When You're Ready
"Do NOT move." Punk said holding his gun up.
He was halfway down the stairs when Adam pulled into the driveway and watched as his best friend shot April point blank in the chest. He was terrified for April but more terrified Adam was still holding his gun over her.
"Don't make me kill you too." Adam threatened.
"Look" John began walking out behind Punk slowly. Punk looked towards April and saw how much blood she was losing and knew he didn't have time for this. "I know this is-"
John didn't get a chance to finish because pulled his trigger and hit Adam's gun arm causing the gun to fall for it and John tackled Adam. While he was doing that Punk ran right to April.
"Ape!" He yelled as took his light sweat jacket off and pressed it to her wound. "Ape, can you hear me?" he asked frantically. "She's dying!" he yelled back looking at John.
"I have backup on the way." John said as he cuffed Adam.
"I'm going to kill you." Punk said looking at Adam who was face down in the grass. "I swear to god I'm going-"
"Pay attention to April!" John yelled at him.
Punk saw how April's face was rapidly losing color and pressed all his weight into the wound.
"It's going to be ok." Punk told her and her eyes fluttered opened. "Hey, hey Ape." he said desperately.
"What-" She began as her eyes began to roll to the back of her head.
"Stay awake!" He yelled. "April!"
"It doesn't hurt." April told him and his face fell.
"It's alright." Punk said to her nervously. "You can't just die on me now. We just...we haven't gotten the chance to date." he said to her and she smiled tiredly and began to close her eyes again. "No!" he yelled. "Keep those pretty eyes on me. Come on." he cried now.
"It's ok." She told him as her eyes opened halfway.
"No, it's not." He said shaking his head. "I had big plans for our first real date. You know, when we don't have to be afraid and look over out shoulders."
"What?" April asked weakly.
"I was going to take you to a Cubs game." He told her. "But I know you'd hate that so I was going to load you up with junk food. Then I was going to take you bowling because for some reason you've never been bowling- ever, I still find that to be the weirdest thing about you."
"I'm so tired." She groaned.
"I know you are but just hold on a bit longer." He pleaded. His head perked up because he heard sirens getting closer. "You want to know a secret?" he asked her and she barely nodded.
"I love the way you smell." He confessed. "I said you smelled but it was in a good way. I couldn't sleep in my bed because it smelled just like you. I want to smell that for the rest of my life." he told her and she tried to smile and he moved one hand off her chest to gently tap her face awake. "You need to stay up!" he yelled.
"I smell." She groaned tiredly.
"So good. I'm sure that's the last thing you want to hear but I had to tell you. I need that in my life." He told her. "I need you in my life. You make me laugh constantly and nobody makes me laugh. Nobody has made me appreciate life like you have. We're going to get out of this, we always get out of trouble together."
"I'll miss you." She said with a smile as her eyes closed.
"April!" He yelled and that's when paramedics arrived.
"What do we have?" The one paramedic asked as he nudged Punk out of the way to take over the wound and the other checked her for a pulse.
"April Mendez, she's 25 and has a single GSW to her lower right chest." Punk told them. "She just lost consciousness." Punk told them as he peered over their shoulders and watched them cut her t-shirt open and he cringed at all the blood.
"Damn it." One paramedic said.
"What?" Punk asked.
"We have another GSW over here!" John yelled and Punk glared at him. He stalked over to where John and Adam were.
"You let that fucker suffer! Ape is about to die!" Punk yelled
"If she doesn't die now it's going to happen later than." Adam warned as he was sat on the grass. Punk lifted his knee to Adam's face and since he was handcuffed he was defenseless.
"I swear to god you have no idea what I'm going to do to you." Punk hissed getting his now blood face. Punk roughly grabbed his face, forcing him to look at him while he spoke. "You working with Sawyer fan is the biggest cop out in history. You're a traitor and you're going to be fucking tortured for it, if April dies I'll see to it you meet the same fate."
"Enough!" John yelled pulling Punk off of him.
