Thanks for the reviews, especially to LoneStar50 - I would normally thank a repeated reviewer by PM but as you're a guest I can't.
Chapter Eleven
George was sleeping peacefully when a heavy arm fell across him. Waking instantly at the unfamiliar intrusion, he opened his eyes to look disgustedly at Lavon who had moved several inches closer. Reminding himself why Lavon was sleeping in his bed, he looked over to the couch that Wade had crashed on. The cushions were empty.
"Lavon!" he said loudly. "LAVON! Wake up! Wade's gone!"
The last part had the desired effect, and Lavon groaned as he sat forward and rubbed his head.
"What should we do?" George asked, impatient with Lavon's slowness.
Lavon moved to get up and chuck his shoes back on. "How long has he been gone?" he asked.
George checked the time. "Wade couldn't have been gone long. It's only been thirty minutes since we got into bed. Do you think we should call Bill?"
Lavon deliberated, then shook his head. "No. We don't know anything's wrong. First thing's first, let's go and see if we can find Wade. I don't want to disturb anyone at this time of night, when we promised him we'd make sure Wade didn't do anything stupid." He looked darkly at George.
"Hey, don't look at me! You fell asleep too, almost rolled on top of me!" argued the lawyer. "I thought Wade was down."
Lavon grabbed George's torch, and stepped outside. "So did I, else I wouldn't have fallen asleep," he growled.
"What if he's gone into the bayou?" George asked quickly, as they began jogging up the path.
"Look, one hurdle at a time, okay, let's not over-complicate. Wade will have gone home first. Let's start there. George, are you sure you can't go any faster?"
Stopping talking and focussing on moving as quickly as possible, they reached the plantation. They both saw it at the same time. Yellow light emanated in the distance, smoke pouring out the windows of Wade's house. Swearing exclamations, Lavon and George stood still in shock for the moment, until Lavon took charge.
"George, call Bill, notify the Bluebell fire squad that there's a fire. I'm going to go and see if Wade's in there," he said urgently.
"What about you?" George called after him, but Lavon didn't bother to reply, his entire focus on getting there. Aghast at the size of the blaze as he looked through the window, Lavon kicked the door in, coughing as smoke came billowing out. Letting it clear for a couple of seconds, he covered his face with his sleeve and stuck his head in, trying to see if Wade was in there. Hell no, he thought as he spotted Wade's prone body lying on the floor. The surrounding furnishings had caught alight, the flames creeping close and Lavon acted on instinct as he rushed in and pulled Wade out. He moved frantically, beyond concerned about Wade's unconsciousness, and had dragged him all out all the way to the yard, before he noticed the blood covering his friend's body. "Wade, can you hear me?" he shouted, before putting his ear to Wade's mouth. He still had a weak pulse, but was barely breathing. Flipping open his mobile, Lavon called Brick.
"Brick, need you to get here right now to Wade's place. I think he's been shot, and I've just pulled him out of a fire."
Used to emergencies, though usually not quite as dramatic, Brick stayed calm and cool at the end of the line. "I'll be there within 5 minutes, keep pressure on the wound, and call for an ambulance. Is there an exit hole?"
Lavon tilted Wade forward, but couldn't find one. "No."
Brick paused, unwilling to admit that was bad due to the stress in Lavon's voice. But he didn't have to. Lavon continued, "I've seen enough tv shows to know that's not good, right?"
"No, it's not. Be there soon," Brick promised, and hung up.
As Lavon put away his phone, George came running, eyes locked onto Wade in disbelief. "Has he been shot?" he asked shrilly.
"Yes. Brick's on his way." Looking up, he saw George scanning the area in panic.
"He did this. He must be close."
"Yes George, but right now we've got this situation to deal with. This guy's proved himself a coward. He won't come out with the both of us here," said Lavon confidently.
It wasn't long before Brick arrived in his car, with Bill close behind him. "The fire crew has been mobilised and will be here shortly" he said as he got out. Addressing George, he said "have you seen any sign of the suspect?"
