Finding Jordie: Things aren't always what they seem. (The Love Lies Bleeding Series Book 1) (38 page)

“Where’s Nathan?” I mashed my eyebrows together.

“He’s en route to the hospital. He was shot along with head trauma.” Frank hung his head, I guessed to hide his misty eyes.

“We need to go now.” I sprung out of the gurney and held my head because the pain shot straight through it and made me dizzy. I quickly sat back down.

“After you’re medically cleared,” the EMT said, his voice stern.

“Fuck off.” I snatched my arm out of his grip. “I refuse medical attention. Let’s go now, Frank,” I spit out through clenched teeth. I struggled again to stand up and Frank helped me this time.

“Jordie, he’ll be in surgery by the time we get there. I promise to have you there before he gets out. You need to be checked over before you go anywhere, please? They’re bringing up a portable sonogram to make sure the baby isn’t in distress. Just give us fifteen minutes. You know Nathan would want you—”

“Oh, Jesus Christ, Frank. All right,” I put my hand over my belly. I knew it was what I needed to do. “Can you please get Emma at least? Can I see for myself my daughter is unharmed and safe?”

Frank nodded to Charles and my insides went ballistic.

“You! I will kill you, you traitorous son of a bitch!” I jumped off the gurney again. This time I was out for blood.

“Jordie, stop.” Frank restrained me. “He was planted there. Calm down. My god, would you relax for one goddamned minute!”

I stood there stunned, not because Charles wasn’t a terrorist’s right hand man but because Frank yelled at me. I lowered myself down slowly and slinked sheepishly into the gurney.

“Dammit, kid. You’re killing me.” He sounded exasperated. “Once you and the baby are checked out and cleared I’ll explain everything to you. Until that happens, sit there, relax with your mouth shut, and wait. I’ll summon Emma so you can see for yourself she’s unharmed.”

I stared at him, mouth agape, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you. Charles, will you please get Emma for her mother?” Frank’s face softened.

“Sorry,” I mouthed to him, lying back down.

“Everything will be okay, Jordie. One thing at a time.” He winked and attempted to give me a reassuring smile.

I wasn’t buying it though.

“Mommy,” Emma shouted as she ran through the door.

“Emma, sweetie. Let me see you.” I took her in my arms, then pulled away so I could give her a thorough once over.

“I’m fine, I promise, but we went from some pretty boring people to the
whoa
factor, Mom,” she said as the EMT turned on the sonogram machine.

“This will be cold. We don’t have portable warmers.” He squeezed some gel out of a bottle onto my belly. He pushed the reader down over it and almost instantly I heard the swooshing. Listening closer we could hear the faint sound of the baby’s heartbeat.

“Let me just send these to the hospital and have the on-call take a quick look and you’ll be free to go. Give me about five minutes. For now you can get up and get some water and stretch if need be, nothing strenuous, and I’ll be right back.”

I thanked him and turned to Frank. “Have you heard anything about Nathan’s condition yet? We need to get down there. What kind of shape was he in when they transported him? Honestly, Frank. I need to know what I’m in for.” I was stone-faced serious, and Frank knew I meant business.

“I’m not a doctor, Jordie. I’ll call Rachel for an update if you’d like. She and Tyler followed the ambulance. I’m sure they’re there by now.”

“You’ll need to explain all of this on the way.”

The EMT came back with the okay from the doctor on call. My apartment was still flooded with I don’t know how many different agencies of law enforcement. I couldn’t think about speaking to any one of them until I knew Nathan was alive and doing well. My insides were wrenched and twisted at the thought of Nathan hurt. I couldn’t even fathom the thought of him being dead.

Why? Why did this happen? Why to Nathan? He is good to the very core, he would never hurt anyone. Please, please, please, let him make it through this.

Frank, Emma, and I got in a car and headed to the hospital. I held my daughter’s hand and laid my head back to close my eyes. I would not lose this man. I knew he loved us enough to fight his way through it. He had to, he was a part of me. We were a family. I refused to lose him.

“MOM, WE’RE HERE.”
Emma squeezed my hand.

Frank opened the door and a swarm of paps surrounded us. They were taking pictures and screaming questions at us from every direction. Frank did his best to keep them away from us, but there were just too many. I reached my breaking point.

“Just get her inside,” I yelled to Frank.

He nodded and kept moving.

“You guys have
got
to be fucking joking, right?” I screamed. “Nathan is in that hospital right now fighting for his life and this is what you scumbags do? Harass the people that love him?” Another flash went off in my face and I reflexively grabbed it by the lens and smashed it on the ground. “Here’s a quote. Go fuck yourself, you worthless piece of shit. Get a real job and contribute something other than being a drag on society!”

I broke down, and Todd and Isobel caught me just before I crumbled to the ground.

“Jordie, it’s all right. Come on, I’ve got you.” Todd threw something over my head as they guided me into the hospital.

Rachel was at the door waiting for me. “Holy shit, Jordan,” she croaked out.

I walked into her already open arms and we busted into tears together as she petted my head. Frank came over and led us to a private room on the third floor. Nathan was still in surgery.

“Have you guys eaten anything?” Todd turned to me.

“No, we haven’t,” I managed to peep out between the last of my sobs.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes. I’m going to grab a few sandwiches and drinks from the cafeteria,” he told us as he hurried out. Isobel was right behind him and stopped to touch my hand. I forced a small smile before she left. I looked over to see Emma lying on the small couch, curled up in a ball watching television. I turned to Frank.

“What are his injuries? Why does he need surgery? How long has he been in there?”

“The bullet entered through his stomach and exited his back was all we could see at your place. He also has blunt force trauma to his skull. He’s lost a lot of blood.” Frank spoke softly so Emma couldn’t hear him.

