Unforgettable (37 page)

“Patrick!” she gasped.

She looked back up at Paul.

“Patrick?” she asked in the voice of a frightened child.

Paul swallowed hard and turned pain-filled eyes to Susan, silently begging for help.

Breezy’s gaze focused on the fireplace as reality slammed into her like a sledgehammer. She saw the large blood stain for the first time and remembered everything.

“
Patrick!” she cried.

Breezy started crawling towards his body where it lay out of sight behind the sofa. She tried to stand, but her legs gave way and she fell back to her knees. She heaved her trembling body forward, determined to reach him at any cost.

“Patrick?”

She finally reached his frighteningly still form slumped against the fireplace, a pool of blood gathering behind his back. Frank lay face up across Patrick’s legs, his body riddled with bullets. With some reluctance and disgust, Breezy shoved Frank’s lifeless, foul-smelling body off of him.

Paul and Susan stood a few feet away, looking down at them. Susan clung to Paul’s chest, afraid Frank
wasn’t
dead and terrified that Patrick
was
. Paul was already convinced Patrick was gone and he knew Breezy would never recover from this blow.

Breezy put her ear to Patrick’s mouth and nose, but she was shaking so hard she couldn’t tell if he was breathing or not. He was so pale! She looked over at Susan with grief-stricken eyes. She turned back and felt Patrick’s chest above his heart, then pressed her fingers into his neck but couldn’t find a pulse. Panic filled her entire being as she pulled his lifeless body off the cold, stone fireplace and held him tightly against her breast. His precious blood soaked her blouse and covered her arms and face. She began rocking him back and forth in her arms.

“Nooooo! Patrick! Don’t you leave me, Patrick! Oh, please God, no! Don’t tear him away from me, too. Not yet, oh please, Patrick? Patrick, I love you! Don’t go! Don’t go!” she sobbed, cradling his limp body in her arms, her face buried in his silky black hair.

“I already told you…nothing on God’s green Earth could tear me from the arms of my angel,” Patrick whispered faintly against her ear.

His voice was weak and shaky, his eyes barely open, but he was alive and alert. He tried to raise his hand to touch her face but couldn’t quite make it. Breezy picked up his hand and held it to her cheek.

“Oh, Patrick! Thank God! Thank God! I thought… I thought I’d lost you!” Breezy cried, still rocking him back and forth.

She looked down at him and kissed his forehead tenderly, her tear-filled eyes now shining with joy.

“Why would I die and leave you, angel? My Heaven is right here on Earth, as long as I have you,” he whispered as his eyes fluttered and finally closed once again.

Chapter 19 “Someone to Watch Over Me”

Beep-beep…beep-beep…beep-beep…

Breezy lay beside Patrick in the dimness of the hospital room they now shared. She held his right hand gently as she watched his chest rise and fall with each breath. The doctors had promised he would wake up soon and she wasn’t about to close her eyes until he did, despite her mental and physical exhaustion.

Beep-beep…beep-beep…beep-beep…

The hypnotic beeping of his heart monitor allowed her thoughts to drift back over this morning’s traumatic events. She’d shot a man today…she’d killed Frank. Her mind examined every minute detail of their encounter, trying to find a scenario that would have made any difference but, as far as she was concerned, he’d been a dead man the instant he put a gun to Susan’s head. If she hadn’t killed him, he would have killed not only her and Susan, but Patrick, too. He’d given her no choice and she refused to regret the outcome. The sick bastard wasn’t going to blacken one more moment of her life.

Beep-beep…beep-beep…beep-beep…

She remembered the mass confusion that had descended on the scene when the police and paramedics had arrived moments after Paul had pried the gun from her frozen hands. Carl had taken charge of removing Frank’s body, taking the gun from Paul for evidence, and securing the crime scene. Susan, Patrick and Breezy had been transported to the hospital where Susan and her unborn babies were examined and released into Tom’s care. Breezy was treated immediately for her cuts and bruises but, on doctor’s orders, she would remain in the hospital with Patrick for a couple of days to monitor the concussion she’d received when she hit her head on the coffee table. Patrick had gotten the worst injuries. He was hospitalized with badly bruised and fractured ribs, a severe concussion and several stitches on the back of his head. He’d remained unconscious the whole time.