"No, we turned up with the house on fire and him long gone."
Brick headed straight to Wade, checking the damage, and put an oxygen mask across his face. "Have you called the ambulance?" he asked Lavon who confirmed he had. "How long before they get here?"
"More than forty minutes. They don't have any out this side of Mobile."
Brick gaped at Lavon, realising that Wade couldn't wait that long. He needed to be treated for smoke inhalation as well as the gunshot wound, and from a quick glance Brick suspected that he had a broken finger on his left hand. Thinking quickly, he said "there's not enough time. I need to get Wade onto an IV blood transfusion immediately or he'll bleed out before I can get the bullet out. Help me get him to the practice, Lavon."
With some difficulty, they placed Wade as gently as they could on the back seat of Brick's car. "You drive," Brick told him. "I need to make a call."
"Who?"
"Zoe. She's a surgeon and I'm gonna need her help with that bullet. I know it's not ideal, but she would never forgive me if by not asking for her help I let Wade die."
-HOD-
The fire engine had driven up, along with half of Bluebell, who had all joined together when the word had gotten out about the fire. Satisfied with the Reverend's appropriation of managing the fire, and after communicating with his co-workers in Mobile, they had decided to send some back-up then and there. Bill was deliberating waiting for them, but there was a tantalising trail of blood leading into the bayou, clear against the stark white ground. He turned to see Wally standing over his shoulder, following his gaze.
"I wanna get this guy."
Wally nodded, a grim look plain on his features. "Come on." Turning round to address a few men who had just arrived, Bill's deputy amongst them, he asked for their help in following them into the bayou. Dealing out instructions, they were ready in barely a minute.
Once inside, using torches they were able to follow the path of blood. "He's moving slow," muttered Bill to Wally. "Lost quite a bit of blood. We keep on this trail we could catch him." The group, used as they were to the area were able to navigate it with ease even in the dark.
"My only concern is that he'll see us coming," muttered Wally. "That or 'gators."
"Keep noise to a minimum. We need our torches, have to run those risks I'm afraid," replied Bill, navigating a tree stump. "'Gators should be due west from here. This path shows he knows where he's going, and that he's been through here before. He should keep us away from any natural danger."
They moved for another ten minutes, the blood growing fainter as the wounds clotted themselves, when "Psst! Ten o clock, I saw him!" shouted one of the men.
"Hurry!" Bill called, breaking into a run. "Be careful!" He then shouted "Halt!" to the escaping criminal.
A bullet whizzing past him caused him to stop and hide behind a tree, his chest heaving. Fortunately the moonlight was brighter in this area due to less foliage, and peeking out, Bill could see his quarry hobbling away, barely 20 feet distant, looking over his shoulder now and again to check for pursuit. Seeing another running for him, he shot again, and this time Bill heard a low-pitched yell. Someone was down. Scanning for Wally, he saw the other man hidden similarly and Wally nodded at him, agreeing to help the wounded man. Bill let him go and continued, yelling, "Stop! Police!"
Another bullet was directed his way but it missed massively as Duane barely had time to aim. "Stop! You're under arrest," Bill said again, still moving, when Duane finally stopped in his tracks. Spinning quickly, he aimed at Bill and stood his ground. Bill's lips curved in satisfaction as he scanned him, taking note of the blood and bruises all over his face and shirt, even as he quaked inwardly at the gun.
"Never," Duane said, breath hoarse and weak from blood loss. The cut in his chest had been pretty deep, more so than he'd realised at first, and light-headedness threatened to make him fall to his knees. His iron will however was enough to keep him going for a little while longer.
"You're surrounded, son. Ain't nowhere to go. Put your gun down and kick it to me. Then I'll take you in." Bill argued, knowing that if this s.o.b. tightened his fingers he'd shoot first. He wasn't taking any chances of being shot too.
