Chapter Twenty-Three

“You want any more of this?” Josh asked, offering him a Styrofoam coffee cup.

Rick shook his head. He rose from the waiting room chair, slung his hands in his pockets, and walked in a circle around the room.

“Why is it taking so long?” he asked, his question addressed to no one and everyone in the room. “The ER doc said it was a clean through-and-through. Taking her to the OR was simply a precaution. Something has to be wrong. It’s too long.”

Hannah Laine slipped an arm through his. “Rick, stop. You’re going to make yourself sick with worry.”

“Hannah—”

“No.” She squeezed his forearm. “Listen to me. She’s going to be fine. Abby is the strongest of my daughters. It’s going to take a lot more than a bullet to knock her down.” She turned to Ellie who slouched in one of the chairs, still dressed in her scrubs. “They’re probably being overly cautious and making sure the bullet nicked nothing vital, right?”

“That’s my bet,” Ellie said after a full yawn. “While they’ve got her on the table, they might as well make sure every little nook and cranny is clean and clear.”

To Rick, Hannah said, “You’d rather they took their time to make sure she’s not going to have any postoperative problems, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes, but—”

“No buts.”

He was prevented from giving more voice to his worry when the surgeon came into the waiting room.

Rick bolted to the man.

“She had a little more damage than we expected,” he told them. “The bullet nicked the top of her hip and took a piece of bone along with it when it went through her. I wanted to make sure no little fragments were floating around inside her that could cause a problem down the road.”

“But she’s going to be all right?” Hannah asked.

The surgeon’s tired smile flitted across his face. “Well, she’s going to be sore for a while, that’s for certain. She might have a little difficulty getting around unaided for a few weeks until her hip heals. But ultimately, she should be fine. The bullet didn’t tear anything vital, never got near an organ or an artery, so those are all good indications she’ll be back to normal with time and rest.”

“Can I—we—see her?” Rick asked.

“Not until she’s moved up to the surgical floor. She’s in recovery and still sedated. I’ll have one of the nurses let you know when she’s being transported. It should be in about a half hour or so.”

Hannah thanked him. Turning to Rick, she smiled.

He took a full breath for the first time since spotting Genocardi push into the apartment.

Hannah slipped her arms around his waist and hugged him. “See, now? I told you she’d be fine.”

Before she rested her head on his chest, he caught the subtle sheen of unshed tears in her eyes.

“I’m gonna go call Kandy and tell her,” Josh said. “Have her start the notification calls.”

“I’ll go see what room they’re bringing her to,” Ellie said.

Hannah pushed back and swiped at her eyes. “Wait, I’ll go with you,” she told her youngest daughter.

Left alone, Rick dropped back down in his chair, took a long, deep breath, and scrubbed his hands down his face.

The past four hours had been the longest, scariest of his life. Stuck in a tree blind, cut off from his team, waiting to be discovered and probably shot to death wasn’t one scintilla as terrifying as seeing Abby faint dead away in his arms after being shot. The sight of her pale and lifeless form, her thin T-shirt soaked through with her sopping blood had drilled such a sense of panic through him he’d almost gotten himself arrested when the EMTs and responding police officers arrived after his 911 call. Barking orders left and right, screaming at the emergency team they weren’t moving fast enough, efficiently enough, had one of the officers ready to put him in handcuffs and haul him off so they could work on Abby. It was Tony Pecorrini’s arrival and his composed, competent command of the scene that had served to calm Rick.

One of the building residents had discovered the actual pizza delivery boy tied up in the garage when she went to retrieve her car.

Once in the emergency room, Rick had given a quick history to the nurse, relieved when Hannah showed up with Josh to give a more detailed accounting of Abby’s medical history. In the hallway, he’d spotted Genocardi arrive, his face a bloody pulp, his hands handcuffed to the gurney. He was surrounded by four uniformed officers and was screaming at the top of his lungs for pain relief. It took every ounce of reserve Rick could call up not to sprint over to the man’s cubicle and pummel his face even more.

He wanted him to suffer. Hell, he wanted him dead for what he’d done to Abby.

If he’d only been a second quicker or closer to her when Genocardi came through the door. But he’d been across the room and knew, if he moved, he’d be shot where he stood.

In hindsight, it would have been the better option. He’d been shot before. He’d have preferred to be the one on an operating room table right now, rather than Abby, any day of the week.

“You doing okay?” Josh asked, coming back into the room, his cell phone in one hand, another coffee cup in the other.

Rick looked across the room at him. Josh was the one person he could tell the truth to. “No.”

He nodded and came to sit next to him. “I didn’t think so. Here. I know you don’t want it, but do me a favor and drink it. You’ll be glad you did.”

Rick accepted the cup. After his first sip, his gaze shot over the rim to his friend. “You keep a bottle stashed in your car now?”

Josh grinned. “It was a gift from a client when Sophie Grace was born. I hadn’t brought it into the house yet, and I thought you could use something stronger than the caffeinated sludge they serve here.”

The whiskey shot straight through his system. Rick closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Want to talk about it?”

