“No, they’ll attack you. Let me see what they want. You can’t stop me, Cole.” He can’t, I’m my own person and if something happens, then it happens.
“Let me go with you,” Leah offers as she comes up beside me.
Looking over at my best friend, I tell her, “You don’t have to do that, Leah.”
“If the roles were reversed, there’s no way in hell you’d let me go out there alone. And don’t try to bullshit me, Mia, you know you
wouldn’t.” She crosses her arms over her chest in defiance.
“You’re right, I wouldn’t, but I still don’t want
you coming out.” If she were to get hurt, the guilt would eat me alive.
“Stiff shit. Let’s go see what they want. We can get it over and done with,” she urges as she takes a step towards the door.
“Let’s go.” I shrug, but before I can take a step, Cole puts the guns down on the sofa, and when he turns back to face me, he reaches up, cupping my cheeks in his soft hands and his lips come crashing down onto mine.
For that brief moment, I melt into him and wrap my arms around him. His kiss is so intense, I forget everything going on outside and around us. There is only us, at least, there was, but we’re forced back to reality when Sam yells out to me again. “Umm, I don’t have all fucking day!”
“Let’s go,” I tell Leah as I pull out of Cole’s embrace.
Turning, I open the door and step out onto the porch, making sure I close the door behind Leah so Cole can’t be seen.
As I come to a stop at the top of the stairs, I look down at the five foot nothing, messy brunette and cannot believe Cole ever saw anything attractive about her. Yes, she’s
slim, but she has no ass, and her face isn’t beautiful, that’s for sure. “What do you want with Cole? The divorce papers are signed and they’ve been lodged. Tell me what you
want so I can deal with it and have you leave, because this is private property. You can’t be here.” Placing my hands on my hips, I question, “And how the he’ll did you find him, anyway?”
The bitch smirks. “I knew Matt wouldn’t be able to stay away from Cole, so I’ve been following him for the last week, and here we are.”
Ignoring the two ginormous assholes who are standing on either side of her, I take a couple of steps down. “You still haven’t told me what you want.”
“I don’t want to be divorced. I want him to dump your ugly ass and come home with me.”
This bitch is crazy. “That’s never going to happen. He doesn’t love you. Please, leave my home and fuck right off.”
Her face turns red with rage. “Fuck you, you dumb whore!” As she races towards me, I hear the door to the house open behind me, and the next few seconds feel as if they go on for a lifetime.
As I fight against Sam, my body stiffens when I hear the sound of a gun going off. Scared
Leah has been hit, I turn, and when I do, my heart feels like it’s been ripped from my chest as I watch Cole reach for his chest and hit the ground.
“Shit! Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” One of the
men who had accompanied Sam yells, and they race towards their car.
My legs take me to Cole while my brain still can’t seem to comprehend what’s going on around me. When I’ve reached him, I drop to my knees by his side on the porch, and that’s when I see that there’s blood everywhere. As I search, I can’t see where the blood is actually coming from. Yes, I know it’s pouring out of Cole, but from where, I’m still unsure. “Get an ambulance now!” I scream.
My eyes are welling with tears and I can’t seem to focus, but eventually, after much searching and asking questions, I see that Cole’s been shot in the chest on his right side. “Someone, hand me a towel! I need to stop the bleeding!” I go into survival mode. I know I need to stop, or at least, stem the blood loss until the ambulance arrives.
After I’ve been handed a towel, and as I hold it with as much pressure as I can over the hole the bullet’s caused, I look at Cole. He’s so pale, and he seems weak. “Please, please don’t die! I’ll fucking kill you if you die
on me, Cole!”
His head moves to the side and when he looks up at me, he gives me a half-smile. “I’m not going anywhere. I just got you back.” He then coughs and I can see just how much he is hurting. My stomach begins
to churn as I become frustrated by the fact that we live so far from town, and that the ambulance won’t get here as quickly as it would if we lived in the city.
“You’re going to be okay. We’re going to be okay. I love you, Cole. You need to get through this so we can start our lives over, together.” I lean down and press a kiss to his lips, and as I do, my tears begin to fall and land on him. It’s true when they say that you find out what’s important when you’re faced with a life and death situation. I want to be with Cole. I want to rebuild a relationship with him and have our happy ever after.
Cole’s left arm reaches up and I feel it rest on my back. “Don’t cry, baby girl. I’ll be just fine,” he tries to assure me as I continue to ignore the goings on around us. “I’ll get all patched up and we can dive into our lives, together, without any distractions. Too many people have tried to come between us, but not anymore. Fuck everyone, okay?”
Nodding, I wipe my cheeks on my shoulders
while my hands keep pressure on the wound. “I love you, Cole.”
He gives me a warm, yet pained, smile. “I love you, too.”
Cole
As I lay on the hard porch, I do my best not to focus on the pain. It wasn’t so bad at first, adrenaline had kicked in and the excruciating pain was numbed, but now the adrenaline has worn off I need to try my best not to show it. Mia will go out of her mind with worry.
Soon enough, my concentration begins to lapse and my eyes close from sheer exhaustion.
