Hello, my lovely readers. Sorry about the wait. And we might have an epilogue, depending on how the last chapter turns out… On with the show…
Chapter 29: Hold Your Breath
In the moment between breaths you can find the world stills. You can look out a window and everything seems suspended. A bird's flight taken in the blink of an eyelash as you see it one space before your eye opens to find your mind missed the second the wings flapped and now the bird is on a branch. Your heart flutters. Your nerves jangle out a beat out-of-tune with the harmony of your surroundings and you wonder if you're losing your mind or something truly is terribly wrong. Your hands move, not knowing where to be. Your head turns. Your eyes are restlessly searching, searching, searching… For what? And then... You exhale.
"There's something wrong," Marcel said. His feet darted back and forth over the tile of the hospital room. If he could wear his way right through to the ground floor; he might.
Hayley wanted to snap at him: "Calm down." Marcel's nervousness was contagious. Her hands were shaking in her lap and Hayley ran a hand through her hair, trying to cover up her own wariness with the situation. "I'm sure they'll be here soon." Her eyes went to her phone. Nothing.
"And if they're not? What then?" Marcel demanded. His dark eyes flashed.
Hayley inhaled sharply. "I know this isn't the time to say: Don't freak out, but…"
"Don't freak out," Marcel grunted. He fell into a chair across from Hayley's bed. "Yeah. I know. It's just…" He drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair. "What if someone knows… What if someone knows they're helping with the case? What if someone went after them? The way they came for you, Hales?" His movements stilled and he looked at Hayley. She wanted to get up and hug him but her bruised body told her it preferred to sit this one out.
"You're in love with her. Rebekah." Hayley watched Marcel nod. This wasn't all about finding the evidence that would exonerate him; there were other factors at play—a love story in the background playing out against the odds while one of the lover's lives hung in the balance.
Finally, Hayley waved for Marcel to get up. "Come here." She patted the side of her bed and Marcel moved to sit on the edge, teetering precariously on the side as Hayley wrapped an arm around him. She tugged his head down onto her chest. "She's going to be fine," she whispered.
"You know what?" Marcel asked, placing a hand on her waist gently before hugging her more firmly, "You're going to make a great mom."
"Ya think?" Hayley wondered about that but kept her opinions to herself, for once.
~0~
An hour later, a doctor popped back inside. "Hello!" she called cheerfully. "It looks as though you're going to be just fine, Ms. Marshall and we'll be letting you out soon."
"Great," Hayley replied. She felt relieved at the good news. She just wished that either Elijah or Rebekah would get their butts back in here. The longer she and Marcel waited for the Mikaelsons to show up, the more nervous Hayley felt.
Marcel seemed just happy to be able to get out of that hospital room. He went over to grab the bag with Hayley's clothes in it and placed it on the bed. "You need help?" he asked.
Hayley rolled her eyes. "I can dress myself. Thank you."
"Hey! I was just asking!" Marcel shot back with an eye roll. "I'm going to get a cup of coffee while you're doing that." He waved a hand at the bag.
Shaking her head, Hayley watched Marcel move to leave. "Shut the door, will you!" she called out. Marcel shot her a quick smirk before he shut the door behind him.
With a sigh, Hayley edged her bruised behind off the edge of the bed and groaned as she slid her fingers into the top of the bag, pushing it open. To hell with pride, she should have let Marcel help her get dressed. Or maybe she should have called Caroline. Caroline would be happy to help with something like this.
Pulling out her top and pants, Hayley eyed the ripped pants. Yeah. It would be fun to go back down the hallway showing people her underwear. Her shirt had a hole, too. Groaning, Hayley reached for her phone. This was the time to call for reinforcements. With any luck, Caroline could be here before Hayley signed the discharge paperwork.
Before Hayley could get to her phone, she heard the door open and she cried out, feeling annoyed. "Miss Marshall," a sort-of-familiar-but-not-in-a-good-way voice called out to her.
Straightening up, Hayley turned a little too quickly and let out a cry of surprise and pain as she placed her hand on her ass and glowered at Officer Correra. "Hello," she muttered.
"I see you're having problems. Again." He looked almost amused, his dark eyes glinting with a malice that made Hayley grit her teeth. Or maybe her dislike of the cop was so strong that she was imagining malice.
