Playing For Keeps (19 page)

Her heart dropped to her stomach as they cut Eric’s sweater away from the wound. It had been worse than she thought, but she only got a quick glance as the paramedics recovered the wound before loading him onto the stretcher.

“Tom, my cell phone, wallet, and keys are in the left pocket of my jacket. Drive Keirra to the hospital, and call my parents.”

His calmness didn’t do anything to reassure her this time. She had seen the wound and the blood that had oozed from it as soon as it was uncovered. It took a minute for the pressure of Tom’s hand on her elbow to register. He led her to Eric’s SUV and put her in on the passenger side. They followed behind the ambulance with Tom flipping opening Eric’s cell phone and placing the call to Arthur and Charlotte. When they arrived at the hospital, Tom parked the car and rushed her to the emergency room, followed closely by Jim.

Tom was quick and efficient in getting the information needed. He led her to a chair where she could sit down, and she was glad because her knees were close to giving out. There were already officers at the hospital in response to the news of an officer being shot. It felt like she had traveled back in time as Tom led her through the crowd.

“Can I see the phone,” she asked numbly. Tom gave it to her, and she tried to dial Kristen’s number, but her hand was shaking so bad, and her vision was so blurry she couldn’t manage it. Tom leaned down and gave her a comforting look before taking the phone out of her hand.

“Eric will be fine,” he told her as he squeezed her hand, yet his touch did nothing to comfort her.

The only thing that would set her mind at ease would be the sight of Eric walking out of the emergency room alive and unharmed.

“What number are you trying to dial?”

She stared at him blankly for a moment before realizing he was going to dial the number for her. She gave him Kristen’s cell phone number, and he dialed it before handing the phone back to her. Her hands were a little sturdier, but her voice was still shaky. She got the voice mail and left a message.

Hanging up, she went to hand it back to Tom, but he shook his head.

“You hold onto it in case they call back or if any of Eric’s family call.”

She nodded and set the phone in her lap before dropping her face into her hands. Her heart was racing. If Eric didn’t make it, she didn’t know what she was going to do. She was going to kill him if he did. One thing she knew for sure. After today was she couldn’t be with Eric. Her heart and her blood pressure couldn’t take the strain.

“Ms. Smith?”

Keirra looked up as a nurse approached with a gentle smile. Yet, her eyes held concern.

“Yes.”

“We have to take Mr. Brooks up for surgery. The bullet is starting to travel, and we can lose him if we don’t. He wanted me to come out here and tell you personally. I will be by his side the entire time, and I will keep you updated as much as possible and let you know when you can see him.”

With that said, the nurse turned and rushed off. The shaking that Keirra had managed to get under control started again. She was going to lose him before she had the chance to tell him how she really felt. She dropped her face into her hands again, distraught that it seemed as if history was repeating itself. Was this how her mother had felt? Her mother had definitely been a lot calmer, but maybe it was because she had to be there for her children. There were no words to describe how she’d felt when her father had been rushed off to surgery.

She was starting to feel overwhelmed and needed to get some fresh air. Otherwise she was going to pass out. Never had she considered herself to be the fainting kind, but she was coming very close.

“Keirra.”

Her head came up at the soft sound of Charlotte’s voice. That is all it took to make her break. The tears came to her eyes followed by the first sob, and Charlotte sat down on the couch beside her and pulled Keirra into her arms.

“Everything will be okay. He is strong.”

Keirra closed her eyes and prayed that Charlotte was right. Her heart truly couldn’t take any more strain.

Keirra didn’t know when she fell asleep, but somehow she had. Now someone was gently waking her. When she opened her eyes, she saw that it was Charlotte. She sat up abruptly when she remembered were she was. There was strain on everyone’s face, and her stomach dropped.

“What is it? Is Eric okay?”

Charlotte smiled. “He is fine.”

Keirra closed her eyes in relief. He was alive. Her eyes reopened when Charlotte spoke again.

“He is out of surgery, and they have moved him to his own room, so we can visit him. We thought you might want to see him first. He is still sedated for pain, so he may not be awake.”