While waiting for Susan’s discharge papers to be processed, Tom had scrolled through the contact list on Patrick’s phone looking for an ICE number. There, he’d found Liam’s number and took the liberty of phoning to inform him of Patrick’s condition. From that moment on, Breezy and Patrick were both treated like royalty, with highly qualified doctors and nurses hired to attend their every need. Breezy refused to leave Patrick’s side, especially while he was still unconscious, so Liam arranged for a custom made king-sized hospital bed to be installed in their private room. It was completely against hospital policy but, as the saying goes, “money talks and bullshit walks.”

Beep-beep…beep…beep…beep…beep..

Her head jerked up at the sudden change in Patrick’s heart monitor and she held her breath as his ridiculously long eyelashes fluttered open and closed a few times. His half-opened brown eyes rolled sluggishly around the strange room, finally turning to focus on her face just inches away.

“Breezy?” he croaked.

“Oh, Patrick,” she sighed, tears of relief pooling in her eyes. “You’re awake…I was so scared!”

He attempted to roll onto his side to face her but his taped ribs protested vehemently and he hissed in pain. Breezy pushed him gently back down and snuggled close enough to satisfy his need to have her under his arm without hurting him any further.

“Angel, what happened? Are you okay? Where’s Frank…”

The door swung open and the night nurse bustled into the room to turn off the monitor.

“I see you’ve finally decided to join us, Mr. Day,” she smiled, walking around to Patrick’s side of the bed to check his vital signs.

“Are you in pain? Is there anything I can get you?” she asked.

“Just some water, if you don’t mind,” he answered.

“Certainly,” she said.

The nurse pushed a button, raising the head of the bed slowly to a more upright position. She poured a glass of water from the pitcher on the bedside table, plunked in a straw and handed it to Patrick. After only a few sips, he handed it back to her, smiling in gratitude.

“I’ll let the doctor know you’re awake. He’ll be making his rounds in an hour or so,” she told them as she turned and left the room, pulling the door closed gently behind her.

“Tell me…everything,” Patrick said, squeezing Breezy’s hand gently.

She told him the whole story, starting with how she’d left Susan alone in the kitchen to answer the phone call from Janet, fearing for Sarah’s safety, the gun pointing at Susan’s head, fighting for their lives with Frank and ending with the moment he opened his eyes in this very room.

“Patrick, I had no choice! He was going to kill you with the fireplace poker so I shot him!” she sobbed against his shoulder.

“Shhhh…shhhhh. It’s okay, angel. You were so strong and I’m so proud of you!” he told her, stroking her hair gently.

Exhaustion and relief finally claimed them. Unable to keep their eyes open any longer, Patrick and Breezy drifted off to sleep together, tracks of dried tears marking both their faces.

***

Liam came to their room early the next morning for a brief visit, having flown in from New York with Marie the previous night. Despite the fact that Breezy argued vociferously with him about it, Liam had already put a massive team on stand-by for the wedding preparations. Breezy had tried again to refuse his help but it was difficult to do with a head injury, swollen face and lip, and a stubborn, charming Irishman. Once Liam had spoken, there was no arguing the point…even Patrick knew that. She would have the finest designers, silks, satins, laces… anything she wanted, and all she had to do was decide on a design. He’d at least agreed to keep it on the down low and relatively small scale but refused, after all they had been through, to allow Breezy and Susan to lift a finger any further than they already had. Weddings were stressful and they’d all been through enough. She wasn’t to even think about the wedding until they were released from the hospital. Once they got home, she’d just make the decisions and Liam’s team of experts would do the rest.

As much as Breezy wanted to stick with her original plan, she had to admit a huge weight had been taken from her shoulders. It also helped to know Susan would be getting the rest and care she and the babies needed before experiencing the happy chaos their twins would surely bring to her and Tom’s life.

Two days later, all their friends gathered in Breezy and Patrick’s private hospital room to finally put all the pieces together on Frank’s escape from prison and subsequent appearance in Susan’s house.

“So, Breezy! I heard you were a real bad ass when it came to standing up to Frank,” Paul said appreciatively.

“She was! She’s my new hero!” Susan laughed.

“Mine too,” Tom said, standing behind Susan with his arms wrapped around her, his hands placed lovingly over her stomach.

