I nod my head, finally at peace that everything is over. All the threats against my family are gone. I will be able to continue my life with the Cranes and Adelaide in peace.
That thought, the blood loss, and the drop of adrenaline cause my eyes to droop as the paramedics begin to tend my wound. I willingly allow myself to slip into unconsciousness, knowing that everything will be okay.
Finally.
Happy
*Adelaide*
July 14, 2018
I have never felt so utterly helpless in my entire life. Not when I was locked away, watching the world go by. Not when my mother died in her bed and I had no way to contact the outside. Not when Maddox left me in the middle of the night with a foal to train on my own. Not when I stared down the barrel of the gun, expecting to never see the sun again.
Kristy paces in front of me while I sit on my hands, thumping my foot. Sweat gathers at my brow and I rub my forehead against my shoulder. Kristy twiddles with her fingers, tugging and pulling on them as she stops and glances at the door. She waits a moment, and when it doesn’t open, she continues pacing.
My stomach churns. Silence can be a good thing, right? That means there hasn’t been any reports of an incident. Surely, if something had gone wrong, our officers outside would be informed…and they’d tell us, right?
They wouldn’t keep information from us, would they?
“Everything is okay,” I whisper, mostly to myself. Kristy nods her head and walks over to sit beside me.
“Everything is okay, Adelaide. They’re all going to be okay,” Kristy says, her voice more confident than mine. I lean back against the couch and look at the bulletin board, staring at Maddox’s handsome face.
Lord, please let him be okay. Please bring him back to me. We have so much more to live for. So much more to do with our lives. Please let Jeremy be okay. Please keep Missy and Adam out of harm’s way. Please, protect my father.
After my prayer, I pull my hands from under my legs and get to my feet. I walk toward the front door and open it, seeing the two squad cars sitting in the driveway. The officers behind them look over at me and one exits the car quickly while the other remains inside.
“Is everything okay, Miss?” the man asks. He’s only a few inches taller than me with a moderately built stature and milky brown hair. Sunglasses cover his eyes, so I glance at his name tag.
“Everything is fine, Officer Rowley. I was just wondering if there was an update? Do we know anything?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest as I shiver in the hot summer air. My fear has caused my blood to run cold.
“I’m not able to say, Miss.” What does that mean? Is that good? Or is that bad? Did something happen and he doesn’t want to be the one to break it to me?
I swallow the lump in my throat and tilt my head back to gaze up at him. “Officer Rowley, five of the six people I care about in my life are all in danger right now. Their lives are in jeopardy. Please, tell me something,” I beg, keeping a lock on his gaze behind the glasses. He glances over his shoulder at his partner before turning his attention back to me.
“The last we know, Gonzales and his team located your family. They moved in and that’s all we know. We don’t know of anyone’s condition,” Rowley tells me, placing a hand on his holstered gun, his head tilting to the side to look around the neighborhood.
I nod my head slowly. “Thank you,” I whisper. The officer nods his head and turns to walk back to his car. Just as he steps away, static sounds from his walkie-talkie. He unclips it from his shoulder and brings it round to speak into, until he hears the report that stops him.
I don’t understand what is being said, for they speak in code. From the look on Officer Rowley’s face, it can’t be anything good. I step forward and he turns to face me, his expression stoic. The other officer in the car climbs out.
“Rowley. Get her inside!” My eyes widen at the deep voice and I look over at the silver-haired man. His expression is cold as he responds to the voice on the walkie-talkie. Rowley places a hand on my arm.
“Adelaide, get inside, please.”
“What’s going on? Is everything okay? Did someone get hurt? Was it Maddox? Missy? Xavier?” I list off names, my heart pounding in my chest as I think of any of the people I love getting hurt.
“Please, get inside. We’ll speak to you when we know what’s going on.” Rowley’s voice is anxious, nearly begging me to listen to him.