"What do you want?" Hayley demanded as she moved to take a seat on the bed. She did not like being alone in a room with this man. And she did not like his back being against the only route of escape. She had enough injuries, trying to throw herself out of a window did not feel like an option unless she thought he would draw his weapon on her. Again, she wished her brain would stop conjuring up new, and even more horrifying scenarios.
"I have to question you about the incident. Do you mind?" Correra pulled out a pad of paper and then slipped a pen out of his shirt, clicking the pen and Hayley found herself jumping at the sharp sound in the silence.
"I'm not feeling too well. I'd actually like to take a nap," Hayley replied.
Correra's eyes went up. They flicked from the bag to Hayley and a tiny smirk played at the corners of his lips. "Funny you saying that. I ran into your doc, on the way to visit you. Doc said you're fine. You'll be going home within the next couple of hours." His eyes shifted back to the bag. "And it looked like you were planning on dressing when I came in just now."
"I thought I was fine. But I'm suddenly very tired," Hayley replied.
Correra eyed her. His gaze moved to her middle. "Heard pregnancy can do that to women."
"How do you know I'm pregnant?" Hayley demanded.
"Doc said so." Correra's eyes went back to the pad of paper. "This won't take long." He moved closer to the bed and Hayley's hand went to the call button for the nurse's station. Her thumb found the plastic and her hand folded around the hard device; it made her feel more in control.
Correra's eyes were now on the button that Hayley held. Now, she could see he was enjoying whatever little cat-and-mouse game they were playing. "No need to call a nurse." He told her, shaking his head and then his hand moved far too quickly toward the thing that would allow Hayley to call for help.
"What the bloody hell is going on in here?" Rebekah's high-pitched snarl made Hayley's body fall back onto the pillows behind her while Correra straightened and turned to Rebekah with a smile. However, Rebekah was not smiling and she had blood on her clothes.
"Rebekah?" Hayley felt her heart begin to bang in her chest. Elijah! Please, don't let it be Elijah's blood. Hayley's fingers dug into the bed sheets under her.
"I'm here to question Ms. Marshall. Is that blood on your clothes, Ms…?" Correra's hand moved up to his hip and Hayley angled her body, having every intention of leaping on him if his hand went to his holster.
"Mikaelson. Rebekah Mikaelson!" Rebekah snarled out. "Yes. This is blood. My father was stabbed in his office chair. Why don't you do us a favor and do what our tax dollars are paying you to do: Find out who killed that bastard, Gerard! They're obviously still on the loose and just tried to kill my father, too!" She stopped talking, her jaw clenching as she made her way over to stand beside the head of Hayley's bed.
"Someone stabbed Mikael?" Hayley reached and took Rebekah's hand.
Rebekah nodded as the door opened, again, and Marcel came inside. He held two steaming cups of coffee in his hand. "Hey. I bought you a decaf latte," he said when he spotted Rebekah. "What happened?" he cried.
"Hands in the air!" Correra cried, his hand going to his holster.
"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" Rebekah demanded, moving between Correra and Marcel. "He's been with Hayley the entire time, you fool!" She spat out the words with a look of contempt that only Rebekah Mikaelson could manage.
"He left for three minutes to go down the hall and get drinks," Hayley added.
"I'm going to go talk to your father's doctor and establish when the stabbing occurred. Don't leave the building," Correra snapped at Marcel. "I'll be back to speak with you."
Marcel glared back as Correra left them alone. Rolling her eyes, Rebekah moved to shake her head at Hayley. "Who the bloody hell is that man?"
"He came to investigate the break-in with my car," Hayley replied. "I'm going to call Caroline. Ask her to bring me some clothes."
"Wonderful. Because that should be our top priority," Rebekah snapped.
"Bekah." Marcel moved to place a hand on Rebekah's shoulder and pressed his lips to the side of her head. "It's going to be okay."
Rebekah sighed and pressed her face into Marcel's chest. "This is bloody well insane. We were so close, Marcel. So close to finding something to implicate the true murderer. Now… I don't know." Her eyes went up as Hayley swiped her screen with her thumb, one eye on her friends.
Hayley said nothing to Rebekah as she dialed Caroline's number. "Hi, Care. Are you busy?"
