Love Against the Law

by Justine Klavon

  Since they were both awake, Kodi and Mack headed right back to the hospital. The nurse from the night before ran into them in the hallway and let them know that there had been no changes regarding Sammi’s condition. Mack didn’t even react as he walked past the nurse and into Sammi’s room with his head down. Kodi apologized for him and thanked the nurse before following her emotionally ruined friend.

  Someone, Kodi assumed it was the nurse, had brought in two chairs by Sammi’s bed for them. Still not getting within five feet of his wife, Mack had pulled one of the chairs back to his spot from the night before and sat, keeping his distance. Kodi shook her head as she walked around Mack and pulled her own chair up to Sammi’s bedside and sat down with Sammi’s right hand in both of hers.

  “There’s something seriously wrong with your husband,” Kodi joked quietly to Sammi, knowing that Mack could hear her. But Mack wasn’t talking.

  Kodi spent most of the morning talking to Sammi’s comatose body, just doing what she could to try to help. Mack just watched silently from his chair, planning everything he would say to Sammi, if she woke up, in his head. By lunchtime, Dr. Brock made an appearance and suggested that Kodi and Mack go and try to eat something after they realized they hadn’t eaten in almost twenty-four hours. They got directions to the hospital cafeteria then Kodi had to steer Mack out of the room to get him moving.

  *

  When Eli got to the hospital that morning, Kodi and Mack were already sitting in Sammi’s room. He knew he couldn’t let Mack see him, so he went for a walk around the entire hospital. Checking back in on Sammi’s room after his lap, Sammi’s visitors were still present. Disappointed, he went out to his car and decided to wait and try again at lunchtime.

  Returning to Sammi’s room a little after noon, Eli finally found the room empty except for the patient. Eli slipped into the bright, quiet room and closed the door behind him for privacy, knowing he didn’t have very long until Mack returned. Then he walked to Sammi’s bedside and stood over her, taking her hand in his. She was comfortably warm to the touch and Eli wanted to believe that she could wake up any second.

  “Sammi, I know that nothing I can ever say will make up for what I’ve put you through,” Eli spoke softly to his one that got away. “But you gotta pull through this because I know your story’s not over yet. And maybe, just maybe, our story isn’t over yet either.”

  Eli then leaned forward, his shaggy hair blocking his face from view, and very carefully touched his lips to Sammi’s lips. He had intended for the kiss to be very brief, but as it dawned on him that this could be his last chance to kiss Sammi ever, he couldn’t pull away. A single tear escaped his eye and rolled down his nose, landing on Sammi’s porcelain face. Embarrassed, Eli quickly wiped it away with his thumb.

  “Get away from her,” a deep voice growled from behind Eli and he spun around to find himself face-to-face with Sammi’s husband.

  “Mack, relax, let’s talk,” Eli spoke gently as he put his hands up in front of him to show that he meant no harm.

  Kodi stood next to Mack but didn’t look surprised to see Eli. Mack already had his phone out and Eli’s eyes popped out of his head in a panic. Torn between the two men who loved her best friend, Kodi acted on impulse and grabbed the phone away from Mack.

  “Mack, Eli didn’t do this,” Kodi said calmly, pocketing the cellphone.

  “Who else could it have been?” Mack continued in anger, his eyebrows practically touching in a V-shape on his forehead.

  “One word,” Kodi stated. “Shay.”

  “You can’t know that for sure!” Mack yelled, suddenly more upset than mad.

  “No, it was Shay,” came a small voice from behind Eli.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Right Here, With You

  When Sammi woke up in the hospital, she knew she wasn’t alone, but nobody was paying her any mind. She lay still while her friends argued, and tried to remember every detail of her assault from Shay. There was a slight twinge of pain in her super stiff left calf, but her right side was entirely numb. Panicking, she slowly touched her fingertips to the bandaging below her ribcage to make sure her body was still whole.

  Sammi’s mouth was dry so her first attempt to get Eli’s attention went unnoticed. He stood only a foot away from her with his back to her, but her voice was hardly audible. Taking a big breath and swallowing hard, Sammi tried again, this time putting an end to their argument by informing them it was indeed Shay who had shot her. Suddenly, all six eyes were on her.

