In the Fast Lane (Wild Irish Silence Book 2)

by Sherryl Hancock

  “Thank God …” Cassie breathed, leaning against Tommy for support.

  He gave her shoulders a slight squeeze. “See, I told you,” he said softly.

  Cassie nodded, her eyes on the doctor.

  “When can I see him?” she asked the doctor, her voice stronger now.

  The doctor looked at her, seeing the tiny little woman, in the big man’s arms.

  “I’m sorry,” the doctor said, shaking his head, “it’s going to be a while before anyone can see Mr. Machiavelli. He’s in recovery right now, but even then he’ll be in ICU for a few days.”

  “I’m not waiting a few days,” Cassie said, her tone bordering on rage suddenly.

  “I’m sorry, miss,” the doctor said. He was sincerely sorry but he wasn’t going to change his position.

  “I need to see him,” Cassie said, her tone matching her shaking now.

  Suddenly she didn’t trust this man, he was lying, she was sure of it. She wanted to see John and know he was okay, that he was still breathing. What if they were wrong? What if he died anyway? Part of her knew she was getting hysterical, but she was so terrified that she’d never see John again, that she ignored the little voice in her head that told her to calm down.

  “I’m sorry, that’s just not possible right now,” the doctor said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

  The doctor walked away and Tommy had to physically restrain Cassie from going after him.

  “Cass, calm down!” Tommy said harshly, only because he could tell she was losing it.

  “I need to see him, Tommy,” she told him, her violet eyes looking scared.

  “They said he’s okay, Cass,” he told her.

  “I need to see him,” Cassie repeated.

  Tommy blew his breath out, shaking his head. “You can’t, babe. Not yet, okay?”

  Cassie looked like she was near tears, but she nodded. Tommy was beginning to wonder if she was going into shock. Still holding her, he caught Brenden’s eye, and gestured with his head for Brenden to come over to them.

  “Ask the doctor about checking her for shock, will ya?” Tommy whispered quietly to him.

  Brenden nodded and went to talk to the nurse. She called the doctor over and Brenden explained the situation. The doctor walked over to where Cassie and Tommy stood. She was shaking, her face buried in Tommy’s shirt.

  The doctor reached out and gently took her hand from Tommy’s shoulder to check her pulse. It was racing. She was visibly shaking, and she recoiled from his touch. The doctor glanced back at Brenden and nodded.

  “What do you want to do?” Brenden asked the doctor quietly.

  “She should be lying down, and I’d like to monitor her pulse,” the doctors said.

  Brenden nodded. “Is that something we can do?” Brenden asked.

  “Yes,” the doctor said, nodding.

  He then went about telling Brenden how to check her pulse and what normal would be, and when he should let them know if her pulse increases or decreases too drastically.

  “Good. Thanks, Doc, we’ll handle it from here,” Brenden said.

  Brenden stepped closer to Tommy and Cassie.

  “Cass,” Brenden said softly, putting his lips next to her ear. “Babe, we need you to lay down right now, okay?” he asked gently.

  She started to shake her head.

  “Cass, come on,” Tommy put in then. He started moving toward the couch that was being cleared as he did. “Just lay here, we’ll be right here, we just want to make sure you’re okay.”

  Cassie looked rebellious, but finally did as they were asking. The doctor had a nurse bring over a blanket. Brenden covered her with it, kneeling down next to her head and brushing her hair back off her face.

  “He’ll be fine, Cassie, okay? And we’ll get you into see him as fast as we can, I promise you,” he told her.

  She looked back at him, her violet eyes trusting like a child’s eyes as she nodded.

  Another hour passed. Cassie’s pulse was nearing normal, much to everyone’s relief. Tommy had just gotten up to stretch his legs and smoke, and was just coming in when Mike was brought in. He was walking, but some other guy was helping him. The bruises and cuts from the fights were blaringly obvious. He glanced at Tommy, and actually grinned. Tommy lost it and lunged at him while cussing a blue streak. It took Brenden, Johnny, and Greg to haul him off of Mike. Security came up, but stayed out of it, seeing that it was being handled and not wanting to escalate things.