Keirra couldn’t hide her surprise at their thoughtfulness, but agreed, especially after his sisters gave their nods of approval. After finding out what room he was in, she made the trip to his room. When she entered the room, the first thing she noticed were the machines he was hooked up to. The second was the large bandage that covered his shoulder. Tears sprang to her eyes as she walked closer to the edge of the bed. She touched Eric’s hand, but he didn’t respond. Fighting back a sob, she spoke.

“Oh, Eric, why did you have to try to play the hero?”

Even before she asked the question, she knew the answer. It was in his blood to protect and serve those who needed it. Knowing that he was still under the influence of drugs, she spoke from her heart.

“I love you, Eric, but I can’t be with you. I wouldn’t be able to take it if I lose you like I lost my father.”

Keirra closed her eyes. She never thought she would hurt this much.

“I have to go now, and when I leave, I won’t be back. I hope you can forgive me and move on. It is definitely for the best.”

Keirra gave Eric one last look before leaning down to place a kiss on his lips, and by the time she reentered the waiting room, she was in tears again. She looked at Charlotte and Arthur.

“I have to go. I can’t stay.”

“Keirra.”

She turned at the sound of her sisters calling her name. They rushed forward to embrace her, and she fell into their arms. The tears came again, and she clung to her sisters, not caring about anything else but having them with her now. Her sisters walked her over to a couch and sat down beside her.

It took her several moments, but she managed to calm down a little and requested her sisters to take her home.

An hour later, they were on the road and heading back to Baxley. She sat in the back of Kristen’s car next to Kayla while Kristen rode in the front and Randy drove. Most of the trip was in silence only interrupted by a few of her crying outbreaks. She felt awful that she was walking away from Eric when he needed her most, and her heart was breaking. But witnessing him being shot was enough to push her over the edge.

Leaning into her sister’s warm embrace, she tried to believe walking away from Eric had been the right thing and hoped she could live with her decision. When they pulled up in front of the house she and Kayla shared, it was in the early morning hours, but it would still be several before the sun was up. Randy gathered up her suitcase while Kristen and Kayla escorted her up the walkway. They entered the house and led her to the couch.

“Now do you want to talk about it?”

She watched Randy make himself scarce, and she wanted to give him a hug for being so thoughtful, especially since he was going to be affected by this as well. With Eric being shot, it meant he would need to find a replacement for Eric until he came back.

“Keirra?”

She looked at Kristen and realized they were waiting on her to tell them what happened. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm her nerves before she told her sisters about what had occurred that morning while having to pause at moments to keep from crying. By the time she finished, her sisters were just as upset as she was. Kristen was the one to speak first.

“I hope you and Eric can work this out.”

Keirra shook her head. “I can’t deal with this, Kristen. I refuse to jump every time the phone rings because I’m not sure if I am getting the call to tell me Eric has been injured again or worse yet dead.”

Keirra stood up and walked to the opposite side of the room. “I can’t take the stress.”

She hugged herself as she emitted a humorless laugh. “I was shaking so bad I couldn’t even dial your number. His former coworker had to dial it for me.”

She turned to look at her sisters. “When I heard that gun go off and found out it was Eric that had been shot, I swear to you it was the worse feeling in the world.”

Keirra paused. “Then to make it to the hospital and to find out that Eric was in danger of not making it. I can tell you I know exactly what Mom felt that day Daddy was shot.”

Keirra closed her eyes, and different emotions raced through her. “I can understand why Mom was never the same afterward, and I don’t want to live the rest of my life like that.”

Kristen stood up and walked over to her sister. “Keirra, I can’t tell you what choice to make. I can only tell you to think about it before you make a final decision.”

Kristen embraced her tightly. “Take it from me when I say true love doesn’t happen every day.” She pulled back and looked at Keirra. “If you love Eric, go to him and tell him.”

Keirra gave her sister a sad smile. “I already have.”

She left out the part that Eric was unconscious and didn’t hear her, but deep down, she knew she had made the right choice.

