Highway Don't Care (Freebirds) (20 page)

  I could see how she thought we were a couple.  I was
holding the braid I’d just finished braiding her hair and I held it in the palm
of my hand while Cheyenne searched in her bag for a hair tie.  She handed
me one and then replied flippantly.

  “Yes, this will be our third love child together.”

  “That’s so wonderful.  Did you do in-vitro?”
 The tech questioned.

  “No, we used turkey basters.  Worked like a charm.”
 I said.

  “That’s so lovely!  We don’t see enough of that
here.”  She admitted.

  She laughed as if we told a joke and then got her machine
turned on and Cheyenne ready to go.  Just as she was setting the wand on
her stomach, her pager went off.  She took it off her waistband, glanced
at it, and let out a squeak.

  “I’ll be right back.”  She said as she hustled out
of the room.

  We both watched her exit the room in a rush.  Then
we looked at the door, Cheyenne’s goo slicked stomach, and then back to the
door.

  “I bet I could do that.”  I said to her.

  “Sure you could.”  She agreed.

  Taking the wand, I ran it over Cheyenne’s stomach about
belly button height.  On the computer screen, a black blur and it looked
like a bunch of nothin to me.

  “Lower.”  Cheyenne said to me.

  “If I get any lower I’ll be shoving it up your hoo
hoo.”  I said to her.

  “Ya know, they do make those.  I had one with the
twins.  I was too late in the pregnancy for one this time.  It won’t
pick up your baby yet, since you just made it last night.”  She said
jokingly.

  I playfully lifted up my shirt and ran the wand over the
lower part of my stomach just above my pubic bone.  What I saw nearly made
me faint.  However, I did drop the wand.  It swung in an arc and
slammed up against the side of the ultrasound machine.  Cheyenne leaned up
and placed it back where the tech had left it.  We both sat there silently
going over the momentous discovery we’d just uncovered.

  Minutes passed before the tech came back in the room, she
went over Cheyenne’s belly and the baby came into view. 

  “The baby is moving right along for 22 weeks.  Would
you like to know the sex?”  She asked.

  “Yes.”  Cheyenne whispered.

  “It’s a girl, see those three lines?  That’s the
labia.  Looks like a little hamburger.  Congratulations.”  She
said excitedly.

  “Yes, congratulations, snookum.”  I said to Cheyenne
trying to move around the elephant in the room.

  Once done, she guided us to the room where Cheyenne was
to be examined, and left us there alone.

  “So.”  Cheyenne started.

  “I have an IUD.  How could this have
happened?”  I cried.

  “Honey, just the other day you told me babies were
miracles, and that I should feel blessed to have one on the way.”  She
said sarcastically.

  “I meant it was good for you, not for me!”  I said
as my voice rose.

  “Well that’s a little hypocritical, don’t you think?”

  “Screw you.”

  “What’s the big deal here?  I mean you’re
engaged.  You’ve graduated college, have a good job, and you are in love
with the father.  What’s the problem?”

  “I don’t want to poop on the table when I’m giving
birth.”  I said.

  “That’s it?” 

  “Well no, not all of it.  I guess I’m just
scared.  When you put it the way you just did, I should really have
nothing to worry about here.  How do I tell him this?  That me and
you were fucking around with the ultrasound machine and I just happened to fall
on it and saw that I had a baby in here?”  I asked gesturing to my
stomach.

  My mind was whirling with all the possibilities.  I
knew he wouldn’t be upset, but with Gabe, just finding out he was a father to a
baby he’s never met, and us getting married, the gang putting a bounty on my
head, and the fact that I was pregnant was some serious shit going on all at
once.  Then another thought hit me, and it was awful.

  “Cheyenne, I have an IUD.  I’ve had one for three
years.  Aren’t those dangerous things to have when you’re pregnant?”

  A look of fear flashed through her eyes before she
squelched it and said, “Let’s ask the doctor when he comes in.”

  Someone knocked on the door two raps, and entered a few
minutes later.  It was Cheyenne’s doctor, and a man I knew.

  “Dr. Robinson!”  I said before giving him a big hug.

  “You two know each other?”  Cheyenne asked.

  “Yep.  His wife had a climbing accident when I was
in school.  She was my first solo patient during clinicals.  He’d
said he was a doctor, but I never knew what kind.  How is your
wife?”  I asked.

  “She’s doing well.  She doesn’t climb anymore, and
that chaps her ass, but she’s still very active outdoors.  How are you
doing today, Mrs. Mackenzie?”  Dr. Robertson asked.

  “I’m doing okay.  No morning sickness this
time.”  She answered.

  “That’s good.  The heartbeat was strong, and from
what I saw on the ultrasound, the baby looked great.  Measuring in right
at 22 weeks.  You’re looking good.  This is the time when you get
your second wind blah blah blah blah.”

  He lost me after that.  My mind had slipped back
into freak out mode.  Part of it was excitement, but the other part was
fear.  I didn’t know how to handle a baby.  I wasn’t married.  I
had an IUD somewhere in me that could possibly kill the baby, and I had to tell
Gabe. 

  Worst of all, I wanted my mother, and that was the one
thing I couldn’t have.

  Ω

   “Thanks for coming, James.”  I said to him as
we walked into the training room.

  He parked himself to the side of the door and took in the
chaos.  The room was a flippin’ mess.  A table was over turned; gauze
strewn all over the floor and a bucket of ice sat leaking all over the floor at
the center of the room.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many people in
the training room at once.  The rest of the tables were occupied, as well
as two of the chairs that lined the back wall.

  “What the hell is going on, June?”  I asked.