  “You fucking son of a bitch, I’ll fucking kill you!” Tommy roared.

  “He dead yet?” Mike had the nerve to ask.

  Tommy lunged for him again and the guys pulled him back. Terry then joined them leaving Brenden free to step forward. He got right into Mike’s face and stared down at the younger man.

  “You’re going to pay for all your sins, Mike, believe it,” Brenden told him, his voice low and threatening.

  “How? In penance?” Mike asked, his breath smelling of alcohol.

  “No,” Brenden growled, “in pain, in a lot of pain.”

  “Just let me kill him now, Beege,” Tommy said, gritting his teeth.

  “Nah,” Brenden said, shoving Mike away from him, “let him sober up, so he’ll feel it.”

  With that Brenden walked away, and the guys steered Tommy clear of Mike and his friend. Mike was smart enough to shut up and go with his friend.

  “Where’s Cassie?” Greg asked when things had settled down a bit.

  “Shit …” Tommy said, looking around.

  She’d disappeared during the fray. Everyone’s attention had been on the scene in the waiting room, and she’d slipped down the hall. She found the hallway marked “recovery” and walked past the doors that forbid her to enter. She looked in each room she came to until she saw him. She shuddered at the machines and tubes. She relived the scene when her and her mother had arrived at the hospital to find her father hooked up to machines. She’d gotten to watch her father day that night. Cardiac arrest they’d called it. All she’d know was that the one person she loved most in the world had died, and she’d watched it happen.

  His chest was bare, with a bandage over the left side and his eyes were closed. Keeping her eyes on him, she climbed up on the bed, perching at the end by his feet. She sat with her knees up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs, resting her chin on her knees. She just watched him. Part of her hoped that a silent vigil would keep him with her.

  Nurse Kerry was startled when she walked in and saw the woman sitting at the edge of her patient’s bed. At first, she had thoughts of a dark angel, or something equally dramatic. This girl was so pale and tiny, dressed in all black. The only color on her was the deep plum in her hair, and even that lent itself to the theatrical look of her.

  “Miss?” the nurse inquired quietly.

  Cassie’s head snapped around, looking at the woman with wide eyes. Even her eyes were violet, not a normal color at all, thought the nurse.

  “You can’t be in here,” she said gently, half afraid to startle the tiny woman.

  “I need to be,” Cassie said quietly.

  “Ma’am,” the nurse said, her look sympathetic, “I understand you’re worried, but you just can’t be in here, it’s against hospital policy.”

  “Please?” Cassie begged softly, “I won’t touch anything, I just need to be here with him, please?”

  There were tears in her big violet eyes and the nurse caved, knowing that if it was someone she loved, she’d feel the same way. She nodded slowly.

  “But don’t tell anyone I said it was okay,” she said.

  “Thank you,” Cassie said, smiling sadly.

  The nurse did what she needed to, checking John’s pulse, blood pressure, and wrote it down on the chart and left quietly. When she got to the nurses’ station, she heard the scuttlebutt about a woman disappearing from the waiting room. She heard that this woman was a lead singer of a band, and that band was the one associated with Sparks. BJ Sparks was actually there
in the hospital! Nurse Kerry made a point to walk out to the waiting room. She looked around until she spied someone that looked like he belonged with the girl in the hospital room.

  “Excuse me,” she said, tapping Tommy on the shoulder.

  “Yes?” Tommy asked, turning around and scaring the poor woman. His look was so intense, he was worried sick about Cassie.

  Kerry stepped back a step or two, feeling the need to distance herself from this man. Tommy’s eyes narrowed slightly. Shannon walked up then, putting her hand on Tommy’s arm. He looked at her, then back at the nurse.

  “I’m sorry,” he said shaking his head, “a friend of mine is missing, and I’m really freaking out right now.”

  “I understand,” Kerry said, nodding, “but I think I may have located your friend.”

  “You did, where?” Tommy asked, his tone becoming intense again.

  Kerry smiled. “Is she a tiny little thing, in all black?”

  “Yes, that’s her,” Tommy said, relief flooding his features. “Where is she?”