I shake off his hand on my arm and quickly grab it mid-air, squeezing it tightly. “Promise me,” I plead. Rowley’s eyebrows dip below his sunglasses, the skin between them crinkling with sincerity.
His voice is soft as he nods his head. “I promise. Please, inside.” Rowley jerks his head toward the door behind me. I sigh and heed his demand, hurrying into the house. After shutting the door and locking it, I turn to find Kristy.
If the situation wasn’t so intense, I would laugh at the scene in front of me. She is kneeling on the couch, her chest pressed against the back cushions with her face smashed against the window, looking outside and her hands on the window beside her head. She looks as if she’s some prisoner, begging a passerby to let her out.
I walk over and basically mimic her position, minus the hands. I watch as the officers sit in their cars, speaking on the radio.
“What’s happening?” Kristy asks. I shake my head, not having an answer.
I tell her what Rowley told me and how he suddenly got a call on the walkie-talkie. It put the officers on edge. I’m worried to find out what that means, exactly.
In my gut, I have a feeling that someone is hurt. I pray that if it is so, that the injury isn’t dire. That the paramedics get to them in time.
About twenty minutes have passed when the officer’s come up and knock on the door. Kristy practically runs to open the door, looking at the officers with wonder.
“What’s happening?” she asks. Rowley steps in and turns to look at me immediately. My heart stutters. What’s wrong?
“I’ve been told to take you two to the hospital. Someone was shot and will be going into surgery. Jeremy was badly beaten and is being looked at as we speak. Missy and Adam Crane were unharmed, and so is Gonzales,” Rowley says.
Maddox. The only other person is Maddox. He was shot.
I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths, praying that he’s going to be okay. People survive gunshots all the time. He has to be okay. This is not how our story is going to end.
“What are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Kristy says, rushing to the kitchen to grab our purses. I stare at the open door behind the officers. I can hear my blood pounding in my ears. What am I going to find when I get to the hospital? I don’t know if I’m strong enough to see Maddox in this state. My mother is the only death I’ve experienced. My bond with her was odd and the loss of her was impactful. But this is different. I’ve chosen to love Maddox. I’ve willingly given my heart to him and losing him again, permanently, will crush me.
“Adelaide?” Rowley’s voice is soft, causing me to avert my attention to him. “What’s happening in that head of yours?” he asks, his eyes gentle as he awaits my response.
Kristy appears beside me, handing me my purse.
“What if he’s no longer with us? I’m not sure I want to see that.” I am reminded of my mother and how cold she was. How pale she was…I shudder. I don’t want to see Maddox in such a way.
“You can’t think that way, Adelaide,” Kristy whispers, placing a hand on my arm.
“Last we heard, he was in surgery and he was stable. He’s going to be okay, Adelaide. He’s not going to die on you,” Rowley says, a sense of relief brushing away some of the anxiety upon my chest.
I catch Kristy looking at Rowley with a questioning gaze, but she doesn’t say anything. I know what she’s thinking…officers are not supposed to make promises they can’t keep. But his words are what I needed to hear.
“Okay. Let’s go see our family.” I nod. Kristy hooks her arm with mine and together
we walk to Rowley’s squad car.
We sit in the back in complete silence, our thoughts swirling. I’m relieved that no one else was harmed. That Missy and Adam are all right. I can’t imagine losing either of them. They have become a very important part of my life. Adam is the father I never knew I wanted. Missy is the mom in all the ways my mother may have failed.
Through this whole experience, I understand my mother’s decision to hide me away now. This world is full of ugliness. She must have seen a lot of it, and not enough of the beauty. She was scared for my safety and I can understand that. I just wish she could have trusted people to help her. I wish she allowed her sister and brother-in-law to take care of her.
But if she had, the Cicero Disciples would have found us sooner than they had. She did what she thought was best to take care of her little girl, and I can respect that.
When we get to the hospital, Rowley escorts us to the wing where our family is waiting. Kristy runs ahead, but I stay behind and turn to the officer. He gazes down at me with confusion, an eyebrow raised in question.
