*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter they were greatly appreciated. And thank-you for your patience on waiting for an update. I'm trying my hardest to update as much as I can but with work it's harder for me to update as frequently but I'm trying."
"What's taking so…." I say as I open Dean's office door to find him on the floor near his desk, blood everywhere and blood covering his body. "DEAN!" I cry out as I run over to him. "Dean," I cry as I look for the source of where the blood is coming from. "Dean, wake up," I say with tears burning my eyes. The color drained from his face, he looks lifeless. I check for a pulse and it's faint as I continue to find the source of his bleeding. The red blood getting onto my white dress, "Dean, please," I beg through my tears as I find where the blood is coming from. "SOMEBODY HELP! SOMEBODY!" I yell for someone to come help. "Dean," I cry. "Don't leave me," I beg him as I watch his chest rise and fall slowly. "Please, we need you, Baby."
"What happened?" yells security as they storm into the room.
"I don't know. He told me he was coming to get me a jacket so we could take a walk. It was taking him a little too long so I came to check on him to make sure he was okay and I found him like this. I think he was shot," I say applying pressure to his wound to help stop the bleeding.
"Is he dead?" asks Vito one of our security team members.
"No he has a faint pulse, call 911 or he's going to die," I say keeping my hand over the wound, blood covering my tiny hands. I watch as Vito speaks into his walkie talkie. "He can't die," I say with tears falling from my eyes. "We need more time. He's the best thing to ever happen to me. He needs to see our baby," I say. "He can't die we need to live life together."
"An ambulance is on its way," says Vito as he comes over to help me keep Dean alive till they arrive. "The media is going to have a field day with this. You don't think it was Cody that shot him do you?"
"I don't know. Isn't it security's job to make sure someone like Cody doesn't come into the party? Where was the security team while Dean was up here?"
"He said he needed to be alone for a couple minutes. He said he had to get everything together," he says. "We do respect his wishes to be left alone. We checked everyone at the door. Everyone that came into this party was on the list. No one got in that wasn't supposed to," he says.
"Then who would have shot Dean? Do you think it could have been an employee?" I ask.
"I don't think so. Dean is very well liked by most of his employees. I don't think any of them would shoot him."
"Is there a way anyone could have snuck someone in?" I ask. "I mean if you checked everyone at the door it's either one of his friends, his employees or someone snuck someone inside that shouldn't have been here."
"We'll need to check the security tapes," he says. "This shouldn't have happened. We had everything covered and now," he says. "He's lying here bleeding nearly to death. Have you spoken to Cody?"
"Not since Dean changed my number. I haven't heard from Cody since before then. I try to stay away from Cody at all costs and not interact with him. Do you think it could have been Cody?" I ask.
"I don't know but we will find the son of a bitch that did this to Dean and I know the police won't rest until they have someone in custody for this attempt of homicide. He is one of the wealthiest men in the world, people don't just shoot him without a motive," he says. "Whoever it was will be brought to justice."
"I hope so," I say as the EMT's burst into the room. I look up to see the crowd of people looking inside the office to find out what is going on. "Please save him," I say to one of the EMT's as I allow them to take over with Dean to get him onto the stretcher after he applies something to the wound to keep the bleeding under control.
The EMT's place him onto the stretcher and they rush out of his office. I stay by Dean's side as we walk through the crowd of people gathered. They keep their eyes on me and on Dean. My blood stained white dress catching everyone's eyes as I hold onto Dean's hand not wanting to let go. We get to the front of the building and the media is on standby. They gather around asking me questions as I ignore them and their words blur in my mind. My only focus is on Dean and him being alive. We're having a child together, I love him like crazy and Zoey considers Dean to be her dad. If I lose him I don't know what I'll do. Security pushes the media frenzy out of the way and holds them back as I climb into the back of an ambulance with the love of my life. Our security team follows behind the ambulance as we take off into the Manhattan traffic to head to the nearest hospital. I hold Dean's hand the whole way to the hospital not wanting to let go, I will never let go.
As soon as we arrive at the hospital I am forced to let go as they wheel Dean away from me. I watch as they take him through the double doors and out of sight fearing this could be the last time I see Dean. It's not fair we need more time together life can't happen like this. Some of Dean's security team go back with the nurses and doctors that took him to the back while some of the security team stays with me. I try to sit and wait but I am too nervous, my heart is racing, my palms sweating as I wait to hear anything on Dean. "Here's something to drink," offers Roman as he has come out of nowhere with a cup of coffee.
"I can't drink coffee," I say placing my hand on my stomach.
"It's decaf," he says with a soft smile as he hands it to me. "I figured you might need something while you wait."
"How did you even know I was here?" I ask.
