Chapter 31
"Dios Mio!" Pilar shrieked as the horrifying sight assaulted her eyes. Julian and Ivy came running, and Luis whirled around at the terror in her voice. Dropping her hand and racing to the foot of the stairs where Sheridan's crumpled body lay. "Princess?" he whispered shakily. Picking up her limp hand and bringing it to his lips. "Sherry," he pleaded. "Please open those pretty blue eyes and tell me you're okay." Ivy's hands shook as she cradled the phone to her ear, barking directions for the paramedics with urgency. Julian knelt by his sister's side. "Sister, Dear," he choked. "Sheridan.do you hear me? Do you hear Luis? Wake up. Don't do this to us. Wake up now," he ordered as Pilar, Luis, and Ivy gaped at the uncharacteristic display. "She's got a pulse, but dammit," Luis growled in despair. "She's NOT breathing."
Alistair scowled from the shadows. And the icy look in his blue eyes only grew colder as his gaze lit upon the drunken fool at the top of the stairs who'd, per usual, botched up the job. A pulse? That meant she wasn't dead. YET. He shouldn't have expected anything less. Colin Lindsay had failed to rid him of his liability of a daughter yet again. His lips twisted upward into a cruel parody of a smile as he watched Luis breathe into Sheridan's mouth. Willing her to take a breath on her on. The wail of sirens cut through the frantic sounds filling the foyer, and Pilar hurried to open the door. "Sheridan.please," Luis begged. Tears blinding his vision. "No! NO!" he protested as strong arms pushed him aside. "I won't leave her," he bit out. "Luis," Ivy said gently, as Pilar grabbed her son's arm to pull him to his feet, "They only want to help her. Let them help her," she told him with bright eyes.
Pilar wrapped a supporting arm around her son's waist, and Ivy lay a soothing hand on Julian's arm as the paramedics worked feverishly, finally announcing their success, "She's breathing on her own." Ivy's face betrayed her feelings as she watched the two men carefully strap Sheridan on to the stretcher, immobilizing her head, and start to wheel her toward the exit. Alistair patted the cigar in his jacket pocket, observing the scene in a calm, detached manner. Luis lurched after the stretcher, intent on riding in the back of the ambulance WITH Sheridan, until he spoke the words that earned him a heated glare from them all, but none worse than his imbecile son. Julian. "This man is not authorized to do any such thing," he stated with an evil gleam in his eye. Delighting inwardly at the conflict written clearly across the young man's face. "He's NOT family." Nor will he EVER be, he thought triumphantly as the EMT's reluctantly informed Luis that he was right. That he wouldn't be allowed to make the trip to the hospital with them. Instead he'd have to follow in his own vehicle. "Sir?" one of the harried young men asked. "Do you want to ride with your daughter?" He dismissed him with a shake of his head. "Her brother will. Won't you, Julian?" Julian's eyes glittered with hatred for his father as the ambulance doors slammed shut behind him, and the wail of the siren blared once more. "You bastard," Luis denounced as he strode past. "You cold, heartless bastard," he swore as he yanked open the door of the Ivy's personal car without waiting for consent, turning the key in the ignition. Ivy grabbed Pilar's hand in her own, and the two women seated themselves in the back just before Luis pealed out of the driveway.
Julian clutched his little sister's hand in both his own as the ambulance rushed through the streets of Harmony. "Sheridan, Dear.don't make me break my promise to Mother." By dying on me, he finished silently. Unable to utter the terrible words. A vice squeezing his heart as he realized, in that precise moment, how awful a brother he'd been to her. The little girl he'd sworn to protect. "I've failed you so badly," he said. His voice tight with emotion as he lowered his head. It was the classic case of too little, too late. If only he'd kept his promise."Julian?" a faint whisper made him jerk his head up. And he couldn't help the smile of relief as his eyes met the weary but brilliant blue gaze. "Ms. Crane? Ms. Crane?" the medic beside him questioned. Trying to gain Sheridan's attention. "Ms. Crane, do you remember what happened? How."
"He pushed me," she said weakly. "Who? Who pushed you, Ms. Crane?" "Co." "Colin," Julian answered for her. "I'll have him arrested. For attempted murder. There's no way he'll be able to prove otherwise." "Not important," Sheridan attempted to shake her head. The action making her wince in pain. "Ms. Crane.I'm going to have to ask you to lie perfectly still, and stay calm. You've suffered a very bad fall, and." "Julian," she said. Ignoring the young man spouting off instructions and reaching a blind hand out for her brother. "My baby," she cried in a panic-stricken voice. Julian's eyes widened, and the paramedic continued to check Sheridan's vitals beside him. "Don't let anything happen to my baby," she begged as the ambulance screeched to a halt, and the doors were thrown open. He stood at the emergency room entrance in a state of shock, watching his little sister disappear behind glass windows, and it wasn't until he heard Luis's frenzied voice behind him that he was able to breathe again.
