A/N: I'm baack! Hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th! No worries - there's no way I could kill off my (our) beloved Will/Liam. Enjoy the chapter ;)
"Yesterday-
All my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they're here to stay-
Oh, I believed in yesterday."
-The Beatles
"Eighteen year old male, GSW to the chest, BP eight over forty and dropping, pulse sixty and falling fast."
The trauma team stood at the ready as the EMTs crashed through the swinging doors with Liam lying pale and still on the gurney, leaving his grief stricken parents in the hallway, Gavin a respectful few paces behind.
"I know that now isn't the time, Marshall, but I'm going to need a statement about what went down-"
"For the love of God, Gavin!" Mary whirled on him in fury. "My son is in there fighting for his life and you want Marshall to drop everything and give-"
"It's fine, Mary, it comes with the job."
She recoiled at the cold, detached tone of his voice. "Marshall-" she reached out for him but he shrugged away from her, not tearing his eyes away from the doors his son had disappeared behind. "Just let me get a status report on Will and I'll come find you, all right?"
"That will be fine, Marshall. Like I said, there's no hurry. I can wait a day-"
Mary snorted. "You should have said that in the first place."
Gavin ignored her. "I'm going to go check on Jessie's processing and then I'll be back to see if there's any word on Will. Mary," he pulled her aside. "Keep an eye on him," he nodded at Marshall. "I think he might be in shock."
Take care of my Dad. Will's words rang in her head and Mary shuddered. Marshall had kept his distance from her ever since she had arrived at the scene, insisting on riding with their son in the ambulance and not even meeting her eyes here in the corridor.
"I know – but I think he blames me for what happened."
Gavin placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's not your fault, Mary. Jessie is one troubled, grief stricken young lady-"
"But if I had been honest with him from the beginning and told him about the death threats-" Mary shook her head. "Forewarned is forearmed, Gavin."
"You've had quite a bit on your mind, Mary. Cut yourself some slack."
"That's kind of hard to do when your teenage son is fighting for his life. It should have been me, Gavin."
He squeezed her shoulder briefly before dropping his hand. "It has been you – you're just not used to being a mother."
She snorted. "I think that's the understatement of the century. I don't know how to do any of this – be married, have a family."
"I thought he gave you divorce papers?"
"He did but I haven't signed them."
Gavin tipped his head to the side. "Are you going to?"
"Family of William Mann?"
Mary whirled in time to see Marshall stepping forward to sign something and she hobbled over. "What is it – what's happening?"
"They're taking my – Will to emergency surgery."
"What for?" Mary frowned as she looked between Marshall and the doctor.
"Are you family?" the doctor pressed.
Marshall remained silent and Mary wanted to scream. Instead she nodded and whispered, "I'm his mother."
"Your son's left lung has collapsed and is filling with fluid. We need to re-inflate it, remove the bullet and drain the fluid."
Mary's heart beat faster. "So the bullet missed his heart?"
The doctor nodded. "Yes, that's the good news – but he's still in serious condition. I need to operate-"
Mary shooed him away. "Of course – go." She turned to Marshall, trying to get a read on his face. "But he'll be OK?"
"Barring infection, pneumonia, and other complications, he should be, yes," Marshall breathed out slowly as he leaned back against the wall, his eyes closing in relief.
She reached out to him and he jumped as her hand touched his. "Marshall, I-"
"Not now, OK, Mary? I need to make some calls – let the rest of our family know. And then Gavin wants to debrief me-"
"Marshall, please, don't shut me out."
His eyes opened and for a moment stared into hers with such deep longing that she ached to comfort him like she could have eighteen years ago. Mary involuntarily shuffled towards him, and he dipped his head, until she could feel the breath on her face. His lips had barely touched hers earlier in the burger palace and it had awakened so many feelings and memories her head was still spinning. It had left her hungry for more – more of him, more of them.
Marshall's eyes darted up to hers to see if she was sure, only to see that hers had fallen shut even as her lips fell slightly open. He remembered this look – even though he hadn't seen it in eighteen years. Part of him was still furious with her for not telling him about the death threats so that he could do a better job of protecting Will – but seeing her standing before him with an upturned face waiting for his kiss was quickly melting that fury into passion. She had always been able to do this to him – make him forget what he had been angry about in the first place by simply asking for a kiss.
