Once More (Mercy Heart #1)
Page 15
A noise behind her caused Katelyn to turn towards the door. As it opened, a sob escaped and her legs almost gave out at the sight before her.
“Ah, you’re awake. Time to join the party.”
Chapter 23
Walking down the hallway, Katelyn was shocked at what had just been revealed to her. A man she had always considered a dear friend was following close behind, the hard barrel of his gun pressed to her back.
“Why are you doing this? What am I doing here?”
John Sheridan spoke in the quiet voice she had always found so calm and comforting in the past. “My plans have been uncovered. You are part of my exit strategy.”
Exit strategy? What on earth was he talking about?
“I – I don’t understand, John.”
“Your boyfriend has been asking too many questions. If he doesn’t have it figured out already, he will very shortly.”
The adjustments. John was behind it. If anyone had told her John was the one embezzling from the hospital, she would have as vehemently denied it as she had when Clem had accused Marc.
As they entered the living room, Katelyn gasped when she saw a hopefully just unconscious Marc laying on the couch. She ran towards him, frantically cupping his cheek and forehead and then running her hands down his arm, coming to a stop at the pulse point at his wrist.
Anger rolled through her. Incensed, she couldn’t stop herself from shouting. “What did you do to him, John? How much did you give him?”
John turned towards the kitchen area and sat at the table. “Plenty. He doesn’t need to be awake for this.”
The sinister sound of his voice gave Katelyn chills. She wasn’t sure how this was going to end, but she knew it wasn’t going to be good for her or Marc.
From down the hall, Katelyn heard a door open and a toilet flushing. Just when she thought things were at their worst, the bottom dropped out of her world. She had the fourth person identified before she saw their face. The sound accompanying John’s accomplice gave them away. Katelyn had been hearing that sound for the past two years. Still, seeing Margaret come around the corner was a shock that Katelyn couldn’t prepare herself for. “M-Margaret? How…how could you be involved in this?”
The look on Margaret’s face was no different than the smile Katelyn had been finding comfort in for the past few years, but at this moment it meant something completely different. “I’m no spring chicken. All of this new technology is above my head. John’s plan gives me the chance to retire on a beach somewhere, instead of working in Fayetteville till I die.”
“But…we’re friends – “
Margaret shook her head. “No, you’re my boss. You are pleasant to work for, but when it comes to picking between you and me, I’ll pick me every time. I have worked a long, hard time, with nothing to show for it. I’m ready to take it easy.”
Standing, Katelyn rushed towards the older woman, her blood boiling in anger. “At what cost? Marc’s life? My life? How can you be so evil, so heartless?”
John’s voice boomed out over both of them. “Enough! Margaret, go start the car. Things will be wrapped up here very soon.”
Margaret backed away, grabbing the keys from the counter, but Katelyn couldn’t miss the guilt on her face.
Defeated, Katelyn buried her face in her hands, though her arms were still bound. Crying softly, she didn’t turn to John as she spoke. “How can you do this? You didn’t just steal from the hospital. You stole from patients.”
Grumbling, John stood and came towards her. With the gun pointed at her, she couldn’t help but back up until she bumped into a column separating the kitchen and the living room. Swiftly, he grabbed some rope off the table, speaking as he tied her to the column. “It was amounts so small that no one missed it or even knew it was coming to them. I had planned on ending it soon, but then McKinley and your boyfriend came into the picture and he figured out something wasn’t right. I’ve covered my tracks, so they won’t link it back to me. Now to just tie up these last remaining loose ends.”
He said the last part as he tied the final knot in the rope, securing her tightly to the column. Checking his handiwork, he took a few steps back and bent over to check on Marc before he leveled the gun on Katelyn once more.
Desperate to stop what she was sure was his next move, Katelyn began to plead with him. “Please! Don’t do this! Just leave! I won’t say anything, and I will make sure Marc doesn’t either.”
Leaning over her friend, John checked Marc’s pulse and looked up with a smirk. His reply sounded just like the man she had always looked up to, but his demeanor was so eerily calm, so unruffled she felt sick to her stomach. “I’m certain Marc won’t be saying anything ever again. As for you, I can’t live like that, always looking over my shoulder. I’m sure you understand.”
Looking at her friend, silent tears ran down her face. “Marc? He’s….he’s dead?”
“Don’t worry. You’ll be joining him soon enough.”
As he lifted the gun higher with his finger on the trigger, Katelyn shut her eyes, resigned to the fact that this was it, the moment her life was going to end. She flashbacked to all the good times, and a few regrets, like walking out on Clem so long ago instead of taking the leap. She missed out on so many good years with him, and just when they had found each other again, she was going to miss out on so much more. She should have told him she loved him, that she always had, when she’d had the chance.
Suddenly, the sound of glass shattering was followed by John stumbling backward, but not before he gave the trigger on his gun a final squeeze. As he landed in a heap on the floor, the front door burst open, and two men clad all in black and ski masks barreled through. The first man went directly to John, checking to make sure that he was no longer alive. The second man turned towards her, yanking off his mask to reveal it was Clem.
