A Reason (A Reason, Season, Lifetime Series) (12 page)

“You scared the fucking hell out of me, Emma. You held your breath and passed out for like three minutes! Eva told me to leave you alone, to not touch you! You talked to my dad last night without doing that, why did you have to hurt yourself now?”

“Because he was already here yesterday and he was here this morning. He can’t be here all of the time and I had to make him come. Listen, mom could go to jail if we don’t make it clear my sperm donor threatened our lives if she told. Sell it hard, Eva, or we lose mom too.”

Eva’s eyes are huge and I can tell she’s scared. Grant comes running back up and I hear feet pounding behind him.

“I’m okay. All this stress just got to me and I passed out. I’m okay, Ryan even gave me a blow pop. Totally better. Um, Kevin, while you’re here, you need to know that my sperm donor also threatened our lives every time mom tried to leave or tell anyone. He even put a hunting knife to my neck once when mom told him we were leaving. She had packed our stuff one day with Eva while he and I went fishing. When we got home she was packed in the car and was just going to grab me and go. He put his knife to my throat and said he would kill us all if we tried to leave. You can see the scar still I think.”

I tip my head up, and Eva points out the thin scar where he had drawn a little bit of blood.

“And when he had the gun and shot that hole in the wall, he said he would shoot Emma first if we left because Emma was the one who fights back.” Eva says, her voice shaky and emotional. We weren’t lying, this was all true, but we just hated to say it.

“
Well, I need to make another call. Are you ready to go see your mom and figure out the next step? I’m going to have Ma here call her friend at Domestic Violence. Lee is a sweet lady and she can look into what happens next.” Kevin starts walking back towards the steps.

Ma looks around at us. “What happened? Grant was a mess when he came downstairs. It takes a lot to scare a young man like that.”

“I’ll tell you all about it later, I promise. We’re fine. Let’s get going to the hospital to see my mom. Thank you, Ma, for everything. Ryan may have been the one to get you involved, but you chose to stay involved. You opened up your home and arranged your life to help us. We’re really blessed to have you.” I get up and hug her.

“Oh, sweetheart, it’s truly my pleasure. Ryan has talked to me about you for so long. When he called to tell me about your mom, I had to help. It’s just the right thing to do. I’m blessed to be able to help, and to now have you as a part of our lives. Both of you.” She hugs and kisses both Eva and I. Then we all head downstairs.

“Okay Pam is set, she says your mom is up and eating and they’re talking a bit. Lee from Domestic Violence has been called and she is looking in to things. I have two deputies already arresting your father and the ball is rolling. I can’t promise it won’t get scary, I can’t promise much, other than since you two ladies are seventeen you have a lot of say in what you do now. Let’s go see your mom, and we’ll go from there.”

We all walk out on to the large front porch of the farmhouse, and Ma stops to lock the door. We start walking down the steps when I hear the first gun shot. We’re not even a mile from my house, I would have to guess
it’s closer to a half mile, but I know already. I can feel it. “Kevin, fuck, call for backup! Officer down!” I take off running before anyone can catch me. I know someone is behind me and hear someone yelling to me, but all I know is I have to get there. I have strong legs, they may be short, but they are strong. I also know every path around here, and I cut through to the back horse trails. It will be faster than the road, I hope. I can finally see my house over the top of the hill when Ryan catches up to me. “Stop, Emma. Don’t get yourself killed! That’s gun shots we heard!” I know what it is, and I know who. I just need to see it for myself, and I need to help the other person. We run across my yard and see my front porch. The other officer yells for us to stop.

“Kevin called for back-up, he’s coming
.” I yell to the other officer. Then I look at my father’s body, and the other officer that’s lying down near him, and bleeding.

“Look, my father is go
ne, he’s dead. You’re safe. Now let’s save your partner, please. His aura is dark, he doesn’t have a lot of time if we don’t move.” It’s not the time to keep secrets.

The officer looks at me, shakes his head and then we turn to see Kevin driving down my long driveway really fast, kicking up gravel.