Security had to physically restrain Luis from barging into Sheridan's cubicle, and Pilar whispered tearful prayers for the girl she loved as a daughter and her well-being. In a relatively quiet corner of the waiting room, Ivy's heart broke as she delivered the devastating news to Ethan over the phone, and no amount of half-hearted persuasion could convince her young son OR Gwen not to make the trip to the Harmony Hospital. They arrived not even a half hour later, and Ivy, Ethan, and Pilar raised curious brows at Gwen as she hurried across the waiting room to throw her arms around Luis's neck. Tears streaming down her cheeks unnoticed as she offered what little comfort she could. Never moving far from Luis's side as they waited out the terrible hours for news on Sheridan's condition.
Ivy's blue-green eyes followed Julian as he took Dr. Eve Russell aside, and she watched with interest as the pair disappeared into a vacated office. Their voices hushed. Whispered. She broached the subject cautiously with Julian when he returned to her side nearly an hour later, but his answers, vague and mysterious, did NOTHING to enlighten her. Ethan's cool fingers slid through hers, squeezing reassuringly, as a doctor emerged from the emergency room. His clothes bloodied. His face somber as he spoke. "Are you Ms. Crane's family?" Pilar felt the eyes of curious onlookers boring into her, all of them, as Sheridan's name was spoken, and she turned her head when heard the hum of shocked recognition. All eyes but for Luis's flew to the stately, imposing figure of Alistair Crane as he made his grand entrance. Looking calm and collected. No traces of worry or sadness in his glittering blue eyes. "I'm Alistair Crane. Sheridan Crane's father." The doctor ran a weary hand through his graying hair before continuing. "I'm sorry, Mr. Crane," he sighed heavily. "We did everything we could." "No," Ivy shook her head as Ethan tightened his hold almost painfully on her hand. Julian held his head in his hands. Staring at the tile floor as the terrible blow was delivered. ".we couldn't save her." Pilar grasped one of Luis's arms, while Gwen clutched the other one, saying, "There has to be some mistake." Alistair's jaw was set in stone, but Luis could see the evil glint of satisfaction in his blue eyes. "Sheridan Crane is dead," the doctor said with alarming finality, and the dam inside Luis burst as he fell to his knees. An anguished cry tearing from his lips. "NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
"Dios Mio!" Pilar shrieked as the horrifying sight assaulted her eyes. Julian and Ivy came running, and Luis whirled around at the terror in her voice. Dropping her hand and racing to the foot of the stairs where Sheridan's crumpled body lay. "Princess?" he whispered shakily. Picking up her limp hand and bringing it to his lips. "Sherry," he pleaded. "Please open those pretty blue eyes and tell me you're okay." Ivy's hands shook as she cradled the phone to her ear, barking directions for the paramedics with urgency. Julian knelt by his sister's side. "Sister, Dear," he choked. "Sheridan.do you hear me? Do you hear Luis? Wake up. Don't do this to us. Wake up now," he ordered as Pilar, Luis, and Ivy gaped at the uncharacteristic display. "She's got a pulse, but dammit," Luis growled in despair. "She's NOT breathing."
Alistair scowled from the shadows. And the icy look in his blue eyes only grew colder as his gaze lit upon the drunken fool at the top of the stairs who'd, per usual, botched up the job. A pulse? That meant she wasn't dead. YET. He shouldn't have expected anything less. Colin Lindsay had failed to rid him of his liability of a daughter yet again. His lips twisted upward into a cruel parody of a smile as he watched Luis breathe into Sheridan's mouth. Willing her to take a breath on her on. The wail of sirens cut through the frantic sounds filling the foyer, and Pilar hurried to open the door. "Sheridan.please," Luis begged. Tears blinding his vision. "No! NO!" he protested as strong arms pushed him aside. "I won't leave her," he bit out. "Luis," Ivy said gently, as Pilar grabbed her son's arm to pull him to his feet, "They only want to help her. Let them help her," she told him with bright eyes.