"You're going to pay too." Punk warned pointing at John. "You waited until thirty seconds before he shot her to tell me he was the mole. You and the Chief are going to feel this wrath." he threatened.
"Are you coming?" The paramedic asked Punk as they loaded April into the ambulance. Punk didn't even respond he just ran over and jumped in the back.
It had been four grueling hours of waiting for Punk. The Chief arrived and John eventually but he wasn't speaking to them at the moment either. He wasn't talking to anyone who wasn't April or her doctor.
"I understand you're mad." The Chief said to Punk.
"You understand nothing." Punk responded back without even looking at him.
"I've been in your seat before." The Chief reminded him. "I've been waiting for news-"
"You knew Adam was the mole working with Sawyer and you not only didn't think to tell me even though I was his direct supervisor, you let him loose so he could kill her." Punk said quietly.
"We had a feeling. We had no solid proof. That's why you were kept out of it." Chief told him. "We weren't sure if it was him and Beth. We didn't want you tipping him off. Last week we suspended on some bullshit but he figured out we were onto him."
"And now she's going to pay for your stupidity. Bravo." Punk remarked coldly.
"Nobody thought he'd show up and kill her himself." John said to him.
"Well, he did." Punk said to him. "She's dead and it's your fucking fault! You were distracting me and bullshitting with me this entire case!" He screamed standing up. "I've had Adam working for months searching for Sawyer and it turns out it was literally like doing nothing and now he's probably so far away we'll never find him, and she'll never get peace until she does die."
"I've had twenty six agents working this case behind your teams back." The Chief told him. "I had to be careful to not tip you or Adam off. James Sawyer was bought into custody last night."
Punk turned and looked at his boss and he was stunned.
"You can bring her home now." The Chief assured him.
"I can't bring her home!" Punk screamed getting in his face. "She died!"
"You don't know that." John said to him and Punk shook his head at him in disbelief. "They've been in there for hours with her, they wouldn't be if she died."
"I want to see and speak to both of them." Punk told the Chief.
"Who?" he asked.
"Adam and Sawyer." Punk told him.
"That's not a good idea." Chief told him.
"So was not telling me that a member of my team was actively trying to kill me and April." Punk shot back at him. "I deserved that heads up."
"It was safer not to tell you." John insisted.
"Safer for me but not for her. She should have been you priority. If she dies, you have to call her parents and tell them they have to bury their last child." Punk warned them.
"April Mendez?" A doctor asked and Punk practically ran over to him.
"I'm her family." Punk said to him.
"She's out of surgery. She has a collapsed but we were able to get a tube in and we're going to have to keep in for several days until-" The doctor began to explain.
"Several days?" Punk asked cutting him off.
"Uh- yes, sir-" he began and Punk hugged him.
"She's going to live?" Punk asked hugging him gratefully.
"Barring any post-surgical issues- yes she should make a full recovery." He told him and Punk pulled away. "She's in recovery right now and then she'll be moved to a private room."
"It has to be private." Cena added walking over. "Ms. Mendez is a witness to a federal crime and under US Marshal protection. She'll have a Marshal outside her room at all times and inside."
"I'll be inside her room." Punk told John and his Chief as he walked over as well.
"You're not her protection detail anymore." The Chief informed him and Punk began to argue. "You have a relationship with the witness so what you're going to do is take off a few weeks and help her recover, you're going to stop being so damn stubborn and let my men watch out for both you AND her and you're going to relax for a bit- both of you."
"When can I see her?" Punk asked the doctor.
"After she's moved to her private room and we get her settled she can see one person at a time." The doctor told him.
"How long is that going to take?" Punk asked him.
"Probably about an hour." The doctor told him and he nodded then walked off.
"If I leave hospital grounds for half an hour are you two going to conspire and ship her off somewhere?" Punk asked John and his Chief.
"No." The Chief told him. "Sawyer is in custody there's not big threat."