  Kodi was the only one to rush to Sammi, carefully putting her arms around her best friend in a hug. As gentle as Kodi was, she still jostled Sammi enough to cause her discomfort. Sammi grimaced as she weakly put an arm around Kodi to comfort her until Kodi finally released her.

  Eli wanted to move closer to Sammi too, but he knew he was already pushing his luck with Mack. So, he stood by the foot of the bed with his hand on Sammi’s blanket-covered good leg, trying to watch Sammi’s face while also keeping an uneasy eye on Mack.

  Mack remained midway between Sammi and the door, trying not to look at Sammi. Being proven wrong about Eli’s involvement in the shooting had left an emotionless expression on his face. Kodi walked back over to him and was going to guide him over to his wife, but Dr. Brock entered the room before she had gotten him to budge even a little.

  “Okay, first thing’s first,” the doctor said looking around at everyone in the room, “there’s too much going on in here. I need two of you to leave.”

  Eli, knowing it wasn’t his place to stay, made the first move for the door. When he walked past Mack, he was alarmingly aware of Mack’s height advantage as Mack glared down at him with unadulterated hatred in his eyes.

  “I’ll go, too,” Kodi offered, snapping Mack out of his stare down.

  “No, stay,” Mack told her, turning to look her in the eyes. “If you haven’t noticed, I haven’t been much help.”

  Kodi opened her mouth to argue, but Mack was already halfway out the door. She wished she could believe he had made this decision for the right reasons, but she knew he only wanted to confront Eli out of Sammi’s sight. But they were supposed to be there for Sammi, so she stopped worrying about Eli and Mack and returned to Sammi’s side.

  “You seem to be pretty popular, Mrs. Johnson,” the doctor said while checking Sammi’s chart. He was fit and handsome for an older grey-haired man.

  “Call me Sammi,” Sammi replied after cringing at the use of her married name.

  “Okay, Sammi,” Dr. Brock replied with a smile. “How are you feeling?”

  “Kinda freaking out that my insides are going to fall out of the hole in my side that I can’t feel,” Sammi told him, returning his smile.

  Dr. Brock chuckled and explained that the numbness would wear off soon, then promised he had stitched her up properly. Sammi liked him for keeping things lighthearted with her, which made it easier for her to talk to him.

  “So, I’m going to be okay then?” Sammi asked and the doctor’s face got serious.

  “Sammi, the fact that you are awake and in incredibly high spirits are good signs,” Dr. Brock told her. “But I have to let you know that I am worried about infection.”

  Sammi nodded as her face fell and Kodi squeezed her hand. The doctor clearly felt bad about upsetting his patient and quickly changed the glum look on his face.

  “Look, I’m going to keep a close eye on you and make sure the antibiotics are working overtime for you,” Dr. Brock added with a comforting smile.

  The doctor then promised to check in again after dinner and excused himself from the room. Kodi silently wished that he would hold off on sending the guys back in so she could have a minute to talk to Sammi about her husband acting super distant.

  “Did you see if that hot doctor was wearing a ring?” Sammi asked as soon as Dr. Brock was out of the room.

  “No!” Kodi replied in complete shock. “But you’re wearing one!”

  “Not for me,” Sammi said with
a sigh. “Grey and sophisticated is your type.”

  “Well, he was right about one thing. You are in a fantastic mood.”

  *

  While the men were banished from the room, Eli had hurried out to the parking lot. He wasn’t intending on leaving, he was just attempting to put space between himself and Mack until Mack had gotten a chance to calm down. They were supposed to be there for Sammi and not their own drama after all.

  “Eli!” Mack called after his nemesis just as Eli reached the pavement. Mack had just exited the building and was closing in on him.

  When Eli finally stopped and turned around to face Mack, he was immediately knocked to the ground on his back. Mack shook his fist off and rubbed it with his other hand where it hurt from colliding with Eli’s skull.

  “Do you feel better now?” Eli yelled, angry but not confrontational. He stayed on the ground, not wanting to get hit again.

