by Angel Steel
“We need to move him out now, I have a pulse but it is weak, it keeps coming and going,” one yelled.
She could not move as they lifted his lifeless body onto a gurney and as one of them sat on top of him doing compressions. The three of them moved out of the room quickly, she didn’t even have enough time to get up and go with them.
She struggled to get off of Joey’s lap, but he held on tight. “I need to go with him, Joey.”
“No. You need to be looked at by the other paramedics outside, and then we will meet them at the hospital.”
“I can’t lose him, Joey. He’s my life...my world...my everything. He can’t die; he promised he would never leave me!” she cried out.
“I know, sweetheart. They will do everything in their power to save him. Have faith, baby.”
“I don’t think I have enough of that in me, Joey. If I lose him, it’s going to kill me inside. There will be nothing left inside of me but this empty person. A lifeless carcass. I will have nothing to live for if he is gone from my life.”
“Baby, we are all here for the both of you. Come on, let’s go get you checked out and take you up to the hospital.”
Joey stood with her in his arms as they made their way outside. They approached the other ambulance waiting outside as the other was closing its doors.
“Clear, we need to move now, we are losing him. He’s losing too much blood.” She watched before the doors closed as Dom’s body jolted up from the shock of the defibrillator and collapsed back down.
“Noooo!” she screamed, falling out of Joey’s arms to the ground as the ambulance pulled away from them.
“Chantal, get in the ambulance,” Joey urged as he tugged her towards it. Her life was ending there right in front of her eyes. He was gone, and there wasn't anything anyone could do to save him. Her heart broke completely. She felt it actually shatter into a million pieces inside of her chest as the other ambulance sped away from them, sirens screaming into the night.
She sat there in Joey’s tight embrace. This was the end of her life. She had lost the love of her life, watched him get shot by some loser and couldn’t do a damn thing about it. She hated that she sat there unmoving, and couldn’t help the one person that held her heart in the palm of his hand, and now she would be completely lost without him here.
Chapter 57
Skylar sobbed as she watched her best friend scream into the dark night. She could not believe what was happening around her outside.
Nate came running towards the truck and jumped in, and without putting on his seatbelt, he pulled quickly away from the old house.
“Nate.”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” he yelled as he slammed his fists against the steering wheel.
She slid over towards him, wrapping her arms around him. His body shook. She looked up; his eyes were filled with tears. Her own tears fell seeing his.
“What happened in there, Nate?” she choked out around her tears.
“We found them both. Chantal was on Dominic’s lap when we arrived in there. There was a guy in there but we detained him, quickly. Dom didn’t look that great. He was shot, and beaten up pretty badly; I think I’m going to lose my best friend, Sky.”
“Baby, he is a fighter, you know that,” she told him.
“You didn’t see him in there, Sky. It broke my heart seeing Chantal on him like that. He wasn’t moving, and the paramedics were losing him as we came out,” he cried.
She sat there holding onto him, as they both cried together. “How is Chantal?” she asked. She felt bad not asking about her as soon as he was in the truck.
Not letting go of her, he replied, “She was in a bad way too, baby, but Dominic was worse off. She’ll pull through, as long as Dominic does, so will she. I felt bad seeing her fall to the ground and screaming for him. It was gut-wrenching to watch, it was the same as when I saw you after Lucas.”
“Nate, look at me. That is never going to happen again, ok? Dom will pull through this, I know he will.”
“Shit, I hope so, baby. He’s my bro. I can’t lose him, I just can’t.”
“I know. I love you so much, Nate.”
“And I love you too, baby, you have no fucking idea how much I do.”
Nothing more was said as they sped down the road heading for the hospital. She was praying with everything she had that Dominic would pull through. She didn’t want to lose him either; for the friendship they had between them, and for both Nate and Chantal. It would break them both completely if he didn’t make it. He meant too much to a lot of people here, and he needed to make it through.
******
Chantal lay there as the doctors worked around her. She was asked questions about what happened: where she was hurt, if she felt this or that, how much pain she was in. But the only thing she could think of was...absolutely nothing. Empty. She never answered anyone, not even Joey when he stood there holding her hand asking her things. She just wanted to know if Dominic was ok, that was it.
The door to her room flew open and Skylar made her way in with Nate right behind her. She didn’t say a word to her, she just sobbed as Skylar wrapped her arms around her battered body. Nowhere on her body hurt more than what her heart was going through right then.
“I’m here, Chan.”
Everyone else in the room had left, leaving Skylar, Nate, Joey, and her alone. Joey still had a grip on her hand and Nate sat in the spare chair in the room at the end of the bed. His head fell into his hands; his body shook from sobs that echoed through the large room. Her heart broke further, seeing him cry over what had happened to his best friend, to the love of her life.
She couldn’t voice what she wanted to say.
“Chan, are you alright?” Skylar asked between sobs.
No words came out. The door to her room was open, and shouts from somewhere on the floor she was on made their way into her room. Feet stomped the floor as people were running from one end to the other. She didn’t know what the commotion had been about, but she did not want to think anymore.