"There's the treat from his family since she's still the star witness to his trial." Punk reminded him.
"Yes, I know but Sawyer was the biggest threat." The Chief told him.
"We'll watch her, go home and shower and do what you have to do." John told him.
"Yea, alright." Punk said then walked to the elevator.
Punk had ZERO intentions of going home to shower or change out of his clothes that were covered in April's blood.
Punk walked down to the holding area of the office and saw Adam in a single cell.
"Why?" Punk asked him.
"James was arrested and they wanted her taken out. I was the closest one to her location and-" Adam began to explain.
"Did you think you'd get away with it?" Punk asked in disbelief.
"No." Adam admitted freely. "It was up anyway. John and the Chief were onto me. It wasn't personal Punk I-"
"This was very personal!" Punk yelled.
"I tried to keep you out of it." Adam told him.
"How long have you been working with Sawyer?" Punk asked.
"Better part of five years." Adam told him honestly. "Beth had no idea."
"Why?" Punk asked him. "All of these other witnesses and cases that have fallen apart-"
"Was me." Adam admitted. "I wish I could give you an answer you'd understand and accept."
"Nothing you say will help me understand any of this." Punk said to him. "Was it money? Was it blackmail? Or have you always been a piece of shit?"
"Remember when my mom got sick?" Adam asked and Punk rolled his eyes. "Don't judge me. You'd do the same thing!"
"I wouldn't!" Punk yelled back.
"Those hospital bills were ridiculous and she'd be dead without the money I had been given." Adam told him. "It started off as a one time thing and it was innocent-"
"All of the people that have died all this time- it's on you." Punk told him. "The innocent witnesses that have been found dead or 'disappeared'- you're a murderer."
"I made my peace with my choices a long time ago." Adam said to him.
"Your mom got better a year ago." Punk remembered.
"The money was good." Adam said simply. "We don't all make the big money like you do."
"Money was worth all of those lives?" Punk asked him. "Money was worth April's life?"
"I tried to stir them away from her for your sake. I know you developed a thing for her." Adam said to him. "The night they came to your place and they tried to take her was because they promised me they'd try to scare her into leaving town. When that got shot to hell they wanted her out. The car accident seemed easy. We hoped you'd be knocked out long enough to kill her if the accident didn't kill her but that obviously didn't go according to plan. Then you had me looking into where they moved her and gave me your clearance which made it easy to get a location." Adam explained. "But there were security measures I tripped up and the Chief knew I did it. He took my clearance and I knew I was done. Sawyer told me if I took April out he'd make sure and my family were set for life. I was going to be going to jail anyway the least I could do is make sure my family was set. I knew this wasn't going to last forever but I had gotten in so deep."
"Money." Punk said in disbelief. "Fucking money!"
"My mom needed surgery and rehabilitation." Adam reminded him. "Sawyer took care of me when you and this agency didn't."
"I hope it was worth the lifetime in this prison cell." Punk told him seriously.
"My family is always going to be taken care of. I'll sleep just fine at night." Adam said to him. "You shouldn't have even been in charge of the team. You think with your heart and not your head. You knew something was off for months and you hated John so much because you felt threatened by him that you didn't see what was right in front of you."
"I didn't see you because I thought we were more than teammates. I thought we were brothers." Punk said to him honestly. "I won't make a mistake like that again."
"I'm sure you will." Adam replied coolly. "I told you I didn't want you to get hurt. Did April make it?"
"You'd love to know that." Punk smiled. "Try to get a message to your buddies."
"They're not going to stop." Adam warned him. "With Sawyer in lockup his dad will do anything to get him out. He's going to get desperate."
"If only I had someone on the inside." Punk said to him.
"I'd love to cut a deal and give you the inside dealings for a reduced sentence." Adam offered and Punk smiled.
"You have loyalty to know one but yourself." Punk said in awe o f him.
"You'll learn it sooner rather than later, you're the only one who will look out for you." Adam informed him.