"Did you hear that Mikael was stabbed?" Caroline demanded. Hayley thought she heard Klaus in the background grumbling.
"Yes. Rebekah's here. With me," Hayley replied before Caroline cut in, again.
"Can you put your phone on speaker? Klaus wants to talk to you." Caroline's voice came out a little louder as if she'd already switched to speaker.
"Sure." Hayley placed her phone on speaker.
"Rebekah?" Klaus called into the phone.
"Nik?" Rebekah turned to the phone with a look of surprise.
"Are you alright?" Klaus demanded.
"I'm fine. Elijah's with Father. No. Wait. Father was taken to surgery. Elijah's probably in the lobby." Rebekah's eyes filled. "Someone bloody well stabbed him."
"No wonder," Klaus said before Caroline let out a loud: "Klaus!" in the background. "I'm sorry. But we all know that Father was not liked by many people." Klaus paused. "We'll be there soon."
"Actually, I need you guys to split up," Hayley said. "Or make a stop before you come here."
"What for?" Klaus demanded.
"Klaus," Caroline groaned. "What do you need?"
Hayley paused. "Can you get me a shirt and a pair of loose pants? I was side-swiped by a car earlier and my clothes are torn up."
"You what?" Caroline cried out. "Oh, my God! Are you okay?"
"Of course she is," Klaus snapped. "We need to call someone to care for Fi."
"I know." Caroline retorted. Hayley could see Caroline rolling her eyes at Klaus.
"Caroline, one more thing…" Hayley waited and then said. "I also need you to grab my spare hairbrush. It's on the nightstand."
"Not a problem. Casual clothes and extra brush. Got it," Caroline said. "We'll be there soon. Bye." The phone call ended and Hayley sighed while Rebekah took Marcel's coffee and began to drink while he rubbed her shoulders. Hayley wished Elijah would come down. She just needed to see him and to feel the solidity of him, to know he was okay in all of this crazy. That would have to wait.
~0~
By the time that Hayley finished filling out the paperwork to leave the hospital, Caroline and Klaus appeared, with a surprise. "Did you find a sitter for Fi?" Hayley asked as Caroline came over to hand over Hayley's duffle bag.
"Yes…" Caroline glanced at Klaus. "Tyler was available."
"Lockwood," Klaus grumbled with an eye roll.
"Thank him for me," Hayley said as she searched the bag. Her hair brush was on the top. She felt relieved before she took out a pair of yoga pants she didn't really use for the intended purpose and plucked out the t-shirt inside. "Time to go, gentlemen."
Klaus and Marcel left the room and Hayley held up the clothes. "Who wants to help me dress?"
Rebekah looked up from her phone and frowned. "No."
Caroline jumped in. "I dress a young lady every morning." She took hold of Hayley's pants. "Okay. One foot," she knelt down and waited for Hayley to slip her foot inside the hole; her other foot slid inside the other hole and Caroline slid the pants up. Coming face-to-face, Caroline and Hayley grinned at each other and Caroline waited for Hayley to turn around so Caroline could un-do the strings of the dressing gown. It didn't take much longer for Caroline to get her friend fully dressed. "You want me to brush your hair, too?"
"No. I'm good," Hayley zipped the bag up. "Let's go check on how Mikael is doing." She really wanted to check on Elijah.
"Fine by me. Bekah?" Caroline grabbed her own bag and Rebekah stood up. She'd been typing away for a good half an hour.
"What's going on?" Hayley inquired.
Rebekah shook her head. "Trying to find from the bloody useless security if there are videos of what happened. They do not seem to know where the video has gone to. I asked them if it walked out the door while they were busily showing how incompetent they are!" she snarled out the last part.
"Rebekah. They're not at fault. Someone is screwing with us." Hayley watched Rebekah lift her eyes to pin Hayley with a venomous look.
"I am aware of there being a culprit. I am also aware that we do not hire these people to sit around eating doughnuts while the CEO of the bloody firm is bloody well stabbed in his own bloody chair!" Rebekah jerked the door to the room open and stomped into the hallway. "Someone will answer for this!"
"I know they will," Hayley said quietly. "But maybe you should blame the people who are really trying to hurt your family."
