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Chapter 29

“Leave, get out, NOW!” Mollee yelled and the officer took three quick steps away as everyone used all of their strength to keep me from moving my injured arm and ribs

“She’s going to puncture a lung” Brian said loudly over my screaming

“We have to do something!” Howie shouted above the chaos

“Brian. Sing. This is us. GO” Aj yelled and Brian, with the training that comes with having to sing a song every night in front of a live audience for months at a time, began perfectly in key and time

Got a million reasons to run and hide
I don’t blame you for being scared
About a novel long, all the pain that he’s caused you
I’m fully aware


In my world it was as if a car had driven by the window playing a familiar tune. It was enough to distract me for a second and my screaming died down but I was still staring at a rage filled Rich. Howie, seeing the improvement, jumped right in

If I could change the story’s ending to me and you
Don’t know the meaning of pretending what to do


My vision was swaying between my memory and the hospital room in front of me. My breathing was still out of control and every time my memory won out over reality, another shot of panic raced through me. The guys looked at each other and Mollee nodded vigorously to keep going as she rubbed a soothing rhythm into my shoulders

I could be the one, give you all my love
Forget what he has done to you I’m here now
Open up to me. Love will set you free
If ever you believe it please believe in me


My memory was losing the battle. Rich was fading away and as Aj took a deep breath by my head my vision suddenly became crystal clear as I met his eyes

I know everything isn’t meant to last, box up all those photographs
You’re moving on
Wish I could flip back over that hour glass and refill the better half


My breathing was slowing and Aj mouthed along with the words as Nick sang

And it’s a miracle how broken hearts can mend
Won’t you dry up all those tear drops and start again


As the guys broke into the chorus again I slowly focused on their beautiful voices and pulled myself completely out of my flashback. I blinked and took a big gulp of air, like I’d been holding my breath swimming under water, and the guys stopped singing to assess my condition

“Holy shit” I gasped and because it had been so tense in the room everyone immediately burst into laughter

“I’ve heard of the power of music to heal but that was extraordinary. I got paged to a 911 call and ended up going to a concert instead. How are we doing?” The doctor asked from the door

“Are you back?” Aj asked me still holding my gaze

“I think so. Thanks guys” I said a little breathlessly

“If I could just get in there to make sure no damage was done?” The doctor asked unable to find a way through my protective wall of people. No one moved at first, unwilling to break the amazing bond that was flowing between all of us after they had come to my rescue…again.

“Guys, I’m ok” I assured them after a moment and Howie, being the first to snap out of it, stepped cautiously aside

“Thank you” The doctor said stiffly. She checked out my ribs and arm and throat as usual and then sat in the little vacant space next to my bed “So you seem to be ok but we need to try and keep the movement down to a minimum. For the next week or so it is going to be critical that we keep you as immobile as possible to give your ribs time to heal and keep the danger of a punctured lung as far away as possible”

“I’m sorry. The officer triggered a flash back. I get them sometimes and now I have lots of fuel for it so I guess I’m more sensitive” I started but Mollee interrupted me

“You have nothing to apologize for. It was a stupid idea to get you talking about what happened so quickly” Mollee said and I shook my head

“No, that’s not the problem. I want to talk to the police” I said and immediately met with protests around the room “Guys! I can do this. I just…is there a female officer I could talk to?”

“I’m sure we could get one if it meant getting your statement sooner. I’ll go check” The doctor said quickly turning for the door. It seemed she was constantly trying to get out of the room as fast as possible. I had to smile a little. How many patients of hers have an entourage like I do?

