Matthew's Choice

by Patricia Bradley

  Matt blinked back tears as applause swept across the gym. He was proud of Noah, and maybe if Mariah heard his speech, it would give her even more reason to stay clean. Noah bowed slightly and carefully folded his notes as he stepped aside for the next student.

  After two more speeches, the principal spoke a few words and dismissed the students to their homerooms. Matt scanned the crowd for Allie. His stomach soured when he found her exiting the gym with Peter, his hand resting on the small of her back.

  Jealousy struck with the power of a bolt of lightning. His heart belonged to Allie, always had, always would. Why hadn’t he been able to see that earlier, before Peter staked his claim? What if it was too late? He had to tell Allie how he felt. Not that he’d blame her if she turned him down and chose Peter. She’d be crazy not to.

  He’d noticed her office next to where he signed in. Maybe that’s where they were going. He turned and hurried back the way he came.

  * * *

  “NOAH DID A great job. I’m glad Matt made it in time to hear him.” Allie ushered Peter into her office. When she’d heard Matt’s voice encouraging his nephew, she swung the video camera around just in time to catch him clapping.

  “Me, too. Even though he almost missed it.” Peter caught her by the hand. “Noah’s pretty special, isn’t he?”

  “He sure is.” She walked to the small refrigerator in the corner of her office and took out a box of ice cream sandwiches. “Want to stay for his party? He and the twins are coming when the bell rings.”

  “Sounds like fun.” He cocked his head. “Are we still on for tonight?” he asked. “Dining and dancing?”

  A knock at her door prevented her from answering. “It must be the kids. Come in.”

  The door opened and Matt stepped in. He looked from her to Peter. “Can I speak—”

  Noah pushed past him and grabbed her hand. “Miss Allie, you gotta stop Logan and Lucas. I didn’t think they’d do it, but I can’t find them.”

  She knelt in front of Noah. “Stop them from what?”

  “They’re running away on the train. I told them not to, but I know they did.” He stopped to get his breath.

  “Slow down,” Matt said. “What train?”

  Noah’s bottom lip trembled. “I’m sorry. I should’ve told you, Miss Allie. But I didn’t believe they’d do it. And they made me promise.”

  Allie covered her mouth with her hand. “Was this their secret?”

  He shook his head. “No. They saw their dad hit their mom and then she died. They’re running away on the train so he won’t find them.”

  Peter stepped forward. “Is it the train that stops behind the school?”

  Noah nodded.

  “Do you know which boxcar they got on?”

  “No, sir. They just said there was always one open.”

  Matt stood. “I’m going to see if I can find them.”

  “I’ll come with you.” Peter turned to Allie. “Call the sheriff’s department and tell them to make sure that train doesn’t move.”

  Allie punched in 911 as the two men bolted from the office. When the dispatcher answered, she identified herself and explained the problem. Then, pocketing her cell phone, she caught Noah as he edged toward the door. “Hold on, young man. You’re staying right here until we get back with the twins.”

  “But I want to help.”

  “You’ve already helped by telling.”

  “Do you think they’ll be mad?”

  She smiled at him. “We’ll worry about that later. Now sit on the couch until I get back.”

  He cut his eyes toward the door.

  “Noah, promise me you’ll stay here.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  With a glance back, Allie closed the door behind her, thankful he’d finally come forward with the truth.

  * * *

  FOR THE FIRST five minutes after Miss Allie left, Noah sat on the couch, his feet dangling above the floor. What if the twins’ dad showed up? He caught his breath. He forgot to tell Miss Allie that he was coming to get them today. What if their dad saw them go to the train? And he was there...and Miss Allie was there.

  Noah had to tell her. But he’d promised to stay in the office. He didn’t care. Miss Allie said that sometimes, if somebody might get hurt, you had to break your promise. He hopped off the couch. He knew a shortcut through the woods to the train.

