Rooter (Double H Romance)

by Smith, Teiran

  My gun! Why didn’t I think of that?

  My self-defense instructor told me that in an actual attack most people freeze from fear and forget a lot of their training. I was sure I wouldn’t be one of those people. This makes twice I was wrong. Thank God for Rooter. I run to my purse and grab my gun. Ryan’s bedroom has a master bath. That will put two extra doors between us. I lock the bedroom door then run into the bathroom and do the same.

  “I’m in Ryan’s bathroom,” I whisper even though Mike can’t hear me from here, but I can still hear him. He’s yelling about how I broke his heart, took his home and his sister away. “I can hear him screaming. He’s going to break in.”

  “Stay where you are and keep your gun at the ready. If he gets into the bathroom before I get there you fire immediately. Do you hear me?”

  “Yes.” My voice cracks. As scared as I am that Mike will hurt me if he gets to me, I’m not sure I can shoot him. I’m not sure I could actually shoot anyone, but especially not someone I grew up with.

  “Sophie, he’s dangerous. He isn’t the Mike you used to know.” It’s as though he can read my mind.

  “I know.”

  “I’m only ten minutes away. Hold on, babe. Everything will be okay.”

  I can’t wait ten minutes. I need him here with me now.

  I hear a crash in the living room and Mike’s voice is suddenly louder. My entire body is wracked by tremors. I hold the gun with shaking hands and point it at the bathroom door.

  “He’s inside the house,” I cry.

  “Stay calm, Sophie. Remember the night when those guys broke into your house? You were so calm and collected. I need you to be that way now.”

  “I was only calm because you were there.” Now I’m alone and terrified.

  I hear several loud thuds and the sound of busted glass as Mike screams about how he’s going to make me pay for everything I’ve done to him.

  “I’m driving as fast as I can,” Rooter tells me. “Just hold it together until I get there.”

  “Please hurry.”

  “Baby, I’m coming.” His voice is gentle and soothing.

  Mike’s voice gets closer and then I hear him kicking the bedroom door. “No sense hiding from me, Sophie. You might as well face what you’ve done.”

  “He’s kicking Ryan’s bedroom door.” I can feel my heartbeat throughout my entire body.

  “I’m going to fucking kill him,” Rooter seethes.

  I hear another crash followed by Mike cursing and begin to hyperventilate. I grip the butt of the gun so tightly I lose feeling in my fingertips. “Oh God, he’s in the bedroom.”

  “He’s probably going to make it to you before I get there. Do not hesitate to shoot him.”

  There’s a light tap on the bathroom door. “Sophie, if you make me bust through another door, I’ll be really pissed off.”

  “Tell him I’m on my way,” Rooter says.

  “Rooter’s on his way, Mike. He’ll be here any minute. You better leave before he gets here.”

  Mike’s laugh is an evil sound. “Yeah right. He doesn’t want anything to do with you. He left you high and dry like I knew he would.”

  “I’m serious Mike. I’m on the phone with him right now.”

  “Well, it won’t matter because you’ll be dead before he can get here.” He kicks the door and I flinch. “Now open the motherfucking door!”

  “If you hurt me, he’ll kill you!”

  Mike laughs again. “Like it would even matter.”

  “Mike, please don’t do this,” I cry.

  “I didn’t do this. You did,” he says and rams the door.

  “He’s going to break the door down,” I cry to Rooter.

  “Put the phone down and aim. You shoot the moment he comes through the door.”

  I do as I’m told and lay the phone on the sink counter. I aim the gun at the door. My pulse races and I hold my breath. I can’t steady my trembling hands. The quaking door will give away any second.

  “I have my gun.” I holler. “I swear I’ll shoot you.”

  Mike laughs and then I hear a loud bang. The shower door glass shatters behind me. I scream and Mike laughs. His shot barely missed me. I fall to the ground and squeeze my trigger. The sound is ear-piercing in this enclosed space. The wood of the door splinters as Mike fires three more rounds and I continue to pull my trigger until the gun clicks in my hand.

