by kj lewis
“No. I’m with Teague and Myles. We are picking up Reggie. He’s going ahead with the speech. I hope you make it in time to hear it. He’s nervous. It’s really sweet.”
“I’ll try my best. We’re about to take off. I’ll text you when we land. I love you, Emelia.”
“I love you, Graham.”
I feel a little downhearted that he’s not here with me. I’m perfectly capable of handling the gala on my own, but I just don’t want to. I’d rather be with Graham. With Graham, I don’t have to think about anything. It makes me smile to realize I really have given him control.
Traffic is a nightmare and it takes us a little more than forty-five minutes to make it to Reggie’s.
“I’ll run up and get him,” I say as we near his building.
“Not without me,” Teague says. Myles pulls the car to the curb and Teague helps me out. We receive appreciative glances based on our attire. We both look striking if I say so myself.
We’re only a few feet from the door when Reggie comes out, twirling around for me to admire him in his tux, the smile he’s wearing truly stealing the show. Laughing, I clap my hands and curtsey. “You are so handsome.” I reach my arms out to hug him.
“Gun!” Teague yells before I hear shots and am thrown to the ground.
Chaos ensues around us. I can smell the gun powder as Teague holds me down, firing off several more shots.
“Secure the scene,” Teague yells to Myles before he rolls me over. I can hear sirens in the back, and I’m vaguely aware of Teague yelling something about “code red” to Myles.
“Emme, hang on. The ambulance is on the way.” Teague pleads.
“I think I’m okay.” I tell him above the shrill, painful ringing in my ears.
“You have blood on you.” He sits me up and examines me. I look down and realize he’s right. I have blood on me. And it’s a lot. I look around.
“Reggie!” I scream and crawl to him. He’s face-down on the ground and I can see blood pooling on the sidewalk. “Reggie!” I yell again rolling him over.
“Emme,” he says. His eyes finding mine, scared. There’s blood coming out of this mouth. He’s been shot in his chest and his stomach. I hold my hands over the wounds and apply pressure.
“Reggie, look at me! You fight. Do you hear me! Don’t you close your eyes! Open your eyes, Reggie.” I get in his face and force him to keep eye contact with me. “Keep your eyes open, baby. The ambulance is almost here. Just hang on a few more minutes. You’ve got this. You can do this.”
“Duchess.” A lone tear falls from his eye. “You…know…I love you.” He’s trying to find air to speak. “Make sure Pearl knows, too. Make sure.” He sucks in deep breaths, and for a second I think he is going into convulsions. I hear gargling over the ringing in my head, and more blood comes from his lips. His teeth are rimmed with red as he tries to talk.
“Don’t talk, Reggie. Tell me after. Save your energy.”
He wraps his hand around my wrist. “Promise you’ll get Terrance off the…”
His head falls back. He’s gone.
“Reggie! Reggie! Come back Reggie!” I scream and shake him through my sobs. I pull him to me and hold him like a mother would hold her child against her. This is what it feels like for a parent to lose a child. “Please, Reggie. Please.” I beg him rocking back and forth.
“Ma’am. We need you to let him go,” the paramedic says, crouching onto his knees beside me. I release Reggie and watch as he tries to revive him with no avail.
“Three DOA, one wounded,” he says into his radio. Looking around, I see two bodies that I don’t recognize. Turning on my knees I see Teague is on the ground and a paramedic is working on him.
“Teague!” I move to him.
“Let us do our jobs,” the paramedic says.
“Please. You have to save him.” I beg and pray. They tear his shirt open and I can see where he has been shot.
There are more sirens and flashing lights as the noise level continues to climb.
“He’s in V-Fib,” the other paramedic says.
“Clear!” his partner yells before the machine shocks Teague, lifting his body off the ground.
“Again,” the paramedic says. “Clear!”
“We got sinus. Let’s scoop and run.” They hoist Teague onto the stretcher.
“I’m coming with you,” I demand, following on their heels.
