Amanda's Touch [D.A.R.E.ing Women] (Siren Publishing Allure)

by LeeAnn Masters

  “Why is he back?” Zack whispered as his foreboding grew stronger.

  Joshua hesitated but when Zack glared at him finally admitted, “I hate to tell you this but he’s there to take her with him. I don’t know that, no matter what you do, you’ll be able to save her. Apparently, David knows something we don’t.”

  “Who the hell is David?!” Hodges and Jackson demanded at the same time.

  As one, both Joshua and Zack straightened as if zapped with an electrical shock. In the next second they heard two gunshots. Seconds later Zack felt his conscious link with Amanda go down just as Josh said, “Oh shit!”

  Zack collapsed to his knees again, his eyes filled with tears, and he began to shake.

  * * * *

  Amanda had heard Zack’s cry to call for his brother and seeing the brilliance in that move had done so, hoping he could act as their go-between. Unfortunately her disobedience to Tabott’s orders seemed to merit his punishment and dragging her from the chair by her hair he began using his fist to pummel her into submission.

  “Joshua!” she called loudly. This earned her a punch in the mouth and she tasted blood.

  She saw Joshua pop into view and pointed to the door telling him to see Zack.

  Tabott had set his gun down on her desk to beat on her with his bare hands. She supposed he thought that the two blows he’d already made with it were enough to cow her. He wanted her to be able to converse and had nearly knocked her unconscious with the last blow. Hazily she thought, if she stretched, she might be able to reach the gun. She swung her body around, throwing him off balance, and pulling a large thatch of hair from her scalp because the fingers of his left hand were tangled in it to hold on to her.

  She was yanked back as Tabott made another grab for her and knocked her to the floor. Somehow, though she’d never gotten close enough to it, she found his gun in her hand and looked at it incredulously before seeing David just behind Tabott. David had put it in her hand.

  Bringing her hand up she pressed the barrel of the gun to Tabott’s head just as he pulled another gun from behind his back and under his suit coat and pressed his to hers. Stalemate!

  “Fuck!” she muttered in frustration.

  “You won’t shoot me, little girl.” He grinned a lunatic’s grin at her. “I’ll bet you don’t even know how to fire a gun!”

  “Do you want to bet your life on that Jonathon?” she tried to ask calmly but knew her apprehension was audible and visible. She did not want to shoot a human being and the thought made her sick to her stomach. Would she really be able to do it? All she’d been planning was a bluff.

  “Get off of me,” she demanded. “It’s over, Tabott.”

  Tabott ground himself against her lasciviously. “Oh, but, this feels so good Amanda. I want more!”

  Amanda almost wanted to laugh at his ludicrous position and comment. Okay, time to play hardball. She thumbed off the safety that Tabott had had engaged throughout their encounter. When he heard the click of the switch he froze and she pressed the barrel more firmly to his temple.

  He threw himself to the side and brought up his weapon as Amanda followed him, rolling from her position as she tracked him. Amanda saw David try to grapple with Tabott’s gun, but she knew how much energy needed to be expended to affect a material object, especially one moving in direct opposition, and she didn’t hold out much hope for his aid. Both she and Tabott fired nearly simultaneously.

  She felt a searing pain in her chest and left shoulder, hotter than anything she’d ever experienced, before she heard the gunshot. She saw Tabott’s lifeless body laying a few feet away. Her single shot had hit him squarely in the forehead. She’d been taking no chances and had shot to kill. God knew he had been.

  She tried to focus on David as he kneeled over her but her vision was graying and she began to shake. She suddenly felt so cold.

  “Sweets! Oh God! No!” She felt David stroke her hair back from her face. His face was filled with sorrow and pain.

  “Tell Zack,” she panted out the words between pained breaths. “Tell him I love him,” she whispered and the world went black.