  “She’s in with my patient,” Kerry said in a whisper.

  “Holy shit,” Tommy said, grinning. Cassie never gave up when she wanted something.

  “My sentiments exactly,” Kerry said, laughing softly. “She scared the daylights out of me at first. She was just sitting there on the end of his bed like some arch angel or something.”

  Tommy grinned, nodding his head.

  “She’s not supposed to be in there,” Kerry said, grimacing. “And I’m sure someone will make her leave at some point. But I let her stay for now.”

  “Thank you,” Tommy said, smiling at the woman.

  “You’re welcome,” Kerry said, happy that she’d risked getting into trouble to let the young woman stay in the room. “I’m on duty for another three hours, then the new shift starts, I’m sure that she’ll have to leave then, but hopefully the time until then should help.”

  Tommy grinned, his eyes looking very kind. “She needs it,” he told her.

  “I thought she might,” Kerry said.

  “Thank you,” Shannon said this time, putting her hand on the woman’s arm.

  Kerry smiled and nodded, then walked back to the nurses’ station. She watched as the two she’d been talking to hugged. Smiling to herself, Kerry realize how easy it was to judge people solely on their appearance. It made her more aware of that the rest of the day. People weren’t always what they seemed on the outside.

  Tommy let everyone know that Cassie had been located. Everyone thought her pretty ingenious to make it to John one way or the other. They were all gaining an appreciation for how much she loved her bodyguard. The police arrived a little while later and spoke to Brenden and Tommy. Tommy told them what he’d seen when he’d come up on the scene with Cassie and Mike. The gun Mike had used had been retrieved by someone at the scene and it had Mike’s fingerprints all over it.

  “We’re going to go and arrest him right now,” the officer told Brenden. “We’ll need Ms. Roads’ statement as soon as she’s able to give it.”

  “Yes sir,” Brenden said, “I’ll make sure she gets over to you as soon as possible.”

  “Thanks,” the officer said, “I hope your friend is okay.”

  “He will be,” Brenden assured the officer, “but thanks.”

  The officer walked away, and Brenden glanced at Tommy.

  Tommy didn’t look too happy.

  “I know,” Brenden said, his lips curling in disgust, “it’s not near as rewarding as beating the living shit out of him, but it’s legal.”

  “Fuck legal,” Tommy growled.

  Brenden grinned, nodding. “I know, it bites,” Brenden said, “but look at it this way. We kick his ass, he heals, it’s over. He goes to jail, he becomes someone’s girlfriend, it’s not over for a long, long time.”

  Brenden’s eyes glittered maliciously as he said it.

  Tommy started nodding. “I’m liking this idea more and more now,” he said, grinning.

  Cassie was starting to fall asleep when the nurse came into the room. She was sitting exactly where she had been for the last few hours, but this was a different nurse from the one that told her it was okay to stay.

  “What are you doing in here?” the woman snapped.

  Cassie’s head came up, throwing her dark hair back from her face. She didn’t answer the woman. It was apparent the question had been rhetorical anyway.

  “You’re not supposed to be in here, you’ll need to leave right now,” the woman barked as if ordering a child.

  “I’m not leaving,” Cassie said evenly.

  “Yes, you are,” the woman countered.

  Cassie shook her head, her violet eyes glittering with anger. What was with these people? What did they care if she sat here with him? Why did it matter? He was just a patient to them, not human, not someone loved and needed.

  “Fine, have it your way,” the nurse snapped, and left the room.

  Tommy noted the stride of the nurse as she headed toward the security guards at the front. Something made him edge closer to hear what she told them.

  “…some little snot that won’t leave when she’s told, I need you to come remove her,” the nurse was saying.

  Tommy knew she was talking about Cassie. He walked over and nudged Brenden, nodding toward the security guards walking toward the hallway with the nurse in the lead.

  “Cassie?” Brenden asked.

  “I’m betting,” Tommy said, as he started to walk in the same direction.

  Brenden caught up to him. Shannon watched them go, shaking her head. Tommy was headstrong when it came to protecting Cassie. She admired it, but she was worried that it was going to get him into trouble.

