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“She wants to stay, Charlie,” a stern voice cut in, and Taylor turned to see Todd standing beside Mick. Charlie huffed but nodded, admitting defeat. Taylor locked eyes with Todd and saw something in them but she wasn’t sure what—compassion, sorrow? At that moment she felt a weird connection to Todd. He must have felt it, too, because he looked away. He couldn’t ever let that stony facade down, Taylor mused.
Taylor shook her head a little to clear it. “Did they find the person?” she asked Charlie.
The resignation that appeared on Charlie’s face answered her question before he even spoke. “No one,” he said shaking his head slightly.
Great, so some crazed gunman with unknown intentions was running wild on the street, Taylor thought. “So we don’t know how or why this happened?” Taylor asked as panic welled inside of her.
Charlie hesitated for a fraction of a second but finally answered. “No,” he confirmed, “the police have no leads.”
Taylor dropped her head into her hands and dragged them down her face. “They were shooting at me,” she declared finally.
“Now Taylor, you don’t know that,” Charlie soothed, patting her back.
“We really can’t prove anything until we find this lunatic, Taylor,” Todd chimed in. “It—” He cut off as his phone wailed through the small room. “Hammel. No comment,” he said and hung up.
“Who was that?” Taylor demanded.
Todd opened his mouth to speak but his phone once again started ringing. Taylor turned to Charlie for answers, but his phone also started to ring. Taylor watched in horror as this back and forth went on for several minutes. When a lull happened both men silenced their phones.
“Was that the press?” Taylor demanded. The two men exchanged a look and finally Charlie gave her a somber nod. “What do they want? Huh? To know what happened, what Derrick’s status is?”
The hysteria in Taylor’s tone silenced the men. “Did they ask if he was dead? Because he isn’t,” she said firmly, but the tears came down her cheeks anyway. “He isn’t dead and he is not going to die. He is going to walk out of this place and, and…” Taylor’s voice cracked and she stopped to take a deep breath, “he is going to be fine!” she declared.
A noise at the door had Taylor shooting her gaze there and finding a woman dressed in hospital scrubs and an operating room cap looking back at her. Her face was grim, and suddenly Taylor wasn’t sure anymore.
Two
“Mrs. Fletcher?”the woman asked and all Taylor could do was give a slight nod. The woman made her way over to Taylor. She sat beside her and gave Taylor a small smile. “I am Dr. Lyles,” she introduced herself. “Your husband is alive,” she shared as Taylor deflated into the chair, relief washing over her in a cool wave, “but he is critical. I can’t say for certain that he will survive. The bullet severed a major artery. There are many complications that can go along with that so we are going to be closely monitoring him for some time.”
Taylor absorbed all the information, “Where did the bullet hit him?”
“In the chest. It missed his heart by millimeters.”
Taylor nodded, “Wh-when can I see him?”
“He is being brought to the surgical intensive care unit now. They are going to need a little while to settle him in. He is going to be on a ventilator to help him breathe until he stabilizes,” she explained. “As soon as he is all set, we will let you come in, okay?” Compassion shone in her eyes, but it was not without wariness. Taylor could tell the doctor wasn’t sure Derrick would make it.
But Taylor was sure.
“Thank you,” Taylor said. “Thank you, Dr. Lyles, for helping him.”
“Of course, Mrs. Fletcher,” she said, patting Taylor’s hand and getting up.
He is alive, Taylor thought and felt a weight leave her shoulders. She would get another chance to tell him she loved him.
“This is good news, Taylor,” Charlie said next to her, a glow to his face now, but all Taylor could do was nod in response. She watched his phone illuminate as a call came in, and watched Todd look at his own glowing screen. They both ignored them.
“Do you want us to call Marty?” Todd asked.
The fog that was surrounding Taylor’s head lifted a little at the mention of her sister-in-law. She shook her head hesitantly at first, clearing away the haze, and then more surely. “No,” she said the word coming out as more of a croak. Taylor cleared her throat and tried again, “No, I will.” Taylor reached around for her phone. “I—I don’t know where my phone is,” she said uncertainly.
“You left it at home, Mrs. Preston-Fletcher,” Mick reminded from the doorway.
“Oh yeah,” Taylor said absently, realizing it was not the first time they had discussed this since she had been stuffed into this little room.
“Here,” Todd handed her his phone, “use mine.” Before Taylor could take possession, the screen lit up with another incoming call, so Todd snatched it back.
“Use mine,” Mick said pulling his phone from his jacket pocket and passing it to her.