Heaven Can Wait
Sequel to: The New Jersey Connection & Viva Las Vegas
Summary: With the aftermath of the explosion, will everything be okay or turned completely upside down? Third story to The New Jersey Connection & Viva Las Vegas. R&R!
Pairing(s): Jim/Catherine, Nick/Andrea & Peter/Lucy
Feedback: Please. It's always welcomed and much appreciated.
Author's Note: It is recommended that you read The New Jersey Connection and Viva Las Vegas before this one. Otherwise, you'll be totally lost. Other than that, enjoy ;)
Chapter 1
Peter watched the building explode. He didn't know for sure if anyone was still inside, but if there had been, than chances were they weren't getting out alive.
Peter looked down at Lucy as he heard the sirens. "Come on, honey. Let's get you to the hospital. Andrea can fix you right up." he said as he picked her up and made his way through the field.
Paulie was on the ground coughing from all the smoke that had surrounded him, when he jumped up and made a beeline for the building.
Tony, who had been in the car, jumped out and ran after Paulie. He grabbed him, just as they reached the door. "Paulie, we gotta get the fuck out of here." Tony said, listening to the sirens getting closer.
"Tony, Nicole's in there. We gotta get her out."
"Paulie, if she's in there..."
"No, T. don't fucking say it."
Tears welled up in Tony's eyes as he thought about never seeing Nicole again. "I don't wanna fucking believe it either, Paulie, but we can't stick around here with the cops on the way." Paulie looked back at the building and hesitated. "Paulie, let's go back to the hotel and when everything calms down, we'll come back and look for her. That's if she's still..."
"But T. what if she is and we left her here? I couldn't live with that."
"Paulie, we got no choice. Now, come on."
Tony and Paulie jumped in the car, peeled out of the parking lot and took off down the street as the fire engines, police cars and paramedics rounded the corner.
Peter and Lucy arrived at the hospital. He helped her into the Emergency department. "She's been shot, help her." Peter yelled at the LPN that was at the front counter.
She yelled at the orderly to get a stretcher and another one to grab a doctor. The doctor that showed up was Andrea. She looked at Peter, "Should I even ask what happened?" She asked as she started her assessment of the bullet wound.
"Just take care of her," Peter stated.
Andrea nodded, and took Lucy down to the surgical ward to remove the bullet and surgically repair any damage.
Peter sat in the waiting room and wondered if the Soprano crew was really gone. Something inside him said that he wouldn't be that lucky that they really were gone for good.
He sat there with his head in his hands and sighed. Was it to good to be true? Was it all really over? The same voice inside his head said it wasn't. And if it wasn't than he would have to go even farther to make sure it was. This time Lucy got hurt, and he was not going to allow that to happen again. He was going to make sure they were gone and if they weren't, than he would have to make sure the next time they were.
What was he going to do now? At least here, he could calm down and think. Just than someone walked up to him. It was Nick. Peter looked up at him, "What the hell happened, Peter? Why did Lucy get shot?"
Peter sighed, "It's a long story, Nick."
"Well you better start explaining it. She's my little sister!"
Peter took a deep breath, "Nicole shot her, after she kidnapped Tony." he said bluntly.
Nick's eyebrows shot up, he stalled. "What?"
"Nicole shot her, after she kidnapped Tony." Peter repeated.
Nick shook his head. "I can't believe it. Lucy kidnapped Tony? Why? How?" he asked and sat down beside Peter.
"She told me revenge. For what Tony did to her five years ago."
"You mean making her believe you were dead?"
Peter nodded. "Yeah. That and she blamed him for her losing our baby."
"Baby?" Nick asked confused. "She was pregnant?"
Peter looked over at Nick. "She never told you about that, did she?"
Nick shook his head. "No, she didn't."
"You know, if Tony hadn't of fucked things up five years ago, Lucy and I could have been married with a family and she wouldn't be in surgery right now." Peter said angrily, stood up and started pacing. He looked back toward the OR doors. "What the hell is taking so long?"
Nick looked up at a worried Peter and had to admit, no matter how difficult, that Peter really did care for Lucy. Nick stood up and placed a hand on Peter's shoulder. "She's in good hands, Peter. Andrea won't let anything happen to her."
Peter sighed, nodded and swallowed the lump in his throat. "I hope so, Nick. I hope so. I can't lose her. Not again."
