by Nikki Ash
Chapter Five
Hayley
There is no way I have been asleep more than a few minutes when my phone goes off. I attempt to ignore it, keeping my eyes closed so I don’t get dizzy. I didn’t get ridiculously drunk last night but I definitely drank enough to have a hangover in the morning. I ended up taking a cab home after the ball dropped, leaving my vehicle at Kayla’s house. I will have to ask someone to take me to get my car in the morning. I was hoping Caleb would return but he never did. I hope everything is ok with Marco.
My phone rings again. Whoever is calling must really need to get ahold of me. Looking at my cell phone, I see it’s four in the morning and Kayla is the person who keeps calling me. Jeez! I was actually asleep for almost three hours.
“Hey! Everything ok?” For Kayla to be calling me on her wedding night something has to be wrong.
“No, it’s not. Caleb is in the hospital. We don’t know the details but it’s not good, Hayley.”
This wakes me up. I grab some clothes on the dresser that I didn’t get around to putting away yet and quickly get dressed. Looking around for my keys I remember I have no car. Shit!
“Hey can you swing by and get me? My car is at your house!”
She tells Bentley to pick me up. Luckily my house is on the way to the hospital so they don’t have to go out of their way. We hang up and I go outside to wait for them so they don’t have to stop for too long.
We get to the hospital and Bentley goes to the nurse to get answers on Caleb. We don’t know anything about his family but Caleb having no emergency contact listed other than Bentley is a good indication they aren’t in the picture. The nurse tells us to have a seat and she will come out to update us as soon as she can.
A few minutes later she begins explaining Caleb’s condition as Cooper and Liz come running through the door out of breath along with Kaden and Ashley.
“Is he ok?” “What happened?” Liz and Cooper both ask at the same time.
“The nurse is about to tell us right now,” Bentley says turning back to the nurse indicating for her to continue.
“Mr. Michaels is currently in the ICU but stable. We are prepping him for surgery. He was brought in a couple hours ago but we needed to stabilize him and assess his injuries. He experienced two gunshot wounds, one to the shoulder and one to the chest. Luckily the one to the chest didn’t hit any major arteries.”
I gasp loudly hearing he has been shot. Immediately my mind goes to those guys going after Marco.
“He was beaten pretty badly. We think he has several broken ribs and his leg appears to be broken. We will know more once he is finished being prepped and taken into surgery. Please stay out here and once we know more we will let you know.”
“Thank you,” Bentley says. I can’t help but wonder how this happened. He left clearly worried about Marco. It had to have had something to do with those drug dealer guys from the other day.
While waiting to hear something I decide to seek answers. I can’t get this horrible feeling out of my head. If this has something to do with Marco, is he ok? Just as I make the decision to find a police officer I see Marco come in and with him is a police officer holding his baby sister. Marco isn’t crying, though. He looks numb. His baby sister is crying loudly and he is attempting to soothe her.
“Marco, what happened?”
“My mom is dead and they beat up and shot Caleb.”
Oh God! I knew it! I knew this had something to do with Marco. Trying to remain calm, I put my hands out to take his sister from the police officer.
“Are you a friend of the family?” the officer asks.
“I am a friend of Marco’s. I am a doctor at the gym he works out at and the gentleman who was at his house, Caleb, is a friend of ours,” I say pointing to everyone around me.
The officer hands me Chloe. “We need to get them both checked out to make sure they are ok.”
Marco and I sit down and I rock her trying to calm her. Marco rubs her back trying to soothe her as well. The nurse comes over and hands me a bottle of formula. After thanking her I feed the precious baby. With her belly full, I burp her, and within minutes she passes right out in my arms.
A few minutes later the nurse calls Marco and Chloe back and I go with the officer to have them checked out. Once the doctor confirms they are both healthy and not injured in any way, the police officer takes Marco’s statement.