Growling, Rebekah made her way toward the elevators. "Fools."
Hayley and Caroline traded looks as they got onto an elevator behind Rebekah. "Should we have told Klaus and Marcel where we're going?" Caroline questioned Hayley and Rebekah.
"Fools," Rebekah muttered, still typing away. "Blasted hell!"
The elevator doors opened and Hayley stood back for Rebekah to march into the lobby. Elijah paced back and forth and only looked up when Hayley pushed past the pain to dart toward him and throw her arms around his neck. "You're okay," she said. Her hands went up to his face.
Elijah looked surprised but pleased. "I am. How are you two doing?" His hand went down to her middle.
"We're fine." Hayley laid her hand over his. "Did they give you any news yet?"
Now, Rebekah moved to stand beside Hayley but she did not speak.
"No. Not yet." Elijah shook his head. "I called Kol, Freya and Finn. Freya and Finn should be here soon."
"And Kol?" Rebekah snapped. Her phone chimed and she gritted her teeth. "Fool!" she cried.
Elijah's brows went up. "She's been doing that a lot," Hayley said.
Nodding, Elijah slid his arms around her waist. "I'm glad you're okay." For a moment, Hayley buried her nose in his neck. She wanted to remain like this for the next year. No more worries about trials. Or murders. Or custody battles. Just warm and content.
"I'm going back down to find Marcel and Klaus," Caroline told them.
"Niklaus is here?" Elijah broke from Hayley's grip and looked at Rebekah.
"Yes. He wanted to come." Rebekah shrugged.
"Hmm." Elijah looked surprised by that turn of events but did not say anything else because a doctor with a very serious look on his face came toward them. Elijah's hand went to Hayley's and she wrapped an arm around his waist, bracing for the news.
"Mr. Mikaelson," the doctor said. "We have good news. Whoever attacked your father missed all the major organs. We were able to stop the bleeding and he should be just fine."
"Really?" Rebekah looked mildly shocked. Her entire body seemed to relax and the hint of a smile appeared on her face. "Lucky bastard."
The doctor turned to stare at Rebekah. "My sister has an odd manner of showing her relief," Elijah supplied.
The doctor nodded. "Someone should be out to let you know when you can go in to speak with him." Then the doctor left them.
"He's going to be okay," Elijah sighed, letting out a quiet chuckle.
"Strange," Rebekah muttered. "That the murderer did not try to kill him."
"What makes you think they weren't trying to kill him?" Elijah asked, holding Hayley close. Hayley could feel Elijah's heart speed up as he spoke.
Before Rebekah could answer the question three things happened: the rest of the Mikaelson showed up. "How is your father?" Esther cried, coming toward them with Finn right behind her. Freya a few steps behind them and Klaus, Caroline and Marcel coming out from the stairwell.
Elijah held up a hand before anyone else could jump in. "We were just given news. No major organs were damaged. He's going to be fine."
"Wonderful," Klaus muttered with an eye roll. He walked over to pick up a magazine and began flipping through it.
Esther moved toward Elijah and Hayley moved out of the way so the mother and son could embrace. This allowed Hayley to be the one to see Correra headed toward them with a pair of handcuffs. "Marcellus Gerard, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Mikael Mikaelson –"
"That is impossible. He was with me," Rebekah snapped, moving in front of Correra. "And unless you want unlawful arrest on your record, you'll kindly back off."
"He was you?" Correra folded his arms over his chest.
"Yes. Can't be in two places at once," Rebekah replied. "Time to find a new suspect to terrorize." She waved the officer away.
Correra glowered at the group as they moved to surround Marcel. "This isn't over." He told them. "I'll be back with a formal warrant."
"Do that," Rebekah snarled.
Hayley watched as Correra left the floor. "Elijah, there's something I need to show you," she said, taking hold of Elijah's arm and she dragged him into the stairwell. Setting her bag down, she withdrew her hairbrush. Elijah opened his mouth but Hayley placed her fingers to her lips. Popping the back of the hairbrush out, she withdrew a flash drive. "I believe this might have the evidence you need, Mr. Prosecutor." She watched Elijah shake his head before he pressed his lips to hers. This wasn't over, but it felt like they still had a lot of hope to make this a happy ending.
Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.
Peace,
-J