Love Lost (11 page)

Everything happened in slow motion.  She saw Jason run toward her and grab her hard. He pulled her toward the side door of the precinct as the man started to shoot at them.  She heard Jason yell out and shoot back.  She looked back and saw Jason slumped on the floor.  She yelled out his name and dropped to the floor next to him.  One of the bullets had grazed his leg.  She turned him over and she screamed for help.  There were two holes in his chest, one hit the vest but the other went in just above it.  She looked around for the shooter, but there was chaos everywhere.  People were screaming and officers running after the shooter.  She put her hands on the wound to try to stop the bleeding from his chest.

“SOMEBODY HELP ME!”

  Eddie had parked the van across from the station.  Lucio wanted to make sure they had a good view for what was going to happen.  Lucio pulled Vin forward to look out the front windshield.

“Let’s see if your friend can avoid bullets like the superhero he wants to be.”

Vin struggled at the handcuffs that held him in place.

“You don’t have to do this.  Let me talk to him.  I will make him stop seeing her.  You don’t need to kill Jason.”

“But this way is better; more entertaining.  Now watch.  He should be getting here soon.”

Lucio did not expect to see Jason and Selene leave the building together.  When he saw her walk away and the shooter walk toward her, he yelled out.

“NOT HER!!!!!”

The shots rang out and Lucio watched as Jason took the hits, protecting her from being shot.  Vin yelled out and Lucio punched him hard.

“Your
boy
had this coming for touching her.  She belongs to me!!!”

He ordered Eddie to drive them to pick up the shooter at the agreed upon location.  The idiot was waiting for them by the post office.  He was pacing furiously, unaware of Eddie walking behind him.   He reached up and broke the shooter’s neck in a matter of seconds.  Lucio drove them back to his house.  Eddie grabbed Vin and dragged him inside.

“What are we going to do with you?”

Eddie dropped Vin on the floor. 

“Eddie, do you need some help back home?”

“We could always use an extra errand boy.”

“Eddie, bring me Sofia.”

Eddie left and returned with the little girl.  She was holding a pink bunny and dried tears were streaked on her small face. 

Lucio pointed at the armchair and Eddie placed the little girl there.  Lucio went over and removed the gag from Vin’s mouth.

“I’m going to give you a choice.”

“Fuck your choices!”

Lucio grabbed his gun and put it to Sofia’s temple.

“I don’t give a shit about shooting her. It will be nothing more than a mess that needs to be cleaned up.”

“No. Wait!”

Lucio removed the gun and Sofia slumped on the chair, crying into her bunny.  Vin cursed under his breath.

“Why are you doing this?  You know I’m a cop
, so why not use your muscle over here to shoot Jason?  You could have gotten Selene killed.”

Lucio pointed the gun at Vin.  “You’re not as smart as I thought. You are not as clean as your family thinks you are.  After what happened today, you will be blamed for Jason’s death.  Do you think that they will believe you with all the evidence against you?” 

“Evidence?”  Vin went silent.  “Wait.  You mean the dead body at my house.”

“No
; that was a test to see if you could keep your mouth shut, but now it will just stack the evidence against you.”  

“What exactly do you expect me to do?”

“I knew you would see things my way. The only problem we have is this little one.”

He petted Sofia’s head like a dog and she whimpered.

“She’s not a problem.  I can take her.”

“Oh, really?  You don’t look like the father type.”

“I never said I was.  I said I would take her over whatever you’re thinking of doing to her.  Besides, you could always use her to keep me in line.”

Lucio stood and walked over to the fireplace.

“Eddie, get them on a plane to Brazil tonight.  I have a few things to handle here.”

“Lucio, your father wants you home.”

“My father will have me home when I am ready to go home.  Until then, I stay.”

Eddie nodded and called some of the men to help bring Vin and Sofia to the van. Lucio dialed a number on his cell phone and waited for an answer.  A small
, weak voice answered.

“Hello?”

“Mimi, do you have what I asked for?”

“Lucio, please…”

“Come by the house, Mimi.  We can talk about Sofia then.”

He ended the call with the thought that Mimi was going to help him get Selene one way or another.