Just like she was now –
He slowly lowered his lips to hers only to jerk back in surprise as her cell went off. She blushed furiously and fished it out of her jean shorts. "Sorry," she mumbled to him. "Yes? Raph, sorry. I meant to call sooner. Everything's taken care of – you can go on to your game. No, I can't explain now – when? I – oh – you're breaking up-" she hung up with the phone and turned back to Marshall with an apologetic smile.
Who was no longer there.
"Fuck!"
"Brandi, I need you calm down and listen to me-"
"How the hell am I supposed to do that, Marshall? First you call and tell me that Mary doesn't even remember her own son and now you're calling to tell me that Will's been shot and is in emergency surgery! How the fuck am I supposed to calm down? I feel like the floor's been pulled out from under me!" Brandi screamed at him through the phone.
Marshall pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "Get in line, Bee. Look, this has been a shock for all of us-"
"I'm sorry," Brandi sighed and Marshall was struck again by the differences between the two sisters. Mary would still be cursing and yelling into the phone but Brandi's storm was already passing – she couldn't stay upset long without her emotions morphing into sadness or forgiveness. "I'm just scared, you know? If anything ever happened to Will-"
"Hey," Marshall cut her off. "He's going to be OK – the bullet missed his heart and the doctor is operating right now. Maybe I should have waited to call but I thought you would have wanted to know-"
"No, I'm glad you called. I'm just sorry I'm so far away. I wish I could be there for you."
"Mary's here."
Brandi grunted. "Yeah, my sister who ran out on all of us years ago-"
"Bee, I really think you need to talk to her. She doesn't remember being married to me-"
"But she remembers having a sister, right?"
Marshall swallowed hard before whispering, "Yes."
"Then at the very least she knew she abandoned ME and I just don't know if I'm ready to hear any rationalizations she made to herself to make that OK."
"Look, you're only hurting yourself by not talking to her – Will's been right all these years. I needed to find her to talk to her about all of this so I could let her go – let us go – and you need to do the same."
"Marshall – I'm not going to get into a debate with you about my talking to Mary over the phone, all right? I'd much rather talk about my nephew. You said he's in surgery?"
"Yes – I'll call you when he's out to let you know how he's doing."
"You better – and I don't care what time it is – Stevie will most likely have me up anyway. Did you call Rosa?"
Marshall grimaced. "First call I made. She swore very colorfully in Spanish and then said she was going to church to light a candle and spend the night in prayer."
"That's our Rosa – what about Patti?"
"I thought I'd call Mom tomorrow when Will's out of surgery and in recovery. This is going to bring up flashbacks of Dad's death and I just want her to have one more good night's sleep before I tell her – is that crazy?"
"No, Marshall, it's not. You're a good son."
He snorted. "Yeah, except I broke her heart by not speaking to my father for the last eighteen years."
"You had your reasons."
He sighed. "I should go back inside – find Mary and see if there's an update on Will. I miss you, Bee. I wish you were here too."
"Marshall?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think-"
"What?"
"Nothing."
"No, what is it?"
"Do you think Mary wants to see me?"
Marshall closed his eyes against the tears he felt forming behind his eyelids. He wanted nothing more than to reassure her, tell her that of course Mary wanted to see her. But the truth was he just didn't know.
"It's OK, you don't have to-" she sighed into the phone.
"No, Bee, wait. The truth is, I don't know. There's so much going on that Mary and I haven't even talked about you yet – about what happened to you after she left and where you are now. When things calm down a bit and I can tell her – yeah, I think she is going to want to see you."
"Oh –"
"And then you'll have a decision to make."
Brandi drew a deep breath. "Well, it's good I still have some time then. I love you, Marshall."
"Love you too, Bee."
What the hell were you thinking? He may be your husband – but you haven't seen him in eighteen years! And then when he shows up with your son, you practically fall into his arms and beg him to kiss you! What the hell, Mary?
