~~~~~
Holly heard a horrendous clatter from downstairs, and then the sounds of a fight. Sam was down there protecting her and the boys while she cowered behind a locked door, safe from harm. Quickly she shook Zack awake and whispered,
“Someone is downstairs. Lock the door and don’t open it for anyone but me. Understand?” He nodded, barely awake, but did as she commanded.
Now what to do? All the boys sporting equipment was in the garage, so grabbing something like a ball bat was out of the question. But she did have a heavy cut glass vase on her dresser. Running as fast as she could she grabbed it, then pounded down the stairs.
In the darkness she could see two shapes fighting for all they were worth. The sounds of fists connecting with flesh and the grunts that followed each impact, made her stomach roil, but she couldn’t tell which one was Sam. Another crash sounded, a lamp, she thought, and she skirted around them for the light switch.
They were all blinded by the brightness for a moment. When her vision cleared she saw Mike, face bloodied, holding long knife, trying to slash Sam, who jumped back, but not before Mike slashed him across his side. Holly screamed, drawing their attention briefly.
“Get back upstairs!” Sam shouted, ignoring his wound and circling around Mike. In the distance, she heard sirens and prayed the police would arrive soon.
“Mike, leave him alone,” she screamed, when he lunged again, this time slicing Sam’s forearm. “No!”
With all her might, she threw the vase at his head – and missed, shattering the picture window instead. It distracted him long enough for Sam to get in a blow to his chin, but Mike wasn’t fazed and lashed out again with the knife. Blood spurted from another gash on Sam’s side. This time she threw herself at Mike, sending him against the wall.
Recovering from the surprise almost instantly, he hit Holly so hard just under her eye that she finally knew what people meant when they said they saw stars. Sam caught her as she stumbled backwards and quickly, but gently, lowered her to the floor before plowing into Mike with his shoulder.
The police burst into the room at that point and in an instant, pulled both of the men apart, as rough with Sam as they were with Mike. Even though Holly knew they were trying to protect her, and didn’t know whose blood covered who, she shrieked at them to be careful, crawling over to Sam.
“Oh no. Oh no,” she sobbed, against his chest. “Don‘t hurt him. He was trying to save me.” She pointed at Mike. “He was trying to kill us. Oh please call an ambulance!”
“Holly.” Sam was trying to get her attention, but his voice was weak.
She pressed his uninjured arm against the cut on his left side, pressing it tightly as she tried to find something to stem the flow of blood from the other side, as well as from the gash on his arm. “Can someone please get a towel? Please!”
“Holly-” She ignored him, grabbing the towel an officer handed her. She balled it up, placed it on his side, applying as much pressure as she dared.
“Don’t die. Oh, God, please don’t die.”
“Holly, stop. Call Jenna. You can’t let the boys see us like this. She needs to look after the boys. Holly, call her.”
It took a moment for what he’d said to sink in, before she really looked at Sam, then herself. Her nightgown and his shirt were covered with his blood, his face battered and bruised. Given the throbbing along the side of her face, she’d be willing to wager that she was developing a colorful bruise of her own.
She struggled to pull herself together and give Jenna’s number to an officer, who offered to make the call for her. After explaining the situation, he hung up and told her that her friend was on the way, then offered to wait for her if Holly wanted to ride in the ambulance.
“Yes I want to go with him,” she wept, praying the sirens she heard this time belonged to the rescue squad.
~~~~~
Jenna actually arrived in her nightclothes before the paramedics wheeled Sam out to the ambulance, paling when she saw the blood everywhere. Holly told her where the key to the bedroom door was, and that she should tell the boys she loved them and would see them in the morning. And that they shouldn’t worry.
“I will. Holly, stop looking so scared,” Jenna said, hugging her close. “He’s going to be okay. He will.”
“He has to be.” She watched them strap him to the gurney and lift it. “I don’t want to live without him, Jen.”
“You won’t have to. Now go. And keep me posted, okay?”
“I will. Pray for him. And call his folks. They need to know.”
“I will. Go.”
CHAPTER 13
Holly had apologized profusely to John and Gina, but even though they were very gracious about their son nearly being killed in an attempt to save her, she huddled by herself in a corner away from them. She didn’t deserve their kindness, or any offered from the others who trickled into the waiting room. If Sam died, it would be following eighteen days of misery that she put him through, all because she’d been too stupid to see him for what he was, which was a man willing to lay his life on the line to protect those he loved.
She couldn’t seem to stop the tears that flowed without ceasing. Would the fact that he was run down from not eating or sleeping for so long affect his recovery from the vicious attack? If he recovered, of course. He could die, and it would all be her fault. She wrapped her arms around her waist, bending forward to rest her forehead on her knees.
As sobs began to shake her, she felt a hand begin to gently rub her back.
“He’s not going to die,” Gina told her softly. “He’s got too much to live for, so you just stop thinking that way, young lady.”
“It’s my fault he’s in there,” Holly whispered, unable to find her voice.
“How do you figure that?”
“Because he wouldn’t have been hurt if I hadn’t called him.”