  The cold air hurt Noah’s throat as he ran across the deserted schoolyard and slipped under the hole in the fence. He tucked his head against the wind and sprinted to the trees. Once he made it past the woods, he’d be at the tracks. The strong smell of pine trees met him at the edge of the woods, and he paused, panting for his next breath. He couldn’t see the tracks and didn’t remember the woods being so big. Noah bit his lip. He had to find Miss Allie. He edged past the first line of trees.

  A hand wrapped around his neck and jerked Noah in a choke hold.

  “Just keep your mouth shut, and you won’t get hurt. Where are my boys?” the gravelly voice breathed against his cheek.

  The twins’ dad? Chills shivered down Noah’s back. He wrinkled his nose against the sour odor of alcohol. “What boys?”

  The choke hold tightened. “Logan and Lucas. I’ve seen you with them. You know where they are.”

  Noah couldn’t breathe. Black dots filled his eyes. He thought he heard Miss Allie calling the twins’ names. The man loosened his hold on Noah’s neck. “The train? Is that where they are?”

  More voices yelled for Logan and Lucas.

  Logan’s dad grabbed Noah by the back of his neck, squeezing hard. “You got a choice. Walk or be carried. It’s up to you. And you better keep your mouth shut.”

  “I...I’ll w-walk.”

  The hold loosened, then he grabbed Noah’s collar, pulling his coat tight until the zipper cut into his throat. Noah tried not to stumble on the thick floor of pine straw as the twins’ dad pushed him through the trees. They stopped at the tree line right next to the train.

  “Don’t move. You hear me, boy?”

  “Y-yes, sir.” Noah risked a peek. He wore a dirty cap, and he needed to shave, but he looked strong. No wonder the boys were scared of him. Then Nichols pulled a bag from his coat with white stuff in it. Noah’s chest got tight as the man took a straw from his pocket and used it to breathe in the bag. No! He’d seen his mom do that and then act really crazy. He bunched his muscles...maybe if he ran.

  “Don’t even think it, kid.” Nichols leaned against a tree. “Why are they looking for my boys on the train?”

  Noah didn’t answer and the man shook him. “I asked you a question.”

  “Th-they were running a-away.”

  “From that shelter?”

  Noah shook his head. “From you.”

  “Did they tell you why?” When Noah didn’t answer, he shook him again. “They told you, didn’t they? I’ve got to get them before they tell someone else. Let’s go.” The man pushed Noah out of the woods onto the bare rocks near the train.

  Farther along the track, Uncle Matt hopped up into a boxcar, then turned and helped a man with a blue uniform on. Noah squinted. Jason, the deputy sheriff. He had a gun, and he could save them.

  “They’re checking the boxcars one by one,” Nichols muttered. “I’ll let them do the work of finding them.”

  Miss Allie stepped from the other side of the train. She was so close, only five boxcars away, and Jason was way down the track. Noah wanted to yell for her to run, but she disappeared into the open boxcar. In an instant she was back at the door. “I found them! They’re okay.” Then she disappeared again.

  “Come on.” The man jerked Noah up. In his hand was the biggest gun Noah had ever seen. Bigger than Jason’s. What if he hurt Miss Allie with it? Maybe Noah shouldn’t have told h
er where the twins were. He cringed as Uncle Matt and Mr. Peter ran to the boxcar. What if everybody got killed?

  * * *

  “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? You scared us half to death,” Matt said as he handed one of the twins down from the boxcar to Peter.

  “Not now, Matt. First, let’s get them warm.” Allie hopped off the car and knelt, hugging both of the boys. “It’s okay. We’ll sort this out back at the...”

  Her eyes widened, and she stood, shoving the boys behind her.

  Frowning, Matt turned to see what had frightened her. His heart dropped to his knees. A man holding a gun had Noah positioned in front him as a shield. Matt stepped in front of Allie. “I don’t know what you want, but how about letting my nephew go.”

  “As soon as I have my boys. Now just step away from them.”

  “You’re not getting them.” Allie moved beside Matt.