Duane waited as he thought it over. He didn't have enough bullets to take out the four men that now surrounded him, and he couldn't keep running as his car was still a mile away. The pain in his chest and face was excruciating. Looking into their faces, he knew there was no escape – they were too determined. But so was he. He was not going to prison. And ever since he'd left Wade's house, a sense of slow peace had overtaken him. He'd finally done what he wanted to do. Wade was dead. Shot and burned. There wasn't anything more he needed to do. He smiled to himself. "Not gonna let you take me to prison. I needed to kill Wade Kinsella for what he did to my sister. I've done that now. I can rest easy. With her." The smile stretched to a grin.
And before Bill could react, he turned his body to the side, raised his gun to his temple, and pulled the trigger.
-HOD-
Zoe hadn't been asleep when Brick had phoned – she'd gone to bed early but had had another nightmare, and without anyone to comfort her had ended up watching some crappy show whilst AB was asleep. This time, she opened her door to find Sean had followed her, he pushed his way in, accused her of sleeping with Wade, and dragged her to the bedroom before he started to rip off her clothes. She was glad she had her first appointment with the counsellor the next day.
She felt bad about what had happened with Wade, but the feelings of hurt hadn't gone away. Her anger at Wade fluctuated as she alternately blamed everything that had happened on Wade's attitude towards women with the fact that Sean was clearly a raging lunatic and was probably completely wrong about Wade anyway. Either way she hadn't intended to see him again, intent on heeding Sean's threat, but Brick's call had changed everything.
Zoe ran as fast as she could to the practice, thanking God that she hadn't drunk much wine that evening. She was stone cold sober as she approached the practice, Brick's car parked haphazardly across the street, and her feet climbed the steps as she prayed for Wade to live. The thought of losing him was untenable. Her mind simply refused to go there.
As she walked into Brick's exam room, and saw him laid out covered in blood, a respirator on his face and an IV already in as Brick frantically rushed round fitting a universal donor blood bag, she blanched. Lavon came out of nowhere and squeezed her arm, muttering her name which was what she needed to rouse her. She shook herself as she forced her mind to detach and only see a wound that needed fixing, not the man she loved. Pulling gloves on, Brick updated her on Wade's condition and his treatment. "It'll still be more than thirty minutes before the ambulance gets here. I've already given him a sedative." Zoe nodded.
Zoe had treated a few gunshot wounds before in ER, though most of her training had been dealing with pre-arranged operations. Feeling the familiar calm settle over her, she moved quickly and efficiently to pull the bullet out and then treat the damaged tissues. Brick and Lavon stayed silent as much as possible knowing she needed complete concentration. Before she'd been able to do much sewing him up, the paramedics were there, taking him away. She'd managed to pull him out of immediate danger, but he'd still need further treatment at the hospital, especially for his other injuries. He needed chest scans to determine how badly the smoke had damaged his lungs, and his wound needed the stitching completed. Brick had set his finger whilst Zoe was working on the gunshot wound. But it would be a good few days before he'd be ready to come home.
Lavon came to her. "Are you going to ride with him in the ambulance?" he asked.
The driver looked to her in question. "Decide now, ma'am."
Zoe deliberated, then nodded. No matter how she felt about Wade, his being shot had wiped her emotional slate clean for the time being. Even her worry about Sean's threat receded into the background. Her only concern was his health, and she knew she'd never rest until he opened his eyes and spoke to her again. She quickly ran around and jumped in, Lavon calling to her that he'd follow.
Zoe ended up staying the rest of the night and most of the next morning in the ER. It was definitely less fun being this side of the process – waiting for a patient instead of being the doctor. She cried hard on Lavon's shoulder, then AB's, as she, Lemon and George all arrived to wait alongside them. Not long after they'd arrived, Lavon had got a call, and gone out to take it. He didn't come back for a long time, and spoke in whispers to George and Lemon who'd gone over to join him when he did. Zoe was aware of it, but didn't care. Her ears listened for the footsteps of the doctor who'd be back to tell them Wade was okay. That his lungs weren't damaged irreparably. She knew he'd pull through from the gunshot, that he'd been given enough blood to make up for what spilled out. His lungs were the real issue now. She didn't know how long he'd been in that fire for. Neither Lavon or Brick had been able to say. Once she'd been sat in that ambulance reality had come crashing down as she stared at Wade's bloody face, his bruised hands. Now she noticed, he even had a gash on one of the fingers of his other hand that would need a couple of stitches. What the hell had gone down? Lavon had sketched out what he knew, but that wasn't much. She wondered what the other guy looked like. Had he gotten away again? The thought was just too much. Wade's life had been systematically destroyed, and he was fighting for his life. Sean couldn't get away with this. This was more than anyone could be expected to take.