In a nutshell, the men came to Marco’s house to get money from his mom; when she said no, one guy forced himself on her while the other guy held Marco back. Caleb tried to save them and was beaten to a pulp and shot. Marco’s mom went to the room to quiet Chloe down because her crying was making the men mad but she never came back out of her room. When the police got there and Marco went in to let her know the cops were there, he found her dead. She overdosed on drugs in her bedroom.
It is absolutely heartbreaking to listen to his recount of what happened, to hear what he witnessed. Once he is done we go back out to the waiting room and I sit next to Kayla.
“Have you heard anything on Caleb yet?”
“No, not yet. Are the kids ok?”
“Yeah, the doctor said neither of them were physically hurt.” I don’t have to say anything for her to know what I mean. Marco is going to need to see a therapist. He is going to need a loving and supportive home and somebody to talk to. Luckily his sister is too young to remember anything.
“I’m assuming this is Marco’s sister?”
“Yeah, she’s a sweet thing isn’t she?”
I see the officer standing in the corner and want to ask him some questions. “Would you mind holding her for a few minutes. I want to speak to the police officer.”
“Absolutely.”
I carefully hand her Chloe and then look over and see Marco is sleeping. I can’t even imagine the nightmares this kid will have. Walking over to the officer I reintroduce myself.
“Excuse me, I was wondering if you have contacted the Department of Children and Families?”
“Yes, ma’am. Somebody is on their way.”
“Did you catch the guys who did this to Caleb?”
“We have them in custody. Because the neighbor called so quickly after hearing the first gunshot we were able to catch them leaving the scene. We are compiling evidence now but we should have enough to put them away for a long time.”
“Good! I hope they rot in prison. Thank you officer.”
I head back to Marco and putting my arm around him I hold him close. He may have had a shitty mom but losing her can’t be easy, and to be the one who found her, my heart is breaking for him.
Within an hour a sweet woman from DCF arrives. Marco moves closer to me when she says she needs to place them in an emergency foster home for the night.
“Can he please stay with me?” I beg. The kid has been through enough. “I am actually an approved foster parent.”
“What about Chloe?” Marco begins crying. I completely forgot about Chloe. My only thoughts were taking care of Marco. It doesn’t surprise me that even after everything Marco has been through his number one concern is the welfare of his sister.
“Umm… I can take her as well. I just don’t have a crib or diapers or anything for a baby.” I begin to panic mentally making a list of everything I would need.
“We can take her,” Kayla speaks up. “We actually have an application in to foster since it’s the first step to adopt. We recently submitted it and it might even already be approved. Because of the holidays I haven’t checked.”
“Ok, I will need a copy of both your drivers’ licenses and social security cards. I will call my supervisor and check on your fostering statuses.”
“Thank you,” I say continuing to hold Marco close letting him know I am not leaving his side.
I look over at Bentley and Kayla cooing over Chloe and can’t help but wonder if maybe this was God’s way of intervening on these children’s behalf, taking a tragedy and giving them their own little miracle.
> While waiting to hear back from the DCF worker a doctor comes out letting us know Caleb is out of surgery. Looking at the time, I see it’s just after seven in the morning. Marco is asleep with his head on my shoulder and Chloe is still asleep in Kayla’s arms.
“We feel everything went good. He does have three broken ribs, which caused internal bleeding. We were able to stop the bleeding without any further complications. Unfortunately broken ribs can’t be fixed, they will have to heal over time but he’s wrapped up. The gunshot wounds to his shoulder and chest were clean, so we just had to stitch him up. His leg was broken in two places so he is in a cast. He suffered a head injury as well but other than having a concussion there is no swelling in the brain, which is a good sign. He is in recovery now and we will continue to monitor him. Once they get him settled you can go back two at a time. Do you have any questions?”
“Will he get back full use of his shoulder and leg?” I know in hindsight it’s not important but Caleb’s world revolves around fighting. I know he is going to want to know.
“The specialist will be in to speak with Caleb once he wakes up. He will be able to answer that question better.”