  “Get behind me.” The words rasped from his mouth. From the corner of his eye, a flash of blue appeared in the boxcar the boys had hidden in, and then disappeared. Jason.

  Peter pulled Allie back and stood beside Matt. “Mr. Nichols, you can’t escape with the boys...they’ll slow you down. Why don’t you put your gun away and just leave?”

  Nichols cackled. “That’s where you’re wrong. When I get my boys, I’ll fly out of here like an eagle. Now give them to me....” He eyed Matt. “Or I’ll start shooting, and your nephew will be the first casualty, and then the little lady will be next.”

  The man was crazy...or high. Where was Jason?

  “I wanna talk to the little lady.”

  “No.” Matt didn’t give Allie a chance to speak.

  “You can’t tell me no. I got the gun. What do you say I shoot you first?” He raised the pistol.

  “No, wait!” Allie squeezed between Matt and Peter.

  “Don’t shoot her!” Noah leaped, shoving Nichols’s arm as the gun fired.

  Matt threw himself across Allie, knocking her to the ground. Another gun fired, but pinpointing who fired it eluded him. Jason, maybe? He couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. When did it get so dark?

  “Matt! Talk to me, Matt!”

  Allie? He tried to answer, but his mouth wouldn’t work. If he could just close his eyes a minute...

  * * *

  “MATT! STAY AWAKE.” Allie wanted to shake him, do anything that would make him open his eyes again. Instead she continued to press against the wound in his chest, shaking Peter off when he tried to relieve her. Why didn’t the bleeding stop? Blood soaked the coat that she’d shed and stuffed against the bullet hole. The muscles in her arms screamed for relief. She’d heard an ambulance. Where was it?

  “Let me take over.”

  Allie looked up as an EMT slid his latex-gloved hands under hers and continued pressing against the flow of blood.

  Peter gently pried her away from Matt’s side. “Let them do their job.”

  The paramedics worked quickly, hooking up an IV, taking Matt’s blood pressure. Allie took Matt’s coat that Peter handed her. He had stripped it off Matt earlier so they could make sure there was only the one injury. Blood ringed the spot where the bullet went in, but she didn’t care—the coat still held Matt’s woodsy cologne, and she breathed in, filling her nostrils with his scent. He had to make it. He just had to.

  Allie caught phrases like clipped a major vein and loss of blood and shocky. She stepped aside as a medic rolled a gurney to where Matt lay. While other EMTs loaded him, the lead paramedic turned to her. “Is he on any medication? Allergic to anything?”

  She hugged the coat closer. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen him take anything.”

  “Is there anyone who would know?”

  “His fiancée, maybe, but I don’t have her phone number.” Maybe his cell phone was in his coat pocket. She patted the front two pockets. Empty. Her fingers fumbled inside the breast pocket, relief surging through her when she touched the hard case. “Give me a second.”

  She scrolled through his favorites. Jessica’s name was first, then hers. She touched the number, and it immediately dialed. Jessica answered on the first ring.

  “I don’t believe we have anything more to talk about, Matthew.”

  Allie put the phone on speaker. “This isn’t Matt. He’s been hurt. Do you know if he is allergic to anything?”

  “What? Who is this?”

  “It’s Allie. Is he allergic to—”

  “No, not that I know of. What happened?”

  Allie turned to the medic. “Did you get that?”

  The EMT nodded. “How about meds?”

  Allie spoke into the phone again. “Is he on any kind of medication?”

  “No. Tell me what this is about!”

  The EMT gave her a thumbs-up. “We’re transporting to Cedar Grove General.”

  “What’s going on?” Panic edged her voice.

  Allie punched it off speaker. “Matt’s been shot. He’s being transported to the hospital here in Cedar Grove now.”

  “Shot? How?”

  “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you when you get here.”

  Silence answered her, and Allie glanced to see if the call had been dropped. No, they were still connected. “Jessica?”

  “I’m here. Where’s the hospital?”