"I thought we all looked out for each other." Punk said to him. "It also wasn't me who pulled myself out of that car a few weeks ago."
"I wouldn't put all my stock in her. She won't be around." Adam told him and Punk would have grabbed him if he could reach him. "Even if she survives what I did today, they'll take her out before the trial. They're laying low right now but it's going to happen when you least expect it."
"I'm not going to make the same mistakes I made with you." Punk told him. "You and James Sawyer are going to prison and then I'll take down the entire Sawyer organization."
"You make it sound so simple." Adam remarked. "It won't be."
"I like a challenge." Punk said to him. "This is the last conversation you and I are ever going to have."
"I understand." Adam said to him then watched Punk walk away.
When Punk made it back to the hospital he made sure to make himself comfortable. He had a long lounge chair bought in and a blanket and pillow. He wanted to be there when she woke up. She was still so pale and frail. She had tube coming out of her chest and the machines in the room were loud but he was just happy to hear them beeping because it meant she was alive.
"So." Punk began as he got comfortable in his hospital chair beside her bed. "I did stop home to change because I think I was freaking out some people and I picked up some of your things. You left a book out on the bed and it looks like you just started it according to where you left the bookmark." He said pulling the book out of his bag.
"The doctor said I should talk to you but I don't know what to say. I could just beg you to wake up repeatedly." He suggested to himself. "But I think you know how badly I want you to come back to me. So I thought I'd read to you." he said opening the book. "It's not really my kind of book but it will keep me talking. See? This is not the time for comfortable silence." he teased to April then frowned when she didn't even flinch. "I'm going to need you to wake up soon because I'm missing you. Our brief reunion earlier wasn't long enough. Don't be scared to wake up, I'm here." He said and kissed the top of her head.
"Now I'll just guess which line you stopped on..." He trailed off.
Punk read her the book until it was finished and checked the time and it was only four in the morning and he wasn't sure what else he was going to say to her.
"I'm just checking in." the nurse greeted walking in and checked April's machines.
"When is she going to wake up?" Punk asked the nurse.
"Should be soon. She did go through a major trauma." the nurse reminded him. "She your wife?"
"Oh, no." Punk laughed. "We just started out or at least I think we were. We didn't get much of a chance to really talk about what was going on before this happened. I just want her to wake up and start bothering me like she used to do."
"The girl who drove you crazy and you didn't realize you fell in love with her until it was too late." The nurse teased.
"Yea, something like that." Punk smirked looking at April. "Is there anything else I can do to wake her up? I've been talking to her for hours and it's not working."
"It's helping her, trust me." The nurse said to her. "Her blood pressure is down and normal and her fever has dropped so you're helping her. She must like your voice."
"That's good to know." Punk said keeping his eyes on April. "I'm just worried she hasn't woken up yet."
"She will." The nurse again assured him. "Just keep talking."
"I think I've run out of things to talk about." Punk confided.
"It'll come to you. Just don't stop because it's doing her good." The nurse told him then left the room.
"Ape." Punk groaned. "I'm going to lose my voice. I've never talked this much before. Talking is usually your thing." He said brushing her gently out of her face. "My mom keeps calling me about you. She's worried. She really loves you and she barely knows you but that's no surprise. You're pretty easy to love."
"You know." Punk began as he shifted a bit in his chair and leaned over her so he could talk quietly. "I like the image of you in that house. I'm only saying this because you won't remember it. But I think you should be in that house with me." he told her. "We'll get ten dogs like you want, you know as long we don't kill each other before I retire." he teased. "I'll even drive a minivan as long as you promise to wake up soon. We've barely dated- ok we haven't dated at all- but I'd like to. I want to confirm my suspicions about you. You might be the one and I can't know for sure until you open those pretty eyes."
April didn't move in an inch and Punk let out a sigh. He rested his head against the bed but didn't let go of her hand. He was exhausted himself and was really losing his voice. He trusted in her that she would wake up when she was ready.