“Ok, thank you.”
Just as the doctor is leaving the DCF worker returns, softly smiling.
“Ok, good news. You both are active on the fostering list so I was able to approve both of you to take them home. We will have to do home visits in the next few days so I will be in touch.”
Marco wakes up and looks around to find Chloe then turns to the worker. “Does that mean Chloe and I can stay together?”
“How would you feel if you stayed with me and Chloe stayed with Bentley and Kayla? You know how they have Faith, right? So they have all the baby stuff already for Chloe.”
“Can I still see her?”
“Of course you can, sweetie!” Kayla chimes in. “You can see her whenever you want to. Let’s just take this one day at a time until we figure out what is going to happen.”
“Would you rather go with Kayla and stay with Chloe?” I ask him.
“No, I know they are good with Faith. I would rather go with you. Can we stay and wait for Caleb?”
“Absolutely,” I tell him. His body visibly relaxes.
“Thank you,” I tell the worker. She let’s me know she will be in touch and leaves.
“Family of Caleb Michaels,” a nurse announces.
“I want to go see Caleb, please!” Marco begs the nurse. He is so worried about Caleb.
“I am sure we can make that happen,” I tell him.
“I’m sorry but only family right now,” the nurse says sympathetically.
“She’s his fiancée,” Bentley says before I can even think of a lie to get us inside.
The nurse doesn’t look convinced but doesn’t argue.
“Is he your son?” she asks pointing to Marco. Without hesitation I tell her yes.
“Ok, he can come with you guys since he’s a minor and in your care.”
“Thank you.”
“C’mon.” Bentley puts his arms around me walking us toward the nurse. “I’ll go with you, future Mrs. Michaels.”
Caleb
Holy shit! My head feels like it’s about to explode. I hear a faint beeping sound and try to remember where I am and why I feel so hung over. The overwhelming smell of antiseptics hits my nose causing me to almost choke. Then the memories all come crashing back.
Marco… His mom being raped... Getting the shit beat out of me… Getting shot… Everything going black… FUCK!
“Well, good morning Mr. Michaels. Welcome back. Your fiancée and son were just here. They stepped out to get a drink of water but should be back any second. How are you doing?”
Fiancée? Son? What. The. Fuck.
I rack my brain trying to think if I could have possibly missed getting engaged. I sure as fuck know I don’t have a son. I look around and see Bentley sitting in a chair silently laughing. Then when Hayley and Marco walk in Bentley smiles wide and laughs out loud.
“Well, how are you?”
“Umm… I think I am ok…” I wiggle my fingers and they work ok. Then I start touching various parts of my body to see if I am in fact ok. When I move my arm too far over I feel a sharp pain in my shoulder and chest. It’s kind of hard to breathe now that I am thinking about it.
“Oh fuck!” I scream louder than I realize when I attempt to move my hand to my shoulder.
“Be careful. You were shot Mr. Michaels. The doctor will be in momentarily to explain your injuries and what he did during surgery.” The first thing that comes to mind is fighting. If I am in this much pain there is no way I will be fighting anytime soon.
After checking my vitals the nurse leaves the room.
“Fiancée and son?”
Bentley cracks up laughing, again. “Don’t look so scared, bro. I had to say Hayley was your fiancée to get them in here so Marco could see you. The kid was worried.”
Am I crazy that for a second I almost thought it wouldn’t be such a terrible thing to be engaged to Hayley? Yeah, I must have been hit in the head. It’s the only way to explain these absurd feelings.
The doctor comes in and explains to me I suffered a concussion, have three broken ribs, a broken leg they put a cast on and will have to remain on for about six weeks before getting it checked. My shoulder is in a sling so it can heal from the gunshot wound, and I was shot in the chest. Jesus, it’s a fucking miracle I am alive.
“Do you have any questions?”
“Will I get full rotation of my shoulder back? Will my leg be healed one hundred percent? I’m a fighter.”