  I stay crouched on the floor and listen, but hear nothing. Panicked, I scramble for my phone. Rooter is shouting when I put it to my ear.

  “I shot him through the door. I can’t hear anything.”

  “I heard over five shots. Are you okay?”

  “Yes. He didn’t hit me.”

  He breathes a sigh of relief. “I’m almost there. Can you see him?”

  I peek through one of the holes and see Mike’s body. There’s blood on the floor. “He’s on the floor, not moving. I think I killed him.” I clasp my hand on my mouth and fall to the floor, gasping for air. “Oh my God, I think I killed him.”

  “It’s okay, Sophie. Stay put until I’m with you.”

  “O-kay,” I choke on a sob.

  I hear the sound of tires screeching to a halt followed by the sound of Rooter and Bear’s voices.

  “Sophie!” Rooter hollers as he makes his way into the house.

  He’s so close. I want to run into his arms where I’ll be safe. “Rooter!” I swing the door open and run out of the bathroom.

  And then it all happens in slow motion. Rooter appears in the doorway and our eyes lock. Something must catch his attention because his eyes twitch to where Mike lays behind me.

  “Sophie!” Rooter yells and reaches for me.

  He pulls me forward, spins us around. I hear two loud bangs and Rooter’s body falls to the ground before me. I scream and drop to my knees at his side. Several more shots are fired from behind us and I watch as the life disappears from Mike’s hateful eyes. Bear crouches to me and Rooter and hollers, but I can’t focus on what he’s saying.

  “Rooter!” I cry and clutch his body.

  A small pool of blood forms beneath him. Pain is etched on his face as he smiles at me. Why is he smiling? He tries to reach for me, but he’s weak.

  “Call 911,” I yell.

  “No.” Bear refuses. “The hospital is less than two miles from here. I’m not waiting on an ambulance.”

  Rooter groans as Bear hoists him up. I try to help as Bear hurries him to my car. We won’t all fit in Rooter’s truck. I run into the house and grab my keys. Bear Props Rooter up on his side in the backseat. There are two gunshot wounds in his back.

  “Keep pressure on the wounds,” Bear orders.

  Rooter’s body is limp, seemingly lifeless, but his eyes are open and fixed on mine. He tries to say something but I put my lips on his to stop him.

  “I love you,” I cry. “Stay with me. Don’t leave me.”

  The drive to the hospital seems to take a lifetime although it probably isn’t any longer than four minutes.

  Twenty minutes later, Camilla, Mick, and Isa come running to us in the emergency room. They’re all three frantic.

  “How is my boy?” Camilla cries and I throw myself into her arms.

  “We don’t know yet,” Bear tells them. “He has two bullet wounds in his back.

  “What happened?” Mick asks.

  I pull away from Camilla. “Mike, my old roommate, showed up at my house and I was scared so I called Rooter. I shot Mike and thought he was dead. When Rooter got there I ran out of the bathroom to him and he saw Mike was going to shoot me so he spun us around and took the hit.”

  “Mike’s dead now,” Bear says.

  Mick nods. “I knew that fuck was going to be a problem.”

  Mick’s words leave me feeling guilty. If I’d let Rooter handle things his own way when Mike vandalized my car this might not have happened.

  Isa runs into Bear’s arms and sobs. He wraps his arms around her and tells her everything will be oka
y.

  We give our statements to the police. They’re classifying it as self-defense and will get Rooter’s statement when he comes out of recovery. Evidently, Mike was arrested a week ago for assault and possession of narcotics.

  “Someone needs to go to Miranda,” I tell Bear. “I don’t want to leave Rooter.”

  “I’ll go. She should hear this from me anyway.”

  He is, after all, the one who fired the kill shot, even though it was in defense of Rooter and me. She’ll want to hear from him exactly how it happened. I hope she’s able to understand the gravity of the situation and why Bear shot him.

  “This is all my fault.” I turn to Camilla after Bear has gone. “I should’ve never called Rooter.”

  Camilla takes my hand and leads me to a set of chairs so we can sit. “If something happened to you and he hadn’t been there, it would’ve killed him.”