"It's all over the news that Dean has been shot. I hope he's okay," he says. "You should really rest and take it easy. You should go home for the night. You're pregnant. I can stay here and wait on word for Dean. It's Christmas Eve, you should be home with Zoey and be there when she wakes up in the morning."
"I'm not leaving," I say eyeing him as I put the coffee in the trash without drinking it. "I'm staying here all night or however long it takes until I know Dean's condition."
"You should at least change your clothes," he suggests. I look down at my blood stained white dress. "Would you like me to get you something to change into?"
"I'm fine," I say. "I really just want to be left alone," I say as I walk away from him to pace the waiting room as he takes a seat watching me.
"He's my best friend you know," he says.
"Best friend right. You haven't even talked to him in weeks now on the night he gets shot you're all of a sudden his best friend. You need to leave. We don't need you here," I say.
"You can't make me leave, Journey or should I call you Alexis?" he asks taking a sip of his coffee and giving me a smirk. "You know, I'm sure none of this would have happened if you weren't with Dean. The fact he's in that hospital bed or he ends up dead is your fault. He shouldn't have been with you. I know exactly who you are, Alexis. You may have Dean fooled but you don't have me fooled."
"You know nothing about me and my name isn't Alexis, it's Journey," I argue not sure why it matters. It's not the time to argue and definitely not the place.
"Soon enough the entire world is going to find out about you. I don't know how Dean kept your secrets hidden for so long but now without Dean to protect you you're going to be exposed to the world and everyone is going to blame you for what happened to Dean," he smirks. "So you and Cody working together to bring down Dean's empire or did you try to kill him for the money that you'll never get. You see, Journey here's the thing," he begins as he gets up and makes his way over to me. "Here's the thing, you're a charity case for Dean, you always have been. He doesn't love you he feels sorry for you. You're a poor southern girl with a daughter. He doesn't love you he just feels bad for you and wanted to help you. You'll find that out, Journey. People like you don't belong in our world," he says. "You don't belong with Dean and when the world finds out who you truly are they will know you don't belong with him either. The world is going to hate you, Journey."
"You need to leave," I say with tears burning my eyes and a lump forming in my throat. "You don't need to be here," I say as I motion for my security to escort him out. "Don't come back here and if I were you I wouldn't talk to Dean he doesn't want to be friends with you," I say. "Get him out of here," I say.
"Yes, Ma'am," says Bo; a member of our security team.
"I know you're hiding something, Journey," yells Roman as he's being escorted out and just as he is taken out of the door two police officers show up with a New York City detective. I let out a deep breath as a couple tears roll down my cheek.
"Alexis Winters," says one of the officers to me. "We need to speak with you."
"Okay," I say nervously.
The officers and detective escort me to a private room in the hospital. They offer me a seat and I take it as the detective sits across from me and the two officers stand by the door. I look at them and they look at me. "Where were you when Dean Ambrose was shot in his office?" he asks.
"I was at the office Christmas party waiting for him," I answer truthfully. "He went to his office to get a jacket for me because we were going to go for a walk. He was taking a really long time so I went up to his office to check on him to make sure he was okay and when I got into his office he was lying on the ground covered in blood."
"Did you hear a gunshot go off at all?" asks the detective.
"No," I say. "I didn't hear anything, no one heard anything."
"Interesting," he says, "and your ex-husband, Cody, have you heard from him, talked to him or had any contact with him at all?"
"Cody had been calling both Dean and I until we changed our numbers. I have not had any contact with him since he made threatening phone calls to Dean and me. You all have that on record that we were threatened. In fact we put a restraining order out on him and I have a protection of abuse order against him. I have no need to talk to Cody. I have been spending the last 3 years of my life running from him. I wouldn't go out of my way to have any contact with him."
"But you two have a daughter together, is that correct?" he asks.
"That has nothing to do with this and he hasn't been in her life since the day she was a baby. She wouldn't even know who he is and I prefer to keep it that way."
"But you two do share a child together?"
"No we don't share anything together. He inserted sperm into my vagina, made a baby with me but we don't share anything. To be a father he would have to actually have a part in her life which he doesn't and he never will. And why are you wasting your time talking to me? Shouldn't you be looking for the person that did this?"
"We are questioning you because you have a motive to shoot Mr. Ambrose," says the detective.
"So I am a suspect in my boyfriend's shooting? You can ask anyone at that party that I was not in the room when he was shot. In fact, I'm not saying anymore. I won't answer any more questions until I have my lawyer present."
"We have no more questions," says the detective. "We'll be in touch," he says standing up, shaking my hand. I stand up and walk out of the room as they head toward the entrance.
I take a seat on a chair to wait for any updates on Dean as I see snow starting to fall outside. It would have been the perfect Christmas. "Family of Dean Ambrose," says the doctor. I stand up immediately and make my way over to him. "Are you the family of Dean Ambrose?" he asks.