“Please, let me help him. I can if you let me.”

“You’re a kid.”

“A kid with fucking gifts. Get Kevin and let me help! The asshole is already dead, he won’t hurt us! Do you want to bury your partner?”

“Let her go. It’
s okay.” Kevin says as he jumps out of his car.

I run to the officer and open his shirt. The bullet hit just above the vest, under his arm. I pray it didn’t hit anything major. “I’m going to need a lot of sugar in a minute, someone go inside and find me chocolate.”

I breathe deep and reach into myself. There is a part of me that can now heal others, since I died. I think it’s a big reason why I have so many spirits watching over me. It means something, but right now I just want it to help me keep this guy alive long enough to get to the hospital. I apply pressure and I taste metal. The bullet is still in there. I try to sense where, and I sense it’s pushing on a back bone. It needs to come out the way it came in. I concentrate on the metal of the bullet and taste it in my mouth. The metal pops back out of the wound, and I hear someone gasp. I can’t heal him completely, but that should help, a lot. I take my hoodie off, and pull off the t-shirt underneath. Now isn’t the time to worry about anyone seeing my tweety bra. It’s a clean white shirt. I hold it against the wound and apply heavy pressure. “Okay, tell me you have an ambulance on the way?” I grit through my teeth, because I’m in a lot of pain and about to black out.

“Yes, the ambulance is on the way. This, what we just saw, this girl has gone through enough. You saw nothing, deputy. Nothing but the events that happened before we arrived. She ran and just applied pressure to his chest. That is it. I’m going to buy you so much chocolate you’re going to gain a lot of weight, kid.
That man whose blood is all over you? That’s my brother. It was his day off, he’s covering for me. I put on my uniform when Marie called me, but I had the weekend off because I asked for it off. You may have just saved a life today. I am sorry about your father, Emma. No kid should have to see their parent dead like that.

I shrug, not even bothering to look at the shell that was my father.
“It’s sad, but he chose his own path in life. Everything happens for a reason. All of it. I’ll explain this to you later, Kevin. Right now I need someone to feed me some chocolate. I’m dying here.”

Ryan comes out of the house with a big snickers bar and I have never loved that boy more. “Um, covered in blood and applying a lot of pressure, you want to feed it to me? Hands are kind of busy, and really dirty.”

“I can hear the ambulance, Emma. Why don’t you let me apply the pressure while you put a shirt on? It’s cold out, it is November in New York.

“It’s almost fifty, and until a trained paramedic gets here
, I am not letting go.” I answer with a mouthful of snickers. I’ll worry about eating like a lady when I’m not holding someone’s life in my hands. “More, please. I swear if you take another bite, Ryan, I will bite you.”

“For being so tiny, you sure can eat.” Ryan says. He’s trying to joke for my benefit, but we’re both a shaky mess.

“Do you want me to check your father? You said he’s already dead?” The deputy says.

“Yeah he’s dead. His spirit left as I was running down the hill. It was dark, I hope he suffers wherever his soul is going. God will judge him now.”

I take another bite of snickers as the ambulance pulls in. Of course my friend’s dad is driving. Small town, everyone knows everyone. Tweety will be all over town in no time.

“Hi, Mr. White! That one is dead,
you can kick him if you need to so you can walk by. This one has a gunshot wound, lost a lot of blood as you can probably see. I have a clean white shirt and am applying pressure. I arrived maybe three minutes after the shooting took place. The deputy there may need something for their nerves, they were kind of a deer in the headlights when I arrived with Ryan.”

“Hey, Emma. We have a second bus on the way. It’s cold out, baby. Let’s get a jacket on you. Move your hands now, Eric here is going to take over with the pressure, and you’re coming with me. Eric, the bus is less than two minutes out. Kevin can call the coroner, he already told me her father is dead.” Mr. White says.

I feel him wrap something warm around my shoulders and I feel both he and Ryan holding on to me and moving me away. “Did I finish that snickers? I may need more sugar. That was intense.”