  By the time they reached the room, things were already getting out of hand. Tommy pushed the door open, in time to see Cassie being yanked off the bed by one of the security guards. Just as he opened his mouth to tell the guy to back off, there was another voice in the room.

  “Let her go, now,” John said from the bed, his voice halting but strong.

  “She needs to leave,” the nurse said.

  John started to get up. “Let her the fuck go, now,” he growled.

  “Mackie, stay down!” Tommy said, striding over to where the security guard held Cassie. “I’ll take care of this,” he said, his tone dangerous, as he eyed the much shorter man. “Let go of her, now, before I break your arm.”

  The shorter man’s eyes searched Tommy, trying to decide if Tommy would carry out the threat. The other guard stood frozen in place, and when he did move to back his partner up, Brenden tapped him on the shoulder.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Brenden said calmly, but the threat was clear.

  “John?” Cassie said, relieved beyond belief that he was finally awake.

  “I’m okay, little one,” he said, his voice softer now.

  The guard chose that moment to let her go, and she practically leapt to the bed to take John’s outstretched hand.

  “Look,” Brenden said, always the diplomat these days. “Let’s make this easy on everyone, where’s his doctor?”

  “I don’t need a doctor to tell me what hospital policy is, young man,” the nurse snapped.

  Brenden turned his gaze on the woman and turned on the English charm. He’d lived in England long enough, he considered himself English. “I’m sure you don’t, love. But you see, my friend there is her bodyguard as well as the love of her life, and she’s used to not being allowed out of his sight. I’m sure you can understand why she’s worried sick about him. His doctor was out in the waiting room treating her for shock earlier, because of him being shot right in front of her. Being with him here hasn’t obviously impeded his recovery, and it’s done her a world of good. I know a kind woman like yourself can feel for this situation, can’t you?”

  Everyone looked at the nurse. She narrowed her eyes at Brenden, sure she was being charmed, but also knowing she’d look horrible for not understanding and at least tryi
ng to help.

  “I’ll go get his doctor, and he can say whether or not she can stay,” the nurse said, her tone still miffed.

  “Thank you very much,” Brenden said sincerely.

  The nurse and the security guards left. Brenden winked at Cassie, then he and Tommy left the room.

  Cassie looked at John, her eyes filling with tears at seeing him looking at her again.

  “I was so scared …” she told him softly.

  “I’m sorry, little one,” he said, shaking his head, already looking tired again.

  “Shhh,” she said, putting her fingers to his lips. “Rest, John, I’ll be right here.”

  He nodded slowly, closing his eyes, and going back to sleep. A few minutes later, the doctor came in. He looked Cassie over as she stood next to the bed.

  “Well, you do look better,” the doctor said, indicating that he’d already talked to Brenden.

  Cassie looked back at him, her violet eyes wide and beseeching.

  The doctor sighed. “I suppose you can stay in here. Just make sure you don’t keep the nurses from doing their job.”

  “I won’t, I promise,” she said smiling softly at him.

  The doctor checked John’s chart, the bandages, his breathing, his pulse, everything.

  “He seems to be doing well now,” the doctor said.

  Cassie looked proudly at John. As if she was proud of him for doing well. The doctor couldn’t help but grin. Brenden had told him the whole story about how John was Cassie’s bodyguard and how he’d been shot protecting Cassie. It was hard not to be charmed by either the story or these people. They were Hollywood elite, yet they were apparently very human too.

  Cassie spent the next hour standing beside John’s bed, finally climbing back up to the spot where she’d been sitting originally. At one point, John woke again, seeing her sitting at the end of his bed. Perched like a dark fairy princess was the thought that came to mind. He held his arm out to her and she moved to his right side, facing him as she often did at home when they talked. John pushed himself into a sitting position, and Cassie leaned her head against the hollow of his shoulder. He reached his hand up and stroked her hair. She was asleep a few minutes later. John grinned to himself, knowing that she had gotten so used to his body warmth to put her to sleep. It’s all it had taken to put her to sleep now.