"I'm his girlfriend," I say. "I'm pretty much all that he has. How is he? Is he okay?" I ask.
"It's touch and go," he says. "He is just out of surgery. We successfully removed the bullet from his chest. Mr. Ambrose got very lucky tonight if the bullet would have hit an inch higher he would have died on the spot," he says. "It's a Christmas Miracle."
"So he's going to be okay?" I ask feeling a little bit of relief.
"Like I mentioned it's touch and go right now. We are keeping him monitored and he is still asleep. He hasn't woken up yet."
"Will he wake up?" I ask nervously.
"There's a 75% chance that he will wake up but we're not sure when that will be."
"Was there any damage done other than the bullet wound?" I ask.
"Thankfully no there wasn't. It didn't hit his spine so he should make a full recovery if he wakes up but he did lose a large amount of blood. We had to give him a blood transfusion so now we're just waiting for the next step," he says.
"Thank-you," I say. "Can I see him?"
"Of course," he says with a soft smile. "I will show you to his room."
"Thank-you," I say with a smile as I follow the doctor to Dean's room.
We walk in and Dean is lying in a hospital bed hooked up to wires and machines. His heartbeat echoes in the room around us. He looks lifeless as I walk over to his bed and take his hand into mine, tears forming in my eyes as I look down at him. The doctor closes the door behind him as he walks out of the room, security gathered outside the door giving Dean and me our privacy. "Baby," I say breaking down into tears. "I love you so much. Everything was so perfect and I fucked everything up. This is my fault, everything is my fault," I cry. "I'm so sorry, Baby. I'm so sorry. I am not good enough for you, Dean. I never really was. You deserve so much better than me, Dean. I'm not the woman for you. I love you enough that when you wake up I'll let you go. I have caused nothing but trouble. I'm just a poor girl you met in the shelter. I don't know anything about your life or how to live in it. Everyone is going to find out I am Alexis Winters from Alabama, the daughter of a doctor that was raped by her step father, married a guy that abused her and had a kid by him without a high school diploma. I'm always going to be that poor girl you met in the shelter, your charity case. You deserve better," I say with tears streaming from my eyes. "You deserve better," I say before I break down into sobs. "I love you, Dean but people are going to say how much I don't deserve you because this is my fault."
"Fuck them," he says surprising me.
"Dean?"
"Fuck them," he says as my green eyes meet his blue eyes. "Fuck them all," he says with a smile and a raspy voice. "Not one of those assholes matter," he says. "What matters is what I think and I think you're everything to me. You're my sunrise and my sunset. You're the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing I see before I go to bed at night, you're in my dreams. I love you, Journey. Before you came into my life it meant nothing. I was living every day searching for something I thought it was all about my work but I found out it wasn't my work at all. It was you. I was searching for you every day. I never thought I could be the man to fall in love, have a baby, have a daughter, that guy wasn't me. You quickly made me see that I am that guy and that I can be that guy. You're my everything, Journey. I want to give you picket fences, have a few kids, give you the world, give you me, give you my heart. I want to give it all to you. You're the beauty my life has been missing. I have never been happier than I have been with you. Journey, I love you, I love everything about you. You're not the poor girl from the South or the poor girl from the shelter you're my rainbow in my life, the rose of my life. You've brought so much joy and so much beauty to my life. You're the most beautiful person inside and out. I want to love you forever, I'm going to love you forever. I want every day the rest of my life to begin with you and end with you. I love you, Journey and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Fuck what everyone around the world thinks what matters is I want you to be my wife, I want to grow old with you. This isn't how I planned to do this but I have no choice. I wanted to do it tonight on Christmas Eve. Will you marry me, Journey, will you be my wife?" he asks as tears blur my eyes once more, the lump in my throat choking on a sob. I love this man more than any words could ever say.
I find myself speechless, hard to talk through the lump in my throat but I finally say through my tears, "yes, Dean, yes I'll marry you," I say with a smile and tear covered cheeks. "I'll be your wife." I lean down and kiss his lips softly, passionately and sweetly. I feel his hands in my hair as we share a passionate kiss. "I love you," I whisper.
"Good," he says, "And don't ever think you're going to walk away from me again. You're going to love me the rest of my life and I'm going to love you the rest of yours. You're not going anywhere."
"I don't want to," I smile. I want to ask him who shot him but it can wait till tomorrow. Right now, I want to celebrate Christmas Eve with my fiancée and celebrate our engagement as well as his life tonight.
"Good," he says with a smile before placing his hand on my stomach. "We're going to be happy. I promise you that all of us are going to be happy," he smiles before I lean down and kiss his lips once more.
*A/N: What did you think? Did you cry or want to cry? Please review and thank-you for reading.