Finally Home (Home Series) (48 page)

The first time awareness came to Lainey, she was in an ambulance.  She could feel the movement of the vehicle.  She could hear voices but she couldn't tell what was being said.  In the back of her mind, she knew something was missing but she wasn't sure what. 

The next time she opened her eyes, she felt li
ke she was flying.  Above her, fluorescent lights streamed by and beside her, a man in blue-green scrubs walked, his hand on the rail of the bed.  She blinked at him, but he wasn't one of her boys, so she dismissed him.  Where was Mike?  She tried to speak but found no words would come.  Something wasn't right.  Mike wasn't there.  She needed Mike.

The third time she opened her eyes, she saw her mother sitting in a chair beside her.  When she next looked, it was Riley.  And yet another time it was Trevor.  Where was Mike?  She felt tears falling down her cheeks.  She wanted Mike.  Why wasn't he there? 

Riley felt like he'd aged twenty years since answering his phone and hearing Conroy's voice.  When the ambulances took Mike, Lainey and Colt away, he pulled out his phone and called Jenna.  He wasn't looking forward to this next task.

"Hey, baby, what's -"

"Ask someone to come stay with Cam," he said, his voice grim.  "I need you to meet me
at Jack's house to talk to Sarah."

"Sarah is here with me.  What's going on?"

"Don't say anything to her. I'll be home in just a minute.  Do you have an OB/GYN you can call for her?"

"Riley?  You're scaring me.  What's happened?"

"Not on the phone.  Just have that doctor's number ready."

He hung up before she could question him more, then got in his truck and went home. 

Jenna met him out on the lawn, her eyes rounding, her complexion going white when she saw his blood-stained clothes.

"Oh, God, Riley
?" she whispered, fearing what he would say.

"Call that doctor.  Sarah's going to need them," he said, going inside.

He found Sarah sitting on the sofa.  She was smiling when he walked in, but her smile quickly faded.

"What happened?" she asked, and he could see in her face that she already knew.

He sat beside her, made eye contact with Jenna to make sure she was on the phone with the doctor, and at her nod, looked back to Sarah, taking her hand into his.

"Conroy somehow got around Colt's security system and got into Mike's loft.  Sarah.  Colt's been shot."

"No," she said, shaking her head, trying to pull back from him. 

"I don't know his condition, he was shot...in the head."

"No!" she cried, both hands going to cover her mouth, tears filling her eyes.  "No!!"

"I do know that he is alive, and that at some point, he managed to lift himself up enough to fire two rounds into Conroy when he tried to point blank shoot Mike in the head...but he collapsed and passed out after that."

"No, no, please!" she sobbed.  "Colt!  No!" she cried, beginning to hyperventilate. 

"Sarah," Jenna said, her voice firm.  "Listen to me, honey, you've got to breathe."

"No!  No!  No!" Sarah cried over and over.

"Mom?" Cam asked, having heard the commotion from his room.

"Riley, we've got to get her to the hospital," Jenna said when Sarah began clutching her stomach. 

Riley stood and gathered Sarah into his arms, carrying her out to his truck.  Jenna and Cam piled in, too, Jenna settling Sarah into her arms while they sped off toward the hospital.

"Please, this is a nightmare, right?" Sarah sobbed.

Jenna stroked her hair.  "It's going to be all right," she soothed her.  "My doctor is meeting us up there.  She's the best around.  Take some deep breaths."

"I can't.  I can't.  I need Colt.  Please.  Please, God, please.  Colt," she sobbed, inconsolable. 

By the time they got to the hospital, Sarah was in full-fledged labor, in spite of still needing two months to go.  Jenna took Sarah's phone from her purse and pulled up the number for Sarah's mother, Charlotte, who had just left the day before. 

Riley, Jenna and Cam settled into the waiting room with Coop and Whit and Lainey' s parents.  Soon, the waiting room was filled with their families.  Trevor had gotten Aubrey to help him down so that he was there waiting with everyone. 

They all sat quietly waiting for word on any of those who'd been taken in.  The first report that came back was on Mike. 
Lainey's body had slowed the bullet, and that, combined with the heavy scar tissue on Mike's chest had saved the bullet from going to his heart.  They were able to successfully remove the bullet and he was expected to make a full recovered. 

The next report was on Lainey.  The bullet had gone straight through her muscle tissue to lodge in Mike's chest.  She had undoubtedly saved Mike's life.  And while she'd lot quite a bit of blood, she, too was expected to make a full recovery.

It was hours before the next report came in.  This time, on Sarah.  She'd ended up having to have a c-section.  The baby was too distressed for them not to take him.  He was two months pre-mature, but the doctors felt confident that after some time in the NICU, he would be just fine.

That left Colt.  His sister and her daughters arrived from Waco.  Not long after that, his parents and Sarah's parents arrived.  The last report the doctors had given was that they were trying to determine the best course of action for his recovery.  Remove the bullet and risk it causing p
aralysis or even death if they nicked an area they shouldn't, or leave it and hope that the bullet stayed lodged the way it was.  With Sarah still recovering from surgery, the decision was left to the rest of Colt's family.  The decision was made to leave the bullet in rather than risk losing him on the operating table should something go wrong.  Of the three of them, Colt's road to recovery would be the longest, but the doctors assured everyone that due to Colt's physical fitness, he should make at least a ninety percent recovery.

"Damn lucky son-of-a-bitch," Coop said, holding Claire close to his side. 

"How's Sarah?" Jenna asked when her brother Tag came into the waiting room, scrubbing a weary hand over her face.

"She's begging to see Colt."

"How's the baby?"

"They have him in an incubator.  He's really small...only weighed a pound and seven ounces.  His head isn't much bigger than a golf ball...but the doctors are saying that he is amazingly healthy and is actually big for his age
, like his old man, I suppose, so that's working in his favor."