Pilar wrapped a supporting arm around her son's waist, and Ivy lay a soothing hand on Julian's arm as the paramedics worked feverishly, finally announcing their success, "She's breathing on her own." Ivy's face betrayed her feelings as she watched the two men carefully strap Sheridan on to the stretcher, immobilizing her head, and start to wheel her toward the exit. Alistair patted the cigar in his jacket pocket, observing the scene in a calm, detached manner. Luis lurched after the stretcher, intent on riding in the back of the ambulance WITH Sheridan, until he spoke the words that earned him a heated glare from them all, but none worse than his imbecile son. Julian. "This man is not authorized to do any such thing," he stated with an evil gleam in his eye. Delighting inwardly at the conflict written clearly across the young man's face. "He's NOT family." Nor will he EVER be, he thought triumphantly as the EMT's reluctantly informed Luis that he was right. That he wouldn't be allowed to make the trip to the hospital with them. Instead he'd have to follow in his own vehicle. "Sir?" one of the harried young men asked. "Do you want to ride with your daughter?" He dismissed him with a shake of his head. "Her brother will. Won't you, Julian?" Julian's eyes glittered with hatred for his father as the ambulance doors slammed shut behind him, and the wail of the siren blared once more. "You bastard," Luis denounced as he strode past. "You cold, heartless bastard," he swore as he yanked open the door of the Ivy's personal car without waiting for consent, turning the key in the ignition. Ivy grabbed Pilar's hand in her own, and the two women seated themselves in the back just before Luis pealed out of the driveway.
Julian clutched his little sister's hand in both his own as the ambulance rushed through the streets of Harmony. "Sheridan, Dear.don't make me break my promise to Mother." By dying on me, he finished silently. Unable to utter the terrible words. A vice squeezing his heart as he realized, in that precise moment, how awful a brother he'd been to her. The little girl he'd sworn to protect. "I've failed you so badly," he said. His voice tight with emotion as he lowered his head. It was the classic case of too little, too late. If only he'd kept his promise."Julian?" a faint whisper made him jerk his head up. And he couldn't help the smile of relief as his eyes met the weary but brilliant blue gaze. "Ms. Crane? Ms. Crane?" the medic beside him questioned. Trying to gain Sheridan's attention. "Ms. Crane, do you remember what happened? How."
"He pushed me," she said weakly. "Who? Who pushed you, Ms. Crane?" "Co." "Colin," Julian answered for her. "I'll have him arrested. For attempted murder. There's no way he'll be able to prove otherwise." "Not important," Sheridan attempted to shake her head. The action making her wince in pain. "Ms. Crane.I'm going to have to ask you to lie perfectly still, and stay calm. You've suffered a very bad fall, and." "Julian," she said. Ignoring the young man spouting off instructions and reaching a blind hand out for her brother. "My baby," she cried in a panic-stricken voice. Julian's eyes widened, and the paramedic continued to check Sheridan's vitals beside him. "Don't let anything happen to my baby," she begged as the ambulance screeched to a halt, and the doors were thrown open. He stood at the emergency room entrance in a state of shock, watching his little sister disappear behind glass windows, and it wasn't until he heard Luis's frenzied voice behind him that he was able to breathe again.
Security had to physically restrain Luis from barging into Sheridan's cubicle, and Pilar whispered tearful prayers for the girl she loved as a daughter and her well-being. In a relatively quiet corner of the waiting room, Ivy's heart broke as she delivered the devastating news to Ethan over the phone, and no amount of half-hearted persuasion could convince her young son OR Gwen not to make the trip to the Harmony Hospital. They arrived not even a half hour later, and Ivy, Ethan, and Pilar raised curious brows at Gwen as she hurried across the waiting room to throw her arms around Luis's neck. Tears streaming down her cheeks unnoticed as she offered what little comfort she could. Never moving far from Luis's side as they waited out the terrible hours for news on Sheridan's condition.
Ivy's blue-green eyes followed Julian as he took Dr. Eve Russell aside, and she watched with interest as the pair disappeared into a vacated office. Their voices hushed. Whispered. She broached the subject cautiously with Julian when he returned to her side nearly an hour later, but his answers, vague and mysterious, did NOTHING to enlighten her. Ethan's cool fingers slid through hers, squeezing reassuringly, as a doctor emerged from the emergency room. His clothes bloodied. His face somber as he spoke. "Are you Ms. Crane's family?" Pilar felt the eyes of curious onlookers boring into her, all of them, as Sheridan's name was spoken, and she turned her head when heard the hum of shocked recognition. All eyes but for Luis's flew to the stately, imposing figure of Alistair Crane as he made his grand entrance. Looking calm and collected. No traces of worry or sadness in his glittering blue eyes. "I'm Alistair Crane. Sheridan Crane's father." The doctor ran a weary hand through his graying hair before continuing. "I'm sorry, Mr. Crane," he sighed heavily. "We did everything we could." "No," Ivy shook her head as Ethan tightened his hold almost painfully on her hand. Julian held his head in his hands. Staring at the tile floor as the terrible blow was delivered. ".we couldn't save her." Pilar grasped one of Luis's arms, while Gwen clutched the other one, saying, "There has to be some mistake." Alistair's jaw was set in stone, but Luis could see the evil glint of satisfaction in his blue eyes. "Sheridan Crane is dead," the doctor said with alarming finality, and the dam inside Luis burst as he fell to his knees. An anguished cry tearing from his lips. "NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"