Paulie sat on the bed in the hotel room. Tony had gone to take a shower. Paulie was in a state of shock. He could not believe that she was gone, blown up, by Peter. Tears formed in his eyes.
Nicole was dead. The words sounded so final, so cold. Somehow, Paulie just couldn't bring himself to believe it. But he knew eventually, he would have to come to accept it. But how could he? No, this couldn't be happening.
How was he going to go on without her? He was absolutely devastated. Sometimes he thought it would be simpler not to get attached to anyone, then losing someone would have little impact of his life. But he knew that wasn't possible. He needed human contact, to feel connected to another person.
He and Nicole had, had a strong connection. A connection that he never, ever felt with another human being before. But being attached so deeply to her was the reason he was hurting so badly now. If truth be told, he depended on her because she mattered to him. She occupied a special place in his heart. She was a part of him and can never be replaced.
Losing Nicole was like a piece of himself being torn away. The wound was deep and gaping and he wondered if he would ever be able to repair it.
Would this deep, aching feeling that he had in his heart ever stop or would he be inflicted to live with the hurt forever? One thing Paulie did know was that ignoring it would not make it go away. In the long run it would only be worse and it would just hurt him even more.
The tears were now freely falling down Paulie's face and now the guilt was seeping into his mind. He should have stopped her from going back into that building. Stopping Lucy and Peter from getting away was not worth Nicole losing her life.
Paulie laid down on the bed, that he and Nicole had shared only hours before, and released all his grief, heartache, anger and misery in long heart wrenching sobs.
Tony was leaning against the shower wall, letting the hot, steaming water beat down on his aching muscles. He couldn't believe she was gone. His cousin, his sister, his best friend. He would never see her again.
He turned the shower off and stepped out onto the bath mat. He dried himself off and put the white fluffy bathrobe on.
He stared at himself in the mirror. He was feeling helpless and somewhat vulnerable at that moment. A feeling that was starting to overwhelm him. He felt light headed and all of sudden he was having trouble controlling his breathing. Tony was having one of his panic attacks.
He grabbed his chest and spun around the bathroom until he fell forward and hit his head off the tub, knocking him unconscious.
Nick had just gotten Peter calmed down when Andrea walked into the waiting room. Peter jumped up from his chair and rushed over to her. "Is she okay?"
Andrea placed a hand on Peter's shoulder. "She'll be fine, Peter. The bullet missed the major arteries, so she's lucky."
"Can I see her?"
"She's out right now. Why don't you go get cleaned up, have something to eat and get some rest. She'll be awake tomorrow and you can see her then."
Peter was about to object when he felt Nick's hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Pete, I'll take you back to your hotel. You can grab your stuff and come stay with me and Andrea."
Andrea smiled at Nick's gesture and knew it wasn't easy for him. "That's a good idea. You go with Nick and I'll be home later." Peter didn't move. "I promise, she's okay. We'll take good care of her."
Peter nodded and started to walk out of the waiting room. Then he turned back and pulled his sister into a hug. "Thank you, Andy." he said with tears threatening to fall.
"No thanks necessary." she replied and hugged him back. Peter let her go and made his way out of the waiting room. Andrea looked at Nick and took his hand. "Thank you for suggesting that Peter stay with us. I know that wasn't easy."
Nick looked into Andrea's eyes. "You know I keep wanting to find an ulterior motive with him but I have to admit he genuinely loves Lucy."
"Yes, he does."
"Is she really going to be okay? I mean you weren't sugar coating anything for him, were you?"
"No, Nick. She's gonna be fine. I promise."
Nick nodded and kissed her. "Thank you. I'll get Peter settled and we'll see you later, okay?"
"Alright." she replied and watched Nick leave.
Paulie was still crying on the bed when he heard a loud bang come from the bathroom. He sat up, wiped the tears from his face and made his way over to the bathroom door. He listened for a minute and then knocked. "Tony? T. you okay?"
There was no answer. He turned the door knob and opened the door. He saw Tony laying unconscious on the floor with blood spilling out of the wound on his forehead.
"Jesus Christ, Ton!" Paulie yelled and knelt down beside him. He lightly slapped Tony's cheeks to try and roust him awake. "Come on, T., wake up."
Paulie stood up and grabbed a glass that was sitting by the bathroom sink. He filled it with cold water and then poured it on Tony's face. Tony moaned and started to come to.