"Can I go see him?" Claire asked now that she knew it would be a while before she could see her brother.

"Yeah, I'll take you," Tag said wearily.

Riley watched them go, then got up to pace.  How had Conroy gotten past Colt's security system?  What the hell had gone wrong?  Had they gotten so arrogant, so complacent that they'd missed something?
 

They'd yet to receive word on Conroy's condition.  When they first made it into the loft, Riley was sure he was dead, but medics had found a pulse, however weak it was.  Two helicopters had come, one for Colt and one for Conroy.  Since then, they'd heard nothing, though he knew his uncle was trying to find out.

"Riley?" Jeannette Casiano said, turning his attention.

"Yes?"

"Mike is asking for you, they've moved him to a room."

"Yeah, OK," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I'll take you to him," she said, linking her arm with his.  As they walked, she patted his arm.  "I know what you're doing, and you can just stop.  Sometimes things happen beyond our control.  As good as you all are, you can't be everywhere, see everything."

"They could have died because we missed something," he said, his voice raw with emotion.

"But they didn't.  That's what you have to hold on to.  They didn't die."

He nodded.  "Yes, ma'am, I know...but..."

"No buts, Riley Stanton," she said, stopping him just shy of Mike's room.  "You have been a good friend to my son all these years.  I couldn't have asked for anyone better.  Do not let this misplaced guilt eat at you, do you understand me?"

He sighed.  "Yes, ma'am."

"Now, you go work your magic on my son. His brother would like to see him, too."

"I'll see what I can do," he said, then stepped into Mike's room.

It hit him as he walked in.  How many times had he walked into a hospital room to visit Mike?  At least this time, he was sitting up and alert.

"Hey," Riley said, coming to sit in the chair next to the bed.

"I'm sorry, Rile," Mike said, his voice raw.  "I couldn't protect her like I promised."

"There's nothing to apologize for.  We all dropped the ball on this somehow."

Mike looked away, looking out the window for a moment.

"This is going to hurt business when word gets out."

Riley shrugged.  "Let Melissa work her magic.  She'll spin it the way we need it to go."

Mike looked back at Riley, and Riley hoped
he never again in his life saw the look in Mike's eyes that was there now.  They were like two perfect shards of ice.  Hard.  Cold.  And filled with more pain than Riley had ever seen.

"I thought I'd lost her," Mike admitted.  "She jumped up and hugged me and the bullet hit...I thought she was gone.  And then he came and had that gun pointed at my head.  I was going to die but I had L
ainey in my arms.  I don't want...I don't want to lose her."

Riley nodded and placed his hand on Mike's shoulder. 

"She took a bullet for you, man.  I don't think she's going anywhere."

Chapter Thirty-Five

He wasn't there.  She knew before she opened her eyes.  There was always an energy in the room whenever Mike was around.  An almost electric charge.  A lump formed in her throat making it hard to breathe and she felt tears slip down her temples.  She'd failed.  That was the only explanation.  She'd jumped to cover him and got shot and it hadn't helped: Mike was dead.  She knew it.  She hadn't been able to save him.

"Lainey," she heard her mother's voice.  That just confirmed it.  The floodgates opened then, tears streaming down her face, sobs racking her entire body.  "Lainey!  Honey, what is it?  You've got to calm down, you'll tear your stitches."

She heard several voices surrounding her
, felt hands on her but she didn't want to open her eyes.  She didn't want to be told that he was gone.

"Lainey, open your eyes," someone demanded.

"Mike," she cried, inconsolable.

She heard more voices and then suddenly she felt a warm hand on her cheek.

"
Cara mia
," he said and she immediately froze, "look at me."

She gasped and reached up to grasp his wrist before opening her eyes and seeing that intense gaze
trained on her face.  Fresh tears pooled at seeing him.  He was in a hospital gown, as well, and she could see a bandage on his shoulder...but he was there, standing strong and tall like an avenging angel.

"Mike," she cried, shifting her hand from his wrist to reach for him.  "Oh, God," she sobbed when he carefully bent down to embrace her.  "I thought I'd lost you.  You weren't here.  Every time I opened my eyes.  You weren't here."

"They had already taken me back to a room,
bambina
, I'm so sorry," he whispered to her, kissing her cheek.

"Is it over?  Is Conroy...?"

"He survived, but he's in critical condition."

"And Colt?"

"He's also in critical but stable condition.  The bullet is lodged in his brain but they believe he will make a full recovery."

She smoothed her hand over the bandage on his chest.

"You were hit?"

"Bullet went straight through you
,
lodged in my chest.  You slowed it down,
cara mia
, and saved my life."

"I love you, Michael Casiano," she said, against his chest.

"
Ti amo, bellisima,"
he returned.

The nurse
stepped forward then, addressing Mike.

"Come on now, Mike, you need to get back to your room."

"Not leaving her."

"You aren't doing her any good if you're dead on your feet."

Mike's icy gaze cut over to the nurse in a scowl that was so menacing and cold, the nurse actually took a step back, her hand going to her throat.

"Mike, turn the ice off, please," Lainey said, patting his arm.  "Please, let him stay, or take me to his room.
After what happened, I need him close."

"I can't -" the nurse began but when Mike's scowl deepened, she took a deep breath, "I'll see what I can do,
but please, at least sit down," she said on a huff as she left.

He sat on the edge of Lainey's bed, raising her hand to his lips to kiss her knuckles. 
She took a deep breath as she looked into his eyes, feeling her world settle for the first time since she got that first phone call from Charles after leaving the club that night.  There were still things between her and Mike that needed to be discussed and settled, but for now none of that mattered.  He was here with her and he was, for the most part, all right. 
That
above anything else, was all that mattered.