“Suspect down, suspect down,” I hear a deep authoritative voice say as people rush toward us. “We need two busses STAT.”
“Ma’am, ma’am can you hear me?” Who is he talking to? My vision is blurry, and it’s hard to focus. “Carter, get over here and try to stop the bleeding!” Something brushes my face and I hear Colby’s voice.
“Mama, mama, wake up.”
“It’s okay, ma’am, you can let him go. He’s safe, you’re safe.” I relax at his words and the world goes blank.
21
Brett
I jog back to the Tahoe, happy to be home. The sun is fucking blinding as it bounces off the cars. As I step into the parking lot, someone passes by but with the light so bright it’s hard to make out details. It takes a minute to find her sunglasses as they had fallen under the seat.
I turn back out of the lot and see that Skylar hasn’t made it far and is standing still. I take a second to admire the way her shorts are cupping her ass and showing off her long legs before I realize something is wrong. Nothing seems out of the ordinary, but my gut is telling me otherwise. Movement in front of Skylar reveals someone standing there and I can make out Colby’s head over the top of Skylar’s shoulder. What the hell? Maybe it’s a friend that Skylar made on one of her trips here? Her trembling hands dissolve that theory. A flash of metal makes my stomach drop. A gun? Does someone have a fucking gun pointed at my family? I duck back behind a car and make the call.
“Nine one one, what is your emergency?” The calm voice of the dispatcher sounds in my ear.
“I need the police. Someone is pointing a gun at my wife and son.”
“Where are you, sir?” I tell her the name of the park and what road it’s on but I’m not sure of the exact address. “Are you in immediate danger, sir?”
“No, when I saw it I hid behind a car to call so I wouldn’t scare whoever it is.” Skylar’s voice rings through the air but I can’t make out the words.
“Stay where you are, sir. I’ve dispatched a unit to your location. Is there anyone else in the immediate area?” the dispatcher asks.
“They’re on the sidewalk about halfway between the parking lot and the playground. I can hear kids there playing.” Another voice rises in the air. One that makes the hair on the back of my neck stick up.
“Motherfucker,” I mutter in disbelief.
“Sir?”
I know who it is.”
“You know who, sir?”
“The woman holding the gun. She’s an obsessed fan named Candy.” Fury, unlike anything I’ve ever felt before rushes through me. It’s my fault that my family is in danger. Sky warned me she wouldn’t give up when we left up north. I should’ve fucking listened.
“Obsessed fan?”
“Yes. I’ve had issues with her before. What the hell is she doing here?” I mutter under my breath.
“What is your name, sir?”
“Brett Ingles. I can’t just stay here. That’s my family.” My voice breaks.
“Sir, if you intervene it may upset her, and someone may get hurt. If she can’t see you, her focus will not shift to you. The units are almost to you. Their ETA is less than two minutes.”
Two minutes feels like an eternity as I sit by helpless to do anything. The police arrival is met with little fanfare as they spread out and surround Skylar, Colby, and Candy. I peer over the top of the car to see Skylar lurch forward and my feet are running toward them before my head realizes it. Strong arms hold me back as I watch as the love of my life falls to the ground with my son cradled in her arms, blood decorating the sidewalk. I fall to my knees as my heart stops in my chest. No, I can’t lose them. That’s my life lying there.
“Brett!!” comes a high-pitched scream drawing my attention back to Candy. Her crazed eyes meet mine as she raises the gun in my direction. Darkly clad figures inch closer as she levels the gun, the bang of several shots fills the air. I watch Candy’s body jerk several times before collapsing lifelessly to the ground.
“Suspect down, suspect down!” yells a burly officer wearing tactical gear with the word police emblazoned on the front. “We need two busses STAT.” He bumps Candy’s body with his boot. “Probably the medical examiner too,” he speaks into the mic on his shoulder before he stoops down checking for a pulse. Another man kneels beside Skylar and Colby, and a flash of fear crosses his face.
