Stand of Redemption (18 page)

He heard someone
approaching, hoping it was her coming back; instead, Emiliano came inside the room.

“I take it you finally told her the truth.”

“You knew?”

“Of course. I’ve always known. Do you not remember me?”

Nicholas stood up, facing him, staring at his vaguely familiar face. It took him several minutes to remember.

“Jesus.”

“Yes, thankfully for me, He intervened that day, sparing me, but taking your mother instead.”

“Why would Matthew try to kill you?”

“He was a hot-head. He did not care about anyone but himself. I made him angry, and he reacted by trying to kill me. Your mother saved my life.”

Nicholas’s hand covered his face, not knowing what to think.

“Has this all been payback for me killing Matthew?”

“No. This has been about
you thinking that you would take a woman that I consider a sister and making her your puta. I own that restaurant you took her to. I saw in your face what you had planned for her. The same treatment you gave Sandy. She missed a week’s work when you stopped seeing her.”

Nicholas had never wanted to punch someone so badly in his life. Emiliano’s lips twisted as he read his mind.

“I wouldn’t advise it. I’m more than capable of defending myself.”

Nicholas didn’t doubt it.

“Why did you let me see her if you were so worried of how I would treat her?”

“Because I remembered her as a child. She’s very captivating and beautiful, but she could hold her own with you. I just wanted to level the playing field.”

He had given her more than a fair chance; he had made Nicholas see her the way he had never seen another woman. He had lowered his guard and fallen in love with the sassy woman. Emiliano was right; she was captivating. She had captured his heart.

“She hates me now.”

“She’ll get over it.”

“Are you crazy? She’s never going to forgive me.”

“She was terrified that Angelo would hurt you. She’ll forgive you. Give her time.”

“You want me to be with her?” Nicholas was astounded.

“I’m not opposed to it as long as that’s what she wants. She’s able to make that decision for herself now.”

“The money?”

“That will be given to Ariel’s mother.”

Nicholas nodded. He wanted them taken care of.

Emiliano turned, walking toward the door. “You and Zane have nothing to fear. The cartel has taken care of Matthew and Alejandro’s deaths. The blame will never be cast on you.” He left, closing the door behind him.

Chapter 23

Ria went to see Emiliano first thing the next morning, interrupting his breakfast.

“I want my mother back.”

Emiliano laid down his cloth napkin on his plate.
“You can have her back on one condition.”

“Which is?”

“She will stay at the apartment I provided you. I own the building and will keep watch over her.” In other words, no one would be able to sell her the drugs she had become addicted to. It was a safe and luxurious apartment. Ria would never be able to afford to keep her in such a good a place.

“I agree. Thank you, Emiliano.”

“You may come and go as you please.” He lifted his hand when she would have spoken. “You have proven to me that you’re more than able to take better care of yourself. I believe you’ve already found another job?”

Was there anything he didn’t know?

“Yes. I start next week.”

“Good. That will give you some time to spend with your mother before you find a new place.”

Ria nodded out of the corner of her eye she noticed a servant cleaning the pool.

“Is that John Maxwell?” She asked disbelieving her own eyes.

“Yes. Don’t tell me you thought I had him killed? Dead men can’t repay their debts, he will remain in service to me, until he has repaid what he has stolen.”

“What about
Kataya Meyers?”

Ria
took a step back in fear at his expression. “She is repaying her debt also.” His tone stating the subject was closed.

“Sit and eat some breakfast while Mitchell gets your mother.” He waved his hand at Mitc
hell who had been silently sitting at the table. Mitchell left while she pulled out a chair and sat down.

“She’s been here the whole time?”

“Of course. I’ve seen to her care myself.”

        
Ariel remembered back to when she had been a child. The time before her mother had come to depend so heavily on the drugs. When she would come into the kitchen, Emiliano would be in there, laughing and talking with her mother, often sitting down to eat with them.