“Come on and sit with me on the back of the Ambulance here. Eric is helping the deputy and I hear the sirens coming. You did a great job with that first aid there, sweetheart. Glad you took that class over the summer now I bet? Are you taking nursing at BOCES this year? I remember you saying you want to be a nurse.”

“No. I wanted a full regent’s diploma, I’m going to start my Registered Nursing courses in the fall at the Community College. I’m fine, if you want to check on Eric and the officer. Eric is really nervous.”

“He is, huh? I think Eric is okay, he can yell to me if he needs me, and look
, there comes the other ambulance now. Good thing you have a big driveway and front lawn. You’re shaking pretty badly and I’m worried about you going into shock. We’re going to take you on out to the hospital as well. The coroner and funeral home will come and deal with your father. You do realize that you told me to kick your father if I needed to? He’s dead, Emma. You understand this?”

“Yes, sir. He was an abusive bastard as I’m sure you and everyone else in this town knows. The State Police finally came in and he shot that deputy to save his own ass. The partner shot and killed him in defense. Speaking of, the partner’s nerves are killing me. Can you give them something?”

“Let me help you with all of these nerves and feelings. I can give you a shot, you’ll relax and calm down. You look a little manic right now, and I don’t blame you one little bit. You’re handling this all better than anyone I know possibly could. Do you trust me to help you?”

I look at Ryan and he looks like hell. I can feel he is really worried about me. “Will it knock me out all day?”

“No, honey, of course not. You may drift off, but Ryan and I will be right here with you. Kevin will follow us to the hospital. You can get checked out, talk to someone and make sure you are okay.”

“Okay. I trust you, I’
ve known you since kindergarten. I think I’m in good hands. Can Ryan ride with me though?”

“Definitely. There is enough room back here for us both to be strapped in with you.
” Mr. White says. He points for Ryan to sit.

“
Okay, this is just a shot to help you relax. It might sting a little bit, but not as much as that burn on your hand. I’ll put something on that in a few minutes. Did you burn yourself cooking breakfast again?”

“Yes, it was Ryan’s fault. His mom was teaching me to make pancakes her way, which is the best way ever just so you know, and then he looked at
me with those green eyes of his and I lost all sensible thought.”

Mr. White laughs. “So had you come home and he went off or what? I heard Kevin send a car to the house on the scanner. If you were cooking at Ryan’s how did you get here?”

Shit. “So this is only going to sting a little? Go ahead, I’m ready.”

“I hope you know you can trust me, honey. I’ve known you since you were just a tiny thing. You’ve been friends with my girls since you were barely out of diapers. Let me help.”

“I heard the gun shots from Ryan’s. I can talk to the dead, and I can sense death. I knew my father died instantly and someone else was dying. I ran here as fast as I could, and Kevin drove up maybe a minute later.”

“I’ve heard of this before. You died once, didn’t you?”

“Yes! How did you know that?”

“So did my wife. You should come over and visit to talk sometime when this is all taken care of. I am sure she would love to help you. The girls will be exited that you and Ryan are really together. They debated about it and went over all of the gossip about your little hallway scene yesterday. My phone was busy for hours.”

I had to laugh about that. “You just have to love small country towns.”

“Okay hon, I’m cleaning off the area now with this wipe, then you’ll feel a little pinch and a slight burn. Ready?”

“Yes, go ahead.” I feel it but just barely. The shot is no big deal, but I am getting dizzy really fast.

“Holy crap, is that a horse tranquilizer? I may pass out on you. One word about snoring from you, Ryan
, and I’ll kick your ass later.”

“You can snore all you want to, babe. I’ll be right here by your side.”

“Okay, just let it take you if you need to float for a while. We’re right here. The other team is here and Kevin is going to drive. He is having another team come to investigate the scene so he can stay with you and his brother, they will get his car to him later. Your front lawn is going to have a lot of tire marks since it’s a warm and wet November. We’ll worry about that come spring. Can you hear me enough to answer questions or are you under?” Mr. White asks.