“Kat what are you doing?” Aj asked softly with more sadness in his voice than I liked

“Healing” I said simply and was met with multiple looks of pity

“Kat, this is Officer Vega” The doctor said briskly escorting a young woman with beautiful brown doe eyes into the room

“Maria” The officer said giving me a small smile. Already I felt better as she pulled a chair to my bedside but left enough space between us so that we couldn’t have touched even if we’d wanted to “I’m sorry about my partner. This is his first case of this nature”

“It’s ok. I’m sorry if I scared him. It’s really nothing against him-” I started but was stopped by Maria shaking her head

“It was my fault. I didn’t get the message that they were sending him in and I didn’t have time to prepare him for the state you would probably be in. Let’s just get this done then. I’m putting this tape recorder here so you’ll never have to repeat this ever again. We have enough people here that should anyone question the validity of your statement you would never have to be called in personally. If you could start off saying your name, the date and reading this prepared introduction?” As she talked Maria set out a tape recorder, put in a fresh tape and handed me a piece of paper that I read quietly. Aj’s hand on my shoulder tightened in support and I gave him a grateful look as I finished and handed the paper back to Maria “Alright, let’s start with the airport. I’m told the accused approached you in line for the bathroom?”

“Well it started a bit before then. R-rich” I stumbled over his name but rebuked myself silently. I was strong enough to say the bastard’s name “had been leaving me voice messages for the past week”

“What?” Was the simultaneous reply from everyone in the room except Maria who glared at everyone for their interruption

“Please, it is essential that we get all the way through this with as little distraction as possible, both for the law and for Kat herself” Maria scolded

“I didn’t know it was him at first” I confessed to my shocked friends “But I had received weird messages for the past week that only played songs and all of them were pretty threatening. I still have the last one saved on my phone, I think. The gist of them was that I was going to pay for something I’d done and it wasn’t going to be pretty”

“And you say you had no idea who these messages were from?” Maria prompted

“Not at first, no. I just thought someone had found my number and was harassing me for my newly public relationship with Aj. Which I guess was true in the end, but I never imagined that person was Rich” I explained shyly. It really seemed like I was impossibly stupid now that I was saying it out loud. Why had I never spoken up about those messages? My frustration with myself only continued as I explained how I had gone to the bathroom alone, been knocked out from some sort of sleeping agent, and awoke in the car.

As I went through the event I actually began to feel stronger. I was talking about this and I wasn’t falling apart. In my own way, I was fighting Rich without lifting a finger. As I described my secret phone call and how Aj had received it, I was interrupted for a second time

“It wasn’t me” Aj said and received a look of death from Maria “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt but I want the record to be completely accurate and the truth is that I didn’t receive your call”

“What? Then how did you find me? I remember just pressing send so the call should have gone to the last person I spoke with” I reasoned

“That wasn’t me” Aj said with a bit of emotion crossing his face that I couldn’t identify “It was Josh”

“What!?” Now it was my turn to be completely surprised

“Josh was the one who got your call sweetheart. He must have been the last person you called. He called the police who put the tracker on your phone before Rich destroyed it. He was the one who called all of us who were frantically searching the airport for you after discovering you weren’t in the bathroom after twenty minutes” Mollee explained brushing some hair off of my forehead

“If it weren’t for him we may not have gotten to you in time” Aj said gruffly and I immediately realized what emotion I had seen from him. It was regret. Regret and guilt.

“Where is he?” I asked with tears in my eyes “Where’s Josh now?”

“The lobby” Nick said simply

“What? Why isn’t he in here?” I asked incredulously as Maria, no longer in control, seemed to shrink away from the bed

“There weren’t a lot of friendly vibes around here for him” Howie explained with a sideways look at Aj. I looked at him too and he gave me a pleading glance

“Once I finish up here will you get him for me Howie?” I asked quickly. I was annoyed that my hero had been exiled to the lobby by my jealous boyfriend but I couldn’t bring myself to really be angry about it

“Kat I appreciate what he did for you, for all of us, and how he was able to save you when we couldn’t but he still loves you and I couldn’t handle him in here looking at you like that, like he was going to lose the love of his life” Aj rambled but I met his eyes and quieted him with a look

“Alexander” I said tenderly “No one here is asking you to defend your actions when you were in such pain, especially not me. I just want to be able to thank him in person. Do you think you can handle that?”