“It’s definitely going to take some time. If you were working a desk job I would say you will be fine, but as an athlete you will most likely need to attend physical therapy for your shoulder and leg. Unfortunately only time will tell.”
“Ok, thank you.”
After the doctor leaves I let out a slew of curse words. Fighting is my fucking life. Without it who am I?
“I’m sorry,” Marco says. I remember him and Hayley have been in the room the whole time.
“Come here, Marco.” He comes forward nervously. My cursing having him scared.
“Don’t ever apologize for what happened last night. Do you understand me? I would have done it all over again if it meant protecting you.” Marco’s eyes well up with tears and he throws himself at me for a hug. My chest burns and my ribs ache but I don’t outwardly react. Marco needs a hug and I don’t want him to see the pain I am in.
“Hey, buddy. It’s ok,” I say trying to calm him.
Then I ask Bentley, “Have you guys been here this whole time?”
He looks at me incredulously. “Of course we have. Coop, Liz, Kaden, Ashley, and Kayla are out there as well.”
I choke up at the realization that all these people have been here waiting to see if I’m ok. I have felt so alone for so long but the fact is these people have been here for me for years.
“As you can see, I am ok. Take Kayla home and tell Cooper and everyone else I am good. Get some sleep and call me later.”
“Wait! Does that mean Chloe is leaving? I have to kiss her goodbye!” Marco says frantically turning to Bentley and Hayley. Why would Chloe be here? And why would she be leaving without Marco?
Hayley crouches down a little to soothe Marco. “Hey, it’s ok. We can go say bye to them. I am sure Chloe is so tired and wants to sleep in a comfortable bed. We can go visit them later. I promise.” Why the hell does Kayla have Chloe?
Marco calms down and says ok. Bentley and Hayley share a look before she says she is going to take Marco to say bye to his sister.
Marco gives me one more hug. “I am glad you are ok, Caleb.”
“Thanks, buddy.”
Bentley waits for the door to close before speaking. “Marco’s mom overdosed. Marco found her dead in her room after the cops showed up.”
“Holy shit!” I don’t even know what else to say. I know how Marco feels to an extent. Wh
en my mom died it hurt, but we knew it was coming.
“There’s more…”
I wait for him to continue.
“Apparently there are no living relatives so Kayla and I are fostering Chloe and Hayley is fostering Marco so they aren’t sent away and completely separated. Marco was given the option to come with us but wanted to stay with Hayley.”
Wow! The fact that Hayley would do that for a kid she barely knows speaks volumes about the kind of person she is. I know Kayla and Bentley have talked about adoption but Hayley is single with no kids. That’s a huge commitment on her part.
“That’s really awesome of you guys. Marco is a great kid, but you know that. I am glad he won’t be alone and his sister will be taken care of.”
“So what are you going to do for the next six weeks?”
“What do you mean?”
He looks down at my leg. “Once you get out of here… You can’t walk up the three flights of stairs to the apartment. You know you can stay with us or Cooper and Liz, or even Kaden. We can set up the couch for you…”
Shit! I didn’t even think about that. All of my friends have two-story houses and none of their guest rooms are on the first floor. There’s no way I am staying on one of their couches for the next six damn weeks.
“He can stay with us,” Marco says. I look over at Hayley and Marco standing back in the doorway.
Hayley looks nervous. “Umm… Yeah… You can stay with Marco and me if you want.” Then she turns to Bentley. “Marco said goodbye and we are going to come by later so he can see where Chloe is staying. Kayla is getting Chloe situated in the car and will meet you outside.”
“Ok, cool. Caleb, if you need a place to stay you can stay with any of us. I will give you a call in a little bit.”
We bump fists and he leaves.
“Do you want to stay with us?” Marco asks again sounding hopeful.
Hayley still looks nervous. “My house is a single story and I have two guest rooms that aren’t being used. You can stay in one and Marco can stay in the other.” I go to argue and she must know it’s coming. “Please don’t argue, Caleb.”