Meant to Be (27 page)

I looked up and could see the same thoughts
mirrored in his eyes as he reached the same conclusion as me. He
leaned forward and placed his warm lips on mine. It was like being
lost in the desert and finding an oasis waiting for you. I locked
my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. Drinking greedily, I
took everything his kiss had to offer. I felt more in tune with him
than ever before. I opened my mind finally finding the key and our
thoughts merged. The kiss deepened and without even realizing it I
was lying down with Mark sprawled on top of me. My lips parted as
he deepened the kiss even further. My thoughts were wrapped around
Mark’s as we discovered the joy of each other’s lips. We had never
kissed this intensely. I saw his desire in his thoughts mirrored my
own.

Mark left my lips and found his way to my
neck. I leaned my head back as his lips found the pulse in my
neck.

“I hate to break-up the love fest,” a snide
voice said behind us.

It took us a few moments to return from the
place we had journeyed to with the kiss. Finally, we realized we
were no longer alone. Mark pulled back and looked behind him. I
looked over his shoulder and saw James standing in the doorway.

I should have been embarrassed that he caught
us in such a compromising position, but I didn’t. Instead, I felt
disappointed that we were interrupted. I knew I told my mom I
wanted to wait, but that was before all of this. Besides, half the
girls in my old school had already done it numerous times; I was
one of the few that had waited. This was probably the last time we
would ever be together and we had been interrupted.

My mind picked up Mark’s thoughts and I saw
that he was disappointed also. How ironic that we had figured out
how to read each other’s thoughts when it was too late.

“Get up,” James said, pointing the gun at
us.

I sat forward and felt something dig into my
back. The screwdriver, I had forgotten about it. I spent half a
second trying to figure out how to send the signal to Mark until I
realized he already knew. I felt his hand slide into the back of my
pants and dip below the waistband.

“I don’t want to distract you,” James said
pointing the gun at us.

By the time we were on our feet, Mark had
successfully stashed the screwdriver in his pocket. His pants were
baggy enough with oversized pockets, that the screwdriver was
almost completely concealed.

James kept the gun pointed at my head. He was
smart enough to know that Mark would not risk my life that way. We
shuffled out the door and made our way down the rest of the hallway
and into the lab.

Amanda was in the corner with Mark’s dad.

Mark paused, willing his dad to look our way.
If he was reading our thoughts he gave no indication. I couldn’t
help wondering if he would still destroy us. Hadn’t we given him
what he had strived for? We had shown him we could become
stronger.

He approached us as Mark and I passed our
thoughts back and forth.

Focus. We have to block him out
, I
thought to Mark.

The connection was unlike anything I had felt
before. I could feel Russo inside my head, probing my thoughts. I
concentrated as hard as I could to push him out and could tell by
his expression that it was working.

“Impressive, both of you. It’s a shame I
can’t trust you enough to let you live. You may have indeed been
useful.”

He snarled as my smile turned to dread. I
guess that answered my previous thought. We were now just a
liability.

“Get on the tables please. My time with you
is finished,” he said waving a hand toward James as if to get his
point across.

Mark made a half movement to step in front of
me, but James pressed the gun to my head to stress the point that
they still held the upper hand.

Mark looked indecisive.

Should we try to fight
? His thoughts
flashed in my mind as he ran the scenario through his head. He was
strong, but there were just too many of them.

“Don’t even think about it, I won’t hesitate
to put a bullet in her head,” James said as if he understood what
Mark was contemplating.

Mark approached the table and looked back at
me. It seemed crazy to give up without a fight, but he could not
bear watching James carry out his threat.

I looked at Mark and could see his body
tensing as his thoughts filtered through my mind. I knew he was
ready to make his move when a grim smile flashed across his
face.

If we were wrong we would be shot, but if
we didn’t fight, we would die anyway
, Mark’s thoughts hit my
mind.

