Raw: The Ultimate Mc Collection (79 page)

“Thank you, brother.”  I said, before leaning down to talk to Rosie.

“Baby, I gotta get Daisy out of there, okay?  Sandman is going to take care of you until I get back, okay? I love you so much, Rosie.”  I said, kissing her on the cheek.

“Okay, Daddy.  Make sure Daisy’s okay.  I don’t like that man in there, he’s not very nice to Daisy.”  My blood boiled when I thought about what they had both been through.  

No more.  This ends now.

“I will baby, I promise you.”

I gave her one last hug and then looked at my watch.  

Ten to midnight. No time to waste.

I ran across the parking lot past the useless cops standing around with their hands on their guns and talking on their walkie-talkies.  The sound of Kelly’s voice calling my name drifted through my consciousness but I ignored it.  

All I could see was Daisy’s face as I barreled straight for the door of Room 106.

I listened briefly at the door, and heard nothing but low murmuring.  Using all my weight, I slammed into it, knocking the door frame from its place, the door splintering into a thousand pieces.

I took in the scene in a blinding moment.  

A blurry Todd, looking over his shoulder as pieces of wood flew into the room.  The gun pointing straight at Daisy.

And Daisy, my beautiful Daisy, standing there shaking in fear, the bomb strapped around her chest.  Her bare legs almost buckling beneath her when she saw me.

The fear on her face, replaced with a ghostly smile.

When my right fist made contact with Todd’s hideously twisted face, I felt one shot fly by me before his gun hit the floor, bouncing across the carpet.

I was on him in an instant, pummeling his face with my bare fists, blood flying along with bits of his facial flesh, bone, and teeth. I paused and pulled my knife from the holster on my belt, with only one thing on my mind.  

Death.

I paused when I heard Daisy’s voice.

“Mike. Help.”  I looked over my shoulder at her and my heart melted.  She was so scared, so vulnerable, so beautiful.

I stood and rushed over to her, my lips pressing into hers as I embraced her gently.  

“Mike! Oh, I’m so glad to see you!” she said, as she began sobbing in my arms.  “Is Rosie okay?” 

“Yes, are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

“No, but we have to hurry, this thing is about to —,”

The pain was like a white, searing heat in my back.  My breath left me, and I gasped as I stumbled away from her.  Her eyes grew wide and I fell to the ground.  

When the light left my eyes, the only thing I was aware of was the slow, incessant ticking of the bomb.

CHAPTER THIRTY

DAISY

I’ll never forget the way the smell of gunfire lingered on my hands.  It seemed like days had passed before it finally faded.  It haunted me, a constant reminder.  As if I needed any more reminders of everything that had happened, everything that had gone so horribly wrong.  

The other thing I’ll never forget is the power of the explosion.  It felt like an earthquake as it knocked me off my feet, sending me and everyone else flying into the air before depositing us back onto the ground as gravity won out.

When Todd stabbed Mike, I saw the gun lying next to my feet, and I picked it up, pointed it and shot, without a second thought.  It was simple, really.  A quick, skillful draw of my finger, and in an instant, Todd was dead.  

The flurry that happened after remained a blur in my mind.  The room filled with people. Someone pulled an unconscious Mike out as I screamed his name. Most of them left as quickly as they came in.  One tall redheaded woman stayed with me, holding my hand and trying to comfort me as three men armed in heavy protective gear pushed me onto the bed and surrounded me.  They inspected the bomb for several excruciating moments, the damned thing ticking loudly to what I was sure would be my coming death. 

I was sobbing in fear, when with only ten seconds left on the clock, they gave up, and cut the bomb from my chest.  We ran out of the room full speed, trying to get as far away as we could, leaving Todd’s lifeless body behind. 

The explosion was spectacular, I’ll give Todd that much.  He knew what he was doing, which came as a surprise to me.  He had never even mentioned bombs to me, but I wasn’t surprised he had done his research. 

I wasn’t even sad he was gone.  In fact, I was happy to be done with him. I was just sad it had all happened.

So much blood had been shed, and it was all my fault.  No, wait, scratch that.  It wasn’t all my fault.  It was Todd’s fault, mostly.  But I was still plagued with the guilt of having brought my ghosts into Mike’s life, and I was constantly reminding myself that I didn’t start the violence.  

I was just trying to end it.

My thoughts drifted to Lady Sylvia often in the next few days.  Her premonitions from the tarot cards.  And my own premonition that first day I had met Mike Montgomery.  I knew something life-changing was about to happen, even then.  I never could have imagined it would have ended like this, though.

When Todd stabbed Mike in the back, with his own knife even, the same knife he had left there because I had stopped him from killing Todd, I felt terrible.  What was I thinking?  I should have let him sink that blade deep into Todd’s evil heart.  I should have waited just one more minute before calling his name.

Maybe then, things would have turned out differently.