“I just wanted to say thank you. For everything. For telling me information I know you weren’t supposed to say. For comforting me and making me a promise you’re not supposed to make. Just…thank you, Officer Rowley.” Before I can second guess myself, I wrap my arms around his waist and hug him tightly.
His embrace is sturdy as he squeezes me tight. “You’re Gonzales’s daughter, Adelaide. We take care of our own. It was my honor to help you in any way. Now, get to that man of yours. Enough delaying.” Rowley ruffles my hair and I chuckle, shaking my head. Turning on the balls of my feet, I quickly jog toward Missy and Adam.
I throw myself into their arms, tears welling in my eyes. “You’re both okay,” I say in a breath of relief.
“We are. Thanks to you two girls and Chicago PD,” Adam says, and I step back, smiling brightly up at him. His dark eyes twinkle with happiness and I’m glad to see such an emotion on his face. Adam is a great man and I know without a doubt that his influence helped mold Maddox into the man he is today.
“How is he?” I ask, feeling my heart clench in my chest. Adam looks at Missy, who smiles softly, her eyes dipping down in sadness.
“He’s out of surgery and resting. He’s going to be okay. But they say he’ll be in a lot of pain and always have a bad limp. They don’t know if he’ll be able to ride again.” I frown at the result of the injury. Never to ride again? No. That’s not right. Serendipity is his legs. There has to be something we can do. Perhaps bareback, so there’s no immediate pressure on his leg.
But that is a matter for another time. Right now, he’s okay. That’s all that matters. “Where is he?” I ask.
Missy directs me to his room and I make no hesitation. I practically sprint down the halls, ignoring the warnings and stern voices of the nurses telling me to walk. They must not understand…my heart is in that room.
I hurry into his room, stopping when I see him lying on the white bed, a white, stiff blanket draped over him. I swallow, gently walking over to stop beside him. I place a hand on his scarred cheek, sighing with relief at his warmth. Warmth means he’s still alive.
That’s all that matters, I remind myself. I sit in the chair beside him, my hand resting on his forearm under the blanket.
I’ll wait. I’ll wait until he awakes. No matter how long it takes.
It’s an hour later when Maddox rouses from his sleep, groggy from the medication. He lets out a low groan. I lift my head from my shoulder and quickly lean forward to gaze at Maddox’s anguish-stricken face.
“Maddox? Can you hear me?” I whisper, furrowing my brows in worry. Maddox tilts his head at the sound of my voice but doesn’t open his eyes, as if it would hurt him to do so.
“It hurts, Addy,” he grumbles, my nickname gruff on his tongue. I nod my head and look around for the nurse call button, pressing it.
I hear a loud beep and static before, “How can I help?”
“Maddox is awake and he’s in pain,” I say. The nurse says she’ll be right in and I turn my attention back to the man in the bed. His eyes are open and looking at me. I expected to see tortured eyes, conveying just how he’s feeling. Instead, all I see is relief. He’s looking at me as if he just reached the end of his journey. As if he were gifted the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
“You’re okay,” he whispers, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows with difficulty. I imagine he’s very thirsty.
“Me? I’m okay? Maddox, you were shot and you’re worried that I’m okay?” I ask, my voice incredulous. How could he even have time to worry about me? He should have been worrying about staying alive. From what I heard, he was bleeding out for quite a bit.
Maddox lets out a humorless chuckle, closing his eyes because that laugh seemed to be a lot of effort.
“All I do is worry about you, Adelaide. That’s what happens when you fall in love with someone. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without you in it. And when Miguel—” Maddox lets out a loud groan and presses his head back further into the pillow, his eyelids squeezing shut.
“Cameron. My name is Jackie Fountain. I’m your nurse. Glad you’re finally awake. How are you feeling?” I don’t want to take my eyes off Maddox, but I know it’s rude not to look at the person who is speaking. I glance over at the nurse. Her skin is olive colored, her long dark hair pulled up into a tight, high ponytail. Her smile is warm as she looks genuinely happy to see that her patient is up.
