Okay last chapter! Like I said before, I may add an epilog type thing, so look for it! And be sure to look for my other stories soon to come! Thank you to EVERYONE who read my story, with a special thanks to all of you who have or will review:-)
Ch. 10
The operation went as planned, and the four of them watched the whole thing from the safety of the Gala window.
The agents had surrounded Knox, and he pulled Riley even closer- the gun pointed at his head.
"Sir, I'm going to give you one chance to let the man go, and then we're going to shoot you." The lead agent shouted at him.
Knox considered his options, and then shoved Riley aside, but followed him with his gun. He pulled the trigger, and at the same time, so did fifteen FBI agents. The impact of the bullets on Knox's torso rocked his body and flung him like a rag doll into the ground. An agent knelt beside him, checking to make sure he was dead. He cleared the scene, and in a matter of seconds, Seduski, Ben, Abi, and Cecilia were running toward Riley.
"Call an ambulance!" Abi yelled
"Riley, Riley!" Ben said slapping his face a little. "Riley, you need to be conscious, open your eyes."
Abi and Celia set to work ripping up his nice white shirt, and pulling it out of the way, so they could get at the wound better. Abi ripped part of her dress and pressed it to the wound; unfortunately he had been shot in the shoulder, so the vest couldn't have protected him.
Riley's eyes fluttered open and he tried to focus on the faces above him, but everything was blurry. He wondered if he was losing his eyesight.
Ben gently raised his head, and put his suit jacket underneath to act as a pillow. "Hey, look at me," he ordered gently. Riley blinked harder and finally managed to focus on his best friend. His breathing came in short gasps, and he put all his energy into staying focused on Ben.
"I'm sorry Ben," he gasped out.
"Don't worry about that now," Ben said gently, but added in a harsher tone, "We will be talking about it though, so don't think you're getting out of it."
"Wouldn't dream of it," he wheezed. "But bring me a pair of earplugs when we do,"
"Ha ha, just focus on staying awake, okay?"
"Yeah," he murmured, his eyes fighting to stay open.
When the ambulance arrived the EMT's pushed them out of the way to examine him. The red sirens flashed and the sun began to set. Abi, Ben, and Cecilia were given blankets to warm up, and told to wait to the side. Seduski took their statements, and offered them a ride to the Hospital where Riley was going to be taken. Ben agreed and they rode in silence.
"I'm sorry about your friend," the agent said, not taking his eyes off the road. "He's a good kid. Brave. The world could use more like him."
"He'd laugh if he heard that coming from you," Abigail said with a small smile.
"Oh, I think you'll like to hear that his last words before he went into the ambulance were, "Tell Abi that I'm sorry about her dress,"
They all smiled slightly at that.
When the doctors stabilized Riley and gave Ben and Abi a list of his injuries and medicines he would need to be taking when he left. He told them that they were allowed to see Riley, on the condition that if they caused any problems their visitation rights would be revoked.
Ben and Abi both went in at the same time. "Good morning Riley," Abi said with a bright smile.
"How are you feeling?" Ben asked sternly.
Riley looked at them for a moment, his eyes shifting back and forth between them. "Are you guys playing good cop bad cop?" he asked.
Ben allowed himself a small smile. "No, we are simply here to have a talk with you,"
Riley averted his eyes, "Oh,"
"Look at me," Ben commanded. Riley did as he asked, the bruises on his face shone as the sunlight cast a strange glow about them.
"Riley, why did you do it?" he asked looking him straight in the eye.
"Why did I do what?" he asked feigning innocence.
Abi sat down in the chair beside Riley's bed and gave him a sympathetic smile; Ben's punishment would be enough for her. When she had found out that Riley and Ben had fought she was shocked, when she found out he wouldn't be at their wedding she was angry, and when she thought he was dead, she had been horrified.
"You know very well what I'm talking about. Not that I don't appreciate what you did, but why didn't you come to me first?"
"Seduski made me promise not to, Ben. And I did everything else because you're my best friends. If something had happened to you I would have been out of my mind crazy. You would have done the same for me, I know It." he said, his gaze never leaving Ben's.
Ben closed his eyes, breaking their staring contest. "Alright Riley, alright; but don't ever get the idea to do that again, got it?"
"I'd do it all over again, if it meant you guys were okay," Riley insisted.
"You are so stubborn!" Ben said with a smile. "Okay, let's put this behind us pal. It's been a long few days. Abi and I are going to go out and grab some breakfast, will you be okay?"
Riley smiled, "Yeah, I'll be fine." As they began to walk out he called after them, "Hey! Bring me a decent cup of coffee and a burrito!"
Abigail giggled, "Will do, Riley." She walked back and kissed him gently on the cheek, squeezing his hand before turning to leave. Ben gave him a quick pat and a warm smile.
"We'll be back soon, get some rest."
When they returned, they were considerably happier. They were not hungry; they had gotten showers, and a change of clothes. They had stopped at home, and Riley's apartment to get him some things.
They stopped outside of his door when they heard talking.
"Well, I guess this is it," sniffed Celia.
"So you're not staying then?" Riley asked sounding a little bit disappointed.
"It didn't work between us before, and I can't see it working out now. I love you Riley, I'll always love you. But I have to go home and continue my life. And you have to continue on here. You've got a great life," she laughed through her sadness, "You're freakin' rich man. You've got the best friends anyone could ask for, and I know you. You'll be okay, you always are."
Outside Ben and Abi exchanged looks, and Abi made a sad face at him. "Aww…" she mouthed (Aww, as in a bad way not "Aww…" as in cute)
"I know, so will you. I just wish it could work out for us, you know? You've been my best friend since we were 7; I always thought we'd be together forever. In all kinds of weather…you know, all the clichés. We didn't have to be in love, I just thought…"
They heard her sigh, "I know honey, me too. But I'm only a phone call away if you need me. And I'll always be your best friend. Deal?"
"Deal," he agreed.
"Then goodbye, Riley." They heard her footsteps coming toward the door and they moved away to make it look as though they had just been returning.
"Hey wait," Riley called. The footsteps stopped.
"Yes?" she asked patiently.
"Did you take care of the little girl? Isabelle?" he asked, sounding a little worried.
"Yes, I did. She's at the orphanage now, I told the lady you would be coming to see her when you got better."
"Thanks Celia," he whispered. "Bye,"
She gave him a little wave and a small smile, before walking out of the door and out of his life, again.
They gave Riley some time to pull himself together just in case before entering. "We brought you that coffee," Abigail said with a grin.
"And the burrito?" he asked hopefully, eyes on the bag in Abi's hand.
"Yes, I brought that too. We also brought some clothes and your converse,"
"Yay! My converse, I've been dying for those, I missed them!" he said excitedly.
"Err, Riley they're a pair of ratty old green converse shoes. You talk about them like they are your most prized possession."
"Well they are," Riley said with a glare, moving the shoes out of Ben's sight as though he were insulting them.
After about an hour of scarfing down food and drinking his coffee, Riley was happily settled. "So when are you guys gonna spring me from this place?" he asked innocently.
"Not today," Ben said.
"Tomorrow?" he asked.
"The doctor said that if you were good, we could take you home tomorrow. Which you better be, because the day after that we have something important to do," Abi told him pointedly.
"What do you have going on?" he asked curiously.
"Oh…just our wedding," Ben said as if it were no big deal.
"Oh my gosh, I totally forgot about that! I'm so excited that I get to be there this time! Hey, can I wear my converse?" he questioned happily at the prospect of leaving this dreaded place.
"No!" Ben and Abi both exclaimed at the same time.
"Okay, okay. God I was just asking…."
Fin
