Caught (Men of the Show Book 3) (23 page)

“Now, Natalie. Leave,” he said again.

Jason stepped forward and made to grip Natalie’s arm but stopped when she reached into the waistband of the back of her shorts and pulled out a gun. Jason instinctively took a step away from her as she pointed the gun at Matt. Shannon’s blood froze in fear, everything playing out in slow motion even though chaos surrounded her.

“No,” Natalie said to Matt.

Jason’s eyes widened, understanding dawning of what Natalie was going to do. He hurried toward her while at the same time multiple people jumped up from the table in order to rush her, but it was all too late. Ignoring everyone, Natalie raised the gun steadily, but at the last second, she shifted her aim toward Shannon.

Shannon gasped as the sound of a gunshot rang out. What felt like a Mack truck slammed into her, launching her through the air, her shoulder and back connecting with the hard corner of the table as she fell. The table collapsed from the weight and she crashed to the floor, her head taking a horrendous bounce before stomach-churning, conscious-losing pain flooded through her. She heard a deep grunt that she didn’t think came from her. The pandemonium of crying, screaming and yelling, along with a whirlwind of commotion, circled around her, and then her world went black.

Chapter 17

Matt lay in the hospital bed staring at the ceiling. He couldn’t get his head around how everything had drastically changed in a short span of time. One second he was enjoying Spring Training, enjoying the surprise of having the girl he loved by his side, enjoying a team dinner. In the next, an ex-girlfriend shoots him in the leg and throws his life in an upheaval. So many questions jumbled in the air without any answers. His brain wouldn’t cooperate, reluctant to process or comprehend the meaning of what had transpired, leaving his emotions in a chaotic, tumultuous mess.

Through the chaos, however, one scenario refused to escape his attention. The possibility of his season being done before even starting. To focus on baseball was stupid given the fact he’d been shot, but despite everything, all he could singlehandedly concentrate on was what might happen with his career. Nothing else mattered.
 

The door opened and Jason rushed in with Matt’s mom and dad right behind him. They had gotten on the first plane to Florida once they’d heard what had happened.

“Matthew,” his mother cried as she rushed over to the bed. “Omigod, are you okay?”

He hissed in a breath as she jostled him a bit. “Leg hurts like a bitch.”

Her hands fretted in the air over his braced leg as if she wanted to ease his pain in some way but was afraid to touch anything. “I don’t understand. Who is this girl?
 
Why would she shoot you?”

Matt glanced at Jason, who shook his head, indicating he hadn’t told them anything. “She’s an ex-girlfriend.”

“You dated her?” his father asked, standing on the opposite side of the bed from his mother.

“Yes, and things ended badly. She refused to move on, following me and calling me all the time.”
 
He took a deep breath as he leaned back into his pillow. “I ended up filing a restraining order against her. Guess that didn’t work.”

Both of his parents exclaimed with shock, but then his father said, “Why didn’t you tell us any of this?
 
I could have helped.”

“Because I didn’t want you to worry. I had everything under control.”
 
Their faces blanched. “It’s all right, guys. I’ve talked to the cops already. She’s locked up and they’re gathering the evidence they need in order to press charges. We won’t have to worry about her anymore.”

“Omigod,” his mother said again as she paced away from the bed with her hand covering her face. She struggled to pull herself together and when she finally did, she cleared her throat and straightened her shoulders. She tugged at the blankets over him, smoothing out the wrinkles. “Okay, it’s in the past now. We’ll let the legal system do its job and she’ll get what’s coming to her. What we need to focus on is you and getting you better. What have the doctors said?”

“Not much, just that I have a fracture in the femoral shaft,” Matt admitted, struggling to find a comfortable position, which caused him to grimace. “They want to take me to surgery in order to determine the extent of the damage, but that’s all I really know right now.”

“Okay, okay.”
 
She ran her fingers through his hair and fussed over him, her eyes glistening with tears. “We’re here and we’re going to help.”