A doctor walked in moments later. “Chantal Winters?”
“Yes.”
“I’m so sorry to tell you this, but Mr. Grayson didn’t make it. He lost a large amount of blood at the scene.”
“No. He can’t be, he told me he would never leave me!” she screamed. She sat up quickly and moved to the side of the bed ready to get up.
“Miss Winters, you can’t leave your bed,” the doctor said.
Nate stood from his chair and walked out of the room, slamming his fist through the wall as he left.
“I want to see him, I need to see him,” she bellowed.
The doctor moved towards the bed, and pushed the buzzer for the nurses’ station.
“Miss Winters. I need you to calm down. Your will make your injuries worse than what they are now, if you leave this bed.”
“I don’t fucking care. Let me go and see him,” she sobbed.
A nurse came running in. “I need to sedate her,” he said as he held her down.
“Please, just let me see him.”
Skylar sobbed as she stood near the side of the bed, watching.
The nurse came back, handing over a syringe to the doctor. He injected it into the drip already in her arm. “You need to rest and get better. When you wake up and you are calm, I will take you to him.”
Whatever they gave her knocked her out within minutes. She didn’t want to talk to anyone, all she wanted to do was see Dominic one last time and tell him she loved him. That she was going to miss not having him around, teasing her, ordering her to do things that she once hated but now loved. The look he used to give her when she pissed him off. She was never going to see that one look that turned her on straight away, ever again.
******
Skylar watched as Chantal lay there, sleeping peaceful for the moment.
“Is she going to be alright, doctor?”
“She will be. She needs to let her body heal from the impact that it had
tonight.”
“How long will she be like this?”
“At least five hours. A nurse will keep a close eye on her; you should go and find your friend that left. He didn’t look too good, and I’m sorry about My Grayson.”
“I will, thank you. Joey, will you be alright here?”
“Yeah, Nate needs you, Sky. I’ll stay with her.”
Nodding, she left the room, looking for him. She went down to the hall, glancing around, but didn’t see him anywhere. Walking up to the lift, she waited until it arrived on the floor she was on. Once she was in, it took far too long to get to the ground floor.
When the doors dinged and opened, she stepped out and turned left for the cafeteria. That was the first place she guessed that he would have headed.
She found him out the front of the hospital, walking back and forth on the phone. She had walked up and down the cafeteria, and a nurse that was sitting in there asked if she was lost. She explained what had happened and what Nate looked like, that is how she ended up out front.
She stopped close to where he was. He was whispering to someone over the phone, possible passing on the news about Dominic. When he finally hung the phone up, he just stood there staring at the ground in front of him. Neither of them moved. Seconds, even minutes went by with no words said between them.
“I can’t believe he is gone,” Nate finally said.
“I’m so sorry, babe.”
******
He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her as tightly as he could. They cried together, standing right there out the front of the hospital, over their dear friend.
He heard someone running along the cement floor outside and calling out Nate’s name. Both of their heads shot up, and they saw Joey was running towards them.
“What’s going on?” Nate asked.
“You guys need to come up...quickly. Something...happened,” Joey panted.
None of them said anything else as they went back into the hospital and back to Chantal’s room. All of them ran into the room, panting for breath.
The doctor stood there, beside Chantal’s bed.
“What happened?” Sky asked.
“I think you all need to sit down,” he told them all.
Sky sat beside Chantal, holding her hand, although she was sound asleep. Nate stood behind her, and Joey sat in the chair opposite her.
“What is it, Doc?” Nate asked.
“Mr. Grayson is alive.”
All of them gasped at the words that came out of the doctor’s mouth.
“How is that possible? You just told us he didn’t make it?” Nate asked.
“He was deceased on the operating table for over ten minutes. As they were moving him out of the room, his hand flinched. One of the nurses checked his vitals, and found his pulse, strong. We have sedated him. He needs rest, and to heal. The bullet that was in his chest actually would have killed him if it weren’t for the four broken ribs. The bullet had hit one of the ribs and lodged itself there.”
“Oh my God, this is amazing. I can’t believe he made it!” Skylar cheered.
“Is he going to be ok, though?” Joey asked.
“Yes, he will. The bullet has been removed; the ribs will take several weeks to heal as well as the broken nose. The bruising is going to get worse before it gets better. He will need to stay in here for about a week. Once we have him up and walking, then he can go home after that.”
“When can we see him?” Nate said.
“Only one person at a time. Give it about twenty minutes, then you can go in there.”
Nate walked over and shook the doctor’s hand. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll be back in here later to check on Miss Winters. You should all head home and get some rest after you see Mr. Grayson. There isn’t much you can do around here other than wait.”
“We will, thank you again.” Nate couldn’t help the smile on his face, his best mate had not died
“I can’t believe it. He’s alive, Nate,” Skylar sobbed.
“I know, baby. It’s a fucking miracle.”
“Jesus, man. So need a friggin’ stiff drink after tonight, and to celebrate as well.” Joey laughed.