  * * * *

  Zack was ready to lose his mind. He’d been forced to sit in the waiting area while Amanda underwent surgery. Not that he’d sat. He’d paced and prayed, and fumed, and worried, and paced, and prayed some more. His parents and Diane, and Eric watched him in silence because they’d learned the hard way not to engage him in conversation. He’d unfairly flipped out on all of them for offering any sympathy. Amanda was not going to die! He wasn’t going to allow it!

  “It’s been six Goddamned hours!” he finally vented. Diane left Eric’s side and wrapped her arms around him.

  “She is going to live. She will make it. She’s been through much worse.” Somehow her well-intentioned words didn’t make him feel better. Yes, she had been through worse, but when would her luck run out? He kissed Diane’s forehead and gently pushed her away. He was too uptight to want anyone holding him, no matter how well intentioned.

  “She’ll make it son, she’ll pull through. She’s a fighter,” his father offered encouragingly. His mother nodded in agreement. “She’s a tough one,” she added. No one was making him feel any better and his aggravation with his helplessness in the situation worsened.

  “David!” he hollered. David had been popping back and forth between the operating room and waiting room keeping him appraised, but he hadn’t been back in more than an hour and Zack could only read the worst possible connotation into that. Either Amanda was so bad David didn’t want to tell him or Amanda was brain dead and his link to David was gone.

  His mind flashed back to the scene in her office. Once they had been cleared to enter he had rushed to her side throwing himself down on the floor beside her crumpled, too-still, body, actually kneeling in her blood. Checking her vitals he’d directed one of the officers to keep pressure on the bullet wound, which had been through and through. Oh Christ! There had been so much blood! His pants were still coated in it from the knee down and it was splattered all over his shirt.

  Her pulse fast and thready had quickly become even more unsteady as she continued to bleed out. As he worked to staunch the flow of blood her heart stopped altogether and he’d thought his might, too. He’d performed CPR like a madman, willing her heart to start. He knew he’d accidently cracked a rib in the process but he’d finally been able to get her heart back into a poor rhythm. Once the paramedics arrived he’d had to intubate her so they could use a ventilator. God only knew what kind of damage had been done due to blood loss and lack of oxygen to her brain. She could live, only to be a vegetable.

  Only now did he realize he hadn’t even had the grace to check Tabott. Or perhaps the only look he’d gotten had told him all he needed to know. The man was dead. Zack couldn’t find it in him to mourn his loss. He only wished he’d been the one to dispatch him.

  “Zack.” He quickly raised his head from his contemplation of the floor to see David.

  “How is she?” Zack was almost afraid to ask and the pain and worry in his hoarse voice were unmistakable. At his words Diane rose again and placed her hand on his arm so she, too, could see and hear David.

  “It’s been touch and go, for a long while. But now she seems to be stable, the surgeon is wrapping things up.” He looked chagrined and frowned at Zack. “I’ve never been a doctor so I’m not sure what all the terms mean but there was a mad scramble when they had to find several ‘bleeders’? Her blood pressure dropped really low and her heart stopped again. They had to shock her several times before they got it restarted.” Zack groaned and covered his face with his hands striving to keep his tears at bay.

  “Zack, she wanted me to tell you something.” David paused, waiting for Zack to compose himself. “Right after she was shot, she told me to tell you that she loves you.”

  “Oh God!” Zack whispered. Had that been a good-bye or a reminder? Diane squeezed his arm in comfort and a shuddering sob ripped through h
er. Zack absently patted her hand with one of his sending calming impulses to her to quiet her. He was worried about her pregnancy, too, and didn’t want her all broken up.

  “I wanted you to know, while they were working over her on the table, when her heart stopped, she was with me for several minutes.” Zack gagged as his stomach dropped through his feet. “She could have stayed. In fact she was supposed to stay. That was why I came back, for her. But this time…she fought tooth and nail to stay with you, to come back to you. I thought you should know. You, of all people, would understand what that fight meant. How much she loves you to fight that way.”

  “Will she be all right, David? Do you know what her wishes would have been if she were to become brain dead? We never had the chance to talk about those things. What would she want us to do for her?” Tears leaked from his eyes at the thought of not only losing her but of having to choose to let her go.