“Katelyn, baby! Shit, she’s been shot!” Backing away, he yelled out the door, “Katelyn’s been shot!” He ran to her side as Stuart came through the front door, assessing the situation before joining Clem beside Katelyn. Her body drooping, Katelyn was unresponsive to their prodding. Stuart and the other man began cutting her free. Once she was loose, Clem caught her and scooped her up into his arms. “Baby, everything is going to be okay. You are safe. Please, angel, just open your eyes.”
Stuart assessed her wound. “There is an entrance and an exit wound. It’s not lethal, but I’m sure it hurts like a bitch. She must be in shock.” He grabbed a towel from the kitchen and applied pressure to the wound, but still she did not respond. Looking up at Clem with fear in his eyes, Stuart swallowed before he continued. “Or, they drugged her with whatever they gave Crawford.”
It took everything Clem had in him not to panic. “Let’s get her to the closest hospital.”
Stuart nodded. “Marc needs medical attention as well. I will get him and then we’ll get out of here. The other guys will wait with Margaret and John’s body until the cops show up.”
Clem carried Katelyn to the SUV, climbing in the front seat with her across his lap. Stuart had Marc in a fireman carry over his shoulder, and then he effortlessly laid him down in the backseat. He checked his pulse once again before climbing in the driver’s seat. “We’ve got to get him to a hospital. I don’t know what they dosed him with, but his heart rate is thready.” Clem only heard half of what he said. He was still stroking Katelyn’s face, cradling her limp body close to his, speaking softly to her in hopes that she would react. It may make him a heartless bastard, but Clem couldn’t care less about Marc. If it came between choosing him or Katelyn, Clem wouldn’t hesitate. The thought of being without her scared the shit out of him. He knew what life without her was like, had lived in his own personal hell for the last seven years, and he’d be damned before he’d do it ever again. He needed her to wake up. Needed to make sure she knew how much she meant to him. And he needed to do whatever he could to make sure she felt the same for him. He’d spend the rest of his life earning her love, every single
day.
Chapter 24
The hospital in Eureka Springs was just a short distance away. Stuart called ahead, filling in the staff on what was coming in, and a small army of nurses and doctors in the ambulance bay met them.
The staff quickly placed Marc and Katelyn on two gurneys and wheeled them into a large trauma room. Two teams began working with almost simultaneous precision, cutting off their clothes, attaching monitors, and starting IV’s.
Clem started to follow them right into the trauma room. A nurse stopped him. “I’m sorry, sir, but you are not allowed in here.” She stopped a young man walking by. “Take these men to the waiting room.”
Clem stood there for a moment, trying to decide whether to put up a fight. The last thing he wanted to do was leave her. Stuart turned to him, compassion on his face. “Let them do their job, Clem.” Both men followed the tech to the waiting room where he paced the room, fraught with worry.
What felt like hours but was only just a short time later, a physician in green scrubs came into the room. “Mr. Bryant?”
Clem, who had had his face buried in his hands, jumped up and ran to the doctor. “Is she awake? Can I see her?”
“Miss Williams has just been wheeled up to surgery. The bullet entered through the front of her shoulder and ricocheted off the humeral head, shattering it before exiting her body. Our orthopedic surgeon is doing a partial shoulder replacement, replacing her bone with titanium parts. She didn’t wake up, which was probably for the best, because I’m sure she’d have been in tremendous pain. A CT of her head showed a slight injury. Because she was tied to a column, I assume the force of the bullet made her head jerk backwards against the column. She’s under anesthesia at the moment, but when she is out of recovery, you can see her then.”
“She wasn’t drugged, then?”
“No, her toxicity screen came back clean, except for trace amounts of chloroform.”
Relief and elation filled Clem from the inside out. He’d get her all of the help and rehabilitation she needed to bounce back from this injury. He turned to look at Stuart, who finally spoke. “What about Marc?”
The doctor hesitated. “He isn’t out of the woods. He has been given a very large dose of Ketamine, enough to anesthetize a very large animal. If he wakes up, he may have impaired motor function and mental capacity. We are monitoring him closely. His respirations haven’t improved since he arrived. He is being transferred to the intensive care unit.”
Clem and Stuart grimly thanked the doctor and then made their way to the surgery waiting room where they remained until Katelyn was finally out of surgery and moved to a room. Stuart went to grab some food while Clem waited by Katelyn’s bedside. He held her hand, speaking in a low voice to her, talking about everything and nothing, wanting her to hear him, even if she wasn’t aware of it just yet.
* * * *
From behind her eyelids, Katelyn could sense that she was not alone. Afraid of what she’d find if she opened her eyes, she laid still, listening to the sounds around her, sounds that she realized were comforting in their familiarity. She could hear the beep of monitors, and the faint chatter of nurses. She heard and then felt a blood pressure cuff tighten on her arm and knew she was in a hospital. Slowly, she opened her eyes, blinking at the lights in the room. Looking down, she saw the top of Clem’s head as he slept hunched over the side of her bed in what must have been a very uncomfortable position. He held her right hand in his own. She started to reach her left hand to run her fingers through his hair, but she was unable to complete the motion. Looking to her left side, she realized her arm was strapped to her chest under her bust line. Her shoulder was incased in a large bandage. Whatever drug they were pumping through her IV must be a strong pain killer, because at the moment she wasn’t feeling anything at all.