“I just… I didn’t know why you chose to call him over me. I thought that maybe when you were faced with life or death that you had realized who you really loved… that you chose him over me” Aj said quietly

“It was nothing like that-” I started

“I know that now. I do. I understand. I’m sorry I was a jerk to him. I’ll apologize when he gets here too. He saved my life too you know. If you hadn’t pulled through, it would have been the end of me” Aj choked out behind tears

“Hush my love its ok, I’m not angry. And I am ok. I’m going to be just fine” I assured him wiping away his tears with my good hand

“If we could just finish up here…” Maria said tentatively after a few minutes of silence

“This is what it’s always like with the two of them. You can’t get a word in edgewise once they start talking about how much they love each other” Nick joked breaking the tension

“Ok jerk” I said with a laugh. Slowly, this time without interruption, I managed to relive the whole ordeal for Maria. She offered to fill in details I didn’t know, like what exactly happened after I blacked out that final time but I declined. I was here, I was safe, and that asshole was in custody. That’s all that mattered to me.

“Katrina, thank you so much for your time today. I promise that by being so strong now you will likely not have to deal with this personally in the future. I’ll leave you to your friends, you seem to be in very good hands” She said with a small smile for the five people in the room that seemed to be much worse off now that they had heard the full story with details. Maria left the room and the silence lingered for a moment until Howie broke it

“I’m going to find Josh for you” he said quietly backing out of the door. His composure seemed a little less intact than was usual and I suspected what he really needed was a moment to himself. Brian was mumbling a bit under his breath and it took me a moment to realize he was praying. Mollee was holding onto Nick and Nick was holding onto Mollee with equal force. They seemed to be literally holding each other up.

“Aj?” I asked quietly. He hadn’t moved since I stopped talking and he seemed to be frozen in some state of extreme discomfort “Aj, it is over. It’s done. Look at me”

“I…” he attempted but nothing followed. His eyes met mine and I reached up my good hand to caress his cheek. He leaned into it and then broke down “I’m so sorry”

“Stop, there was nothing you could have done. It’s over. It’s all over now” I repeated stroking Aj’s hair as he cried into my shoulder. Aj’s sobbing seemed to snap everyone else out of their dazes and soon everyone was there around Aj and I, hugging and crying.

“It’s going to be ok” Aj said after a few minutes when he had cried himself out “I just needed to get it out”

“I know my love. I know” I said kissing his hand. The door opened and everyone jumped

“Sorry, it’s me, I have Josh” Howie said quietly before stepping aside and letting in that wonderfully floppy head of brown hair.

“Hey stranger” I said holding out my good hand to him “Or I guess I should say hero”

“None of that” Josh said with a half smile as he took in my injuries and then sent a worried glance to where Aj was standing

“Josh” Aj started taking a deep breath “I was a complete douche”

“Sure were” Josh said simply and everyone, being so tense to begin with, started to laugh. Soon we were all laughing, laughing so hard we were crying, tears of happiness mixing with the tears of anguish on our faces.

“Seriously, I’m sorry for how I acted. Thank you so much for what you did for Kat. You saved her and for that we will be forever grateful” Aj said once we had all calmed down a bit. He held out his hand to Josh who took it and then pulled him into a hug

“Alright, my turn” I said urging Josh towards me so I could hug him too. When he was close I tilted my head to his ear and whispered to him “You saved my life. You are incredible”

“I just answered the phone” He said softly but I could tell something had eased his anxiety a bit “I’m just glad you’re awake and ok”

“I am both of those things. Ok. Time to get down to business” I said once Josh had stood up. I kept a hold of his hand though, not willing to let my hero leave me just yet

“My sister, ever the task master” Mollee joked and I narrowed my eyes at her

“I don’t know how you all managed to get back to the west coast” I started indicating Josh, Brian and Howie “But it’s time for you to go home”

“I can stay” Howie started “Leigh understands”

“Me too. My Leigh too” Brian jumped in

“Your wives and children have been without you for weeks. You’ve been across the world and on top of everything they will want you close when you update them on what happened with me. Tragedy does that to people so not a word from any of you. Get over here and give me a hug and then out you go. Get a flight and get some sleep” I said with authority

“I love you” Howie said being the first to follow orders and give me as a big of a hug as he could with my ribs “I am bringing James and Leigh to LA as soon as I can to check on you. And I’m calling you when I land. Be good and listen to the doctors”

“You are a jerk for making me leave” Brian started “But I really do want to take Leighanne and Bailey and hold them tight”

“That is precisely what you should do then” I said giving him a big hug before turning to Josh “As for you, you have done enough for me. You need to go home. Make sure Tampa is the same”

“Do I have to?” He asked quietly

“Yes” I answered strongly and he let out a small laugh that didn’t reach his eyes. His eyes shifted to the floor so I pulled him close to me “Are you going to be ok?”