“Why did you call him, Holly? To come and save you?”
“No! I wouldn‘t have put him in danger like that.”
“Then why?”
“To tell him I was wrong and that I loved him.”
“So he came over so you two could make up.”
“Make up?” she laughed harshly. “Yeah right. He didn’t do anything to make up for. It was me, my doing that that we’ve been apart. He was coming because I finally started using the brains God gave me to see what I would lose if I lost him. And now I might anyway.”
“Sam wasn’t entirely innocent,” she heard Jon say. All the guys had come. Jenna had also called Ed, who spread the word. “We all told him it wasn’t fair to you to keep you in the dark about his age. That was his choice.”
“Because he knew I’d be unreasonable about it, and I was.”
“Maybe you did react a little more, um, strongly than the situation warranted,” Gina conceded, “but then no one has ever walked in your shoes before, so we really can’t judge, Holly. Perhaps if we’d lived through what your husband did-”
“Ex-husband,” she corrected adamantly.
“All right. If we’d lived through what your ex-husband put you through, we might have felt the same way. The fact remains, what happened has happened. You can’t change it, and you cannot take the blame. Mike McGinty has some serious mental issues that only he is responsible for.”
“Like being a narcissistic butthead,” Ed said, walking into the waiting room. “Did you tell them about his threat against the boys, Holly? That he was going to kidnap them and use them to make money through child pornography if you didn’t hand him the money from the sale of McGinty’s?” She heard gasps around the waiting room. Holly looked up at him.
“How did you know?” she whispered.
“Lyle overheard him and called Sam. We spent all of Friday night following him out of state, but we lost him. I thought we’d put the fear of God into him and he was hightailing it far away from Michigan. Unfortunately I was wrong about that.” He shook his head as though una
ble to believe he could make an error of that magnitude.
“Sam knew about-” Holly’s eyes widened.
After spending a night trying to keep her sons safe, he probably hadn’t slept at all when she’d called him about the lock-in. Yet he’d come over immediately, only to have her treat him as though his feelings were unimportant. And then he’d forgiven her immediately when she called him, coming to her without hesitation, only to wind up saving her life at great risk to his own.
“I don’t deserve him,” she whispered, agonizing over what she’d put him through. Gina sighed deeply.
“You do. And you’re going to pull yourself together so that when he’s out of recovery, you can go to him with a smile. Do you understand me, Holly?”
“I-”
“Ed, I hope you have some clothes for her in that case you’re holding.”
“Sure do. Jenna told me she’d need them. Was she ever right about that.”
“Took you long enough to get here,” Jon observed. Ed looked at him and scowled.
“For your information, I helped Jenna clean the mess up. The broken glass from her picture window was all over the floor. And then I had to go get some plastic to cover the hole in the wall.”
“I’ll give Chris a call later and we’ll get it fixed this morning,” Jon told him. Holly could have wept again at everyone’s kindness.
“Come on,” Gina commanded, rising to her feet and taking the small suitcase from Ed. “Let’s get you cleaned up and ready to see Sam. I’m sure they won’t be much longer.”
“But what if the doctor comes out-”
“Then someone will come and get us.” She tugged on Holly’s hand, leading her down the hall to a private restroom. “I’ll wait out here for you.”
~~~~~
Holly’s breath caught in her throat when she caught sight of herself in the mirror. The front of her nightgown had several large bloodstains, which alone looked bad enough. But her face- Her cheek was swollen from where Mike had slugged her, it and the area around her eye was now a brilliant shade of purple. Dark enough that she doubted even a Hollywood makeup artist could hide it.
But she couldn’t worry about that now. She quickly rid herself of the gown, and looked around for paper towels with which to clean herself a little. All she found was a wall mounted dryer, so she made do with a couple of wet wipes she kept in her purse for emergencies, grateful that Jenna had had the foresight to send that along, too. Finally, having done the best she could, she opened the case, where she found a washcloth laying on top of the small stack of clothes. Her friend thought of everything.
With a self-conscious laugh, she wet it and washed away the last traces of blood. Less than five minutes later, she joined Gina back in the hall, wearing jeans and a sweater. No shoes though, but thick socks had been included, so Jenna thought of almost everything.
“Now we’ll get you some coffee and something to eat.”
“Oh, no. I couldn’t. Thank you anyway.”
“I’m not taking no for an answer,” Gina grinned at her. “You’ll have to get used to my interfering ways, Holly. I will love you like my own daughter, but I will do what’s best for my son, and I know that he’d want you fed, so we’ll feed you.”
“Gina, it’s only four o’clock. I never eat this early.”
“So today you will. I’m not talking about a ten course meal. Just coffee and a sandwich out of the machine. No arguments.”
~~~~~
“The family of Sam Jensen?” A distinguished looking man asked from the doorway. It was four-forty-five a.m. The Jensen‘s, Dan, Jon, Cal, Darby, Ed and Holly all jumped to their feet. The doctor chuckled. “Big family. Go ahead and sit back down.” He sat in a vacant chair across from them and smiled.