A door opened and she glanced over. Her mother walked out with a huge smile on her beautiful face. She had gained
weight, filling out the dress she was wearing. Her eyes were clear and bright.

Ria ran to her mother, hugging her tight, and her mother burst into tears, telling her how much she loved and missed her.

Ria choked back tears, turning back to Emiliano. “Thank you.”

*  *  *

When Nicholas knocked on Zane’s door, Melanie opened it with a smile that dropped as soon as she saw his face.

“Oh, my God, Nick, what’s wrong?” She took his hand and pulled him into the house.

He had called her earlier, wanting to talk to her alone. She had told him that Zane had already left for the gym—he was preparing Ty for a fight in the next few days. Nick knew it was past time to tell her what had happened.

He sat on the couch, and she quietly sat on a chair across from him, waiting for him to speak. She had been begging him to talk to her for so long. Nick knew she was smart enough to realize he was finally going to, and she wasn’t going to rush him.
He had been holding it in for so long, wanting to protect her, but she needed the truth.

He was going to lose Melanie like had had lost Ria.

“Do you remember when I picked you up from school the day Mom died?” Nick asked.

Melanie winced. “Every minute.”

“I was late. I felt bad because you were sitting in the office waiting for me.”

“I remember. You said you got held up after class. I didn’t care because Ms. Johnson was letting me draw in her office, and I was having fun.”

“I know; that’s what you were doing when I came in. You were so excited about getting ready for the trip that day. You ran up to me and gave me a hug when you saw me.” Nick didn’t deserve the love Melanie had always shown him.

Melanie nodded her head again, tears glinting in her eyes.

“I had told you I was talking about a test with my history teacher, but I wasn’t. I was talking to Samantha,” he said. “She was the reason I was late.”

“Oh, yeah. She was that girl you liked, but I didn’t think you ever ended up dating her. You never mentioned her again,” Melanie replied.

“I was so cocky. I was finally making some headway with her, and had convinced her to go out with me that weekend. All of my friends were impressed because she had shot down so many guys. I was so fucking proud of myself,” he said in disgust. “That’s why I was late picking you up that day, which made us late picking Mom up.”

Nick stared at Melanie to see if she was following what he was saying.

“Nick! It wasn’t your fault,” Melanie cried as she got up to sit next to him and hug him.

“If I wasn’t worried about some stupid girl, I would have been earlier, and Mom would have already been out of the school,” Nick said bitterly.

Melanie held him tightly. “Please don’t do this to yourself. You didn’t do anything wrong,” she cried.

“It’s my fault she’s dead,” Nick said firmly. He refused to forgive himself.

“I can’t believe you think you were responsible. Oh, my God, that explains so much now,” Melanie exclaimed. “I wish you had told me this years ago. You’ve been punishing yourself for no reason.”

“Stop! You’re just saying that to try to make me feel better, but we both know it’s true. Mom would be alive today if not for me being late that day.” Nick shrugged Melanie off of him. He didn’t want her forgiveness; he wasn’t worth it.

“Dammit, Nick! Don’t you recall Mom’s school let out later than ours?”

“What?” Nick didn’t know what she was talking about.

“Liberty High School started thirty minutes later than your school. That’s why Mom could take us to school. Because she had time to drop us off and get to Liberty on time. But she couldn’t pick us up because she worked later,” Melanie tried to explain to him.

“What’s your point?” Nick asked roughly.

“Where did we always wait for Mom when we picked her up?” she asked.

Nick thought back to the few times they had been to their mother’s school. They were us
ually sent to the library. He and Melanie would play games on the computer until their mother was done working.

“The library,” he responded.

“Exactly. If we had been early that day, we would have been in the library and might have not known anything until after she died! Because you were late that day, we were able to spend those last few moments with her. The only reason she was able to tell us she loved us and we were able to say goodbye was because you were late!” Melanie started sobbing with the memories. “The last words she heard was us telling her we loved her.”