“Carter, get over here and try to stop the bleeding!” He looks over at me before motioning me closer. “Sir, take your son. We need to stop the bleeding and get her to the hospital.” There is a growing pool of crimson underneath Skylar that makes me lightheaded. “Here take him. He seems to be fine but check him over.”
Colby’s wide eyes turn toward mine and tears spill down his cheeks as the man hands him to me. I’m nudged out of the way as a woman with a black tool box gets on her knees beside Skylar applying a tourniquet around her thigh. Sirens become louder as the ambulance jumps the curb and pulls up as close to us as they can without running someone over. As soon as the paramedics jump down from the cab, Carter motions them over. The men pull the stretcher from the back of the ambulance and hurry toward us. Carter speaks in a low tone, but a sense of urgency overtakes the paramedics as they roll her over on the backboard before picking it up and placing it on the stretcher, latching the buckles on the belts to prevent her from falling off as they rush the stretcher over the grass. With a smooth lift, they have her in the back and shut the heavy doors. Colby wriggles in my arms crying and screaming out for his mother. Lights and sirens sound as the ambulance speeds up toward the main road.
“Sir,” Carter walks over. “Is that your wife?”
“My girlfriend.”
“Don’t tell them that at the hospital or they won’t tell you shit. They’re taking her to…” her words fall on deaf ears.
“I have to go.”
“Sir, I’d feel better if someone drove you. I don’t think you’re in any state to be on the road. I’m sure you don’t want to have an accident on the way, especially if you have your son with you.”
“Phone. I need my phone.”
“Let me hold him. Check your pockets.” Reluctantly I hand over Colby as the woman tries to get him to smile. I fumble around checking my pockets twice and don’t find it. Retracing my steps, I find it on the ground beside the car I was hiding behind. The dispatcher must have hung up after I dropped it. Scrolling, I hit Derek’s number.
“Hey, dude. Miss me already?”
“I need you to drive me to the hospital,” I blurt out.
“What the fuck? What happened? Are you okay? Where are you?” he barks out.
“I’m at the park down from my house. Someone shot Skylar and she’s on her way to the hospital.
“How? What?”
"Just come to get me. I’ll explain on the way.” I hang up the phone and take back my son.
“My brother is coming to take me.”
“My captain has questions.” She indicates the man standing where Candy’s body was lying. It’s now inside a bag on the stretcher being loaded into the second ambulance.
“Captain Peters,” he introduces himself.
“Brett Ingles. This is my son, Colby.”
“And the young lady who was shot?”
“My fiancée, Skylar Harding.”
“Do you know the suspect?”
“Unfortunately. Her name is Candace something. She's obsessed over me for years.”
“Have you had contact recently?” He takes out a notepad to write notes.
“Not since last fall. We had to go north for Colby’s great-grandmother’s funeral and I saw her at the funeral and the attorney’s office for the will reading.”
“Did anything happen there?”
“She came on to me and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Then she accused me of trying to assault her.”
“Were there any charges filed?” he asks, one brow arched.
“No, there was a camera in the elevator where it happened, and
it proved that she came on to me and I rebuffed her advances. I don’t believe they even contacted the authorities when it happened.”
“Okay. Any idea why she would be here?”
“No, we’re a long way from Massachusetts.”
“That we are. We will look into it. I believe your ride is pulling into the parking lot like a bat out of hell,” he comments with a frown. Derek’s car slides to a stop before he and Kristen jump out.
“Yeah, that’s them.” Both rush over to us setting the remaining police officers on alert.
“What happened?” Derek calls out when he’s about ten feet away.
“All I know is Candy showed up and pulled a gun on Skylar and Colby. Skylar’s on her way to the hospital and I need to be with her.”
“Give me Colby and Derek will take you to the hospital," Kristen orders. "I’ll take yours since his car seat is in there and I’ll take him to Vi’s house.”