As she moved her right hand out from under Clem’s, he woke abruptly. “Katelyn? Baby, you’re awake! Oh, thank God, you’re awake.” He took her hand back and kissed it, holding it to his cheek. “How do you feel?”
Her throat scratchy, she swallowed a few times before she finally got the words out. “At the moment, I feel okay. How long have I been out? What happened?”
Pouring her a glass of water, Clem began to fill her in on what had gone down. “You were shot, in the shoulder. They had to do an implant to replace the shattered bone. You’ve been out of surgery for about six hours.”
“How did you find me?”
“We found your car at Marc’s house, and my team discovered what was going on. At first we thought it was Marc, but then we realized John Sheridan owned Marc’s house and the house next to him. It was easy to trace the money to John. He had deposited some in an account in Marc’s name to throw off the trail, but my staff figured out the actual amount that was stolen and the remaining balance was traced to John.”
Katelyn’s eyes got bigger and bigger as she listened to everything Clem had to say. At the mention of Marc’s name, she began to cry, mourning the loss of her friend. “Oh, Marc…he didn’t deserve any of this. He was such a good friend. I can’t believe he’s gone.”
Confusion spread across Clem’s face. “Gone? Marc’s not gone. He is in ICU, just down the hall.”
Astonished, Katelyn sobbed in disbelief. “John told me he was dead. How is he?”
“He still hasn’t woken up. We just have to wait and see. The doctor said whatever they drugged him with could cause permanent damage.”
“I would like to see him, but first, I have to say this to you. When I was in that cabin, tied to the post…”. She paused and closed her eyes, only to shake her head and open them just as quickly because she didn’t want to picture in her mind what she was describing.
His gut wrenching for every painful memory she’d have from this awful experience, Clem stayed silent, caressing her hand in both of his, patiently waiting for her to continue.
Her voice broke, but she continued. “John was pointing his weapon at me, and all I could think about was how I regretted not having you in my life. I don’t want to miss out on one more second. Clem, I love you, and I will follow you wherever you go.”
“Katelyn, I would never ask you to leave your home. I know you love your job and your friends here…”
“Yes, but I love you more!” Her chest felt like a weight was crushing it, squeezing the life out of her heart. She couldn’t let him leave without her again. “I don’t want to be some mid-country stop you make –“
He looked at her incredulously. “I don’t want that either, babe.”
“So wherever you’re going next, I want to go too.” Realizing his interruption, she looked at him quizzically. “Wait, what do you mean you don’t want that either?” Fear swept through her. Quietly, she continued, just above a whisper. “Were you not coming back?”
The confusion on her face was his undoing. He never wanted her to have a single doubt of the way he felt about her. He kicked himself for every letting her think for one second that he wasn’t sticking around, but he was going to take care of that right now. Softly, he caressed her cheek. “Angel, you haven’t been paying attention. I never had any intention of leaving. Ever. Living without you was absolute hell. My company is wherever I am. And the headquarters for McKinley Technologies is now based out of Fayetteville, Arkansas.” Smirking as though he were letting her in on a secret, he continued. “Currently we are working out of an apartment like a small start-up, but I’m hoping to buy some real estate that’s a little more permanent, like some nice property on the edge of town with enough room to raise 2.5 kids and have a slobbery mutt running around. I hired salespeople and implementation specialists. I never have to leave you again. Where you go, I go.” Leaning towards her, he laced his fingers together behind her head at the nape of her neck. His forehead against hers, he looked directly into her emerald green eyes so there would be no confusion about how deeply he felt for her. “You are completely stuck with me. I am head over heels in love with you.”
Bliss warmed her from head to
toe. “2.5 kids, huh?”
Smiling brightly, he shrugged. “I’m a business man. Everything is up for negotiation.”
Their lips met again, the kiss they shared making up for lost time and uniting them for a lifetime, all in one. Being back in Clem’s arms, feeling his warmth and his love, Katelyn felt exhilarated. It would be a challenge to get used to being taken care of, but she knew Clem wouldn’t be argued with ever again when it came to making sure she was safe and happy. With everything they’d been through, he had more than earned her trust. When he smiled down at her, lightly kissing her forehead, she knew she’d do whatever she could to show him day in and day out that he was all she needed. Life had dealt her some tough blows, but this time, she had a second chance at happiness, and she wasn’t going to waste it. She felt so lucky that love had found its way back to her, once more.
About the Author
Madeline Rooks is completely outnumbered as a wife to her handsome and charming husband and mom of three wise-cracking teen and pre-teen sons. She resides in northeastern Oklahoma. When she isn’t writing, she’s reading everything she can get her hands on and enjoying every single moment she can with her boys as they grow up.
Acknowledgements
The completion of this book is something I’ve always dreamed about. Many people were a great deal of inspiration to me, and I can’t thank you enough. To the most important people in my life, my husband and sons, you are my encouragement and motivation every day. You support me as I follow my dreams and I hope you know how thankful I am for you. If I have nothing else, your love will always be enough.