The flood of emotions going through him was overwhelming. Melanie leaned in to hold him for support and they held each other tightly. All the years of guilt and regret were being r
eleased in that moment.

The weight of it had been unbearable. Every time he had looked at Melanie and his father, he had taken the blame for her not being there anymore
; instead of placing the blame where it belonged. On Matthew.

He and Melanie sat for some time, both lost in their own memories.

After the storm of emotions passed, he looked down at his sister who was leaning against his side.

“I still miss her.” His voice broke.

“I do, too. I feel her with me sometimes. Nicholas, please don’t blame yourself anymore.” Melanie wiped her tears away. “I love Zane. I’m winning my fights. I can feel how proud she is of me. If you give yourself a chance, you’ll feel her, too.”

Nicholas had tried so hard to not think of his mother because of the guilt and pain that he had lost her in the process.

“I’ll try, Mel. I’ll try.”

Chapter 24

Two Months Later

“Switch!” Ria said to Joe, the paramedic on duty with her. They had responded to a call for a teenage girl that had been underwater too long at the lake.

Ria had arrived on the scene first and had just finished several sets of breaths and co
mpressions. Once Joe arrived with the AED, she let him take over while she set the equipment up. The girl had been unresponsive, and if they didn’t get her heart started soon, Ria was afraid she wasn’t going to make it. Fortunately, the lifeguard had been performing CPR until she had arrived.

Ria quickly attached the pads to her and gave Joe the
all clear command. He lifted his hands from the girl as the AED ran an analysis and stated a shock would be applied. Ria watched the girl jerk, and Joe started to resume compressions. However, before he did, the girl started to cough.

Joe quickly turned her to her side as some additional water was expelled from her lungs. Ria heard the joy from those watching and couldn’t help but tear up. The girl was so young and had so much life ahead of
her; it would have been hard watching her die. She appeared to be nineteen—the same age as Matthew when he’d died. She was glad this girl now had a second chance. Ria could only hope she made the most of it.

After she finished coughing and started to look around, the girl tried to sit up.

“Rest for now. I know I cracked at least a couple of your ribs.” Ria stopped the girl from trying to move around. “We’re going to take you to the hospital and let a doctor examine you. We’ll go get the stretcher now.” Ria and Joe went to unload the stretcher from the ambulance.

“Nice work,” Ria said to Joe. They had worked really well together today. There was no question of who played which role or any jockeying for the lead role. It had been perfect tea
mwork.

“Back atcha. That was a close one,” Joe replied.

She and Joe had worked together while Ria was still an EMT. He had been a paramedic for several years, always encouraging her to hurry up and become a paramedic. He had recently applied for medical school and had been accepted a couple months ago. He would be quitting his current job when school started in the fall.

Ria was going to miss working with him. He was tall, handsome, and was built like a Greek god. Ria had watched many of the new girls try to gain his attention, but Joe only had eyes for
men. She had caught him checking out a man sitting at a table alone during lunch one day.

When she
caught him, Ria told Joe he should go talk to him, and that it would help take his mind off the job for a few minutes. Joe had immediately stood, going to the other table, and started talking to the man.

Joe
had came back to their table only a few minutes later. “No luck. He’s straight.” Joe sighed.

“What did he say when you asked him?”

“He told me he had a girlfriend,” he had answered, shrugging.

“Too bad
.” Ria smiled, that same experience had happened to her several times.

They
had become even better friends since she had returned. As they spent more time together, they realized they had the same taste in men. He would drool over Nicholas if he saw him.

They pulled the stretcher out and returned to the girl where they carefully put her on it and took her back to the ambulance. Several of her friends walked along side of her, tears in their eyes.

“Is she going to be okay?” one of them asked.

“I think so, but we’ll know more once the doctor looks her over,” Ria replied. They had been trained not to give false hope in case the condition took a turn for the worse. Ria hoped she was truly going to be fine.

“What’s her name?” Ria asked.

“Carrie Landers,” the girl replied.