Lemon beckoned AB over to their huddle, frowning with concern at the sight of Zoe hunched over, looking tinier than ever. The misery on her face stirred even Lemon's heart.
"What is it?" hissed AB.
"It's Sean. He's dead," hissed Lavon.
"What?" she asked, horrified.
"He shot himself in the head when Bill had him cornered. Told you he was a coward," he added to George.
AB looked undecided, but Lemon spoke quickly. "I know suicide isn't something to crow about but in this case, I'd say he did everyone a favour." AB nodded slowly, turning to contemplate how Zoe would take the news.
"Do you think we should tell her?" Lavon asked her, echoing her thoughts.
"Yeah, she looks like she's pretty much reached her limit," murmured George.
AB nodded decisively. "Yes, absolutely. She thinks she's putting herself at risk by being with Wade, and it'll be a huge relief to know he's not out there anymore."
Together they walked over to her as a group, and AB sat down beside her.
"What is it?" Zoe asked, her eyes darting between everyone.
"They found Sean," AB said lowly. "He's gone, sweetie. You can relax about him now."
"He's gone? They arrested him?"
Lavon spoke. "No Zoe, he shot himself, committed suicide rather than let them take him." He looked at her worriedly for her reaction, and was slightly creeped by it when it came.
Smiling down at her shoes, she finally said, "that's great news, guys. Now it really is over." Tears began to track down her face as emotion overwhelmed her. She accepted the hug from AB, and muttered, "that was the best news you could've given me."
Later she'd feel guilty that her first reactions to the news were relief and pleasure – she'd never have to worry about him hurting her or hunting her down ever again. And Wade would be safe – now he didn't have a murderous arch-enemy whose sole purpose was to deal as many blows as possible. She was glad she was sitting down as her body wracked with the shakes. The implications continued to swirl in her mind... true, he'd never now be punished, but she'd never have to be a witness in a trial, and be forced to publicly relive her worst memories. Incidentally she'd found it easier to be around her friends now that Wade had been attacked too – he'd been their friend far longer and she knew their worry for him was now greater than for her. They didn't seem to have the same level of worry in their eyes when they looked at her that reminded her she was broken. When she'd been working on Wade's chest, on the bullet that would've killed him if he'd been shot two inches lower, she'd been able to remind herself just how capable she could be, skills that had taken years to acquire now growing rusty through lack of use. She liked the clear cut focus that came with surgery, and realised how much she missed it, missed making a real difference to a person's life. Maybe if things didn't work out with Wade for good then she could return to being a heart surgeon in New York. It beat the alternative.
Everything that had happened lately had done so much to damage her sense of self that she couldn't quite explain her reaction to the news of Sean's death. She suddenly felt more sure of herself, less vulnerable, yet almost cast adrift as she felt unsure as to how she would face the future. Now she'd actually have to deal with Wade instead of avoiding him – that is, if he was okay after his ordeal.
Her thoughts going full circle, she was barely aware of the group muttering to each other about her, disturbed by the look on her face and her resistance to their attempts to attract her attention. Just as Lavon decided to shake her, the doctor in charge of Wade's recovery came striding into the waiting room. "Wade Kinsella?" he asked, which snapped Zoe out of her trance instantly. "Are any of you family?"
Lavon spoke for them. "No, friends, although here's his girlfriend, Dr Zoe Hart" bringing Zoe forward. Zoe didn't bother to correct her best friend, though the word jarred a little.