Maybe then, I wouldn’t be sitting in this hospital room, holding Mike’s hand as he lay unconscious beside me, the machines hooked to his body, beeping beeping beeping, constantly reminding me of the horror of the last few hours.

I looked over at Mike and sighed.

He had to be okay.  He just had to.

The sunlight was streaming in through his windows, surprising me with its brightness.  Had it really only been six or seven hours ago that I was trapped in that room with Todd?  

The door to Mike’s room opened and the redheaded cop, whose name I now knew was Kelly, walked in.  

“How’s he doing?” she whispered.

“He’s okay.  The doctor’s think he’s going to pull through.  It’s just going to take some time.  They think he might wake up pretty soon, though.  I’m just sitting here waiting.  Obviously,”  I said.

“That’s good to hear.  How are you holding up?” she asked.

“I’m okay.  I’m just worried about him.  And Rosie.”

“I went by the clubhouse earlier to update the boys, and tell Rosie what happened.  They’ll be on their way here soon.”

“Thank you,” I whispered.  

“Daisy, I’m going to need you to come down to the station to make a statement as soon as possible.  At least stop by at the end of the day, okay?”

“Okay, sure, thanks again,” I said.

She was nice, but I just wished she would leave.  I wanted to be alone with Mike.  I wanted to be alone with him if he woke up.  When he woke up, I reminded myself.

As if reading my mind, she excused herself.

“Hey,” she said, turning before walking out the door.  “When Mike wakes up, tell him I said we’re even, okay?”

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

MIKE

“Rose, I’ve missed you so much,”  I said, smiling at her.  The mist flowed all around us like clouds, concealing her face before clearing again.

I could see her soft smile and my heart soared with happiness.  It felt so good to be with her, to see her again after all of these years.  The mist thickened, making it harder and harder to see her. 

“I’ve missed you,” I said. “I wish you could see Rosie.”

“She’s just like you, Rose!  She’s so funny and strong, and smart as whip!”  I reached out to try to touch her, the mist swirling and cold around my hand.

“Every time I look at her, I see you, Rose,” I whispered.

“I miss you so much, Rose.”

All I wanted was to be with Rose and Rosie in some peaceful, happy place where nothing bad in the world could touch us.

Rose appeared again in the mist, shaking her head and waving before she turned and walked away.

Her image began to fade and soon there was nothing left but a faint fog where she was standing, and suddenly I felt waves of pain begin washing over me. 

“Rose, come back,” I called, desperate to have her near me again, desperate for the pain to go away again.  “Rose!”

I struggled to breathe, my muscles tensed up as I gasped for air, the world spinning around me before I was overcome by the darkness.  The vast emptiness.  The complete nothingness that filled my mind.

And then suddenly there was light.  Such a small, tiny pinprick of light that I almost ignored it, almost batting it away as if it were a nuisance.  Slowly it grew, floating in my head like a firefly until it began swirling and changing colors.  I moved closer to it, swimming through the darkness faster and faster, hungry for it, whatever it was.   

Finally, I burst through it, and my eyes opened.  I blinked, adjusting to the bright light of the room.  My eyes tried to focus on the bright bobs of color floating in the room, and my ears heard nothing but a constant beeping.  

But then I heard her voice.  Her pure, innocent, sweet, candy-laced voice.  And I knew this was heaven.

“Daddy!  You’re awake!  You’re awake!”  she cried.  “Daisy, he’s awake!”

I felt Rosie throw her arms around me as much as she could, the railing of the bed and all the tubes I was hooked up to  getting in her way.  

I mumbled incoherently, the words impossible to form.  It took me a second to realize I had tubes sticking out of my mouth.  I blinked at Rosie, hoping she could see the smile in my eyes.  She was beautiful.  Her smile warmed me, and filled me with joy.  My girl was safe.  She was happy.

All was right in the world.

And then I saw Daisy.  I moaned to her, wanting to say so much.  I wanted to tell her I loved her.  I wanted to tell her we were both free.  I wanted to thank her for keeping Rosie safe, in spite of such awful circumstances.  I wanted to kiss her and hold her and make love to her for the rest of my life.  I wanted to show her how amazing I thought she was.  

But I couldn’t say a word.

“Hey you,” she said, leaning over me and smiling into my eyes.

“I’m so glad you’re back,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.  She smiled through them, grabbing my hand and squeezing.  I squeezed hers back as hard as I could, hoping there was some way she could understand how much she meant to me.

“I love you, Mike,” she whispered.

Her kiss on my forehead felt like I had finally made it home, and I closed my eyes again and drifted back to sleep, knowing that when I woke up again, everything was going to be just fine.

THE END

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“I'm convinced we all are voyeurs.

We want to know secrets,

and we want to know what goes on

behind those windows.”

~David Lynch

CHAPTER ONE

My name is Dixie and I have a problem. I can admit that. I admit it to myself everyday. But I tell myself it's harmless, and so I don't do much to change it. Some people might think it's wrong, sure. But that doesn't matter to me.