She shook her head as she lit the candle in front of her and placed the long match in the small cup of water at the side of the altar to extinguish it. Making the sign of the cross, one of her hands clasped the small medal around her neck as she bowed her head and attempted to focus her thoughts on the reason she had come to the chapel: her son, Will. The very thought that upstairs she had a teenage son fighting for his life was terrifying and thrilling at the same time. Mary had never wanted to be a mother. She had done the best she could to provide for Squish as they were growing up but deep down she had sworn that she would one day be free from that responsibility and never look back.
And then she had met Marshall Mann – and her whole outlook on life had changed. Not only was he different from any other boy she had previously dated, but he somehow managed to restore her faith in the male sex in general. Ever since her father had packed up and abandoned their family when she was barely seven years old, Mary had never trusted men. But Marshall was different – he got under her skin with the way he constantly wanted to know what she thinking and feeling, and how he never broke their dates when she told him that Brandi had to come with them. Before she knew it, Mary was as crazy about him as her little sister was – though she was more careful to hide her emotions – because having been left had taught her it was never a good thing to let people know how much one cared. Suddenly, she had a family – Marshall, Brandi, and she were a family and she would do anything to protect it.
Mary frowned. Then what the hell happened? If I got pregnant with Will on our honeymoon and had someone else to love and protect, there is no way in hell I would have up and left! I finally had someone who loved me for me and had promised not to leave-
"I'm not interrupting your prayers, am I?" Marshall whispered as he slipped onto the prayer bench next to her, dropping to his knees with a practiced ease.
Mary's hand slipped from her medal as her eyes flew open in surprise. "Shit-"
"Language, Mer," he chuckled. "We're in God's house, remember?"
She frowned at him. "How do you know I wasn't going to tell you to lower your voice?"
He arched an eyebrow. "I was already whispering-"
"Jacka-"
He lifted a finger and placed it over her lips. Mary tried hard to suppress the shudder of warmth that coursed through her but he felt it and frowned. "Are you cold?"
"A little." She moved back on the bench to her heels, but he cupped her elbows. "Marshall-"
"Where are your crutches?"
She swallowed. "I left them in Gavin's car."
"Mary-" he ground the word out between clenched teeth.
She rocked to her feet. "What would you have me do? I couldn't very well hold my gun and my crutches, could I?"
He growled as he stood and swept her up into his arms bridal style. "Doesn't anyone look after you? Do you want to walk with a limp for the rest of your life?" He walked over to the front pew and sat down, looking at her for a long moment before shifting her out of his lap to sit beside him.
"I wasn't thinking about my foot, Marshall. It was the last thing on my mind – I was only thinking about getting to you and Will." She paused to clear her throat. "I know you blame me for our son getting shot-" she held up a hand when he tried to speak. "Don't deny it – you were furious with me and you have every right. It should be me up there, not Will. I should have told you about Jessie so you could have protected him – and that's my fault too. I didn't take the threats seriously – I've never taken the threats seriously. But I need you to hear me: from here on out, I'm going to take each and every one seriously, OK? I have a family now and yes, I would die to protect that family, but I don't want them dying to protect me-"
Marshall's hands framed her face. "Stop – just stop, all right?" He moved his hands to the back of her neck, pulling her into his chest. "I – I was so scared, Mary. When we were in that room with Jessie, for the first time, I was scared. I've been in life and death situations before – but never with my son by my side. All I could think about was getting him out of there, getting that gun out of Jessie's hand before you got there. For a moment, I thought it was going to work out – but then you came and she fired – but not before Will stepped in front of me-" Marshall broke off, the tears once again breaking free to run down his cheeks.
"Oh, Marshall-" Mary shuddered against him. "He took the bullet for you? I – I'm so-"
"Hush," Marshall tangled his fingers in her hair. "He's going to be OK – we have to hang onto that."
She pulled back enough to see his eyes. "And each other."
"Mary-" he breathed softly.
"No, Marshall. Don't push me away – Will asked me to take care of you, remember?"
"I think that just meant for you to make sure I slept and ate – Will's a worrywart when it comes to me. He thinks I'll blame myself the whole time he's unconscious and not take care of myself-"
"And won't you?"