  David’s face became forlorn. “If it comes to that, she does not want to be kept alive mechanically or artificially. You know what I mean. She does want to be an organ donor. She feels it’s important to help people in any way she can. She has a living will in her lock box in the bedroom closet at home. The key is on her key ring. Diane has Power of Attorney for both her business and medical decisions.”

  Zack nodded because he couldn’t speak. A huge lump had formed in his throat and seemed to be settling into his chest as well. He heard Diane break down and Eric came over to pull her into his arms as she sobbed.

  “But, Zack, like I said, she fought to come back to you. She’s there, just give her some time.”

  * * * *

  The medical staff was astounded at the speed of Amanda’s physical recovery. Of course they had no idea of who was actually doing the healing. Diane sat by her friend’s beside for hours each day, talking to her and healing her. Most of that time Zack was there with her, offering her medical advice for Amanda’s sake. Because all decisions had been left in her hands she’d felt overwhelmed by the responsibility and she’d been glad to share them with Zachary. He only left on rare occasions to shower. He even ate, when he ate, at her bedside. He’d taken to sleeping in the pull-out chair in Amanda’s room, which had been a real bitch to get permission to wrangle into the ICU. He spent his time talking to her encouragingly and stroking her face, or massaging her arms, hands, legs, and feet. Each time he touched her, her vitals would strengthen as though she knew he was there with her.

  Diane had been both happy and terrified for her friend when Zack told her Amanda was pregnant. Neither of them knew for sure if she’d be able to maintain the pregnancy due to her extreme circumstances, but Diane had spent considerable time at her friend’s belly laying hands over the space the twins occupied. She was determined to help Amanda and Zack keep the babies. Initial blood work had come back telling them her pregnancy hormones were still at high levels. Typically, they might not even have read yet, but since she was pregnant with multiples they were already higher than normal.

  It had been two days since the shooting and Amanda had been kept sedated for that time. Zack was keeping a strict eye on her as the doctor had cut back on her pain meds, thinking it was time to bring her around. She had begun responding to pain stimulus and Zack was looking hopeful if not exactly feeling that way.

  A minor shift in body position tore a pained groan from Amanda and she squeezed her eyes more tightly closed, wanting to escape back into her unconscious rest. The fiery pain in her shoulder and the throbbing ache of her head were not inducements to come fully awake.

  “Babe? Open your eyes. Look at me, honey.” She heard Zack’s gentle voice at her ear.

  For him, for Zack, she’d do anything. She struggled to pry her eyes open and blearily looked directly into his beautiful, deep blue ones, alive with love and concern for her. She began to raise her left hand to touch his face and cringed in pain, wanting to cry out but unable to because something was in her throat. She raised her other hand to the tube in her mouth only to have Zack gently pull it away.

  “No, no, babe. It’s to help you breathe. You’ll have to leave it alone. If your oxygen levels are still good later today they’ll take it out. Do you understand?” She looked at him blankly, not answering him. She was still trying to think through the haze of medications and figure out what was going on, again she raised her hand to the tube. Again Zack gently pushed it away, frowning in worry.

  She watched him exchange a concerned look with Diane who she’d just noticed was there. She saw him shrug in frustration at her whispered question that Amanda didn’t catch. “I don’t know yet,” was his murmured answer.

  “I’m going to ask you to do a few things for me, Mandy. I need you to concentrate for me and do the best you can. Will you do that?” She narrowed her eyes at him, wondering what he’d want her to do. Again, she saw another shared glance of worry with Diane. Finally she raised her right hand, palm up. What? She was asking him.

  He ran her through a list of physical demands. “Squeeze my hand. Wiggle your toes, etc…” His expression of relief grew stronger with each order she obeyed. Finally he asked, “Will you write something for me?” She raised her brows in grumpy inquiry. This was getting old and she was tired and sore and wanted to go back to sleep.

