Someone To Watch Over Me (23 page)

Shawn weighed the options. The police were
coming which meant Frank wouldn’t get far if he got past him. If he
held them here, the situation would harden into a hardcore hostage
standoff with Morgan on the wrong side of it. Her stalker was
barely rational. The odds of her getting hurt increased
exponentially if they became trapped.

“Okay,” Shawn replied. “I'm setting my pistol
down. See?”

Shawn slowly set the pistol on the floor,
then stood up and stepped back. Shawn stared over at Morgan and his
chest tightened. He'd failed her. “I'm sorry,” he said softly. She
stared back in silence. He read her face. The terror of a few
seconds ago had melted and she appeared to be planning something.
He could see her working something out, but what?

“Move up,” Frank ordered and nudged Morgan
forward to the gun. When they reached the place Shawn set his
weapon down, Frank ordered Morgan to crouch down with him so he
could pick it up. He almost succeeded when without warning Morgan
pushed backwards, tumbling on Frank, and pinning him to the floor.
Fearing that he would lose her, Frank abandoned trying to reach the
gun but before he could get a firm grip on Morgan, she sank her
teeth into his arm.

Frank screamed and Shawn charged, peeling
Frank's arm away from her.

“Run,” Shawn shouted as he broke the
stalker’s hold on her. Morgan scrambled out of reach but Shawn felt
Frank's weight shift.

“He's going for the gun,” Morgan shouted.

“You ruined it,” the deranged man screamed as
he writhed and lurched for the weapon. Shawn crashed down on top of
the stalker and lunged for Frank’s arm to prevent him from grasping
his gun, but he was too late. The younger man clutched the weapon
and tried to point it at Shawn.

The handgun’s muzzle waved all over the place
as the two men wrestled. It discharged and the recoil ricocheted
down both men’s arms. A second shot sent blinding pain into Shawn’s
leg. His body tightened, and he reached down to his thigh. His head
slammed into the carpet as his head rolled to the side. Morgan
scrambled over to him.

“Get away from him!” Frank shouted.

“No!” Morgan yelled.

Shawn glanced up. Frank had the gun and
leveled the muzzle at the couple.

“We're going.” Frank growled. He edged around
them and moved to the door. As he reached down to grab Morgan, she
wrenched her arm out of his hold. Suddenly Frank’s face took on a
shocked, wounded expression, before he fell to the carpet. The
young man convulsed for a few seconds and then was still.

Within seconds, he recovered and tried to
stand up when another group of seizures followed. A crackling noise
filled the air.

Shawn rolled his head around and found
Sabrina with the Tazer in her hands.

“Grab the gun,” Sabrina ordered. When the
electric current stopped, Morgan scrambled over and yanked the gun
out of Frank’s hand. Frank moaned and tried to get up for a third
time but Sabrina nailed him again.

“Atta girl, fry the son-of-a-bitch,” Shawn
growled.

Sabrina staggered over and took the gun from
Morgan and held it on Frank. “Morgan, call the police,” she
ordered.

Shawn grasped his leg and sank back on the
carpet. “They're on their way,” he groaned. “Call for an
ambulance.”

Morgan scrambled over to the phone, and Shawn
glanced over at Sabrina who continued to hold the gun on Morgan’s
stalker. The young woman appeared dazed. She slowly swayed back and
forth as she balanced on her feet. “Morgan, make that two
ambulances,” Shawn added.

Morgan returned to him and glanced down at
his leg. “Oh My God,” she whispered. She spun and dashed to the
bathroom and returned with every towel she could bring. She
unfolded a clean towel and applied pressure to his leg.

Shawn stiffened and hissed as the throbbing
pain went nuclear. Morgan glanced up at him and he read dry-eyed,
sober concern in her eyes.

“So much blood,” Morgan murmured as she
leaned down heavily on his wound.

Shawn looked down at her hands, and weakness
washed over him. It looked bad.

“Lay down.” Morgan ordered. Shawn complied,
and she lifted his leg and stuffed pillows and towels under it to
elevate his thigh. He grimaced and hissed.

Morgan looked at his face. “Sorry.
Sorry.”

The vibration of running feet thumped through
his shoulders and back. “I think the police are here.” He smiled,
exhaled, and closed his eyes.