“I’m with ya on that, bro,” Nate replied.
“Baby, I want you to go with Joey. I just want to go and see Dominic with my own eyes, and then I’ll be home. Ok?”
“I want to wait here for you. I’ll stay in here with Chan. I want to be here just in case she wakes up. What are we going to tell her?” she asked.
“We won’t tell her anything, yet. I’m sure when Dom is awake he will want to see her.”
“Ok. You go and see him. I’ll be here when you are done.”
“Joey, what are you doing, bro?”
“I’ll stick around and keep Skylar company. When you get back, we’ll head out and have that drink.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be back in a little bit.”
Nate couldn’t believe what they were told; he had made it. The son of a bitch survived. He was going to hit the living shit out of him for scaring ten years off his life.
Making his way down the corridor, towards the room that Dom was in, he knew he was not the only one that was going to be happy about the news. He needed his mate to get better quickly so he could go and see Chantal. She wouldn’t believe him or the others if they told her he actually made it. She would need to see with her own eyes that he was alive. His night was so much better than what it was an hour ago.
Chapter 58
Chantal sat in her hospital bed like a zombie. She didn’t say much to anyone besides Skylar, but even that was limited. There was nothing she could say. The one thing she wanted most was gone from her life. She stared out the window as nurses came in checking on her, bringing food, medication, changing the drip and dressings to her wounds—she was so out of it that the nurses even had to shower her.
She couldn’t move to do anything; she was too weak. She hadn’t eaten a proper meal in close to a week. She would nibble on a piece of apple here, or a biscuit there, but nothing too large. Her injuries were healing nicely as to what the doctor said, and she was due for release this afternoon.
Nothing was ever going to be the same again. Everyone really tried to talk to her, but she just ignored them, especially when they mentioned Dominic’s name. Nothing was going to fix the hole in her chest from losing him.
Skylar walked in with a new bunch of flowers. She brought one every day for her and she loved her for it. Yesterday’s were roses, and today she brought tiger lilies. They were her absolute favorite. It was one of the only kinds of flowers that Dom had ever given to her. She sobbed quietly. She wiped the tears off of her face before Skylar saw, and smiled the best she could when she glanced her way.
“How are you today, Chan?” Skylar asked, as she moved to sit down.
“Better, the doc said I could go home today.”
“That’s great news. Are you going to be staying at my place?”
“I think its best I stay at my own place, Sky. Andrew and Bryan have both been charged and are awaiting trial. So, I shouldn’t see either of them for a long time. But I feel really bad for Sherrie and the kids. She had no idea what Bryan was like.”
“None of us did. People come across normal until something tips them off. I can’t believe it was him that sent you all that stuff, it still socks me, though,” Sky said.
“Me too. To tell you the truth I thought it was Dom at first, but when it started getting weird, I really had no clue who sent them.”
“Well, I’m glad it’s all over and you can move on with your life, now.”
“Yeah,” she replied. She couldn’t though. What was she going to do now? She had absolutely no idea how she was going to move on from Dominic.
“Everything is going to work out, Chan.”
“How do you figure that, Sky? Dom’s gone and nothing can bring him back. My life is over, finished. I have no reason to be here if he
isn’t. Do you understand? I have fucking nothing,” she sobbed.
“Chan—”
“Don’t, please. I can’t deal with it now. I just need some time to myself,” she whispered.
“Okay. I’ll leave you alone for a little while, but Nate and Joey will be here soon.”
She leaned over and hugged her. She felt bad for biting her head off, but no one understood what she was going through. She hated being like that but it hurt and she didn’t know how else to react.
“I’m sorry, Sky.”
“I know you are, Chantal. Get some rest, the boys will be here soon.”
She watched as her best friend left her where she was, giving her the space she needed.
Her eyes closed minutes later. She was too tired to think about anything else right now. She really needed to have a good night’s sleep. Nearly every night, she relived what had happened that night with Bryan and Andrew. But mostly, she had nightmares about watching as Dominic slowly died in the back of the ambulance.
******
Nate and Joey laughed as they walked towards Chantal’s room. He had spent several nights in Dominic’s room, going over the event that had happened, and the way that Chantal had been acting. He was edgy to see her, which he totally understood.
He told him that he had died on the table and that Chantal since didn’t know that he was alive. He wanted to surprise her himself when he could walk. He was a stubborn son of a bitch. He made life hell for the doctors and nurses looking after him, and he would have done the same damn thing.
Today was the day that Dom was finally going to see Chantal. Joey was going to meet her in her room so he could help Dom walk down. He didn’t want to be wheeled around in a wheelchair. He wanted to walk on his own two feet.
“I’ll see you soon, Nate,” Joey said as he walked off towards Chantal’s room. They were all unsure as to how she was going to react at seeing Dom standing in her room, still breathing.
Walking up the hallway, he passed the nurses’ desk and stopped at Dom’s door. Opening the door quietly, he stepped in.
“Jesus man, how long do you want to take next time?” Dom growled.