“In this seat. Buckle and don’t move.” He points me to a seat in the rear. I buckle as the sirens add to the ringing in my ears. Hitting a button on the wall, a beep noise starts before I hear a voice. “NY-Pres. Go ahead with report.” The paramedic starts rattling off his report.
“Matt!” I yell as the paramedic signs off.
“Emme?” I hear the confusion and concern in his voice.
“It’s Teague,” I yell over the noise. It’s another ten minutes before we pull up to the bay and the ambulance doors open. Matt immediately starts on Teague, while Kyle and Drew pull me out of the ambulance, running me inside.
I can hear Matt running the trauma in the bay next to us.
“Please. He can’t let him die,” I beg.
“Matt’s the best trauma surgeon in the city, Emme. If anyone can save Teague, he can,” Kyle reassures me while Drew runs his hands all over me.
“You’re covered in blood, but none of it appears to be yours,” Drew says, interrupting my repetitive prayer for Teague.
“Drew, Kyle, if she’s okay, get her out of here,” Matt yells from the other side of the curtain.
“Emme. Let’s go outside. There’s a separate room you can wait in. Where’s Graham?” Drew asks.
“Emme? Where’s Graham?” Kyle asks again. “I think she’s in shock,” he says.
“Page the guys, let them know she’s here.”
“They killed Reggie.” I look up at them. “They shot him. I couldn’t save him.”
“Emme,” Kyle says gently. “Where’s Graham?”
“He’s on his way back from DC,” I answer absently.
“Call Amanda. Tell her to get Joy down here,” I tell Drew, who nods in understanding.
Falling to my knees in the middle of the room, the full skirt billows around me like I’m sitting on a cloud.
“Emelia!” Graham bursts into the room with Smith on his heels. “Oh, thank God,” he says coming down, covering me in kisses. “What’s wrong? Is she hurt?” he asks the guys examining me.
“No. We checked her over. It’s not her blood. I think she’s in shock.” One of them answers as I begin to cry and rock back and forth.
“I’m here baby. I’m here.” Graham holds me.
“They killed him. Reggie. He’s dead. I couldn’t save him.” My eyes plead with Graham to help release the pain I’m in only to see the helplessness in his.
“There’re five entrances in and out of this ER. I want two men on each one.” I’m aware of Smith talking to someone in a suit.
“Emme.” Matt comes into the room. “We’re taking him to surgery. You should come see him before he goes.” Matt’s unspoken words bring another wave of fear. He wraps his arms around my shoulders, escorting me quickly to the trauma room I left just minutes ago.
“Teague,” I whisper over him. “Can he hear me?” I ask Matt.
“Talk to him,” he says. “You only have a minute.”
“I love you Teague. Don’t be a pansy and leave me here on my own. You fight. For you and for me. For Joy. She’s on her way. She wants you to know she loves you. So make it through this so you can put a ring on her finger.” I kiss him on the small spot of skin on his cheek that isn’t covered by tape from being intubated.
“Emme, they need to take him,” Drew says. “Matt went to scrub in.”
Graham is waiting for me and immediately takes me back into his arms. The room is filled now. All of the Taylors are here, along with Amanda and Joy.
“Joy.” I stand in front of her. A tear falls down her cheek. “It’s not good Joy. You need to pray.”
“I told him. He knows.”
“Thank you.”
“Emme. We’re going to go check on Matt and see if he needs any help,” Kyle says, and each of the guys comfort me before they leave.
“Sit.” Graham directs me to a chair. The ringing noise is still loud in my head, but I’m too numb to acknowledge it.
“Emme.” Commissioner Ralston enters.
“Teddy.” Graham nods his greeting not wanting to release my hand.
“Graham, I just left the scene.” He shakes his head at Graham. “Can we talk over here?” he asks and Graham starts to stand.
“Just say it.” I look up at him. Smith joins us, also waiting to be filled in.
He thinks for a minute, then I guess decides it’s ok to proceed.