“All right. Derek let’s go!” I bark running toward his car after handing Colby to Kristen.
“Brett, I need your keys.” I slide to a stop on the concrete and backtrack to give her the keys.
“Thank you for taking him. Derek, we’re wasting time! “I take off running again.
“Where the hell are we going?!” he bellows back. I look over my shoulder to see the Captain saying something to Derek and then he’s sprinting in my direction. I climb into the passenger seat at the same time he sits in the driver’s seat. “Hold on and pray we don’t pass any cops,” he says before backing out of the spot he’s in and hauling ass down the road. I’m terrified to look behind us and see the police we left hot on our trail before we even get to the road. Derek makes record time to the hospital and I thank God he had the forethought to ask where the hell they took her.
We hurry to the desk and the clerk’s eyes widen as we crowd her space.
“Skylar Harding, where is she?” I demand.
“Who?” Her voice trembles.
“Gunshot victim. They brought her in a few minutes ago.”
“Oh her. We didn’t have a name. Are you related?” She types quickly on the keyboard.
“She’s my fiancée.”
"Well, only family…”
“Please,” I plead.
Her eyes dart to the side before she loudly states, “Your wife is currently in surgery. If you’ll go to the second floor there is a waiting room, there. They will inform you as soon as they have any information.”
“Thank you,” I call over my shoulder hauling ass toward the elevator bay.
From there it’s a waiting game for the surgeon to come and talk to us. I pace up and down the linoleum while Derek sits on the couch watching a baseball game. I glance over at the desk and the nurse there just shakes her head to confirm that she has heard nothing yet either. Carolyn was tiring of me asking every two minutes, so we set up a little system.
The double doors to the surgery wing open and a tall, thin man dressed in navy scrubs walks out, removing his cloth head covering.
“Family…”
“Dr. Hatcher, it’s those two gentlemen.” She points toward us.
“How’s Skylar?” My voice drips with worry. Please don’t tell me any bad news.
“She pulled through beautifully. The bullet went in and out through her thigh muscle, but it nicked her femoral artery. That was the challenge. When an artery is hit, blood pumps out with every beat of the heart. The paramedics bought her enough time to get her here and for me to stitch her up. She must stay a day or two to monitor her blood count and any signs of infection, but she should recover with no trouble.”
My relief is so profound that my knees give way and Derek catches me around the waist. “Thank you for taking care of her.”
“It’s my pleasure. I’m glad I had good news to report. A lot of times when we get gunshot wounds it’s the opposite. She’ll be in recovery for another hour before they transfer her upstairs. As soon as Carolyn knows what room, she’ll let you know.” He turns around and walks back the way he came.
“Gentlemen, she’ll be going to room five twenty-seven. Why don’t you go get food? The cafeteria will close in half an hour.” Derek claps me on the back and leads me toward the elevators.
“I’m not hungry,” I grumble.
“Well, I am and whether or not you are, you’ll get something,” he orders. “She needs you to be strong. Not wilting away and passing out on the floor.” We follow the signs to the cafeteria and order two cheeseburgers and fries off the grill menu. I grumble as I take a bite but as soon as the juicy beef and melted cheese hit my tongue I’m ravenous. In record time, I’ve finished everything on my tray.
“See I told you,” Derek smirks.
“I hate it when you're right.” He laughs at my remark and I throw my napkin at his head. “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.”
“You’re my brother, Where the hell else am I going to be?”
“I know, brother. You always have my back. Let’s head up.”
We’re in the room maybe five minutes before they wheel Skylar into the room. She looks pale lying on the stark white sheets, tubes running out of her arms and the oxygen cannula in her nose. Her nurse shoos us from the room as they get her transferred onto the bed. We’re allowed back into the room once the others leave with the stretcher she was brought up on.
“She may sleep for a little while yet as the anesthesia wears off. Her vital signs are stable. She’s getting her second unit of blood and then she’ll get a dose of antibiotics to stave off any infection. Call down to the nurse’s station if you need anything. I’ll be in frequently to monitor her recovery.” With a smile, she exits the room.