“How is our son?” John asked the question they all wanted an answer to.
“Sam is going to be just fine,” the doctor told them. “His wounds were mostly superficial, although he does have a fractured rib. It only took an hour or so to stitch him up.”
“What took so long then?” Ed demanded. “You’ve been working on him for more than two hours.”
“As I started to explain,” came the patient response, “a couple of police officers insisted on speaking with him. I guess the attacker cast some doubt as to Mr. Jensen’s role in the altercation, and they needed to clear it up. As the attending physician I felt I should be there with him. Unfortunately, in the confusion no one bothered to let you know what was going on.”
“You allowed them to question him so soon after surgery?” Gina gasped.
“Well, we didn’t actually have to do surgery. Just stitch him up. In fact, whenever you’re ready, you can take him home.”
“Shouldn’t you keep him overnight?” Holly demanded, unable to believe that he was going to be sent home. She’d witnessed firsthand his injuries, and they were bad, at least in her opinion.
“Not unless you want us to,” the doctor teased.
“But- There was so much blood.”
“It sure looked like it, but honestly, he’s going to be fine. He’ll be pretty sore for a while. Other than that though, I promise you, he’s okay. Eventually even his scars won’t even be all that noticeable.”
“Can we see him now?” John wanted to know.
“Absolutely. We’ll need a couple of you there while the nurse goes over the discharge order. The others will have to be patient for another few minutes. Come on.” No one moved, though everyone looked at Holly.
“Go ahead,” she urged his parents. It was one of the hardest things she’d ever forced herself to say. “I can wait.”
“In another month, you’ll be first in line anyway,” John said with a smile. “Go on with Gina, Holly. I’ll wait.”
“No, he’s your son-” The doctor burst out laughing.
“We’ll break the two visitor limit for you. All three of you come with me. I’m not about to keep parents out, and since Sam has specifically been asking for Holly, she needs to be there, too. Although looking at your face, young lady, I don’t think he’s going to be too happy.”
“I’ll bet,” Holly said wryly. “I don’t think he actually planned to marry someone who looks like she went the distance with Ali.”
“I think he meant Sam isn’t going to be very happy to see what Mike did to you,” Dan assured her with a quick hug.
“Exactly. Now if we can get moving here, you’ll all be able to head home shortly.”
~~~~~
If he weren’t so sore Sam would be pacing the small cubical. Other than the few minutes with her in the ambulance, he hadn’t been able to make sure everything was okay with Holly. As far as their relationship was concerned certainly, but most importantly, to see how she was doing after Mike’s attack. If someone didn’t tell him something soon, he was simply going to leave. In fact, he wasn’t even going to wait.
He’d just eased himself off the small, uncomfortable bed when the door opened and there she was. Tears filled his eyes when he saw her beautiful face, bruised and swollen.
“Oh, Sam,” she whispered, beginning to cry. He opened his arms and she walked into them, touching the wide strips of gauze wound around his waist. Holding her carefully, he kissed her hair and said,
“I’m okay. How are you feeling, Nolan?”
“Nolan?”
“Nolan Ryan. You know, the best pitcher in the history of baseball.”
“What?” She looked up at him in confusion and he laughed softly.
“The way you lobbed that vase at Mike, you should try out for the major leagues, sweetheart.”
“Oh.” He watched her cheeks turned pink. “I missed.”
“Yeah, but you took the window out like that.” He snapped his fingers.
“I did do that, didn’t I? How are you feeling?”
“Great.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Holly, you’re here. I’m holding you. How could I feel anything else bu
t great?”
“I do love you.”
“I love you.”
“We love you, too,” Gina reminded him with a smile.
“Mom. I’m sorry.” He honestly hadn’t seen anyone but Holly. And there was his father, too.
“It’s okay. Mom’s just teasing. We just wanted to see for ourselves that you were okay, and now we’re going back to the waiting room with everyone else. We’ll see you there.”
“Everyone is here?”
“Of course they are. Would you expect anything else?”
“No. I guess not.” But for once he wished that no one but Holly was here. He’d missed her so much that he didn’t want to be with, or talk to, anyone but her – and he didn’t care how rude it made him look either. When his folks started out of the door, he was relieved.
“Hold it,” Gina exclaimed, stopping so suddenly that John nearly tripped over her. “What happened to your shirt and coat?”
“I guess they tossed the sweater. And I was in such a hurry to get to Holly I didn’t grab my coat.”
“Here,” John said, stripping his flannel shirt off. Beneath it he wore a thermal undershirt. “You can wear my coat home.”
“Thanks, Dad. But the shirt will be enough.”
“You’ll take my coat,” he said in a tone that meant arguing would be a waste of his time.
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“See you in a few.”
And then they were alone. Sam would like nothing better than to stand there holding Holly for the rest of his life.
“I don’t suppose I could persuade you to move the wedding up to this morning, could I?” he murmured against her hair.
“If you’re up for a red-eye to Vegas, so am I.” From the tone of her voice he would have guessed she was serious.
A Hero For Holly Page 19