Chapter Sixteen
Mia
When the ambulance finally arrives, the paramedics inform us that the police, whom we’d called as soon as Sam and her allies had driven onto the property, had the car cornered and that the officers were making arrests.
As much as the others tried to keep me at the property, I refused and climbed into the front passenger seat of the ambulance.
Because the Mansfield hospital is so small, they quickly stabilise Cole before putting us in a helicopter to transport him to the Monash Medical Centre in Clayton, Melbourne, because the Austin had no beds free.
Nervous, I sit and wait in the third floor surgical waiting area. Every single time the doors open, I look up in the hope that there’s news. But time and time again, I’m disappointed. At least, I was until my father, Leah, and Matt came racing in.
Standing, I wait for my father to take me in his arms. When he has me, I rest my head against his chest and begin to cry.
“Is there any news?” he asks as he pats down my hair.
“No, nothing, and it’s driving me insane. I haven’t moved a muscle since I got here, just in case there is news,” I cry. We’ve come too far, and we have been through way too much shit, for it to all end now.
“It’s going to be okay. Come on, let’s take a seat and we can get you some coffee. Sound good?”
“I would kill for a latte. I’m so tired, both physically and emotionally.” My body is desperate for me to lie down and get some rest, but my head and heart don’t want to cooperate.
For another two gruelling hours, we sit and wait to get word of Cole’s condition. Finally, a tall, male doctor, wearing green scrubs, comes walking into the room.
Placing my coffee cup on the small table beside me, I stand to greet the man I hope is here to give me some answers. “Is there any news on Cole?” I ask, desperate for any information I can get my hands on. If he doesn’t, I won’t be held liable for what may happen next.
The man smiles. “Yes, he’ll be just fine. The bullet missed the vital organs, but just barely. It’s going to be a long recovery though, I’m afraid. We did manage to remove the<
br />
bullet, and there will be some scar tissue, but for now, I’m very optimistic.”
Letting go of the breath I’d been holding, I reach out to shake the doctor’s hand. “Thank you so much, doctor?”
He gives me another reassuring smile as he accepts my greeting and shakes my hand. “It’s Dr. Kessler, and you’re very welcome. You’ll be able to see him soon. I’ll have the nurse come and get you when he’s moved to post op.”
Dropping the man’s hand, I step back into my father’s waiting arms. “Great. Thank you so much.”
“It’s my pleasure.” He then turns on his heels and makes his way back through the door he came out of.
A full thirty minutes later, a young, blond nurse comes in and tells us that only one of us is permitted to see Cole, at least until he’s moved to the ICU. Immediately, I stand, because I can’t go another second without seeing him.
Following the nurse, she takes me through the door, up a white corridor which opens up into a huge, bright recovery room.
It takes all of two seconds for me to spot him, and when I do, I race to his side.
However, I’m mindful of the fact that he’s just been through major surgery, and I come to a halt a foot away from the bed.
He looks pale and clammy, but he also looks peaceful; the drugs must be doing their job.
Slowly, Cole opens his eyes and turns his head until he’s facing me. His eyes meet mine. Smiling, he whispers, “Hey, baby girl. You okay?”
Chuckling, I move a step closer to him and take the hand on his good side in mine. “Really? You’re the one that got shot and had to have lifesaving surgery, but you’re asking how I’m coping?”
“Of course, I know I’ll be fine, but you had to watch it all unfold. I’m worried about you,” he gently squeezes my hand. “Anyway, did they manage to get the bullet out?” he asks in a hushed tone.
Leaning in, I press a kiss to his cheek. “They did. The doctor said you’re going to make a full recovery.” I pull away so I can look at him. “I can’t wait to get you home.”
Cole
The very moment my eyes open. I feel nothing but relief when I see Mia is by my side.
Once I’m moved to the ICU, all four of my loved ones manage to get past security so
they can come in to see me. “How the hell did you all manage to get in here? Isn’t there a two visitor per patient rule?” I whisper to Matt, Leah, and John. I’m careful to keep my voice down since there’s a nurse seated at a desk in the corner of the room.
“We snuck through the door after a doctor entered,” Leah chuckles, also careful to keep her voice down.
“Respect.” I laugh, but quickly stop when a wave of pain crashed over me. “Shit, that hurts,” I whimper.
“Can he have some pain relief?” I hear Mia ask the nurse.
“Of course, he can,” Mandy, the middle-aged nurse responds.
The instant the morphine is injected into my IV, I feel my body relax and my eyes close. As they remain shut, I feel Mia take my hand. Soon after, I drift off to sleep.
For the week and a half the doctors keep me in hospital, Mia doesn’t leave me, not for a moment. She would nap in the bed with me, lying on my good side and being careful not to agitate my healing wound,
and she made sure I had everything I needed to help get me though the wretched hospital stay.
While I was recovering, Mia and I were interviewed by the police officers who had first attended the scene of my shooting. Once we’d given our statements, we were the ones to begin asking the questions. “What’s happened to the three of them?” I ask the younger of the two male officers.