  I shake my head adamantly. Being there is what could kill him. She shouldn’t be consoling me. She should hate me. I hate me. “This was my problem. Not his.”

  “Sophie, he loves you. Your problems are his problems.”

  I point toward the doors leading into the emergency room. “That should be me in there,” I cry. “He would’ve been better off never knowing me.”

  Camilla takes me firmly by the chin and glares into my eyes. “That isn’t true. My son had never been happier than when he was with you.”

  I collapse into her arms. “Rooter has to make it. He has to.”

  “He will.” Mick asserts and rests a comforting hand on my shoulder. “My son is strong. He will survive this.”

  An hour passes and we still haven’t heard anything. Camilla tells me this is good news. It means he’s hanging on while the doctors work on him. I don’t care if it’s good news or not, I want answers. I sprint to the information desk and inquire on his condition.

  “Are you family?” The nurse asks. “I can only release information to his family.”

  Camilla is now standing by my side. “She is family. She’s my daughter.”

  “Oh, I wasn’t aware Mrs. Russo. I’ll make a note of that.” The nurse turns back to me. “What’s your name?”

  “Sophie.” I huff. “Now can you please tell us how he is?”

  The nurse pulls up his information on the computer. “It shows he’s still in surgery. I don’t know anything more.”

  I pound my fist on the counter and shout. “Then find someone who does!”

  “Miss Russo, I’m sorry. I’ll see what else I can find out. Please give me a few minutes.”

  The nurse’s few minutes turns into an eternity. It feels like days have passed when she finally appears before us.

  “Jace is still in surgery. They estimate he’ll be in for another three hours. They’ll move him to the ICU when they’re finished. You can go there now. The doctor will find you there after surgery.”

  “You can’t tell us anything else about his condition?” Mick asks.

  “Not at this time. I’m sorry.”

  It’s amazing how when something happens to someone you love all you can think of is the good times you spent together. You forget all about the arguments and bad days. All that matters is how much that person means to you. A crisis like this has a way of revealing what’s most important.

  Rooter and our love is what’s most important to me.

  I close my eyes and cry, remembering all the time we spent together. How I laughed so hard when he kept falling off of the paddle board. The way it felt to be in his arms after making love the first time. The taste of our first kiss. I can remember every single detail about every single second of the time we spent together right down to the taste and smell.

  The time passes excruciatingly slow. I check the clock every ten to fifteen minutes feeling as though an hour has passed each time. He can’t leave me. Not now. Not like this. We need more time together. I need more time with him to hear his voice and his laughter. I need to feel the safety of his arms around me and hear him tell me he loves me. Most importantly, I need him to tell him how very much I love him.

  Camilla pulls me into her arms and murmurs comforting words about how he’ll be just fine and we’ll be back home with one another in no time. She has to be right. If he doesn’t pull through it’ll be the end of me. I don’t want to live in a world in which he doesn’t exist. I refuse to live without him.

  A little over two hours later, the doctor appears before us.

  Chapter 48

  A Long Night

  The somber expression on the doctor’s face sends me into a panic. I jump from my seat to face him directly. Mick, Camilla, and Isa join me. Before I can ask about Rooter, the doctor extends his hand to Mick to introduce himself.

  “I’m the surgeon who worked on your son. My name is Doctor Gallagher.”

  “I’m Mick Russo.” Anxiety looms in his eyes as he shakes the doctor’s hand. “How is my son?”

  “He suffered two gunshot wounds, both of which hit his left lung.” The way the doctor speaks is so careful it’s almost robotic. “He suffered major blood loss, a collapsed lung, and went into respiratory shock.”

  Camilla chokes back a sob and clasps a hand to her mouth.

  “Is my son alive?” Mick barks, apparently as irritated with the explanation as I am.

  “He’s in critical condition,” Doctor Gallagher begins, “unable to breathe on his own. But yes, he’s alive. He’s in recovery at this time and will be moved to the ICU where he’ll be sedated and connected to a ventilator.”

  “Is he going to be okay?” Camilla cries.