“My leg hurts,” Maddox says. “And I’m thirsty.”
“Of course. I’ll get you ice chips. You can’t have any fluids at the moment, for we don’t want anything to make you nauseated.” Jackie steps forward and grabs a little cylinder device that was on the bed with a button on top. “Press this button and it will administer medicine. Only use it when you’re in pain. It will stop before you can use too much, so don’t worry about pressing it if you need it. The machine will prevent any risk of overdosing,” Jackie says, pressing the button once and then handing it to Maddox.
I smile my gratitude, watching as Maddox carefully takes it from her and presses it once more, leaning his head back.
“I’ll go get you those ice chips,” she says, tossing me a smile before exiting the room. I turn to Maddox, meeting his gaze. I sigh at how beautiful his eyes are. I never want to be without them again.
“Kristy saved me before Miguel could do anything. I’m okay,” I whisper. Maddox shakes his head and turns it, looking at the door across the room.
I pull my eyebrows together when I see a tear roll down his cheek. “I know what that monster did to you, Adelaide. I’m so sorry. I wish there was something I could do to…” Maddox raises his hand and presses his finger and thumb to the bridge of his nose, as if wishing away a headache.
“It’s okay. We’re going to be okay. What he did—it’s going to be okay.” I shudder at the memory. I haven’t really been able to think about what happened when I was younger. I’ve been so preoccupied with saving Maddox and the Cranes.
But I have to believe that it’s going to be okay. It has to be. There is no other option. Maddox is okay. Jeremy is okay. And I will be okay. We all went through something traumatic, and we’ll overcome it.
Maddox opens his mouth to respond, but is cut off by the door opening. I tilt my head to see who’s at the door, gasping.
Jeremy’s face is swollen and covered in blue and purple bruises. He has a limp to his walk, but that doesn’t keep him from rushing into the room. He glances at Maddox for but a moment before he reaches my side and gathers me in his embrace.
I feel my eyes widen as he holds me to him. “Seeing you here, unharmed…it makes everything worth it,” Jeremy whispers in my ear. I feel my heart clench and I sag against him.
“Thank you. It wasn’t your place to protect me, Jeremy. But thank you…and also for threatening Maddox on my behalf.” Jeremy chuckles in my ear and I step back to see Maddox smiling at us. He lifts his hand,
his fingers curling around mine.
“I told you he loved you. He’s just stubborn like his father.”
Jeremy shakes his head. “Our father.” Jeremy turns his head to look at me. “Our father. I’m sorry for not accepting you into our family, Adelaide. It was wrong of me to forbid you the comfort of having a mother and father who love you selflessly. But now I hear that you’ve found yours. So, I can take mine back.” Jeremy smiles softly, his joke gentle and warm. I giggle, shaking my head.
I never thought I would reach this point in my life. I was once a young girl, gazing longingly at a woman wearing a bright dress through the window of my isolated room. I had wondered what the world would be like. Was it as cruel as my mother said? Or was it as beautiful as that woman and her dress?
And now here I am. A woman holding a man’s hand, and I get it. I do. The warmth that spreads up my arm and down my spine can only come from the contact of one you truly love. I know what it means to love and be loved. I know how to drive a car, ride a horse, send a text message, and laugh with the carefree attitude that woman possessed.
I am truly happy. And I owe it all to God, for he gave me a mother who protected me. He gave me a woman who opened her arms and home to me. He gave me a horse that understood me better than anyone and offered me a sense of safety. He gave me a man who loves me despite everything and will continue to do so until the end of our days.
Epilogue
*Maddox*
April 16, 2020
When I was a boy, I was surrounded by people who lived devastating lives. Their influence on me was poor, yet I couldn’t see that. I was so consumed by the smog they produced, that I couldn’t see anything but the haziness of violence and drugs.
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