“Mom,” Matt sighed. “I’m okay.”

Her face crumpled, making him feel even more like shit. “Let me be. You don’t know how it feels to hear your child’s been shot, so let me fall apart. And don’t tell me you’re okay when I know you’re not.”

His father came over and put his hands on her shoulders. “You scared the hell out of us, Matthew,” he said, with a sheen of tears in his eyes as well, which shocked Matt as his father didn’t usually get emotional.

“I’m sorry,” Matt mumbled.

“Don’t you be sorry,” his mother said ferociously despite the tears running down her cheeks. “This is not your fault.”

Matt shifted uncomfortably, his leg throbbing. His mother caught the pained expression on his face and sprang forward. “What is it, honey?
 
What do you need?”

“Leg really hurts and it’s very uncomfortable,” he admitted.

“Let me go find a nurse and see if they will give you something,” she said. “Come on, Michael. Maybe we can find a doctor who can fill us in.”
 
She pulled her husband out of the room with her.

Jason, who’d been standing in the corner, out of the way, came forward. He stood off to the side with his hands in his pockets. “This sucks, huh?”

“Pretty much,” Matt agreed. “How bad is it outside?”
 
The media had camped in the parking lot of the hospital desperate for the story about the MVP catcher from Detroit shot by a crazy ex-girlfriend.

“They’re still hanging around, but the hospital is working to keep them away as much as possible. Nobody’s saying anything, only what the cops have been willing to share, which isn’t much. The team and your agent are still saying, ‘No comment.’”

Matt shook his head. “I still can’t believe she did this…”

“Shannon’s still—” The door opened and a doctor strode in, interrupting Jason.

“Mr. Buck,” the doctor said as he thumbed through his chart, brusque and all business. “We’re taking you into surgery right away. We’re going to place a rod here.”
 
He pointed to an x-ray hanging on the wall next to the bed. “Place a screw here and here. We might even place a rod here, but we’ll know more when we get in there and see the damage with our eyes. Essentially we’re going to put the bone back together to allow it to heal properly.”

“Okay,” Matt said. “What’s the prognosis?
 
Am I going to miss the entire season?”

The doctor crossed his arms. “Right now it’s hard to say. Everything depends on how well the bone heals. I would expect you to be out for the season, but there is the slight chance for more.”

“More?” Matt asked with a frown, refusing to understand what the doctor was implying. “What do you mean,
more
?”

“Matt,” the doctor said as he stepped closer, his face filled with compassion. “Injuries like these are tricky for the average person. Combine that with your profession…well, everything becomes much harder. You might never get the strength back in your leg that you need in order to catch or endure the stress of playing at a major league level. Of course, we’ll do all we can, and you’re going to need to do all you can with therapy afterward, but there’s always a chance the bone, even healed, may not allow you to perform at the level you need.”

Speechless, Matt stared at his doctor, unable to believe how his world had crashed around him. Never play ball again?
 
He couldn’t even contemplate the possibility. In fact, he refused to. A season he was reluctantly willing to give up, but his career…
 
No, he couldn’t. If he didn’t have baseball, he had nothing. Without baseball, he
was
nothing.

*
 
*
 
*

Opening her eyes, Shannon cringed at the brightness. She moaned and squeezed them shut against the pain as her stomach rolled. She’d been in and out all night, never able to stay awake for longer than two minutes.

“Take it easy, sweetheart,” a soft voice said to her. “Just take it easy.”

She squinted and tried to figure out where she was. From the stark whiteness of the room and beeping noises, she had to guess she was in the hospital.

“What happened?” she croaked.

“You have a pretty bad concussion, a dislocated shoulder and lots of bruises. You probably feel like you got hit by a truck.”

Shannon took a quick assessment of everything and had to agree that was an accurate statement. “Was there an accident?” she asked, trying to recall why she was here.