  He handed her a pen and small notebook. “Write your name for me, babe.”

  Oh please! She wanted to say in sarcastic frustration. She raised one brow at him, rolled her eyes, and made a face, basically asking, “Seriously?” This drew a laugh from him which she was glad to see replace the worried look.

  “Yes, seriously!” he responded, still smiling. “Write your name.”

  For goodness sake! She rolled her eyes again and taking pen to paper wrote Amanda. Zack nodded approvingly but ordered again, “Write your full name, babe.” There was still a touch of worry in his eyes so she figured she’d fix that, one way or another.

  He watched with an eagle eye as she began again. With a flourish she signed Amanda Grace, and then paused theatrically to let him sweat, and did see his eyes tighten in concern. “Babe, finish it for me.”

  Only then did she complete her signature. Amanda Grace Grayson. She could almost physically see the worried burden lift from him as Zack roared in laughter and kissed her forehead.

  “Smart ass!” he teased. Diane wanted to know what the fuss was all about and giggled along with him when he flipped the notebook around for her to read.

  “About damn time!” she said approvingly to Amanda.

  Chapter 20:

  All Good Things

  July 22

  One week later Amanda was being released from the hospital and was awaiting Zack’s arrival. The discharge papers were signed and she had her marching orders. She couldn’t wait to get the hell out! She hated hospitals! Her arm, in a sling because it was still very tender, had the look of an already-weeks-old injury but was still hindering her packing and she swore violently at her lack of coordination as she tried to fold a nightgown singlehandedly. Thank God she wasn’t left handed! But she’d still need to visit Cara, again, for physical therapy for her shoulder this time.

  “Potty mouth,” said a husky voice at her ear. She turned quickly in surprise and cringed when her shoulder gave a sharp twinge in protest. She was healing at a phenomenal rate but there had been an awful lot of deep tissue damage that would take a few weeks more to heal, or maybe not if she spent more time with Diane. She was also very weak and tired easily and that was driving her crazy. She felt washed out and useless. Trembling, she seated herself in the chair next to her bed.

  “Babe, let me do that for you.” Zack whisked the nightgown out of her shaking hands and folded it for her, laying it neatly in her suitcase. Then he turned to take stock of the woman he loved. What he saw made him want to drag Tabott’s body through the streets. Zack’s anger and rage at the man who almost took Amanda and his children from him hadn’t lessened during the past week, it had only grown stronger. Every time he thought of how close he’d come to lo
sing them his rage flared again.

  Even though the bruises on her face had faded and the sutures had been removed from the back of her head and her shoulder he was sure that she’d carry the emotional as well as the physical scars with her for a long time to come. She was still very pale, her skin now almost translucent in appearance, and she had continued to lose weight rather than gain it so she seemed positively wraithlike in his arms. He intended to fatten her up once he got her home. He knew the pain and the medications had taken their toll on her appetite and of course hospital food did nothing to entice it either so he hadn’t pushed her too hard while she’d been recuperating.

  Also, the police investigation into the shooting hadn’t helped matters. Though no charges had been brought against Amanda she’d been questioned for, seemingly, days on end in her hospital bed. He knew she felt remorseful that the events of that day had gone to such extremes, but he also knew that she had done what she needed to do to protect him, herself, and their children.

  Other than answering the authorities’ questions Amanda had refused to discuss it with him at all and he had not been allowed to be present at the questioning. In his stead he’d made sure she had an attorney present, just in case. He hadn’t needed to hear the story from her. He’d been filled in by Joshua on the bits he hadn’t been privy to.

  David had crossed over for good right after Amanda had come around two days after the shooting, or at least if he hadn’t crossed over Zack hadn’t seen him again. That night while Mandy slept Zack had watched him lean over her bed and kiss her good-bye one last time telling her, “I love you, sweets. Be happy. Have beautiful babies and love Zack just as perfectly as you loved me.” He nodded at Zack and faded from view. Zack was never certain if Amanda had heard David’s words or not. If she did she never said.