

  His tired eyes softened. “You should have run to get help like I told you to.”

  My eyes got watery. “If I had, you wouldn’t be here.”

  I felt his fingers slip through mine, giving my hand a squeeze. “Let’s not think about that, okay? I love you, but the next time I tell you to go do something, I mean it.” His deep voice scratched.

  “Fine, but you better not ever scare me like this again. I won’t survive it.”

  Timber yawned hugely. I knew he needed to get some sleep, but just hearing his voice was soothing me. “Never, baby.”

  “Get some rest,” I whispered, brushing his messy black hair back from his face. In the short time that he’d been awake, his coloring had already turned brighter. He was going to be okay. My man was a fighter, and he’d never leave me if he could help it. Sighing, I watched him as he slept, continuing to count his breaths and feeling his heartbeat beneath my fingertips.

  Epilogue

  Timber (2 months later)

  “Timber, would you hurry up? Ed wanted to meet us downstairs like ten minutes ago,” Kat grumbled, slipping on her shirt and stepping into a pair of shoes.

  “Never, woman. You keep looking like that and I’ll be forced to get you naked again. I’m pretty sure I haven’t licked the tattoo on the back of your calf yet.” I heard her gasp and I chuckled. “Let’s not keep the old man waiting.”

  I swatted her butt on the way out of the door and she gave a little yelp. When we were both downstairs, Ed was standing behind the bar drinking a bottle of beer and looking around the place with reminiscent eyes.

  “Hey, you two, come over here and have a seat. I’ve got some paperwork for you to look over.”

  Kat and I sat down on a bar stool and looked down at the stack of papers in front of him. “What is all this?” Kat asked.

  He looked across at her with love shining through his eyes. “This is the deed to the bar. I’ve gotten a few legal papers drawn up to transfer this place over from my name to yours, and the lawyer put these tabs on here so we know where to sign.”

  Kat’s mouth dropped open, and I think mine was somewhere on the floor too. “What do you mean you’re putting my name on the deed?”

  “I’m giving this place to the two of you.”

  “What?” I asked. Was he off his rocker?

  Ed’s smile grew wider. “Listen, I own this place free and clear. I bought it back in the nineteen fifties. Rose and I paid it off right before she passed and I’ve run my course with it. I’m too old to be running a bar anymore. I’d like to give it to you two to run and care for like Rose and I did.”

  I looked over at Kat, whose eyes were brimming with tears. “You’re giving me the bar?”

  “Yes.”

  “And Timber?”

  “Yes.”

  “Just like that?”

  He chuckled. “Yes Kat, just like that. I’ve come to love you like a daughter, and I’m happy that Timber has come to take such good care of you. I’m ready to pass this place on, and I couldn’t think of two better people.”

  “What about Beaver or Mel?” She asked.

  “What about ‘em? I love those two too, but neither of them cares about this place like you do.”

  I looked at the white haired old man that was so generously handing over not one, but two things that he cared for, to me - Kat and The Hole. “What are you going to do?”

  “Oh, I figured I’d go explore parts of the world I haven’t seen yet. Gotta do it while I’m still young.”

  Kat and I both laughed. “I don’t know what to say, Ed, except thank you.”

  He nodded at me. “Here’s a pen, and here’s the stack that I need to stick back in the mail so it can be filed with the city clerk.”

  My girl sniffled beside me and I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, kissing the top of her head. We went through at least two dozen papers, signing and initialing by each little sticky note. When we were done, Kat got up and rounded the bar, walking straight to Ed. She threw her arms around him and cried into his neck.

  “You’ve been so good to me, Ed. I love you.”

  He put his hand on her back and patted her lovingly. “I love you, too.” He pulled her away from him and coughed a few times. The old guy was trying not to choke up. “Alright, you two, I better get going. I’ve got my first plane to catch out of Houston, and I still need to drop these off at the post office. I’ll stop in to check on things every once in a while.”

  “You’d better, old man,” I said, and Ed laughed.

  Kat and I both saw him off and then came back to the stools we’d been sitting on. Her dazzling hazel eyes were sparkling with excitement.

  “Holy shit, we own this place.”r />
  Holy shit was right. I’d have never expected this was what he wanted to talk to us about, but either way, I was happy about it. After I’d left the oil field, it was bought up by a larger company less than a week later. Roger had told me that my job was still available, but I’d had to decline. I wasn’t sure if working the rig was what I wanted to do with my life and it kept me away from Kat for too long during the day. Making that decision wasn’t hard, but figuring out what I was going to do next, was. I was certain of only one thing, and she was sitting right next to me. Ed’s surprise landing in our laps was exactly the answer that I didn’t know I was looking for, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

  “Hey, you?” I nudged her with my shoulder.

  “Hmmm?” She was still dumfounded, looking around the place like she’d never seen it before.

  “I say we christen the place.”

  She looked over at me and smiled a devious little smile. “Where do you have in mind?”

  “Well, preferably a place that Beaver hasn’t had his naked ass spread all over.” She busted out laughing. “I’m going to try my luck and say… pool table.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “Pool table, huh. This could get interesting.”

  “It could indeed,” I retorted.

  “Especially since you’ll need to catch me first.” She took off around the bar, running at full speed to get away from me.

  I chuckled at her playfulness. I was delighted to see my girl so happy again. Kat had always been vibrant and full of life. The Adam hurdle was one that we still sometimes worked to climb over, but she was slowly healing.