***

Morgan stormed through the glass doors in the
emergency entrance so quickly she barely cleared them as they
opened.

“Morgan, over here,” Vicki said.

Her head snapped in the direction of the
voice and found her sister standing off to the side waiting for
her. She looked calm, but her eyes held a worried air.

“I got here as soon as I could. How's
Shawn?”

Vicki extended her arms wide open, and Morgan
moved in and hugged her. “He's in surgery. We hope to know
something soon,” she whispered.

Morgan gulped and she pulled back to gaze in
her sister's face. “The police report took so long. God, Vic, there
was so much blood.”

Vicki nodded. Morgan's eyes watered for what
must’ve been the hundredth time since the attack and her knees
behaved like they were made of Jell-O.

Her sister tightened her grip. “Come on.
Don't lose it now.” Vicki grasped Morgan's arms, “Breathe.”

Morgan inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. Her
sister gave her a small smile. “Good, again.”

Morgan drew another breath but before she
finished exhaling, the younger sister swung her around and marched
her down the hallway. As they reached the elevator, Vicki punched
the button and Morgan stared blindly at the metallic door.

“Get ready. There's quite a crowd in the
waiting room.”

Morgan cast a glance at her. “I can
imagine.”

“Yeah, Mom, Dad, Sabrina's family, and Matt
are upstairs.” The door opened, and the two women stepped in. “You
missed the explosion.”

Morgan arched her brow, “What explosion?”

Vicki chuckled. “Sabrina struck me as a quiet
person, but she can put up quite a fight when you try to make her
do something she doesn't want to do. Like spend the night under
observation in the hospital.”

“Is she still here?” Morgan asked.

Vick grinned. “Matt arrived and put his foot
down. He said if she walked out of the hospital tonight, he’d fire
her.”

“I’m sure that went over well.” Morgan
wrapped her arms around herself and began to rub them. “Why are
hospitals so cold?”

“Between you and me I think Sabrina has a bit
of a crush on Matt,” Vicki added.

The elevator door opened and Vicki led her
down the hall to the waiting room. As Morgan rounded the corner,
she found her parents huddled with another couple and a young
teen-aged boy.

William Kennedy stood up with her mother, and
the couple walked over and hugged her. Morgan clung to her mother,
took deep breaths, and closed her eyes to banish the tears that
welled up. Then she opened her eyes and sought out Matt. He stood
off to the side of the room, away from the families and leaned
against a credenza. She studied his face in an effort to read what
might be happening. His lips were pressed together firmly, and his
relaxed posture didn’t hide the worry in his eyes.

Morgan looked away. It must be bad. She
pulled back from her mother's arms. “How long has Shawn been in
surgery?”

Her mother glanced at her wrist watch. “About
two hours.”

“He could have died tonight.”

“But he won't,” her sister responded.

William spoke. “Morgan, it's over. Your
stalker is in police custody.”

Morgan nodded. “Yes. Did you know he stalked
someone else about a year ago?”

“How could this happen?” Morgan’s mother
asked.

“He slipped through the system, I guess. He
needs serious psychological help. Maybe this time he’ll get it,”
Morgan answered.

The older woman shook her head, and anger
flashed in her eyes. “How do you slip through the system?”

“Elaine. Relax.” William said as he touched
his wife's arm. “He'll never get a chance to do this again.”

Morgan glanced back at Matt. He watched the
family with a cool, detached expression. “Mom, dad, have you met
Shawn’s business partner, Matt?”

“Yes. He's very nice, dear.”

“Speaking of meeting people,” William Kennedy
interrupted. “Let me introduce you to Sabrina's family.” Her father
gently took her by the arm and walked her over to the couple and a
teenage boy sitting quietly. “Morgan, this is Benito and Margarita
Diaz. They’re Sabrina's parents, and this handsome young man is her
brother, Roberto.”

The older man stood and extended his hand. “A
pleasure to meet you.” His polite demeanor failed to hide the tired
worried look in his espresso-colored eyes.

“Sabrina was very brave tonight,” Morgan
said. “She actually took my stalker down. You should be proud of
her.”