“Yeah, I just… the last thing I heard was you scream. I’ve never heard anything like that in my life” He whispered shaking his head

“Oh Josh” I said as a swell of pity rose like a wave in my chest. My hero had not been given a medal for his actions. Instead he now had something terrible he would never be able to let go. I wrapped my good arm around him and he hugged me carefully, letting small sobs escape into my shoulder

“Josh” Mollee said with her maternal instinct on high as she came forward and eased her way into our hug “You are going to be ok. We are all going to be ok”

“I’m sorry. I just never want to hear anyone in that much pain. Especially not someone I love” He said straightening up and wiping his eyes. I felt Aj bristle a little next to me at the declaration of love but he shook himself and came forward, placing his hand on Josh’s back

“I’m so glad you got that call. Kat is so lucky to have someone in her life that cares about her so much and can keep his head in a stressful situation. We are all so lucky to have you as a friend” Aj said and I watched as a smile spread across Josh’s face. It bounced from his lips to mine as my heart warmed watching two men I loved showing respect for one another. Pride rolled through me as I watched Aj let his jealousy go in favor of friendship.

“I’m going to be ok Josh. But you should go. Go home and hug your parents and friends. Aj and Mollee and I will make sure you stay updated on everything” I said squeezing Josh’s hand tightly

“Yeah, I guess I should get home. It will feel good to hug my mom” Josh admitted

“Good. Watch out for each other you three. We’ll keep you updated on things here” I said as the three of them slowly walked to the door with many backwards glances. When the door shut I turned my attention to Nick and Mollee.

“I think we’re in trouble” Nick mumbled with a smirk

“You” I started pointing to Nick “Need to take her to your place and get her to sleep”

“If you think for one second that I’m going to leave you here alone” Mollee started

“You see, it won’t be an easy job” I said to Nick who laughed and took her by the hand

“She won’t be alone. She’ll be with Aj. Give them some time” Nick attempted

“She is my sister. I almost lost her” She said with new tears streaming down her cheeks. Nick looked helplessly at me

“Mollee come here” I said pulling her to my side and looking into her eyes “I’m here. I’m ok. The thing that will make me feel the best is knowing that you’ve had a chance to sleep. And eat. And shower”

“I don’t want to leave you” She said tearfully

“I know, but you smell” I joked and she let out a little laugh “It’ll only be for a few hours. Just take a second and refuel yourself. I promise as soon as you wake up and you’ve been fed and bathed Nick will happily bring you back. I’ll be here. I’m hooked up to machines. I literally cannot leave”

“Will you text me if the doctors say anything?” Mollee asked Aj

“Of course, we’re a team in this” Aj assured her. Mollee took a deep breath and then let go of my shoulder that she had been holding onto for dear life

“I love you” She said quietly as Nick steered her towards the door

“I love you more. You too Nick” I said and Nick nodded before getting Mollee out and shutting the door. A moment of silence graced the room and I turned to Aj

“Good luck trying to get me to leave” He said with a small smile

“Good luck trying to get out of here without me. I need you here. I’m trying to figure out how to get you in this bed with me so we can both get some rest” I said grabbing his hand and squeezing

“I think we can figure something out” Aj said through a yawn. After some careful shifting he managed to squeeze next to me and drape his arm lightly across my chest where it wouldn’t harm my arm cast or my ribs. I looked at him, suddenly aware that we were finally alone, and moved in close so that my nose was touching his as I gazed into his eyes

“Are you going to be ok?” I whispered

“I will if you will” He whispered back

“Good” I said confidently and with that we both drifted to sleep.