Wow! Thank you so much for the reviews for my first chapter. They were incredible and made me smile. I am so glad you liked it and because of your reaction, I changed this chapter a little bit and I'm going to extend the story a little. It's going to be at least 4 chapters now! Again, thank you so much! I hope you keep reviewing, they make my day!
Enjoy!
A Point to be Made
Stan spent most of his time in the hospital corridor, making sure he was in sight of the waiting room where Abigail and Delia were and the examination room where Mary was. He had his cell phone attached to his ear, trying to get a handle of the situation and although it was difficult to do at the hospital, he refused to leave incase Marshall or Mary needed him.
They had arrived in two ambulance 20 minutes ago; Abigail travelling with Marshall and Stan with Mary. As soon as they got there, Mary tried to follow Marshall but was stopped immediately at the trauma room door.
Thankfully she had gone with the nurse to be check over without needing much convincing once she realized there was nothing she could do. After the doctor had entered the waiting room to tell them Marshall had been taken to surgery, Stan went straight to Mary's room. Relived to see her led on the bed, seemingly doing as the doctor asked.
"Stan?" Mary looked at him, unsure whether she wanted an update on her partner or not. She didn't know if she could handle hearing it, if it was bad news.
"They've taken him to surgery." Stan informed her. "The doctor seemed pretty confident that he's going to be okay….He said that although the vest didn't stop the bullet, it probably saved his life."
Mary let out a long breath and led her head back against the pillow.
"He's tough, Mary…Just remember that." Stan reached out and patted her hand.
"Yeah…" She whispered in agreement. "I thought…down in that tunnel, I thought he was gone."
"Me to." Stan admitted. "But this is Marshall Mann we're talking about and he's in the best capable hands."
Mary own hand strayed to her pregnant stomach, rubbing circles.
"So…" Stan started. "How you doing?"
"Don't worry, no baby today." Her hand froze when she realized what she was doing. "They were concerned I had started labor but it's seemed to have stopped…I just need to rest for a bit."
"Good." Stan sighed. "Thank god for that."
"Yeah, only one drama at a time." Mary agreed.
"Listen, I've got some calls to make." Stan told her. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah…" She shrugged but didn't sound convincing. "Sure."
"Do you need anything?"
"No."
"Okay, I'll just be in the corridor…Have someone get me if there is anything."
"Stan?"
He had made it to the door before she called him and he turned back to her.
"Can you call my family?" She said. "I bet they're wondering where I am…"
"Of course."
"Tell them I'm fine and not worry…they don't need to leave the wedding." She added. "Just let them know I won't be coming."
"Okay." Stan nodded.
Mary closed her eyes and led her head back down but tears still rolled slowly down her face.
XxXxX
Another 15 minutes passed and Stan had returned to the waiting room with coffees but wasn't surprised when Abigail turned it down. He placed it on the small table beside her just in case, squeezing her shoulder gently.
The door open and Stan jumped up from the seat he had only just sat down on.
"Mary, what are you doing?" He rushed towards her.
"Have you heard anymore?" She asked, slowly making her way into the room.
"You shouldn't be out of bed." Stan told her, taking a hold of her arm.
Mary pushed him away, gently. "All I'm doing in there is sat around waiting when I could sit around waiting in here."
"Mary…"
"Stan, have you heard anything more?"
"The doctors seemed to think it could take up to three hours." Abigail answered, causing everyone to turn their attention to her but she kept her eyes on the wall in front of her. "One hour is almost up."
Mary looked at her for a few seconds before slowly nodding. "Right…"
Stan guided Mary to a chair and offered to get her anything she needed but she just shook her head, still watching Abigail. She didn't know what to say the younger woman. Should she try and comfort her? How would that go down?
"Abigail…" Mary started softly but before she could say anymore the door opened.
"Mary?" Jinx raced to her side. "Are you okay? Is the baby…?"
"Mom, I'm fine…" She told her, glancing up to see Mark and Peter there to. "You didn't need to come down here…"
"We were told you were involved in a shooting." Jinx reached out and gripped her hand tightly. "I thought…"
"I'm fine." Mary insisted again. "Marshall the one…..Marshall got hit."
"Oh." Jinx gasped, covering her mouth. "Not again."
Mary closed her eyes, at her words remembering that day as if it was were yesterday. For the first time ever, she was beginning to wonder whether being a US Marshal was really worth it.
"Is he going to be okay?" Peter questioned.
"He's in surgery." Stan supplied. "We'll know more afterwards but the doctor seemed positive."
"Oh good."