“Samantha and Edward, the man who shot you, have been remanded in custody, but the third man, Barry, was let out on bail. He was the gutless wonder of the three, and cried the whole way through his interview down at the station. He does have to check in at the police station four times a week, so he’s not going to be bothering anyone, anytime soon. We’re hoping they plead guilty to save you a long drawn-out trial, and although I think they’ll take that option, I can’t promise that they will. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”
Pulling Mia closer to me, I press a kiss to the top of her head as she lays beside me in the hospital bed. “We’ll deal with that when the time comes.” And we will. But in the meantime, I want to spend time with the woman I love, and for us to begin our lives together.
The next day I was to be discharged from hospital and I wasn’t looking forward to the
long drive home. While we’re waiting at the front of the hospital for John to bring the car around, I hear a familiar voice and look up.
“How am I supposed to know? I don’t even want to be here, let alone deal with her.”
My father almost walked right past me, and it was Mia who called out his name, because I was in a stunned silence. I hadn’t set eyes on him since I’d left all those years ago, and he looks like he’s aged dramatically. He also seems to be stressed. I guess being an asshole will do that to you.
Pat, my father, stops in his tracks and looks over at us. He closes the distance between us, and when he’s a couple of feet away, he puts his phone in the inside pocket of his navy-blue coat. “Cole, I heard you’d been shot. I was just here to see Sebastian. He’s in with pneumonia.”
Is this asshole screwing with me? He’d heard his own son had been shot and didn’t bother coming to see if I was okay? He’s here to see a bloke I’d always thought was a paedophile with pneumonia? This asshole deserves the prick of the day award.
“Great,” I say sarcastically. I’m at a loss for
words.
“Why are you out here?” he questions, but I can tell he doesn’t want to stand here for much longer.
“We’re waiting for John to bring up the car
so we can go home.” For a man who’s always prided himself on being in the know, he’s sure as shit behind on this one.
“What? You’re going home with her?” he huffs while pointing his chin in Mia’s direction. “She isn’t worth your time. She absolutely isn’t worth the hassle. Hell, she was the one who most likely got you shot, for goodness sakes!” he yells while pointing to Mia.
My anger swells within me and I stand until I’m looking down on him. “Shut your fucking mouth, now! You don’t know anything, Patrick. I was shot because I filed for divorce from my wife and she was pissed off about the situation. It had nothing to do with Mia!”
My father’s face drops, and I can’t help but feel amused. “You, you were married? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because, you are no longer a part of my life. The second you hear something has happened, whatever the situation, you go ahead and blame everything on Mia. I’m not putting up with that crap any more. Mia doesn’t deserve any of the crap you throw
on her. This is it. One day, when you decide to put the gossip away and decide to act like a decent human being towards the woman I’m going to marry and have children with, you may approach us, but until then, I ask that you stay away from us,
for good.” I reach out and take Mia’s hand in mine, leading her over to her father’s Jeep that pulled up only moments before. It was perfect timing.
When we’re seated together in the back, I wrap my good arm around her and use it to pull her against me. “Was that your dad I just saw?”
“Put your foot on the accelerator and I’ll tell you everything,” I insist.
Mia stays silent while I explain what happened back there with my father, and I’m worried that she’s taken it to heart.
“What an asshat. I’m sorry, Cole, but I’m tired of my daughter being your parents’ punching bag. I’m glad you stood up and told him how it is. Do you think he will try to contact you again in the future?” John asks as he looks at me in the rear-view mirror.
“I have no idea, but I won’t let him into our world unless he can prove to me that he’s changed. However, I highly doubt that day will ever come.” And I’m going to keep my
word until the very end. My father would
only be allowed to converse with me when he finally stopped blaming Mia for my problems. Hell, I’m still weary of my mother. Yes, she has been up to the hospital on a daily basis, and she’s been both respectful and warm towards Mia, but while it’s been a nice change of pace, I still can’t bring
myself to fully trust her as yet.
Thanks to the pain killers the doctors sent me home with, I manage to sleep through the majority of the trip back to Mansfield.
The moment John pulls the car up to the house and we’ve gotten out, I feel sick when I see the confronting images laid out before me.
There’s a trail of dried blood that starts at the foot of the stairs and leads up to a large pool on the porch.
The sight takes me right back to the very second that asshole shot me as I’d exited the house to put myself as a wedge between Mia and Sam.
At first, I was in shock, but then the pain had bellowed from within me and the only thing that had kept me from screaming out in pain was my fear for Mia’s safety.
As I do my very best to climb the stairs, Mia offers her assistance but, being the stubborn
asshole I am, I tell her I’ll be just fine, and I am. Well, at least I feel some relief when my ass hits the comfortable sofa in the living room. “It’s nice to be out of that damn hospital,” I mutter to Mia who takes a seat beside me.
While John puts down the suitcase, he says,
“I’ll bet it is, son. That place is the pits.” He takes a step closer to us. “Right, is there anything you need before I go and check on the animals?”
Mia looks to me. “We’re good,” she says before she turns back to look at her father.
Mia
“You know where I am if you need me.” His smile is one of genuine happiness, happiness for me and for the life I’m going to build with the man beside me.
Cole
Happy Never After Page 13