The young nurse stood closer so her friendly face came into Shannon’s direct field of view. “Do you not remember what happened?
 
What do you remember, sweetie?”

“I…can’t…” she started to say before everything came rushing back. Shelly…no, not Shelly, someone named Natalie had come in and started shooting. “Matt!
 
How is Matt?”

The nurse frowned. “I’m not sure who Matt is. Was he with you?”

“Yes, he’s my boyfriend. Buck. Matt Buck. He was there too. She pointed the gun at him. Did she shoot him?” she asked, her mind jumping all over the place as flashes of what had transpired whirled through her head.

“I’ll see what I can find out, but there are some policemen who are going to want to talk to you. We need to tell them when you’re okay enough to talk. In the meantime, your sister has been here all night.”

“Karen,” she said and tears flooded her eyes at the comfort her sister would bring to this horrible situation.

The nurse walked out and a few minutes passed before Karen hurried in with Jerry right behind her.

“Oh, thank God,” Karen said as she rushed up to the side of the bed, her eyes full of concern and worry. Reaching out to brush some of the hair off her forehead, Karen eyes were roaming all over her sister’s face. “How are you feeling, honey?
 
We were so worried.”

“I hurt like hell. Concussion, something with my shoulder and who knows what else.”
 
Her eyes passed over her sister and then Jerry, and the relief at seeing them both okay rushed out of her as the tears started to fall. “I’m so glad you guys are not hurt. The baby’s safe.”

Shushing her, Karen squeezed her hand hard. “It’s okay, Shannon. We’re okay. Nothing to worry about.”

“What happened?
 
What the hell went on?” Shannon said between gasps as she tried to calm herself down.

Karen glanced over at Jerry and he gave her a small shrug. Karen cleared her throat. “We’re not exactly sure, but from what we’ve gathered, the girl was an ex-girlfriend of Matt’s.”

“What happened to Matt?
 
Where is he?
 
Is he okay?” Shannon asked all in one breath.

Karen paused as if in preparation of sharing bad news. Dread surged through Shannon like a tidal wave and sharp, cold panic flashed over her skin. Before Karen could say anything, Shannon shook her head. “No!
 
No…”

“No, Shannon. Calm down,” Karen said. “Calm down. He’s here, he’s was shot, but he’s going to be okay. All right?
 
Do you hear me?
 
He’s going to be okay.”

“Then why the look?
 
Why the hesitation?” Shannon demanded.

Karen took a breath. “He was shot in the thigh and, from what we’ve heard, the bullet did significant damage.”

“What do you mean?” Shannon asked.

“We don’t know,” Jerry said quietly. “That’s all we know. There’s been speculation he might not play ball again, but we don’t know.”

“Who cares?” Shannon exclaimed, not understanding why anyone would be concerned about baseball right now. “He’s alive, isn’t that all that matters?”

Jerry started to say something, but Karen shook her head sharply before turning back to Shannon with a tight smile. “You’re right. Absolutely. We’ll take it one day at a time. You just worry about getting yourself better.”

“I want to see him,” Shannon said but found she was having trouble keeping her eyes open.

“Go to sleep. You need to rest and get better. I’ll be right here,” Karen’s voice said to her. “I’ll be right here and then we’ll see about Matt.”

Shannon started to drift off, letting Karen’s soothing voice float over her. Suddenly another voice came into the room and she struggled to wake back up.

“Is she okay?” the low voice asked.

“Yes, no thanks to your friend,” Karen hissed. “Why didn’t he ever fucking say anything?”

“Karen,” Jerry cautioned.

“No, don’t Karen me. He knowingly put her in danger. I mean, seriously, what the fuck?
 
He didn’t think it was something she should know?”

“I know, I agree with you,” the voice said.

Jason. It’s Jason
. Shannon wanted to talk to him, ask him about Matt, but her eyes wouldn’t budge and she was losing the battle of staying awake.