"What are you even doing here?" Mary looked up at him. "Shouldn't be dancing with your new wife? Speaking of which, where is she? Don't tell me she stayed there and let you all come here?"
"Actually, I was kind of hoping she would be here." Peter rubbed the back of his neck, nervously. "She didn't show at the wedding…"
"What?" Mary looked from him to Jinx before glaring at Mark.
"Hey, don't look at me like that." He held up his hands. "I did everything on the list and I got her there…How was I supposed to know she would do a runner?"
"Jesus…." Mary breathed out, dropping her head to her hands before sitting up straight again. "Peter…"
"Look, you have so much important things to deal with at the moment." Peter held up a hand to stop her. "I'm glad you're okay…I better get back."
"I'm sorry…" Mary said weakly.
"Me too." He smiled sadly. "Tell Marshall to get better from me."
Mary just nodded and watched him leave before looking to her ex-husband and mother. "Go with him; make sure he's okay…"
"Mary, you're the one in a hospital."
"Mom, please…" She swiped a hand across her forehead. "Just let me worry about my best friend...He's what is important."
"My best friend?" Abigail repeated, turning to look at her.
Mary was surprised to hear her voice and glanced at Stan quickly before back to the younger woman. "Yeah, my best friend…my partner…My…"
"Your what?" She questioned. "Your Marshall?"
"Abigail…"
"No, don't." She stood suddenly, holding up a hand. "You know why he did what he did, don't you?"
Mary frowned a little. "What do you mean, what he did?"
"Why he stepped in front of that bullet…"
"He was doing his job…." Stan said softly. "He was protecting you…"
"He was proving a point…"
"Come on, why don't we all calm down?" Delia cut in diplomatically. "We've all had a hard day…."
"A point?" Mary ignored her. "What do you mean a point?"
"He was trying to prove that he could be there for both of us." She swiped a hand across her face, brushing away a few stray tears. "Because he saved you from the sniper fire, he wanted me to know he would do the same for me…"
"Of course he would…" Stan added. "He cares about you…"
"Marshall is the kind of guy…" Mary started.
"Don't tell me what kind of guy he is." Abigail snapped. "I know what kind of guy he is…I know him!"
"Abigail…"
"And it's not fair…It's not fair because he a great guy….smart, handsome, kind, sweet…" She listed, more tears started to fall from her eyes and this time she didn't stop them. "And I love him…I've fallen in love with him."
Mary stared at her… It wasn't too surprising, considering everything the other woman had said was true. Marshall was a great guy and if she was truly honest with herself, she found it confusing to why women weren't falling over themselves for him. What she didn't understand was the stab of pain in the pit of her stomach and how her heart speeded up. She didn't want someone else to love Marshall and she sure as hell didn't want Marshall to be in love with someone else. She just didn't know what that meant.
"And he is starting to fall in love with me…" She stated. "But you want to know the real unfair thing…the thing that makes me doubt our relationship…It's you."
"Abigail…"
"He loves you…He would do anything for you." She stated.
"Marshall and I are partners…Friends." Mary reasoned.
She shook her head a little. "It's more than that and you know it…everyone knows it but no one will talk about it."
"Look, this isn't not helping anyone." Stan cut in. "Mary, maybe its best you go back to your room…"
"Let me just say this and then I'll drop it." Abigail said and then looked back to Mary. "I can make him happy…I can give him the future he wants…but I will walk away if it means giving him everything he has ever wanted."
Mary frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"A future with you…" She told her. "So, Mary you need to figure out what you truly want because this is the only chance I'm going to give you…if you don't love him…If you don't want to be with him, then fine…but if you do and you don't take this chance, you won't get another one…I will fight tooth and nail for him because he deserve it…He deserves to be loved the way I can love him…and the way you should."
Silence fell over the room, no one dare say a word and they were all waiting for Mary to reply but she didn't. Instead, she continued to look at Abigail, her mouth open in surprise.
"I need to call my office…let them know what's happening..." Abigail said after a few second had past and it was obvious Mary wasn't going to respond.
They all watched her walk out the room and when Jinx tried to put a comforting arm around her daughter, Mary pushed her away.
Abigail had just called her out on her feeling and the only person who had ever done that was Marshall himself. When he had, it made her run off to Mexico and perhaps pushed him towards finding Abigail but afterward they were still partners…still best friends.
She wasn't so sure it would end like that this time. She had to work out if her feeling for Marshall was more than she willing to admit or not because she had a feeling if she wasn't honest, she was going to end up losing him.
TBC
Okay, please let me know what you think!