I simply nodded my head slightly in agreement
as Mark palmed the screwdriver that was hidden in his pocket.

My own body tensed waiting for Mark’s
signal.

When I move, run. I can take them on if I
don’t have to worry about them harming you. You are more delicate
than me. Just run
! Mark’s thoughts filtered through my
head.

I trained my eyes on Mark, waiting for him to
make the first move.

In one swift movement Mark plunged the
screwdriver into James’s leg, dropping him to his knees. Mark did
not pause. He took his fist and rocked James on the head, sending
him falling backwards to the floor.

I watched in horror as the gun in James’ hand
went off.

My blood roared in my ear as I watched Mark
crumble to the floor. Darkness threatened to engulf me, but I
fought it back. Mark needed me. I rushed to his side and laid my
hand on his face, willing him with my mind to respond.

I sobbed as I felt hands dragging me away
from the only person who made me whole.

I felt the room begin to spin as my insides
caved in. I didn’t even see the waves of emotions come on as they
no longer held any meaning. The spinning of the room took over and
I welcomed the blackness with open arms. My life had lost all
meaning.

I was pulled out of my blissful darkness by a
loud crash.

I turned my head toward the noise and was
surprised to see a vehicle barreling toward me. I tried to move out
of the way, but realized I was tied down.

My eyes began to focus as several things
happened at once. The vehicle screeched to a stop inches from me as
the individuals that surrounded my bed began to scatter. I was
surprised that they were wearing surgical garb.

My mind tried to wrap around everything that
was going on, it was like I was watching a movie from a distance. I
looked around in horror as I discovered that the masked goons were
interrupted just as they were going to start hacking into me.

The crack of gun shots echoed in the room as
James shot at the van, shattering the windshield into a thousand
pieces.

The driver of the van stepped out of the
vehicle holding a gun in his hand. He used the open door as a
shield for his body. I was surprised to see that it was Bruno.

“I called the police and they’re on their
way…” His words were cut off by a new wave of gun fire.

He returned the gun fire, shooting James dead
in the chest. He kept firing until his gun was emptied.

Police sirens blared in the distance sending
everyone scattering and within seconds the room cleared out.

Russo spotted me in his rush to leave the
building; the madness in his eyes was evident. He raised a gun and
aimed it at me.

I did nothing to protect myself. I welcomed
whatever he wanted to do. I was disappointed when he lowered the
gun and fled from the room. I turned and saw that Bruno had a gun
pointed where he had stood.

Bruno rushed to my side and didn’t bother
undoing the restraints he simply pulled a deadly looking knife out
of his boot and cut the straps. He threw me in the van and I landed
on the floor of the van in a heap. I had no idea what he was going
to do with me nor did I care. I closed my eyes and tried to block
out all thoughts of Mark. I could no longer feel my heart. It had
broken into a million pieces and was gone.

Suddenly I was startled as something heavy
landed on my right leg. I opened my eyes as Bruno threw the van in
reverse and tore out of the warehouse. I could hear the sirens in
the background getting louder, but as Bruno drove away they became
a distant sound.

My eyes finally focused on the heavy weight
on my legs. I gasped when I saw that it was Mark. Bruno had grabbed
him before we fled from the building.

I cried at the sight of Mark’s body. Why
would Bruno do this to me? I could not bear to look at Mark’s
lifeless body.

“He’s still alive,” Bruno told me. “I felt a
faint pulse before I grabbed him.”

I pulled my legs out from under Mark and
kneeled at his side. I put my shaky fingertips to his neck and wept
with joy when I felt the faint pulse under my fingers.

My hands became frantic as I searched for
Mark’s wound. I pulled up his shirt that was soaked in his blood
and found the wound. Darkness threatened to pull me under when I
saw the blood flowing out of the wound but, I fought it back.

He needed me and I was not going to let
anything get in the way of that.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and
looked around franticly for something to staunch the bleeding. The
van held the same equipment that had been in the lab. My scan of
the interior told me there was nothing in the van that would help
Mark.