  Allie gave her directions then disconnected the call as the EMTs picked up the gurney and carried Matt toward the waiting ambulance.

  “Miss Allie?” Noah pulled at her arm. “Is Uncle Matt going to be okay?”

  She’d almost forgotten the boys were here. “I hope so, Noah. I hope so.”

  The boy sounded on the verge of tears, and she put her arms around him. The twins stood with Peter, their eyes glued to where another team of EMTs worked on their father only a few yards away. “Peter, would you ask if we can leave?”

  He went and returned shortly. “We can go. The sheriff said he’d get your statement later. I’ll take you home.”

  She shook her head. “I can drive. Would you take the boys to Miss Sarah? I’ll call my parents to come get Noah.”

  “I want to go with you.” Noah’s eyes pleaded with her.

  Unable to say no, she nodded then hugged each of the twins.

  Logan glanced toward his father. “Miss Allie, is my daddy going to live?”

  Lucas crowded next to her. “Yeah, Miss Allie.”

  “I don’t know. I hope so.” Her answer was so inadequate, but Allie didn’t know what else to say. No matter how bad a person Lenny Nichols was, he was still their father. The boys had enough to deal with seeing him shot in front of their eyes. They didn’t need to deal with his death right now.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  IN ICU, ALLIE stood at the foot of Matt’s bed with Mariah at her side. Two hours of surgery, an hour in recovery. The minutes had ticked by like days. Afterward, a surgeon had talked with them and explained how the bullet had punctured Matt’s left lung and nicked a major vein. It’d been the pressure Allie had kept on the wound, along with the quick arrival of the EMTs, that had saved his life.

  Although they were given five minutes with him, his nurse hovered nearby. She’d already told them they would have to leave if the monitors registered any negatives. From the way Matt looked, that could be any second. She tried to count the tubes running from his body and stopped at four. Thank goodness they hadn’t allowed Noah to come in with them.

  Mariah stepped closer to the bed. “Why is he on a ventilator?”

  “It’s only temporary,” the nurse replied. “It’s to rest his heart.”

  Mariah dried her eyes and then backed toward the door. “I...I better check on Noah.”

  Allie didn’t remember the doctor saying anything about his heart. “May I stay a little longer?”

  The
nurse nodded, and Allie dragged the one chair in the room to Matt’s bedside as the nurse stepped out of the cubicle. Allie stroked his hand, barely touching his skin. He’d saved her life, and now he might lose his own. “Matt, you have to get better,” she whispered. “Noah and Mariah need you. I need you.”

  She glanced up at the monitor as his heartbeat jumped to ninety-five and held her breath until it settled back to a steady eight-six beats. Content to just hold his hand, she sat quietly as his chest rose and fell with the ventilator. When the nurse tapped her on the shoulder, she stood and brushed her lips against his cheek. “I love you,” she whispered in his ear. One last time, she squeezed his hand.

  Back in the waiting area, Allie tucked her feet under her and picked up Matt’s jacket, laying it across her lap. She really should ask for a bag to put it in, but she couldn’t bear the thought of giving the coat up. Her finger touched the hole just above the breast pocket, and the skin on the back of her neck prickled. If Noah hadn’t shoved Lenny Nichols’s arm, the hole would’ve been dead center of Matt’s chest.

  Pushing the thought away, she checked her watch. Where was Jessica? She should’ve made it to Cedar Grove by now. Across from her, Noah slept, curled up on the other half of the couch beside his mother. Mariah gave her a tired smile.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Nothing I can’t deal with. Can I borrow your cell phone and call the rehab? I’m not returning until Matt is out of the woods.”

  A phone rang, and she exchanged glances with Mariah.

  “I think it’s coming from your purse,” Mariah said.

  Allie opened her bag. It was Matt’s phone. Jessica’s name showed on the ID. She grabbed it. “Hello?”

  “Allie? How is Matt?”

  “Critical, but he made it through the surgery. Are you almost to the hospital?”

  After a brief pause, Jessica said, “I decided not to come.”