“We viewed the footage from the security camera at the building. It shows Emme and Teague making their way to the building. Reggie comes out. They appear to have a conversation. Teague draws his weapon. You see a flash from the corner of the screen. Teague knocks Emme and Reggie to the ground, eliminating the threat in front of him. A second perp comes from behind Reggie. It’s this gunman that did the damage. He got two shots off hitting Reggie. Teague eliminated this threat while taking one round. He’s a hero. His marksmanship saved innocent lives.”
“Do you know who they were? What their motive was?” Smith asks.
“They were a rival gang. They took out Reggie in an effort to get to Terrance,” Teddy says.
“I need to find Terrance,” I say.
“I already have my men looking for him,” Teddy says. “I know you aren’t going to like this Emme, but it’s my recommendation that Smith puts you on lockdown until we can assess what part of the threat remains. We don’t know yet if Reggie alone was the intended target or if it was both of you.”
To this I have no response. My body and mind are empty.
Graham, Smith, and Teddy talk for a couple more minutes before he leaves.
“Let them in,” Smith says to one of the guys at the door. Harry and Eloise come in followed by the Raines’ and Holt, who looks devastated.
“I’m so sorry, Emme,” Holt says. I nod, but I have nothing to give back to him.
Eloise takes the seat next to me while Harry squats in front of me.
“Reggie’s dead,” I whisper, finding it harder and harder to say over the last thirty minutes, but almost necessary. Like the world needs to know what was lost today.
“I know.” Harry runs his hand over my knee.
“I couldn’t save him.” My voice is small. Eloise cries quietly beside me.
“Sweetheart, no one could. There was too much damage,” Harry says, heartbroken for me. His eyes display his concern and worry.
“I couldn’t save him.”
Nodding, Harry cuts his eyes from me to Graham.
“Eloise and Mom are going to sit with you, okay baby? I’ll be right over there.” He points to a corner. I know he doesn’t want to leave me, but he needs to feel a little control in this chaos, and strategizing with the men for a minute will give that to him. Adam and Ben join them in conversation.
“Let him in!” I jolt to the door when the security guys try to keep him out.
“Terrance.”
Terrance growls angrily, grabbing me aggressively by the front of my dress, like you would someone you were about to shove.
“You made me believe I could do it. That I could save Reggie. Why would you do that? I trusted you!” His nose an inch from mine, causing me to stumble and perch on my tip toes from the way he has pulled me up to him. Graham lunges for him but pulls up short when I wrap my arms around Terrance, holding him to me.
Terrance and I stand there for I don’t know how long, our arms wrapped around each other while he openly mourns the loss of his brother.
“You promised me you would take care of him. You promised.” His devastation comes through in his tone more than the accusation, but his words have already sliced through me.
“I’m so sorry, Terrance. I couldn’t save him. I tried.” I release a shaky breath. “I couldn’t save him. Please forgive me,” I beseech him, my body pushing more air out than it’s taking in.
“Terrance.” Graham says only his name, alerting him not to cross the line with his words. “Why don’t you and I take a minute in the hall?” Graham places his hand on Terrance’s shoulder slightly separating us. Terrance drops his arms and exits the room with Graham. I watch as they walk away. Graham keeps a firm hand on him, but it’s guiding him, not handling him. Smith follows and they begin a conversation.
“Emme,” Jules says my name. I turn to her. “Why don’t you sit down?” she suggests.
“I’m going to the bathroom,” I tell her with no inflection in my voice. Stepping into the hallway, I pass the bathroom and move out of everyone’s sight. I need to stop the ringing in my head.
Grateful that I’ve made it around the corner undetected, I push the button for the elevators drawing the gaze of people around me. I oddly wonder if no one was going up, or if they are weary of riding in an elevator with me.
The doors ping when they open and I walk the hallway to her room. Standing at the end of Addie’s bed, I watch her chest rise and fall. She’s attached only to an IV and a feeding tube. She looks peaceful. I note offhandedly that Eloise has added a few things to the room. Sliding the bed rails down, I lay on my side next to her, resting my head on her shoulder. I lay my arm across her chest, placing my hand on her other shoulder. The bottom of my dress fans over us both. It only takes a minute for me to find some solace in the synchronizing of our breathing. Our chests rise and fall in time with each other, and I feel as if Addie is in the room with me. I lose track of time. I’m not sure if I have slept or if I’ve been in a semi-conscious state.