  “No!” Mack yelled back at him. “Why are you even here?!”

  “For Sammi,” Eli told him. His voice was still loud, but it was calmer now.

  “I know why you’re at this hospital. But why are you in New York again after almost three years on the run?” Mack reiterated with his arms out at his sides, looking for the truth.

  Eli, who had sat up, looked down at the pavement. “For Sammi,” he repeated himself, much quieter this time.

  Mack’s hands balled into fists again as his body shook with rage. He wished Eli would get up off the ground already so he could knock him out.

  “You wouldn’t hit me if you weren’t threatened by me,” Eli said with a smug grin on his face, finally finding his confidence. He picked himself up off the ground and put his arms out at his sides as he took a step toward Mack, inviting him to attack again.

  “Why would I be threatened by a long-haired punk like you?” Mack asked, laughing and unfurling his fists.

  “Because I have history with Sammi and that scares the hell out of you,” Eli taunted, knowing Mack wasn’t going to hit him.

  “And I have a beautiful marriage with her, so you are way out of your league,” Mack shot at him.

  Believing he had made his point, Mack turned and headed back inside. Eli laughed to himself as he took a seat on the side of the curb outside the hospital. He leaned forward with his head in his left hand and gently rubbed his freshly bruised eye socket.

  Eli wasn’t going to give up that easily and he believed Mack was a coward for not hitting him again when taunted. As he sat there, giving everybody time to cope with everything, Eli thought about seeing Sammi awake and his desire to talk to her. He knew how lucky she was to be awake so soon and wondered how and why she woke up when she did.

  *

  Before Mack returned to Sammi’s room, Kodi warned Sammi that he seemed a little overwhelmed by his emotions and that she was worried about him. Sammi hadn’t noticed anything, but she had only been awake for a few minutes before he had run out of the room.

  “I’m sure Eli being here isn’t helping,” Kodi added, glancing nervously at the open door for either of the guys.

  “Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that. Where the hell did Eli come from?” Sammi replied.

  “Wait. You didn’t know he was back in the city?” Kodi asked, and Sammi shook her head. “He’s the one who found you and brought you here.”

  “I wouldn’t be surprised if he and Shay set you up just so Eli could weasel his way back into your life,” Mack mumbled as he walked back into the room.

  Sammi’s eyes lit up upon seeing her husband, but Mack kept his gaze on the floor. Kodi, frowning at Mack’s conspiracy theory, looked back and forth between her married friends. She groaned as Mack sat in his too-far-away chair, then she left the room with an exasperated sigh.

  With Kodi out of the room, Mack stared harder at the floor without speaking. Sammi watched him and was torn between wanting to force herself out of that bed to go to him and wanting to cry from frustration. In the end, the crying won out and she pulled her blanket up over her face to hide her tears.

  As Sammi cried harder and the sobbing began, she started to feel the stitches tugging at the skin on her side. It was more uncomfortable than painful, but her hand shot up to cover it regardless. She let the blanket slide off her face as she rolled to her left, facing away from Mack.

  “Sammi? What’s wrong?” Mack asked, finally looking up and filled with concern at the sound of his wife’s sobbing.

  “You’re mad at me for getting hurt and it’s all my fault,” Sammi told him, sobbing harder and still not facing him.

  “Why would you think I’m mad at you?” Mack asked, sincere and confused.

  “You won’t even get near me,” Sammi replied sadly.

  Sammi felt the bed shift behind her as Mack sat on the edge of it. He slid his arm under her and carefully lifted her upper body into his lap. With her head propped up against his chest, he brushed her hair away from her face and kissed the top of her head.

  “I am so sorry, sweetheart—I love you so much. I just kind of shut down when I thought I was going to lose you,” Mack spoke apologetically. “Suddenly I was seeing you as the most fragile thing in the world and I guess I was afraid I would break you.”

  “Mack, even if your hands could cause my death, I would still want you to hold me,” Sammi told him, lacing her fingers with his by her stomach.

  “I will remember that,” Mack replied, getting serious again. “Now, another question. Why is getting shot your fault?”