A frown popped up on the man face. “Proud?
Yes. I'm proud of my daughter. But I don't think she should be
putting herself in such dangerous circumstances. She must leave
this job. I will insist.”

Morgan pressed her lips together firmly as
she shook his hand. What would Sabrina do after today? She clearly
loved her job and yet her parents were against her continuing in
this position. “My sister said she is staying tonight for
observation.”

“Yes. We've all insisted after hearing what
the doctor's said. My daughter has a strong will.” Benito took a
breath and paused. He appeared to want to say more but chose
instead to keep his thoughts private. He smiled. “This is my wife,
Margarita.”

Morgan turned and extended a hand only to be
warmly hugged from the petite woman. “I'm glad you're here. It's
like we're family,” Sabrina's mother whispered as she patted
Morgan's shoulder.

Guilt pinged through Morgan, and she squeezed
the middle-aged woman. “I tried to get here as soon as I could. The
police insisted I stay and give a full report on what
happened.”

“Hush,” the woman replied as she pulled back
and looked Morgan in the face. “We know.”

Morgan glanced over at Matt and found him
watching the exchange.
Why is he sitting off by himself?
She
detected a fleeting change of expression from a few minutes ago.
The concern in his eyes had melted into what she could only
interpret as longing before he turned and stared at the television
screen.

Morgan shifted her attention back to Benito
and Margarita and chatted with them for a few minutes before
sinking into the chair beside her parents. She rubbed her forehead
as she fought off the physical exhaustion which slithered through
her limbs and sucked the energy from her. Shawn had been in surgery
for two hours and they'd not heard anything. Every time someone in
scrubs traveled down the hallway past the waiting area, Morgan
would lock onto them and pray they were coming over to give
everyone news.

Finally, Morgan stood up and walked over to
Matt. The lean sandy-haired Texan regarded her approach, but made
no comment.

“Matt?”

“Not now,” he said.

She stopped. Was he angry with her about what
happened? She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came.

“Go sit before you fall down,” he said.
Exhaustion threaded through his quiet voice.

“We need to talk.” Morgan said.

Matt nodded. “I know. We will, but not
now.”

Morgan took a slow deep breath and turned to
sit down next to her sister. She leaned back in the chair and
stared at the TV mounted on the wall. The cable news show talked
about the upcoming election, but Morgan couldn't focus. The events
of the day replayed over and over in her head.

Finally, a gray-haired man in surgical scrubs
arrived, “Matt Anderson?”

Morgan leaned up in her seat. She could feel
everyone around her tense but she stayed seated as Matt approached
the doctor. They spoke for a few minutes. Her mouth felt like she'd
been sucking on cotton. Matt shook the doctor's hand and walked to
the families. He flashed a weary smile. “He's going to be all
right.”

Relief washed through her. As she tried to
stand, her knees buckled and she sank back into the chair
cushion.

“He's in recovery right now and should be
there for a while. They don't expect to move him to a room for a
few hours yet. I would suggest everyone go home and try to get some
sleep.” Matt added.

“Good idea,” William Kennedy said. He turned,
stood up, and waited as his wife picked up her purse and water
bottle.

“Morgan, are you coming?” Elaine asked.

“Hmm?”

“Do you want us to walk you to your car?” Her
father asked.

“No. I'm going to stay a bit longer.” Morgan
cast a glance over at Matt.

“Honey, Shawn won't be ready to see visitors
until tomorrow afternoon. Maybe you should go home and come back
when he’s awake.”

Morgan shook her head. “No. I'm staying. I'll
give you a call tomorrow.” She glanced down at her wrist watch.
“Correction, later today.”

Her mother nodded and her parents started
walking down the hall after the Diaz family.

“Are you sure you don't want me to keep you
company?” Vicki asked.

Morgan smiled. “No. I'm fine. Go back to the
hotel and get some sleep.”

After the families left, Morgan turned and
found Matt staring at her. He crooked a small tired grin. “Let the
receptionist know why you're here and they’ll update you when they
move him to a private room.”

Morgan nodded. “Will do.”

Shawn's partner reached out and gave her arm
a gentle squeeze before he ambled down the hall.

Morgan checked in with the nurse's station
and sank back into the chair. The empty seating area and the cold
air-conditioning contributed to a sense of numbness that chilled
her body and mind.