Jason was rushed into surgery and Selene waited outside in the waiting area.  She had called his parents once she got to the hospital and they were driving down along with his brothers.  A few officers came in and out of the waiting room, asking for information that Selene didn’t have.  Selene was pacing back and forth when Jason’s family came through the door.  His mother looked distraught and on the verge of fainting if it wasn’t for Jason’s father supporting her.  Jesse walked over and hugged her.

“Have they said anything?”

As if right on cue, the doctor finally walked into the room and Selene almost tackled him to the floor.

“Is he ok?” 

The doctor removed his mask and motioned for them to sit down.

“It’s difficult to say right now.  Two of the bullets did extensive damage to his heart.  We were able to stop the bleeding and repair the damage.  During the surgery, his heart stopped several times, but we were able to bring him back. He fell into a coma and we can only wait and see if he will come out of it.  I also want to be honest with you all.  We don’t know what kind of damage he may
have sustained.  His heart stopped and he was clinically dead for almost a minute.  We don’t know if there will be any type of brain damage due to the lack of oxygen to the brain.  We have done all we can and now it’s up to him.”

As the doctor left them, Selene was left feeling emotionless.  Jason could die and she felt herself start to panic. 
No, he couldn’t die.  He just came into her life.  She was in…
  As Selene realized her feelings, the tears flowed.   She was in love with Jason and she may not ever get to tell him.  The nurse interrupted them to show them to Jason’s room.

“Family only.”  She stared directly at Selene when she said it.  Selene was going to say she would stay in the waiting room when Jason’s mother spoke up. 

“Selene is family.  So if you don’t mind, we need to see my son.” 

Maribel held her hand and Selene managed a weak smile. They walked down the hall and she felt like she was walking toward the firing squad. His parents walked in first and she heard his mother gasp.  Julian and his father helped her sit down.  Jesse squeezed her hand and she realized she was standing in the doorway.  She didn’t even notice that Maribel had let go of her hand.  Selene looked over at Jason to find his chest covered in bandages and tubes in his mouth to help him breathe.  She grabbed onto the bed to hold herself up.  She sat on the bed and caressed Jason’s face, leaning in to kiss his cheek and whisper in his ear.

“Listen up, Detective Straiz.  You are not allowed to leave me, because I love you and I am not ready to lose you.  I will tell you every day for the rest of your life, but you need to wake up for me.”

Several weeks had passed and Jason showed no signs of waking up.  His parents, along with Selene, were by his side every night and refused to leave his room.  Julian and Jesse took turns to leave to get food for everyone and would try to persuade her to leave to get some fresh air.  She refused to go with the fear that Jason would wake up and she wouldn’t be there.  The nurse would come in to change his bandages and Selene managed to ask if she could help with them.  Her name was Jean and she was kind to her.  She taught her how to change and maintain them. After a few tries, Selene started to do it on her own.  She would give Jason sponge baths and read to him.  She would tell him jokes and talk about random topics that she could think of.  All things they would do before the shooting.  She wanted him to remember her when he woke up.  One night after Jason’s brothers convinced their parents to head to a hotel to get some sleep, Selene was beginning to wonder if Jason would ever wake up.  She crawled into his hospital bed and laid her head next to his arm.  She gently placed her hand over his heart and closed her eyes.

“I love this sound, Jay.  I want to keep listening to it until we are old and gray and you are annoying the nursing home staff by walking around naked.”

She laced their fingers together and rested her head next to his arm.

“Come back to me, Jay.  I can’t do this without you.”

She fell asleep humming a song to him. Selene woke up and felt a gentle kiss on the top of her head.  She looked up and the most amazing brown eyes were staring back at her.

“Hey,”  Jason said weakly.

She smiled as tears of joy filled her eyes. 

“You’re awake!” 

She touched his face.  Jason closed his eyes and Selene almost went into a panic.  She reached for the nurse’s call button when Jason grabbed her wrist.

“Stay awake, Jason. I need to call for the nurse and let her know you’re awake and I also need to call your family.  Can I get you anything?  Water, pain meds?”

Jason winced in pain as he tried to pull her closer. 

“Yeah, I’m in a lot of pain, but you’re all I need, Sel.” 

“You need to take care of yourself, Jason.  I’m not going anywhere.”

“That’s good to hear.
”

She grinned as he pulled her in for a kiss.  He was awake and with her.  She couldn’t be happier.  As she kissed his lips, a fleeting thought went through her mind.  She was given a second chance with him and she was not going to risk it.  As soon as Jason was better, she was going to have some explaining to do. 