Breezy snuggled up against Patrick in the custom made king-sized hospital bed. The entire left side of her face was swollen and covered in bruises from the punishment Frank had inflicted on her.

“Well, you can thank Adele for that,” she said through puffy lips.

“Adele?” Marie asked.

“Yes. Out of nowhere, the thought occurred to me that the main thing making Frank so powerful was his ability to intimidate people. After that, I kept hearing her song ‘Rolling in the Deep’ playing in the kitchen. Every time I felt like giving up, I heard the beat of that song and the lyrics, ‘you’re gonna wish you never had met me.’ The pounding beat and the words were like fuel to the fire, keeping me strong enough to stand up to him,” Breezy told them.

“I’m sure Frank is burning in Hell and regretting the day he met you, by now,” Paul said cheerfully.

“There was no music coming from the kitchen, Breezy,” Susan told her.

“Sure there was. Remember? We were listening to it before all Hell broke loose,” she said.

“Yes, I know, but I turned it off when the phone rang. I always do,” Susan said, looking at her friend as though Frank had caused her brain damage.

“You must be mistaken, Susan. I heard it the whole time!” Breezy insisted.

“Frank held us hostage for over an hour, Breezy. You couldn’t have heard it the whole time. I remember turning it off because I’d just opened the case and replaced the CD in its cover when he broke through the back door,” Susan argued.

“She’s right, Breezy. I picked up the broken CD and its case off the kitchen floor and threw them away myself,” Tom told her.

“Oh, man! That’s just creepy,” Paul said.

“Perhaps ya heard it cause ya needed to, lass. It doesna matter if t’were real er in yer mind…it gave ya tha strength ta survive. It be a blessin’ either way,” Liam interjected.

“Still, you should have seen her, Patrick. She was so cool and nonchalant about the whole thing, ‘God! You really are one pathetic excuse for a human being. Excuse me? Check this guy out will ya, Susan? Suddenly he’s developed manners! I guess there is a first time for everything. You know, if you harm one hair on Susan’s head, I promise you that I will kill you before this day is through,’” Susan said, playing the parts of both Frank and Breezy as she pretended to buff and shine her nails on her sweater.

They all laughed at Susan’s antics, not realizing how dead on she was about what really happened.

“That’s my angel. Vengeance from above,” Patrick said, trying to laugh at Breezy who was hiding her face in embarrassment under his arm.

The laughter made his chest hurt and he winced, but he was grateful for the pain…it meant he was alive to marry his Breezy.

“And we all know Breezy never makes a promise she doesn’t keep,” Paul said.

“Thank God for that,” Tom added, kissing Susan on the cheek. She smiled up at him lovingly.

“What I can’t figure out is how Paul got into the mix,” Patrick said.

“Funny thing, that,” Paul said, tossing a baseball in the air as he spoke.

Then he stopped and stared at the baseball in awe and admiration. As he slowly turned it in his hands, he told them his story.

“I was delivering Mrs. Princeton’s groceries, like I usually do for her once a week. I’d just left and, as I drove past Breezy’s house, er…well, you know, I noticed Sarah sitting on the curb crying. I pulled off to the side of the road and walked back to where she was sitting. I asked her what was wrong and she just launched herself into my arms crying. It took a while to get her to calm down but, when she did, she told me about going to Susan’s house to ask about playing with Breezy’s dog.

“I thought that was what she was crying about, but then she told me her mom didn’t believe her. I asked her what her mom didn’t believe and finally got the whole story.

“She said Breezy said the bad man wasn’t in jail no more and that she was afraid he was going to come burn down Susan’s house and hurt them, too. She tried to tell her mom ‘the bad man wasn’t in jail no more,’ but she said her mom didn’t believe her. I couldn’t imagine Breezy telling her any such thing and kinda shrugged it off as a child’s imagination. I took her by the hand and was walking her home when I saw she had a baseball in her hand. This baseball,” Paul said, handing the ball to Breezy.

Breezy rolled the ball over in her hand and froze, all the blood draining from her face. She recognized the ball immediately.

“This…” she swallowed the lump in her throat, “this is Andy’s baseball. How…”

Andy had signed the ball himself. He used to tell people that, when he grew up and became a famous ball player, this baseball would be worth a fortune. She looked at Patrick as if he might have the answers and handed him the baseball to look at.