I did the only thing I could think of,
placing my hand over the wound to try and stop the steady flow. His
warm blood ran between my fingers. I cried silent tears as I felt
his pulse growing weaker.

“Please hurry,” I pleaded to Bruno in a
broken voice. “He’s slipping away,” I said with a broken sob.

“The hospital’s right up the road,” he
said.

I felt relief at his words as he began to
slow the van down. I looked up thinking we were at the hospital,
but to my dismay we were parked on the side of the road.

Bruno jumped out and jogged around the
vehicle and opened the door.

“Why are we stopping? We have to hurry he’s
dying!” I yelled at him in a hoarse voice.

Bruno stripped off his shirt and pushed it
under my hands that were still pressed over Mark’s wound.

“I can’t take you the rest of the way, there
will be too many questions. Drive the rest of the way, its right up
the road. Tell the doctors that you were walking on the beach when
some thugs jumped out and robbed you and shot your boyfriend.”

I looked at him in confusion.

“I don’t know if any of this talk about
angels is true, but you didn’t deserve any of this,” he said as he
turned to run away.

“Wait!” I yelled. I threw my arms around him
and gave him a quick hug. “Thank you.”

I watched him for a brief moment as he jogged
away and then adrenaline took over. I raced to the driver’s side
and threw myself into the driver’s seat. I slammed the vehicle into
gear and flew down the road. I hit the hospital parking lot going
ninety and did not stop until I reached the emergency room.

I tore into the E.R. yelling that my
boyfriend had been shot and was dying in my car. Several doctors
rushed after me as I raced back to Mark.

Within moments they had him on a stretcher
and had started C.P.R. I watched as they searched for a pulse. I
fought to hold onto his hand and begged them to save him as they
raced him into the hospital.

I felt a nurse tugging on my arm trying to
pry me away from him, but I fought her off. I was not letting him
go. I knew that as long as I continued to touch him, he wouldn’t
die.

I felt the sharp pain of a needle being
plunged into my throat. I felt my hand slip away from Mark’s and
tried to call out, but it was too late. I didn’t get a chance to
tell them how important it was for them to save him. That I could
not survive without him.

I knew I was dreaming. I was sitting on the
soft sand that I had sat on hundreds of times before. I looked
around for Mark, but saw him nowhere. I sat and watched the waves
approaching and the birds flying throughout the sky. It was
actually quite peaceful. There was a slight breeze that carried the
scent of the amusement park in the distance. Just when I was about
ready to give up, I saw him approaching. I was surprised to see
that he was not alone. Four others stood behind him.

I recognized Sam and Shawn and thought one of
the other couples looked familiar too, but couldn’t place them.

Mark stopped in front of me and held out his
hand to me.

I stood up and faced him. “Are you dead?” I
asked him.

“I don’t know. This isn’t my dream, it’s
yours.”

I looked at him in horror. What did he mean
this wasn’t his dream? We had always shared the same dream.

My screams echoed throughout my body and I
felt like all of the air was leaving my lungs.

Chapter 14

I was awakened by my own choking as I gasped
for air. I sat up abruptly on the hospital bed I was laying on and
looked around frantically for Mark.

I felt a gentle hand pushing me back down on
the bed and was surprised to see Sam standing over me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked in a
hoarse voice. “How did you know I was here?”

“You told a nurse that I was your next of kin
and they called me,” Sam told me.

I faintly remembered in my drug induced sleep
being asked who they should call.

“Where is Mark?” I asked in a pleading voice,
dreading the answer.

“He’s in recovery,” Sam said, wiping the
tears off my cheeks.

I thought I misunderstood her.

“He’s okay?” I asked, not daring to
believe.

“Mark’s going to be fine. They say the bullet
passed right through him. They went in and fixed the damage it
caused, but they said he was lucky that it missed all his vital
organs.”

“What about my mom?”