The doctor addressed Zoe in particular. "Are you the one who removed the bullet from his shoulder?" When she agreed, "you did a fine job, Dr Hart, I was impressed. You and your colleague saved this man's life. He's had a preliminary scan taken of his chest, and though there is smoke damage, it won't be anything he can't recover from with enough rest and treatment. Due to the number of injuries he's sustained he won't be leaving here for at least a few days. He's awake. Would you like to see him?"
Zoe looked round at the group, silently asking what they wanted – maybe they'd prefer to go in. Lemon huffed and pushed her forward, giving not only their permission but expectation too.
"Give him our love," called AB, to similar sentiments from George and Lavon.
Following the doctor to Wade's room, he left her there to continue on his rounds. Pausing in the doorway, she took a second to look at him. He was breathing now on his own, and his face had been cleaned, though still covered in bruises and had several deeper gashes. Two of his fingers had been bandaged, not to mention the padding over his bullet injury. He looked young in the hospital gown, the morning sunlight glinting through the blinds off his hair and eyelashes. The effect made him look oddly angelic.
She couldn't help but wish he'd still been asleep.
He turned his head and saw her, and smiled muzzily as if doped up, which was exactly what he was.
"Zoe," he managed to croak.
"Shh, don't try to talk," she said, relieved a little that he wouldn't be able to say more than a few words. "It's okay. Everything's okay."
He reached out for her hand, and she gingerly took his, allowing him to tug her over closer to the bed. "I would ask how you're feeling, but the doctor told me you'll have to spend a few days in here recovering."
He scowled. "No. Won't," he managed to get out.
Bemused, Zoe asked "why?"
Wade paused, then said "him."
Realising that Wade didn't know about Sean, she steeled herself to tell him. "He's dead. Shot himself. We're safe now," she said, trying to sound as supportive and reassuring as he needed, attempting to shut off her own feelings entirely whilst speaking with as much brevity as possible. Wade had been hurt and she had to be there for him like he'd been for her, but the blank slate she'd given him whilst he'd been unconscious was receding like the tide – slowly but surely. She was desperate to know what had happened at his house, but clearly she'd have to wait. But she had to find out what had made Sean so crazy for revenge – and Wade surely now had those answers.
"My house?" Wade wheezed.
"The fire was put out. Loads of people came out to help Lavon told me. They're all out there waiting for you. Maybe I should go, let you rest." Beginning to pull her hand out of his, he tightened on her, refusing to allow her retreat.
"No." That one word spoke volumes. Though of course he was thankful she was no longer in danger, he still didn't want her to leave his side. Despite floating on the painkillers he had an aversion to hospitals, and particularly to extended stays. The last thing he wanted was to be left alone with his thoughts. He wished he could talk, because Zoe's face was saying a million things that her mouth wasn't, and clearly she was still struggling. Obviously she was exhausted, as he realised she wouldn't have had much sleep, if any, and the shadows were deep under her eyes. He wanted to tug her down onto the bed beside him, but she resisted, slowly drawing her hand out of his. The simple act weakened his strength enough to make him cough, the sound an ugly, hoarse rattle. She winced, but kept her distance.
"I really should go, Wade. Your body needs the rest even if you don't think it does. And I'll let everyone know you're on the mend." She paused, deliberating over the lingering accusation in his eyes about her not wanting to hold his hand, but eventually said, "I'm sorry. We'll talk when you've rested. Then I can tell you off properly for being so stupid and reckless. But that can wait. Goodbye, Wade." Plastering a smile across her face that fooled neither of them, she left before Wade could try and draw her in again, and once outside in the corridor had to take a minute to collect herself. She felt too precarious to deal with it all – but the anger and hurt she felt at Wade hadn't abated. She needed time to sort through her emotions and she certainly needed space from him while she did it. Now that she knew he was okay she just wanted to go home to her own bed and sleep.
So that's exactly what she did.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Reviews welcome as always.