He slowly blinked his eyes opened and looked up at Paulie standing over him. "Shit! What the fuck happened?" Tony asked as he brought himself up into a sitting position.
"I was about to ask you that, Ton." Paulie replied and for the first time noticed the blood on the bath tub. "By the looks of it, you whacked your skull off the tub."
Tony brought a hand to his forehead and felt the blood. "Fuck!"
"I think you need to get stitches."
Tony stood up and made his way out of the bathroom. "No fucking way. I'll just clean it the fuck up and put a bandage over it."
Paulie shook his head. "Ton, you're fucking split open."
"I'm not going to the fucking hospital, Paulie."
"Fine. Let me call downstairs. Every hotel is supposed to have an in-house Doc."
Tony sighed and poured himself a scotch and soda from the bar. "Yeah, okay. Call him."
Paulie called the front desk and the manager informed him that he'd send the doctor up right away.
Peter and Nick finally arrived at Nick and Andrea's house. "You can put your things in this room." Nick said pointing at the door way of the spare bedroom.
"Thanks." Peter answered and walked into the room.
"The bathroom is just down the hall and to the right." Nick said and headed to the living room. "I've got to go back to the lab and fill out some paperwork. If you need something just help yourself and I will be back in a couple of hours."
"Thanks." Peter said as Nick left.
This was Peter's chance to have a shower and head down to the warehouse that Lucy blew up to make sure that the Sopranos were actually taken care of for good. Something inside him said that it did not go to plan. That they were alive.
The doctor took a look at Tony's gash on his head, "Well I do recommend that you go to the hospital and get stitches, Mr. Soprano."
"Just put a bandage on it, Doc." Tony replied, he decided that he was not going to go to a hospital and have to explain to the whole medical team what happened. He wanted to go confirm that Nicole was dead, even if his gut was telling him that she was not.
The doctor shook his head. "I don't know what happened here, but I'll do what you want." He said pulling out butterfly stitches, gauze and medical tape to cover the wound.
"Thanks." Tony said once the doctor was finished.
The doctor smiled and put his medical supplies back in the bag and took off his plastic gloves. "The bill will be added to your hotel bill." He said than left.
Tony looked over at Paulie. "I think the police and fire department have left the warehouse." He said walking to the bathroom. "Once I'm dressed we're going to go take a look."
Paulie swallowed the lump in this throat. "Okay, T."
Peter was just getting out of the shower, and started to dry himself off. He was starting to get pissed off at his inside voice for telling him that he failed at getting rid of the Soprano crew. He understood that the chances were slim at them surviving the explosion, but they seemed to have gotten out of everything else that he has put them through.
He hoped that Lucy's plan for killing Nicole worked. At least then she would have gotten her revenge on Tony, in making him suffer as much as she did. He put her through hell, by telling her that Peter had been 'taken care of', and putting that much stress on her and making her miscarry.
His temper started to flair. He was now getting beyond mad at Tony Soprano. He wanted his own type of revenge on him. He wanted to torture Tony for what he did, that is if he survived the explosion. His voice inside his head told him that he did. Goddamn his gut instinct. It was not right. It has to be wrong.
Peter sighed and got dress. There was only one way to find out if his gut instinct was right. And that was to check out the warehouse. He hoped to God that it was wrong. He prayed that it was. For Lucy's sake.
Lucy was starting to wake up. Even though Andrea said that it would be a while before she did. Her leg was a throbbing pain, and it was shooting up to her waist and abdomen. The LPN came in to check on her and get her vital signs. "Good afternoon, Miss Stokes. I'm Kim and I'll be your nurse for this afternoon. I just need to get your vital signs."
"Yeah..." Lucy answered groggy.
The nurse started with the primary four. She started with temperature which was 37.8 oC and than went to, blood pressure, which was 100/60. That was a little low, due to the surgery that Lucy just had. The LPN finally went on to her pulse and respiration rate. Which she took both at the same time. Lucy's pulse rate was good, 68 bpm and her respiration rate was 13/min.
"Your all good, Miss Stokes. Is there anything else I can do for you?" Kim asked as she wrote down the vital signs on the chart.
"My leg is killing me."
Kim nodded and looked down at the chart. "I'll see what I can do for you."
Lucy just laid there in Semi Fowler position (bed is at a 45 degree angle) "Thanks..."