* * * *

Keirra sighed heavily as she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. It had been three weeks since that horrible day in Atlanta, and she hadn’t spoken to Eric since but knew through reports from other people, mainly his family, that Eric was doing okay. The memories of seeing him in the hospital bed after he had made it out of surgery were still fresh in her mind. Since she had come back home to Baxley, she had become a recluse, only dealing with people that she had to deal with and leaving the house when it was absolutely necessary. That basically meant work. She even refused to go to Sam’s Café. All she wanted to do was sleep and be left alone. It was a sad thing to say because Christmas was next week, but she didn’t feel merry at all.

Christmas was her favorite holiday, and she wasn’t in the Christmas spirit at all. So far Kayla had done all of the Christmas decorations for the house by herself. Keirra was seriously considering seeing a psychologist. It felt as if she was losing her mind. Her every waking thought was of Eric.

She had already lost her heart. Thankfully, her sisters had rallied around her.

They were supporting her as much as possible, not asking her questions or anything else of her.

They knew that she had been pushed to her breaking point. She could also see the concern for her in their eyes, and she knew that she had to do something different. After toweling off, she slid into her bathrobe. She stepped into her room and stopped dead in her tracks and let out an ear-piercing scream.

Eric was sitting on her bed and didn’t flinch at the sound. The way he looked, he was probably too out of it for the sound to even register. She brought a hand to her throat and tried to calm herself.

This had been the last thing she’d expected.

She’d heard from Kristen he had come back into town two days ago. Randy and Kristen had gone over to check on him and had reported that he was doing okay. She hadn’t expected to run into him so soon, especially not in her own bedroom. Was he even supposed to be out of bed? He looked worse than she had expected, but he still managed to look sexy as hell.

She met his eyes wearily. She wasn’t ready for this confrontation. When he stood up, she unconsciously took a step back. He held out his hand, and without a reason as to why, she stepped forward and took it. Maybe it was because, deep down, she knew he wasn’t going to hurt her. Or maybe it was because she was really delusional and losing her mind. Either way, it was too late to go back now.

She stopped in front of him, and he untied her rode. Turning slowly, he reached for the briefs that she had placed on the bed. He held them out, and she stepped into them. Eric dressed her and she closed her eyes in agony. Getting dressed had never been so erotic. She missed the feel of his hands.

The bad thing was she was certain Eric didn’t mean anything sexual by it.

His next action proved that. He stood and took her hand in his before leading her out of her room.

He took her downstairs into the living room.

“We need to talk.”

Her eyes closed, and she almost trembled at the sound of his voice. It had been so long since she had heard it.

“What would you like to talk about?” she whispered, glad that her voice was sturdier than she felt.

“Our future,” he stated simply.

Her eyebrows rose. Leave it to Eric to get straight to the point and to have an ego while doing it.

“Do we have a future?”

He gave her an irritated look. “Of course we do.”

She closed her eyes and sighed. It was good to see him again. Three weeks ago, she had thought that possibility had been slim. Her eyes opened when he spoke again.

“Why did you leave me when I needed you?”

That statement brought her out of her trance.
Why did I leave him?
She sputtered, clenching her hands into fist.

“I must be out of my mind.” She began to pace talking more to herself than to Eric. “He decides to go off and play hero, gets shot in the process, scaring me completely out of my mind, and he asks me why I didn’t stay by his side when he needed me.”

When she turned and faced him, she struggled to control her anger. “Maybe you coming here was a mistake.” She nodded in the direction of the door. “You let yourself in, and you can let yourself out.”

Turning, she headed for the kitchen. And to think that she had been worried out of her mind over such an egotistical idiot.

“Kayla let me in.”

His response made her pause, but instead of replying she continued on into the kitchen. That would be taken up with Kayla, and she was going to kill her. Her older sister had picked up a nasty habit of meddling that was becoming irritating. She needed to do something to distract herself. Cooking would do it. Eric came into the kitchen just as she started to rummage through the refrigerator.