“I already did with Pecorrini. I’ll need to go give my statement officially sometime, but I’m not leaving until I know Abby is okay.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Rick squinted at him over his cup again. Josh sat back and stretched his legs out in front of him. And waited.

“Christ.” Rick shook his head and dropped his gaze to his spread knees. “There’s not enough whiskey in the world.”

Josh grinned.

“You know,” Rick said, “You used to be the silent, logical, mind-your-own-business one.”

“I still am.”

“No. You’re not. Now you want to get all up in my life and discuss feelings and shit. Marriage has turned you into such a pussy. I hardly recognize you anymore.”

Josh simply dropped his chin and continued to nail Rick with a very knowing, very piercing stare.

Rick swore again and shot up from the chair.

“You know, I’d think you’d rather have this conversation with me, get it all out, before Hannah drills you.”

“The hell is that supposed to mean?”

“None of us are blind, Rick. Or stupid. Hannah most of all. People tend to underestimate what a perceptive and intelligent woman she is. She asked, point blank after we left Abby’s apartment, if the two of you were involved.”

Rick swore. “What did you tell her?”

“At the time, the truth. I didn’t think so. Then I asked her why she asked. Want to know what she said?”

“If I said no, would you go home to your wife and kids and leave me alone?”

“Stop pouting like a two-year-old. It doesn’t work on me when Ben does it, and it sure as hell isn’t gonna work if you do.”

Rick shook his head again and folded his arms together across his chest.

“Hannah told me since she met you, she’s known you were the perfect guy for Abby, because, and this is a quote, you get her. I have no idea what she meant, but she’s convinced she’s right.”

It was a wonder his face wasn’t bleeding from the amount of times he raked his fingers down it, as he did again at Josh’s words.

“She’s not wrong, is she?” Josh asked.

“No.”

“Why aren’t you happy about it?”

“Would you be if you were me? What the hell kind of life can I offer her, Josh? I’ve got no family to bring to the table like you and Ky do. All I’ve got is a lousy father who’s rotting away in prison. I own nothing but the cabin in Pennsylvania. Everything else in my life is temporary—leased car, rented apartment.”

Josh took a deep chug from his own coffee mug, then set it down on his knee.

“I’m away for long stretches for work. It’s like the army all over again. No woman wants a man who’s gone more than he’s around. And Christ, my DNA is nothing to write home about. I’ve got an old man who was convicted of manslaughter. Blood tells.”

Josh took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he nailed his partner with a look that told Rick he was a moron.

“First of all your job is a non-issue because we can eliminate the protection aspect of it easily, like we did for me and Ky.” When Rick didn’t respond, he continued. “As far as your lack of family goes, you don’t know Abby as well as you think you do if you’re worried about your old man, his history, and your supposed tainted DNA.”

“What do you mean?”

“Abby fights for the underdog, right? The women and children who’ve been abandoned, abused, discarded? Kandy calls it her mission, her desire to help right the wrongs done to her mother by preventing them from happening to other families.”

“I’ve thought much the same thing.”

“Then how can you possibly think your father’s history is going to color her feelings for you?”

“I don’t get it.”

“Dude, you’re the perfect example of the kind of kid she fights for. You were one of the lucky ones, though. My mom took you in when you had no place to go. She wouldn’t let you get sucked up into the system, despite my telling her what a dick you could be.”

He grinned when he said it, so Rick shot him his middle finger.

Josh’s grin stilled and, in a serious voice asked, “Do you love Abby? Really love her?”

“Christ, so much I ache.”

“I’m gonna bet, because I know you so well, you haven’t told her. Am I right?”

Rick nodded.

“You need to.”

“What if…”

“She doesn’t love you back?”

Rick blew out a breath and shook his head. Abby’s “you will” declaration shot to the front of his tired mind. “No. Not so much that. More that she doesn’t want a life with me. And talk about sounding like a dick.”

“Yeah, well, that’s you.”

Rick glared at him.

“The better question to ask is what if she does?”

“This is why I don’t do relationships,” Rick said.

“You want some cheese with that whine?”

“Why are we friends again? I seem to forget every time you open your mouth.”

“Okay, we’re all set,” Hannah said as she walked back in with a yawning Ellie in tow. “We scoped out the room they’re transferring her to, and it’s right by the nurse’s station. Eleanor says that’s a primo spot. Abby will be getting attentive care.”

Josh rose and kissed his mother-in-law. “I think I’m gonna head home and spot Kandy. She’ll want to be here when Abby wakes up.”

He turned to Rick and pulled him into a man hug, thumping his back with his fists. “Remember what I said, and I’ll see you later.”

Rick nodded.

“Why don’t we all go upstairs and wait for Abby in her room?” Hannah said, curling her hand around Rick’s arm.

“Not me,” Ellie said. “I’m beat. I’m gonna go crash in the doctor’s lounge for a bit. Text me if you need me for anything.” She bussed her mother’s cheek, then gave Rick a little wave with another yawn.

“Well,” Hannah, squeezing his arm. “It’s just you and me. Let’s go wait for my girl, and you can tell me all about what’s been happening with the two of you.”