  “That would be our lovely football coach.  He got
upset when they called practice on him.  One of the players came up here
to talk to you, but the only one here was Adrian and I.  I called the
athletic director while Adrian went to speak with the coach.  The coach
then came here looking for the player, but I’d already sent him home before he
got here.  Adrian went to the ER with a broken nose thanks to the lovely
coach, and here I am by myself with a shitload to do, hints why I called you.”

  “Alright, let’s get started.”

  We worked in companionable silence for the next hour wrapping
sprains, splinting arms, and giving one boy an ice bath.  James watched
from his perch.  His eyes never stopped scanning the area.  He looked
like he was lazily leaning against a wall, but I knew he could be lethal
instantaneously if need be.

  “Alright, anyone need some ice?”  I asked.

  Five hands went up, so I went to the far wall and filled
up five ice bags.  Just as I slammed the ice door down a commotion started
up in the hall.  I sighed, thinking at first it was just another fight
that had broken out, but then there was the sound of gunfire and my blood ran
cold.  My eyes sought out James, but he was already gone, closing the door
silently behind him.

  My heart was pounding, but a sudden rush of calm washed
over me and I knew what I had to do.  I heard another two bursts and
cringed at the thought of James being out there by himself, but I knew if I’d
had gone out there that I would have just been a distraction.

  “Everyone, I need you to get into the storage
closet.  I’ll be right behind you.”

  How we fit five injured people, June and I into that 6X6
storage closet, I don’t know.  There was tons of junk piled into the
corners, but I left them there because I didn’t want anybody to see the stuff
lying outside and know that we had people in the closet.  Once situated, I
locked the door from the outside and closed myself in with the rest of the
group.

  Pulling out my phone, I dialed 911.

  “911, what’s your emergency.”  A brisk woman
answered.

  “I am at Kilgore College.  I’m an athletic trainer,
and in the training room.  There have been shots fired, but I have no clue
how many are out there nor what’s going on.  Five students, my assistant
and I are locked in the supply closet in the training room.”  I informed
her.

  “Okay, stay where you are.”

  Duh.  I wasn’t a dumbass.

  “My friend is in the gym.  He just got out of the
army, so he knows what he’s doing.  I don’t know what he’s doing either, I
just know that he was in here when the shooting started and isn’t now. 
His name is James Allen.”

  “Okay ma’am.  Stay on the line.”  I agreed but
didn’t mean it.

  Ignoring her while hanging up, I quickly dialed Gabe’s
number and listened to it ring three times before he answered.

  “Hey, baby.”

  “Gabe, someone’s shooting in the gym.”  I said
without preamble.

  “Get into that supply closet-” He said before I
interrupted him.

  “I’m already there.  I have six other people with
me.  James went out the door and I haven’t seen him since.  I’ve
heard a total of four shots so far.  It’s been seven minutes.”

  “Okay.  I’ll be there as soon as I can.  Stay
where you are.  Turn your phones on silent.  Don’t come out no matter
what; I’ll let you know when it’s safe.”

  “Okay.  I love you.”  I whispered.

  “Love you too, baby.”  He said gruffly.

  I had a bad feeling about this.  Super bad. 
Nothing good was going to come out of this, I just knew it.

Ω

 
Gabe

  “Listen to me!”  I roared at the dumbasses who were
about to go into the gym without having the first clue on how to handle
it.  “I’ve been in that gym hundreds of times.  There are over ten
hallways.  It’s a fucking maze.  You won’t be able to just bust in
there like bulls in a china shop.  You need more of a plan than what you
have.  I have a man inside; I also have my fiancé inside.  This is
not going to happen.”  I fumed.

  “I don’t really care who or what you are.  You have
no authority here.  None.  Now go back behind the yellow tape before
I arrest you.”  The cocky little cop said.

  I wanted to beat his head in with my foot.  He was
the first on scene, and if I hadn’t gotten here as quick as I had the little
fucker was going to go in with his little band of commando cops and get
everyone in that gym killed, as well as himself.  He had no
experience.  He was twenty-two at most.  His attitude sucked, and he
wasn’t listening to me.  It wasn’t often that I lost my temper, but right
then I would have gladly put my fist through his face if it would get me to
where I needed to go.

  “Listen to me.  You have no clue what you are
doing.  I’ve done this hundreds of time.  Longview SWAT is still
forty minutes away, and unless you can pull a trained swat team out of your ass
in the next five minutes we will be going in.”  I seethed.

  It had been twenty excruciating minutes since Ember
called me.  Twenty minutes of no communication.  I know I told her
not to talk, but it was still no less concerning.  Sam was nearly here
from his Dallas parts trip, he’d just taken the exit for Kilgore off the
interstate when I’d last spoken to him.  It was as if he had a sixth sense
because he didn’t stay in Dallas like he’d originally planned.  He came
straight home, not even taking his usual stop off half way home.

  The other members of our team were scattered around the
campus looking for possible entry and exit points.  They’d each arrived
here on the heels of me; going in different directions disappearing as if
they’d never even been there.

  “Gabe.”  Sam said with a deep voice. 

    Instantly I calmed.  I wasn’t alone
anymore.  Having the man that saved my life on a daily basis at my back
now cooled my temper down to a slow boil instead of that erupting volcano
feeling I’d previously been sporting.  I turned my back on the little
prick and turned my attention to Sam.

  “For the love of all that’s holy, please tell me you have
good news.”  I asked Sam.

  “Yep.  Luke here is taking over.”  He said
gesturing to his left.

  Luke was in black cargo pants, a black shirt, black
boots, and a black gun vest.  He was carrying a tactical shotgun in his
right hand, and in his left, a microphone dangled.  He gave me a steely
nod and then turned his attention to Officer Prick.

  “Listen up, Gibbs.  These men have taken shits
longer than you’ve been a police officer.  I’ll tolerate none of the
bullshit I just heard you spitting.  Go work the police tape.  I
don’t want anyone past it.  Move.”  He barked.