I fill Addie in about the night. What, when, and how everything happened.
“I couldn’t save him,” I whisper to her, remembering how we use to lay in the truck talking, sharing our fears before we would fall asleep. “I tried but I couldn’t. Just like I can’t save you. I wanted to protect you so badly. There’s nothing I wouldn’t have done for you. It just wasn’t enough. Whatever I do, it’s never enough. There’s always something I’ve missed. Something that takes the people I love away from me.”
“Sweetheart.” Harry touches my shoulder, and I nestle further into Addie.
“Oh, thank God.” I hear Graham when he enters the room, but I don’t open my eyes.
“Emme, it’s time,” Harry says lifting me off the bed and carrying me to a chair where he sits with me on his lap. Cradling me as if I were a child, he rocks me and kisses my head lightly. “It’s time to understand that you are mortal. You can’t control others and you aren’t responsible for the bad things that have happened to them. We do our best, but no one can protect the people we love from life. It’s the cruel and wonderful part of being in this world.”
He tightens his hold on me as every heartache I’ve been holding onto flows out. “I couldn’t save them.” I weep.
“I know. And I’m sorry.”
“I love you, Daddy. I need you.”
“And I need you. You have made these last couple of months so special. I wake up every morning grateful to be your father. Emme, it’s time to stop trying to control everything and lay these burdens to rest.” He tightens his hold on me and helps me start doing just that.
“Emme.” Graham jostles me slightly. Harry is still rocking me.
“What time is it?” I ask, my voice hoarse from crying earlier.
“It’s just after three in the morning. Baby,” he says, pulling me into a sitting position, running his thumb across my jaw. “Teague is asking for you.”
“He’s alive?” I stand almost knocking him over.
“He is and waiting for you.” Graham takes my hand and leads me to the recovery floor where Teague is being held until he is moved to the ICU area. Matt is waitin
g for me, and I can’t stop myself from leaping on him.
“Matt. Thank you so much! I am so grateful to you. I know it was a lot to ask of you.” I squeeze him.
“He’s been asking for you. He’s not ready to see anyone else yet, but he wants you. He’s still groggy from the anesthesia, so he might dose off on you, but he’s going to be okay. We were able to repair the damage, and I expect him to make a full recovery. An inch in another direction and we would be telling a different story.”
Graham stays in the waiting room while Matt takes my hand and guides me to his bay.
“Teague.” I gingerly place my hand on his chest when I see him. He’s surrounded by tubes and machines. “Teague, I’m here,” I say again.
“Emme.” His voice is sandpapery.
“From the breathing tube we had in,” Matt clarifies, edging me closer to Teague.
“I love you, Teague. You saved my life tonight. Thank you.”
“I couldn’t save Reggie.”
“Neither of us could.” I squeeze his hand. “You’re not alone.”
He nods, finding it difficult to speak.
“Can I wet his lips?” I ask Matt when Teague’s tongue darts out in an attempt to give his dry lips some relief.
“You make everything sound so naughty,” Teague whispers before I run a wet sponge Matt has handed me over his lips.
“That’s because you have a naughty mind,” I smile. “Joy wants to see you. She loves you.”
“I love her.”
“I’ll send her in. She’s a mess, so go easy on her.” I place a kiss on his cheek.
“Emme.” He strains to make sure I hear him. I turn and move back to his side. “You saved my life, too.”
I wink at him when his eyes lock on mine.
“We’re going to be okay.” I pat his arm and leave.
“He’s asking for you.” I hug Joy, finding her in the waiting room with Graham. Matt sees her back to his bay.
“I want to go home,” I plead as Graham cups my face with both hands and kisses me gently before pulling his phone out of his pocket. He hits a button seconds before talking.
“Jim, we’re headed up.” His hand clasps mine and a hospital administrator enters the elevator with us, turning a key. A moment later we are on the roof.