Don’t give up on him yet, Abbi. Don’t.”
The emergency room doctor’s words hit my ears but got lost in the haze of sorrow that had taken over my brain. I held Liam tightly to me, desperate for some piece of Kane to stay with me as the man in front of me said things about gunshot wounds and surgery to remove the bullet from his chest.
Gently, he touched my shoulder and gave me a sad smile. “As soon as he’s out of surgery, we’ll let you know, Mrs. Jackson.”
I took a step back and felt the plastic seat of a waiting room chair hit the back of my knees. Sitting down, I tried to understand how any of this had happened. Where had Kane been at one o’clock in the afternoon? I had just gotten a text from him a few hours earlier telling me he’d be busy all day but he couldn’t wait to see me when he got home. What had he been busy doing that got him shot?
Liam cooed in my arms and tugged at the bottom of my hair, so I looked down and pressed a smile onto my face. He had no idea of the nightmare we’d been thrust into.
“What’s Mommy’s little guy want? Grandma’s coming any minute, honey, and you’re going to take a little ride with her back to her house with Annalea. I promise Mommy will come just as soon as she can.”
I stared into my son’s dark blue eyes so similar to his father’s and struggled to hold back the tears. The spitting image of Kane, he seemed to sense I needed him to be an angel and simply smiled up at me, nearly breaking my heart. What if Kane never had the chance to see his son grow up? What if he never saw that precious smile again?
Alexandria arrived and sat down, wrapping her arms around me. The fear of losing Kane was written all over her face. “Oh, honey. Did you talk to the doctors? What did they say?”
Holding back the tears as best as I could, I told her what the doctor had told me. “We won’t know anything until he’s out of surgery. He was shot in the chest, Alexandria. What if it got his heart?”
Just saying those words made my tears come, and they began rolling down my cheeks. Burying my face in Liam’s shoulder, I sobbed, “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“No more talking like that, Abbi. I told you. Kane is strong. A single bullet isn’t going to take him from you and those beautiful babies.”
Liam’s tiny fingers gripped my neck, holding me to him, and I remembered the first time he clutched Kane’s hand as a newborn. He’d joked about him having a tough grip, and I’d reminded him that he was only three weeks old. Kane had fallen in love with him the moment the nurse placed him in his arms minutes after he was born. Unlike with Annalea, he was full term and healthy as a horse, crying like he had the lungs of a grown man as he lay in his father’s arms for the first time. I’d never forget how happy Kane had been at that moment.
I wanted the chance to see him that happy again.
And now he lay on an operating table with a bullet in his chest, fighting for his life, but why? What had happened?
I lifted my head and saw Alexandria’s eyes full of sadness. “Why would anyone do this? Why wasn’t he at work?”
She shook her head like she didn’t know what to say. “I don’t know, honey. I’m hoping maybe Cassian will be able to tell us something when he gets here.”
“Did he know why Kane wasn’t at the restaurant?”
“No. He was as shocked as I was when he heard what happened.”
I sat there as Liam played with my hair and thought about how sure Kane had been that this kind of thing was behind us once he left Club X. “We’re boring married people with kids now, angel. All that is in the past,” he’d say when I worried about him leaving CK late at night.
How could I know the danger wouldn’t be in the dark as he walked to his car but in broad daylight on a sunny fall afternoon?
Cassian walked down the hallway toward us with the saddest look I’d ever seen. He stopped in front of me, and Alexandria stood to hug
The emergency room doctor’s words hit my ears but got lost in the haze of sorrow that had taken over my brain. I held Liam tightly to me, desperate for some piece of Kane to stay with me as the man in front of me said things about gunshot wounds and surgery to remove the bullet from his chest.
Gently, he touched my shoulder and gave me a sad smile. “As soon as he’s out of surgery, we’ll let you know, Mrs. Jackson.”
I took a step back and felt the plastic seat of a waiting room chair hit the back of my knees. Sitting down, I tried to understand how any of this had happened. Where had Kane been at one o’clock in the afternoon? I had just gotten a text from him a few hours earlier telling me he’d be busy all day but he couldn’t wait to see me when he got home. What had he been busy doing that got him shot?
Liam cooed in my arms and tugged at the bottom of my hair, so I looked down and pressed a smile onto my face. He had no idea of the nightmare we’d been thrust into.
“What’s Mommy’s little guy want? Grandma’s coming any minute, honey, and you’re going to take a little ride with her back to her house with Annalea. I promise Mommy will come just as soon as she can.”
I stared into my son’s dark blue eyes so similar to his father’s and struggled to hold back the tears. The spitting image of Kane, he seemed to sense I needed him to be an angel and simply smiled up at me, nearly breaking my heart. What if Kane never had the chance to see his son grow up? What if he never saw that precious smile again?
Alexandria arrived and sat down, wrapping her arms around me. The fear of losing Kane was written all over her face. “Oh, honey. Did you talk to the doctors? What did they say?”
Holding back the tears as best as I could, I told her what the doctor had told me. “We won’t know anything until he’s out of surgery. He was shot in the chest, Alexandria. What if it got his heart?”
Just saying those words made my tears come, and they began rolling down my cheeks. Burying my face in Liam’s shoulder, I sobbed, “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“No more talking like that, Abbi. I told you. Kane is strong. A single bullet isn’t going to take him from you and those beautiful babies.”
Liam’s tiny fingers gripped my neck, holding me to him, and I remembered the first time he clutched Kane’s hand as a newborn. He’d joked about him having a tough grip, and I’d reminded him that he was only three weeks old. Kane had fallen in love with him the moment the nurse placed him in his arms minutes after he was born. Unlike with Annalea, he was full term and healthy as a horse, crying like he had the lungs of a grown man as he lay in his father’s arms for the first time. I’d never forget how happy Kane had been at that moment.
I wanted the chance to see him that happy again.
And now he lay on an operating table with a bullet in his chest, fighting for his life, but why? What had happened?
I lifted my head and saw Alexandria’s eyes full of sadness. “Why would anyone do this? Why wasn’t he at work?”
She shook her head like she didn’t know what to say. “I don’t know, honey. I’m hoping maybe Cassian will be able to tell us something when he gets here.”
“Did he know why Kane wasn’t at the restaurant?”
“No. He was as shocked as I was when he heard what happened.”
I sat there as Liam played with my hair and thought about how sure Kane had been that this kind of thing was behind us once he left Club X. “We’re boring married people with kids now, angel. All that is in the past,” he’d say when I worried about him leaving CK late at night.
How could I know the danger wouldn’t be in the dark as he walked to his car but in broad daylight on a sunny fall afternoon?
Cassian walked down the hallway toward us with the saddest look I’d ever seen. He stopped in front of me, and Alexandria stood to hug
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