Marshall sighed and dropped his head, his forehead touching hers briefly. "No, he's right, I will. But not eating or sleeping for a bit won't hurt me –"
"Marshall, I'm not going to deal with our son's wrath when he wakes up and you look like shit-"
"Language, Mer-"
"F-"
"Mary!"
She smiled. "Let's go back upstairs and wait for word on Will. Then I'll grab us some takeout while you talk to Gavin – sound good?"
Marshall smothered a yawn and nodded.
"And then we'll see about getting some sleep."
"I'm not leaving him, Mer."
She touched his cheek. "I know that, Marshall. I'm going to talk to the nurses and see what they can do – unless you want to sleep in the uncomfortable plastic chair by his bedside all night?"
"I didn't think there was another option – certainly not a comfortable one."
She grinned. "Oh, I don't know if it will be comfortable – but there's another option."
Mary opened her eyes and stared at the face of the man sleeping not more than three feet away from her, and reached out to push back a lock of hair that had fallen over his eyes.
"Mary," he sighed in his sleep.
Warmth spread from her fingers to her toes as she realized he was dreaming about her and she quickly withdrew her hand, not wanting him to wake up and see her there, staring at him.
The nurses had set up two cots in the ICU waiting room and even though they had the entire place to themselves, Marshall had placed them side by side, with only a narrow aisle in between. Mary hadn't protested; she didn't want to be that far from him either. Being close to him gave her comfort and strength to make it through this dark night. Will had come through his surgery without any complications but the doctor had placed him in ICU overnight on a ventilator as a precaution. Now it was just a waiting game. Mary had held Marshall's hand until he had fallen into a fitful sleep, before kissing the back of it softly and placing it on his chest and moving to her own cot.
Now she guessed it was sometime in the early morning hours and she was still restless. Having gotten no sleep the night before coupled with gaining and nearly losing her son all within the same twenty-four hour period had been too much and now the tears were flowing thick and fast, the sobs getting stuck in her throat.
"Mary."
She buried her head deeper into the flat pillow the hospital had provided not wanting to meet his eyes – knowing that he was hurting as much as she, more in fact since he had raised Will. What right did she have to cry over something she had never had?
"Mary, look at me."
She'd never been able to refuse that tone of voice. Mary rolled over and locked eyes with Marshall.
"Did the doctor come in with news?"
She shook her head.
"Then what is it?"
She bit her lip. "I – I-"
He held out his hand in the space between their cots and she placed one of her hands in his. "I nearly lost my son before I got to know him."
Marshall's eyes grew shiny as he pulled on her arm. "Come here."
"What about my ankle?"
"Screw your ankle, Mary. If you want me to hold you, you're going to have to come here because sleeping in this cot has broken my back."
She withdrew her hand as she swung her legs over the side of her cot. "Who says I want you to hold me?"
Blue eyes stared into green. "Don't you?"
Mary didn't answer as she stood on her good foot and hopped two steps before she flopped ungracefully across his upper body, Marshall catching her in his arms.
"Watch the hands, Mer."
"Oops, sorry."
He pulled her against his chest and leaned back as she wrapped an arm around his waist and lowered her head, listening to his heartbeat.
"We're supposed to have the close calls, not our son," Mary murmured into his chest. "It's part of our job."
"Do you think Will would be any less devastated if it was you lying in there instead of him?" Marshall whispered, as he ran a hand through her hair.
"No," Mary swallowed.
"He's been where we are, Mer. I nearly died – I nearly left him without a father – and he didn't have you in his life at that point," Marshall's fingers were caressing her scalp. "I fought to come back to him and I know he'll fight to come back to us. Our kid's a fighter – how can he not be with parents like us?"
Her eyes drifted shut. "How can you still be such an optimist?"
Marshall smiled. "That's easy – I had Will. The glass is always half full with that kid."
"Hmm, he must get that from you-"
"Go to sleep, Mary. I promise I'll wake you the second the doctor says we can see Will."
"You better." She snuggled deeper into his chest and Marshall listened to her breathing get deeper and even out.
He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her temple. "Sweet dreams, Mer."
"Hmm, Marshall. I love you."
A/N: Yeah, I did it again - I left you hanging. But I've got you wanting more, yes? Reviews are LOVE!