“Remember the last time we were in a hospital room together?” Derek murmurs recalling when Kristen was in the car accident caused by her stalker. She took days to regain consciousness from her head injury.
“What is it with our women getting hurt?”
“No shit. Makes me want to wrap them up in cotton and put them in a case,” Derek grumbles crossing his arms over his chest as he sits on the small sofa.
“I’d think they’d kick our asses if we tried,” I laugh.
“You’re probably right.”
For the next half an hour, we watch baseball on the wall-mounted television as the nurse comes and goes, reassuring us that everything is okay. I glance over at the bed and see Skylar blinking her eyes slowly.
“Sky, baby, how do you feel?” I ask holding her hand.
“Like shit. What happened?” Her voice is scratchy.
“What do you remember?”
“We were going to the park. I forgot my sunglasses…” her eyes pop open wide. “Oh god is Colby all right?”
“He’s fine, baby. You saved his life.”
“What happened to Candy?”
“We’ll never have to worry about her again,” I reassure her kissing her forehead. “I think I lost ten years off my life, woman, when I saw you go at her. Don’t you ever do that again,” I growl.
“I couldn’t wait any longer. Colby was so scared, and she was going to shoot me or him. I’d die for that boy.” Tears spill over her dark lashes, tracking down her cheeks. “All right break it to me. What’s wrong with me?”
“She shot you in the leg. The bullet went in and out, but it nicked an artery on the way out,” I explain.
“That doesn’t sound good.” She winces.
“You lost a lot of blood. The surgeon fixed you up good as new.” I smile.
“When do I get to go home?”
“Maybe tomorrow depending on your lab work in the morning,” the nurse says from behind me as she enters the room. Derek walks in behind her. I never even knew he left the room. “You’ll be getting three more doses of IV antibiotics and as long as you’re not having any signs of infection and can hold down food, and your pain is manageable, Dr. Hatcher will probably let you leave tomorrow afternoon. Are you thirsty?” she asks, smiling down at Skylar.
“My throa
t feels like the Sahara.”
“Start with a small amount of ice chips then we’ll graduate to liquids if you don’t get nauseous. I will switch your pain pump from a continuous dose to let you dictate when you need it. You can push this button every two hours for a dose. Don’t let your pain level get too high, it’ll take more medication to get you comfortable.”
“Thank you,” Skylar whispers.
“You’re welcome. I’ll go get the ice chips.” She turns and leaves with a squeak of her shoes.
“I love you, Skylar,” I whisper leaning down to kiss her. I realized today I would cease to exist if anything happens to you. Marry me?”
“Are you serious?” she breathes out, her eyes searching my face.
“I’ve never been surer of anything in my life. I’m not wasting any more time before I tie you to me for the rest of our lives.”
“Put the man out of his misery, Sky,” Derek calls from across the room, causing her to smile.
“There’s nothing I want more than to be your wife and Colby’s mom,” she whispers, eyes shining with happiness.
“It’s not the pain medicine talking right?” Derek laughs out.
“I don’t give a shit if it is. She can’t take it back.”
Epilogue
Brett – Three Years Later
* * *
“Push, baby, you’re doing great.” I gently wipe the sweat-drenched hair from her face as her grunt morphs into a scream. Her hand squeezes mine so tight that the ring on her finger digs into my skin.
“Six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Relax.” Her groan of relief is music to my ears. I place a kiss on her temple as she collapses back against the mattress.
“You got this, Sky. I’m so proud of you.” Her weak smile reminds me she’s been at this for over ten hours and she’s wearing out.
“Good job, momma,” Heather, the labor and delivery nurse, states from her position at her bent knees. “It’s time to get Dr. Hood in here. In a little while, your beautiful baby will be here.” No sooner have the words left her mouth when the heavy door swings open on silent hinges and in walks the doctor.
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