  Sammi tensed up and looked down at their hands. If Mack wasn’t mad before, he was going to be upset with her once he found out she was keeping something from him.

  “Because I should’ve seen it coming,” Sammi admitted. “I kind of had a feeling somebody was following me after bumping into them at the mall. Shay was apparently stalking me, and I should’ve told you.”

  “Uh, the mall and the parking garage were actually me,” Eli shyly said as he quietly slipped back into the room. Kodi was right behind him, wearing an intrigued look on her face.

  “Eli, your eye!” Sammi exclaimed as Mack’s hands twitched involuntarily, alerting Sammi of his guilt.

  “I’m sorry, but did you just admit to stalking my wife?” Mack asked, desperately trying to keep the attention on Eli.

  “Yeah, it’s not like I could’ve just looked her up,” Eli spoke directly to Mack, tauntingly. “I didn’t expect her to be married to her big, brutish cop.”

  “And I’m supposed to believe you had nothing to do with your sister shooting her?!” Mack yelled and leapt off the bed to confront him.

  “Ow, fuck,” Sammi gasped in pain. Mack hadn’t been careful as he got up from the bed and Sammi hadn’t been able to catch herself before her stitched-up side landed with most of her weight on the edge of the mattress of the hospital bed.

  Sammi’s blood pressure shot up from the jolt of pain, alerting the nurses. The same nurse from the morning ran into the room and helped Sammi get propped back up and comfortable on the pillows. Everybody watched in shock as she rolled the blanket up from the side to reveal a bloody spot on Sammi’s hospital gown.

  “I’m going to have to uncover the wound, if you all wouldn’t mind giving Sammi some privacy,” the nurse announced to the room without turning away from Sammi.

  Kodi ushered the two boys out into the hallway, not pleased with either of their behaviors. She felt like a schoolteacher as she directed them to stand against the wall on opposite sides of the hallway while she stayed between them. Eli had his head hung in shame, but Mack couldn’t take his glare off of him.

  “This has to stop,” Kodi hissed, “or you’re going to have to take turns visiting her.”

  “Bullshit. She’s my wife. He shouldn’t even be here!” Mack cried out.

  “I’m not leaving until Sammi asks me to leave,” Eli grumbled, eyes still on the floor.

  “I’m about to ask all of you to leave!” the nurse announced as she joined them in the hallway. “I want Sammi to have peace a
nd quiet for the rest of the day and I don’t care how it happens. Now drop the soap opera drama or go home.”

  Sammi, with the help of a pain medication, slept for the majority of the rest of the day. Mack sat in a chair by Sammi’s side, holding her hand while she slept. Eli, choosing to be respectful but refusing to back down, took Mack’s old chair in the middle of the room. Kodi sat on the deep windowsill to oversee the boys, even though everyone was quiet and lost in their own thoughts.

  As promised, Dr. Brock checked in around dinnertime. Sammi was fast asleep, rolled ever so slightly to her left toward Mack, who was watching her innocent face as she slept.

  “I heard we had a bit of an incident earlier,” Dr. Brock spoke quietly so as not to disturb Sammi.

  “It was my fault,” Mack whispered sadly, not looking away from Sammi’s face.

  “Let’s try to keep that from happening again,” Dr. Brock replied, trying his best to be kind. “How is she doing otherwise?”

  “She’s been kind of out of it all afternoon,” Kodi offered from the window.

  “That’s not unusual,” the doctor informed her. “She’s on a pretty heavy antibiotic. And she really should keep as calm as possible.”

  “Dr. Brock,” Sammi said with a smile, even though she was still groggy from her sleep.

  “Hello, Sammi,” the handsome doctor replied, returning her smile. “It’s nice to see you again.”

  Since Sammi was awake, Dr. Brock checked a few things while chatting easily with her. He kept her distracted as he pushed once, gently and precisely, on each of her wounds to gauge an accurate pain reaction. As soon as his hand was even near her side, she shot backwards away from him.

  “Did that actually hurt, or do you still think you have a gaping hole in your side?” Dr. Brock asked, raising a curious eyebrow at her.