“Okay. I assume you’ve already contacted her parents. Let me have their number. I’ll have someone call them and tell them we’re taking her to University Hospital. No need for them to waste time driving here first,” Ria told the girl.

The girl nodded and quickly gave the number before moving away.

Ria sat in the back with Carrie as Joe drove to the hospital. Carrie’s eyes were open, but she wasn’t saying anything. Ria hoped she was just in shock and she would pull out of soon. She did a quick exam and called in to the ER to let them know they were coming in with a patient.

“Carrie, my name is Ria. Your friends told me you slipped on the boat and hit your head b
efore falling into the lake. We performed CPR and applied a shock, which we’re happy to say brought you back to us.” Ria looked down to see if the girl understood her, but she didn’t respond.

“Carrie, can you hear me?” Ria asked a little louder.

Carrie continued to stare upwards, not acknowledging Ria in the slightest.

Ria leaned forward to speak quietly to Joe. She didn’t want Carrie to hear the panic in her voice. “Joe, she’s not responsive. Step on it if you can.”

“Got it,” Joe replied as he picked up the pace as safely as he could.

Ria took a light and looked more closely into Carrie’s eyes, but Carrie still didn’t showing any signs of improvement. Her eyes looked glazed over as she stared at the ceiling of the amb
ulance.

Ria started breathing harder. This was not good. The lack of oxygen to her brain, the impact when she’d hit the boat, or both could have been causing the symptoms. She quickly called back into the ER to let them know Carrie’s current status and requested a doctor be available as soon as they arrive.

“Carrie, if you can hear me, blink twice,” Ria said, praying for a response.

She stared at her eyes, but Carrie never blinked in acknowledgement.

“Joe, she can’t hear me,” Ria said urgently.

“Almost there,” he called back.

Ria checked Carrie’s vitals. Everything else was normal, but Ria could never get any indication that Carrie was aware of her surroundings. After what seemed like forever, she felt the ambulance coming to a stop.

She saw Joe jump out of the driver’s seat, and then Ria quickly opened the doors. She saw a medical team waiting as she had requested. They assisted in pulling the stretcher out and
rushed Carrie into the emergency room. Ria quickly followed behind, letting them know what had happened.

As Ria finished listing the conditions, one of the nurses nodded her head. Ria stood there as they rolled her into the room and the door shut in her face.

She wanted to go in so badly and help, but she knew she couldn’t. She didn’t belong in the room with the rest of the medical team.

She turned to walk back to the ambulance and saw Joe up front, talking to some of the nurses. She felt heartbroken for the girl, but Joe had doing this for several years—he had pro
bably seen it all.

She had been fortunate. Most of her runs in the past had been fairly
routine. This one was the first time it had struck a chord with her.

Joe turned when he saw her approaching.
“Hey, are you okay?”

Ria could only shake her head no. She was trying not to cry. She wanted Carrie to be okay. She was a beautiful, young girl. It wasn’t fair. Just like it wasn’t fair for Matthew to die so young.

“I just need a few minutes. I’ve got my radio. If we get a call, I’ll be back immediately,” Ria said as she walked down the hall to the private break room.

She
lay on the bed and tried to calm herself down. They had done everything they could to save her, and she knew the medical team was doing everything they could now.

She stayed in the room for a while longer, trying to gather control of her emotions, until she felt guilty for staying away too long.

When she came out, she went looking for Joe. The nurses told her he was waiting for her in the cafeteria. She made her way to the basement level and found Joe eating a hamburger and fries.

“Since when did you start eating French fries?” Ria asked with surprise. Joe had always watched what he ate, resulting in his fabulous body. She had never seen him eat a French fry in the past.

“It’s what I do to control the stress after a run like that,” Joe replied through a mouthful of food.

“Oh. When I saw you earlier, you seemed fine,” Ria said.

“I’ve seen this shit before, but it still blows. Sometimes eating a little grease helps distract me.” Joe dipped a fry into some ranch dressing.