Kim came back with Morphine. Morphine has a high potential for addiction; tolerance and both physical and psychological dependence develop rapidly. Which Kim had to explain to Lucy. Lucy did not care she just wanted the pain to go away. Kim gave the drug to Lucy, and told her where the call bell was to the nursing station if she needed anything else. Before Kim was out the door of the private room Lucy was back asleep.
Peter walked into the living room and found a key sitting on the table next to the door. A small note was sitting there. 'House Key... Don't lose it.' Peter smiled and took the key. Nick must have just left it there for him to find.
He walked outside and locked the house up. Got in the car and took a little drive, he was not going right to the warehouse, instead he decided to grab something to eat on the way there. It was about a 20 minute drive to the warehouse and he was not going to do that on an empty stomach.
Before he arrived at Dunkin Donuts his mind wandered to Lucy who was laying in the hospital bed, bandaged up and whacked out on pain killers. He knew how much it meant to her to get Tony, and that was hopefully what happened. He shook his mind of it and ordered a coffee and a donut. It may have not been healthy but it would fill the spot.
Tony and Paulie headed out to the car. Paulie was driving and Tony looked out the window. And started to think about Nicole. He remembered the time when they were kids in elementary school. Nicole was one grade below Tony and was getting picked on by kids that were three grades ahead of her, because of how long her hair was. She told Tony that she was going to meet them after school in the basketball court. Tony told her that he would deal with it instead of her.
It had been no trouble for Tony to take care of the three bullies because once they saw him step foot on the basketball court they all back down immediately. No matter how much older or stronger you were, one thing you never did, or do for that matter, was mess with Anthony Soprano.
Peter had finished his coffee and donut and headed toward the warehouse. Twenty minutes later he pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car.
He looked around at the mess of the building. There was nothing left of the place. If there had been anyone inside when it exploded, then there was absolutely no way that anyone had made it out alive.
He walked toward the rumble and noticed in some places that it was still smoldering. He looked to his left and noticed the burnt out shell from the rental car that he and Lucy had transported Tony in.
That's when Peter clued in to where Lucy had placed the bomb. It had been inside the car. That was the reason she wanted to move it inside the warehouse.
He walked in further and started sifting through the ashes, looking for any trace of human remains.
It wasn't an easy job because he had forgotten to bring gloves and everything was still hot.
He managed to get through most of the stuff and didn't find anyone. Either they had made it out of the building or the paramedics and coroner had already removed the bodies. Peter prayed it was the latter. Then this whole mess would be over with once and for all.
He decided not to take and chance and walked out the back door to check the surrounding perimeter.
Paulie pulled the car into the parking lot and noticed another car parked close to the building. "Who's car is that?"
"No fucking clue." Tony replied and got out. "Right now, I don't give a shit. Let's just look around."
The walked over to the smoldering rumble that had once been a warehouse and prayed that Nicole was not buried under any of it.
"I'll start here, you go over there." Tony pointed.
Paulie walked over to the burnt out frame of the rental car and looked back at Tony. "T. I think the fucking bomb was in the car."
Tony looked up at Paulie. "Makes fucking sense. Now I know why Lucy wanted the fucking thing in here."
Paulie started sifting through the debris that was around the car but came up empty. "Ton, there's no body here. You think maybe that means..."
"Paulie, I hope so but maybe she was already removed. I mean the fucking place was swarming with cops."
Paulie walked back outside and looked around the parking lot. That's when he noticed another warehouse next door. "Hey, Tony, we should check out the building next door."
Tony walked up to Paulie and looked at the building. "What the fuck for?"
"Just to be sure, T."
Tony nodded and followed Paulie across the parking lot to the other building.
Peter checked every inch of the property surrounding the back of the building and came up empty.
He looked around and noticed the building next door. He shook his head. No that was crazy. But just be on the safe side he decided to check it out.
He made his way across the dirt and bushes and stopped in front of the back door. He listened for any movement and when he didn't hear anything he pulled open the back door.
Tony and Paulie made their way up to the front of the building. Paulie tried to peer through the window but there was too much mud and dirt caked on them and he couldn't see a thing.
"You see anything, Paulie?" Tony asked as he walked up to the door.
"Windows are too dirty, Tony. I can't see a fucking thing."
Paulie walked back over to Tony. Tony gripped the handle on the door and yanked it open.
As the two men stepped through the front door they looked across the warehouse and saw Peter coming in through the back.
TBC...