“He was pistol whipped. That’s where the head injury came from.”

“Just hang tight, kid. I’ll go get the rest of the details.” Frank patted my leg and stood up.

“Wait for me. Rachel, do you mind keeping an eye on Em for a few? Please.”

“Sure, just don’t be too long. You need to eat something, Jordie.”

I was grateful Frank had Nathan’s medical records with him at all times. If it were anyone else I’d think it was strange, but this was Frank we were talking about, Mr. Fine-tooth Comb. He carried them in that man-purse of his. Actually, he carried all of Nathan’s important paperwork with him. I guess it made sense. Sure as hell made me feel unprepared.

“Mr. Rockford, does Mr. Harper have a living will?” the nurse asked Frank kindly.

“Please, call me Frank, and yes, here are all his medical records, along with the necessary paperwork.”

“Frank, what does his living will say?” Panic ripped through my voice. The thought of losing him was just too real.

“It says do whatever medically possible to save him, but he does not wish to be on any life support if he’s deemed brain dead.” He handed the nurse the records.

“How is he?” I blurted out to her.

“I’m sorry, Miss, I can’t...”

“You may. This is Ms. Jordan Spagnato.” He pointed to my name on Nathan’s paper work.

He added me on there? When?

“Oh yes, I apologize.”

“Don’t worry about it. How is he?” The thinning of my patience was clear. Frank rubbed my back in an attempt to soothe me.

“The paramedics had the bleeding under control for both wounds by the time they reached us. He was brought right into surgery when he arrived.” She gave a weak smile.

“The best surgeons are working on him. From the update I received approximately seven minutes ago, they’re almost finished and he’s doing well. They had to repair his upper intestine and remove his spleen. They were worried the bullet nicked his lung upon exiting but he was very lucky it didn’t. I’ll come get you when he’s out of recovery.”

“Thank you.” Frank nodded as I stood there frozen like an idiot with my mouth wide open. I couldn’t believe what had happened. I just wanted to wake up from the nightmare.

“It’s decaf.” Isobel handed me a sandwich and a cup of coffee when we got back to the waiting room. Tyler was on the phone over in the corner away from the rest of us. Emma had fallen asleep on the couch. I covered her up with a hospital blanket and gave her a light kiss on the forehead.

“She had a turkey sandwich,” Isobel said.

“Thank you, guys.” I managed a small smile and attempted to eat mine but my stomach had other plans for me.

“Jordan, you need to eat.” Frank scowled.

“I can’t. I feel so sick.”

“Eat now. I don’t care about your stomach. My nephew in there is hungry.” Rachel pointed to my belly with her chin.

“Nephew?”

“Hell yes, nephew.” She winked.

I choked down the sandwich and washed it down with the coffee. Tyler finished his phone call and joined us.

“That was Nate’s parents. They’re on the next flight out of Sacramento. Frank, they’re going to need a ride.”

“Just let me know when.”

“She must hate me now.” I slinked down in the chair.

“Why would she hate you, Jordie?” Tyler asked.

“Oh, I don’t know. It was my dead husband that nearly killed her son?” My voice shrieked a few octaves higher than normal and I flailed my hand, shaking my head.

“Jordan...” Frank held up his hand.

“Please don’t, this is entirely my fault.”

“Oh yes, your fault entirely,” Frank came back at me sarcastic and pissy. “Of course, you planned for your husband to fake his death, flip on his country, commit treason, come back to kidnap Emma, and murder you and Nathan. Yes, I’m so certain that was all part of your master plan, correct?”

“What? Kidnap Emma and kill us?” I briefly remembered Jason talking about documents. My stomach tightened and I wanted to vomit.

“For real, that’s what he was planning? Wait, back up. I need this from the beginning.” I shook my head, confused. I needed something to keep my mind busy. Why not a horror story?

“Now?” Frank raised an eyebrow.

“No better time than the present. Talk.”

My mind went blank as Frank explained that Jason didn’t pass away a war hero as we’d been told. He’d been captured, but then he turned. Apparently, the government felt it would be easier on his loved ones telling us that he passed away, whereas Frank insisted it was only because it’d been happening far too often over there and they didn’t want the word getting out. Essentially they told stories to protect their asses.

“So why after eight years of supposedly being dead did he decide to come after us now?” I frowned.

“He was keeping tabs on you all those years, Jordan. The phone taps, remember? He was monitoring your and Emma’s life. It’s when you met Nathan and were falling in love again that he lost it.”

“I don’t understand. I barely spoke on the phone about Nathan.”

“It didn’t matter. It was worldwide news, Jordie. Remember, he isn’t Nathan to the rest of the world. He’s Nate Harper. It was just a matter of time before Jason found out.” Frank tightened his lips and nodded his head to the side. “After we discovered your phone lines were tapped Richard did some digging. We noticed Rudy, Jason’s right-hand man, hanging around almost every night, surely trying to devise a plan—and the alarm system and cameras were making things harder for him. At that point we didn’t know exactly why you were his target until you mentioned Jason. When we had a clearer idea as to what was happening, we had Charles approach Rudy with an offer he couldn’t refuse. He pretended to be in a financial jam and offered to assist with getting them inside in exchange for money. From that point on Charles had to play a double agent; it was safest for all of us if we just allowed him to play the role. So nobody would interfere. When Nathan gave Charles his keys to bring the bags up, they made an electronic copy of his remote and a copy of the key. Come to find out that’s why the alarm kept going off. It wasn’t haywire. He was tormenting you. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there when all of this went down. Jason set the plan in motion once he found out about the wedding. Charles did everything he could to stall him but Jason was coming for you guys with or without him there, so he made the snap decision to be inside with you, to keep you all as safe as possible without blowing his cover and getting you all killed.” After he explained it appeared as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.