Ria sat at the table with him and followed suit. She took one of his fries and dipped it in the dressing, as well. It was good.

“I know it’s been a rough day, but I’m glad you’re back, Ria. I’ve missed working with you.”

Ria swallowed her fry. “Me, too.”

They sat in silence. Eating the food seemed to have a soothing effect on both of them. Ria was going to gain too much weight if she turned to eating each time they had a bad day.

Fortunately, the rest of the calls were fairly normal. An elderly man with Alzheimer’s had taken a fall, but he came out with only a broken wrist. One other call was a man that had fallen off a ladder and hit his head, but he was fine, just ended up with a bump on his head.

Each time Ria returned to the hospital, she asked about Carrie, but she hadn’t recovered. It appeared she was under water far too long and brain damage had been unavoidable. She could see Carrie’s parents in the waiting room, both had been crying, not knowing what was happening with their child. Ria felt so sorry for them, imagining the pain they were going through.

She finished up the
twelve hour shift and headed home to her new apartment. It wasn’t far from work, and while it wasn’t upscale, it wasn’t in the same dangerous part of town she had lived in before.

She didn’t miss the other apartment. This one, she had made her own. She had picked out everything and decorated the small space with bright colors that were cheerful.

She was more mentally exhausted than physically, wanting to sleep. She took off her uniform and climbed into the shower, her mind still on Carrie.

Ria sat down on the couch after her shower to brush out her hair, flipping on the television and stiffening when the local news channel was showing the build up to Nicholas’s next fight. She almost turned the channel, but was unable to help herself.

He looked as handsome as always, yet his face was a little drawn. He was happy or enthused about the upcoming title fight as she would have expected him, too.

She hadn’t seen him in the last two months. Whenever Joe talked about the local fighter, she changed the subject.
Lacey didn’t ask about him anymore, either. The first two times had resulted in a burst of Spanish cusswords or tears.

She had seen Emiliano last week. Her mom had invited her for dinner, and when she had gone, he had been there. It had been surprisingly enjoyable. She appreciated the difference he had made in their lives. She didn’t like the methods he had used, but she was ecstatic with the results. Her mother had never looked better.
For that alone, she would always be grateful.

When they had left together, she had been
tempted to ask him about John and Kataya. The fear of angering him again held her back. She didn’t want to see anyone get hurt, and she felt responsible for what had happened to the people she’d found. Ria had a feeling that John was getting off lighter than Kataya. She had only lived with the guilt a couple of months. She couldn’t imagine how Nicholas had done it since he was sixteen.

The next day, Ria and Joe wheeled their stretcher into the ER. It had been a quiet day; thus it was only their first run to the ER.

A nine-year-old boy had run out in front of a car on his bicycle. Usually, the results were fatal, but in this case, he was lucky with his only injury seemingly a broken leg. He waved goodbye to Ria as they left him and his parents in the tiny room, waiting for the doctor.

“I’m going to check on Carrie.”

He looked at the crowded front desk. “Don’t be long. I’ve got a hot date tonight.”

She looked down at her watch. Their shift should have ended an hour ago.

“You go ahead. Lacey will be getting off in twenty; she’ll give me a ride to my car. Clock me out.”

He hesitated.

“Go ahead. No reason to spoil your date if the news is bad. I’ll let you know tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Ria.” Relief showed in his eyes as he went through the sliding doors. She waited patiently for one of the nurses to become free before asking about Carrie.

“She passed away, Ria. She never regained consciousness.”

Ria retained her poise. They were supposed to be professional.
They weren’t supposed to become emotionally involved.

Ria turned away from the desk, walking toward the door with her head down to avoid an
yone seeing how upset she was.

When she bumped into someone, she looked up and gasped.
“Nicholas, what are you doing here?”

“Melanie was in a minor traffic accident. Another car ran a red light and plowed into her car.”

“Is she all right?”

“She’s fine. The doctors have signed her release. Her and Zane are just waiting for the p
aperwork.”