He woke up and felt the pain in his chest when he tried to breathe. It hurt like hell but it was all worth it.  She was curled up next to him, sleeping soundly.  When he woke up and saw Selene with him, he felt like he was whole.  To feel her lips on his and to know she was ok was enough to get him through the pain.  Selene smiled and cuddled with him until the doctor walked in.

“Mr. Straiz.  How are you feeling?”

He smiled and looked at Selene as the doctor checked his vitals.

“Good.  Sore and very hungry!”

“We got you covered, Bro!”

His family walked in and Selene tried to get up but he held her close.  It must have been the meds
messing with his head, but he was almost afraid if he let her go he would never see her again.  His mother came over to hug him and his brothers shook his hand.  His father, not usually an emotional man, stood in the hallway out of Jason’s sight.  Jason knew that his father would come in when he could be the solid rock of support for everyone. 

“Well, your heart sounds good.  It’s a little accelerated so I am going to monitor you for the ne
xt few days.   After that, we’ll see how it goes. Don’t try to move without help.  Press the call button for a nurse if you need to get out of bed.”

“Thanks,
Doc. I don’t plan on going anywhere.”  The last part was directed at Selene, who excused herself to disappear into the bathroom. The doctor stepped out of the room with Jason’s parents to answer some questions and a nurse came in to check on Jason’s wounds. 

“You seem to be healing nicely.  It must be all the extra help you have been getting.”  

Jason frowned.  “Extra help?”

“Well
, yes.” The nurse looked at Jason and continued. “Your wife has been here every day with your family since the day you were shot.” 

Jason couldn’t help but grin. “Really?  Every Day?”  The nurse nodded and Jason couldn’t help but feel elated.

“You look surprised that your wife was here?”

“Well, she isn’t my wife.”

“Hmmm.  She obviously cares for you.  She asked to learn how to change your bandages so she could do them for you.  She bathed you and read to you.”

“So it seems.” 

“Don’t let a good thing pass you by, Mr. Straiz.”

“We just met, Nurse…”

“Please call me Jean.  Can I give you some advice?”

“Absolutely.”

“I have been with my husband for almost 30 years.  We eloped after two weeks of dating.  When you know that person is the one, there is no stopping the inevitable.”

“That’s very good advice.”

Jean smiled at him and patted his arm.

“I am the Yoda of romance.  Buzz me if you need
anything.”  Selene walked back into the room as the nurse left.

“Is everything ok?” 
she asked.

“Yeah. I was just talking to Nurse Jean.  I might have to stay a few more days but hopefully after that I can go home.  I’m not going to be able to do much but stay in bed for a while.”

She smiled at him and replied, “Well, I can always stay and help you until you’re feeling better.” 

He motioned for her to lie next to him and she climbed on the bed willingly.

“Look, we’re finally alone,”  Jason whispered in her ear.

Selene shook her head at him, unable to hide the huge grin on her face.  Just as she was about to kiss him
, a group of Jason’s co-workers stormed into the room.

Jason groaned and Selene looked worried at his response.  He kissed her ear tenderly as he held her closer.

“I have lost time to make up for.”

The blush that appeared on her cheeks was the response he needed.  He turned his attention to his friends, but never loosened his hold on Selene.  After many updates and raunchy jokes, his friends left him to get some rest.  It took some convincing to get his parents to go home
, but Jason was worried about his parents and how tired they looked.  This took a toll on them and he needed them to get some rest or he would not be able to.

Once everyone left
, he was alone with Selene in his arms once again.  Something was bothering him about the shooting, but the details were still sketchy.  It was bits and pieces right now, but he knew it would come back.  He was determined to get to the bottom of this.

“Did Vin come to see me?”

Selene raised her head to look at him.  “No. Why?”

Jason reached for his phone on the table next to him and clicked through it.  No missed calls from Vin.  His gut was telling him something
was wrong. 

“Did they catch the shooter?”

Selene nodded yes.  “They found his body a few blocks away.  His neck was broken.”

Jason couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.  He tried his friend’s number again.

“We’re sorry, but the number you are calling is no longer in service. Please try again.”

Jason called his brother
, Julian.