  “I assure you we’re doing everything we can.” The doctor stands with his hands in the pockets of his lab coat. “We were able to remove both bullets and have put a tube in place to aid the collapsed lung. It’s our hope he’ll regain the ability to breathe on his own within the next twenty four hours.”

  “And if he doesn’t?” I ask.

  “I prefer not to speculate. We have every confidence he’ll regain the ability to breathe on his own by that time.” For a moment seems that’s all he will say on the matter, but when he sees the scowl on my face he continues. “If not, we’ll reassess his condition and treatment at that time.”

  “When can we see him?” Isa asks. It was going to be my next question.

  “He should be in ICU within an hour. However, only one visitor may be in the room at a time.” The doctor looks at Isa and then to Camilla. “Please be warned that the sight of Jace in his current condition may be… overwhelming.”

  “We understand,” Camilla says. “Thank you, Doctor Gallagher.”

  An hour later on the button a nurse lets us know we can see Rooter. I want to run at full speed into his room, but only one visitor may go. I turn to Camilla and tell her to go ahead. She shakes her head.

  “You’re the first one he’d want to see,” she tells me.

  “He isn’t awake,” I insist. “He’s your son. You should be the first to see him.”

  “You are his love, Sophie. And he is yours. If it was Mick in there, nothing and no one would keep me away.”

  “Are you sure?” I ask.

  “I’m sure.”

  I look to Mick and Isa as well who both nod in agreement. I turn and follow the nurse through the ICU doors wishing Camilla could come with me. I’m not sure I can do this alone. The doctor warned us about how he will appear. My hands become slick and I wring them nervously as we approach his door. I look to the nurse in search of comfort and strength. She gives me an understanding smile before pulling back the curtain and stepping aside. I close my eyes and take a deep breath in an attempt to prepare myself for what I’m about to see.

  But there’s nothing that could possibly prepare me.

  Rooter—my invincible love—lays in the bed with a myriad of wires and tubes connected to him. I follow the tube in his mouth to the machine that is breathing for him. His chest rises and falls in time with the sound of the machine. Tears fall from my eyes as I make my way to his
side. His skin is pale and cool to the touch when I press my lips to his forehead.

  “I’m here, babe.” I cry and take his hand into mine. “I love you so much. Can you hear me? I love you and I’m so very sorry.”

  My legs fail me and I grab the bed rails to keep from falling. There’s a rolling stool behind me and I pull it up so I can sit at his side. His hand is limp in mine as I entwine my fingers with his. With my free hand I trace the design of the tattoo on his arm. I remember all the times he reached for me with this arm. The way it felt to wake up in the morning being held by this arm. My body shakes as I sob quietly. Several minutes pass until I’m composed enough to speak again.

  “The doctor says you should be able to breathe on your own within twenty four hours,” I stroke his forehead with the back of my fingers, “but I can’t wait that long. I need you to wake up and come back to me.”

  I tell him about what happened with the cops and that Bear is with Miranda explaining what happened.

  “You saved me, Rooter. I’d be dead if not for you,” I choke. It’s a while before I can speak again. “Why didn’t you let him shoot me? Seeing you like this… the fear that you won’t wake up is killing me. I can’t live without you. Please, please come back to me.”

  A half hour passes. I don’t want to leave his side, but it’d be selfish of me to stay any longer when his family are all in the waiting room, probably going crazy as they wait their turn to see him.

  “They’re only allowing one person in here at a time. I’m going to leave for a little while so your mom, Mick, and Isa can see you.” I kiss the cool skin of his forehead again. “I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

  When I step out into the waiting room it’s filled with members of the club. I try to remember if they’ve been here the entire time, but everything from the moment Rooter was shot is fuzzy.

  “Sorry I took so long,” I tell Camilla.

  “No need to apologize, sweetie.” She squeezes my hand.

  Over the course of two hours, the four of us take turns visiting with him. The one visitor at a time rule seems ridiculous. What would it hurt for the four of us to be in there? It’s not like we can disturb him, he’s sedated for God’s sake.