Chasing forever, p.23
Chasing Forever, page 23
“Mr. Hernandes, I know it was an accident. Let’s take a breath. I know exactly how you’re feeling right now. Your emotions are spiraling, and you feel completely out of control. My father was taken from me in a tragic circumstance too. Please sit down.”
Much to my surprise, he takes a seat. I might make it out of here without any more injuries if I can muster the courage to relive the day my father died.
Chapter Forty-Three
Luca
Willa left for her last shift as a nurse early this morning. I try but fail to stay in our bed alone. I head out for a long run after changing my clothes. Six miles later, I gulp down a water and hit the weights for about an hour. I step out of the shower and remind myself we’ll both be off on weekends soon unless I get called in. I’m truly looking forward to it.
Unfortunately, it’s only ten in the morning. I consider surprising Willa for lunch but recall she plans to have lunch with Stacey. Grabbing their leashes, I take Newman and Bogart for a walk around the neighborhood. I end up walking past Willa’s house, through the backyard, into the abutting park. Once we reach the designated dog area, I release them both. True, they could run around in our yard, but here there are other dogs, not only each other.
A few hours and a quick lunch later, I’m searching for a book to read when I get a text and a call at the same time.
“Hello, ma’am. Yes, I understand. I’ll meet you there.” I pull my phone from my ear and stare as if answers will magically appear. We have a call at York Hospital. Even though I know I shouldn’t, and she can’t answer me, I text Willa on the off chance she’s in the locker room.
Me: Hi, sweetheart. Call me when you get this. I love you.
I wrack my brain trying to recall where she’s working today whether in the emergency room or on the surgical floor. Deep down I know it’s the emergency room. I’m trying my best to push the knowledge away. I channel as much of my control as I can muster. I’m failing. Once I pull myself away from the ledge of crazy what-ifs, I scan my text.
Davis: Are you home? You should get down to the hospital. We’re here for a call in the emergency room.
Me: We just got called. I’m on my way. Is it Willa?
Davis: Don’t know.
Me: On my way.
The pressure in my chest is almost unbearable. Mindlessly I dress and hustle to the scene. We recently started our life together. I can’t…. I inhale sharply, attempt to clear my head, and step out of my car.
The YPD is stationed off to the right of the ambulance bay. I’m sure they’ve stopped all incoming ambulances to keep the area clear.
I approach Davis who is talking with Lt. Billings and Sgt. Washington near the command center. “Lieutenant, Davis. What’s the situation?”
Billings nods and Davis starts filling me in. “Near two we received a call from Stacey Clifton indicating a bereaved family member barricaded himself and a nurse inside exam area four in the emergency room.”
“Which nurse? Is it Willa?” My heart is pounding. Every moment we’ve shared, both the amazing and the difficult ones, flash before my eyes.
Davis closes his eyes.
“Is she hurt?” It pains me to even ask.
“We don’t know.”
Lt. Schor and Sgt. Bridges from the state police hurry to our position. Sgt. Washington briefs them with the same information Davis shared with me.
Lt. Schor pulls me aside. “Is the intel correct?”
“Yes, ma’am. Willa is my girlfriend.”
“Is there anything I need to know about her?”
“We recently moved in together. She’s adopted, and her father was killed in the line five years ago. He was a single parent. Her paternal grandparents live in Italy.” Sharing those details is heart-wrenching. I never thought I would ever be in this position.
“Thank you. Even though this is your county and your call, you won’t be handling it due to your intimate relationship with the hostage.”
A shiver travels through me when my lieutenant refers to Willa as the hostage. Until Davis confirmed, I avoided the extremely specific and scary label. “Yes, ma’am.”
“You can stay here in the command center with your old department, or you can wait right inside the barricades. Under no circumstances are you to enter the hospital until this call is complete. Is that clear?”
“Yes.” The small word is the hardest I’ve ever uttered in my entire life. Every fiber of my soul is telling me to rush in there and rescue her. My brain knows it’s the absolute worst thing I can do, but my heart doesn’t give a fuck.
She turns away from me and stalks to the command center to figure out how best to contact a suspect where there are no phones. Washington and Davis guide me over to the YPD area.
“What can we do?” Washington asks. Other than Captain Ramirez, he’s the only person who might understand how I feel. When someone you love so completely is in danger.
“Nothing. I have to wait and control myself. It won’t be easy.” I’m wearing a path around the perimeter of the tent when Captain Ramirez approaches.
“Cappelli, do you have an update?”
“No, sir. You probably know more than I do.”
Captain Ramirez raises an eyebrow. “Sorry, sir. Lt. Schor sidelined me, rightfully so. I’m not handling this well at all.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to.”
“I feel like an animal is clawing at my chest while I’m trapped in a cage. Not even when I handled Derrick did I feel like this. I was calm, collected, steadfast, and able to remain neutral. My sister, niece, and nephew were in the house. Now I can’t even think straight. She’s— ” I push out a harsh breath. “—everything.”
Both Captain Ramirez and Sgt. Washington lower their heads.
“She’s smart and capable. She’ll assist us in doing our jobs as best she can,” Davis adds.
I pace back and forth under the tent, letting his attempted words of encouragement settle. It’s unlikely the suspect is armed. Willa can defend herself. I don’t know if she would take proactive steps to subdue her captor. Part of me hopes she does; the rest hopes she waits for assistance despite her abilities. I’m thankful Lt. Novello taught her to protect herself, but I’m sure he hoped she would never need to use this particular skill set. I’m doing my best not to let my thoughts spiral out of control.
She’s my future, and nothing is going to change that. Now I need to convince myself the suspect isn’t off his rocker so far he’ll take her from me, destroying any chance we have for a lifetime together.
Chapter Forty-Four
Willa
I see shadows pass by the room every so often and pause. I’m sure Stacey called security, if not the cops already. Now I need to keep Mr. Hernandes calm until they arrive. Myself too. My head is pounding, and my cheek is swollen. Otherwise my injury is minor. I’m sure it looks far worse than it is. Most facial injuries do. I slide down the exterior wall in the corner and sit on the floor.
Sergio is calming down. He’s still pacing, but he has slowed a bit. Every so often he pauses and stares at his brother’s body. A wash of grief comes over him, and he returns to pacing alongside the bed. He fails to respond to my statement for quite some time.
“What do you mean?” Sergio whispers.
“My father was a cop. He died in the line of duty about five years ago. My father’s chief notified me, much like I shared with you your brother was gone. I’m truly sorry for your loss.”
“I didn’t mean to hit you. I was agitated—”
There’s a strong knock on the door. “Mr. Hernandes, this is Lt. Schor of the state police. We only want to talk. Can you open the curtain?”
Luca’s boss. She made him stand down. It’s a double-edged sword. He’s probably pacing outside like a madman. I would be if the situation were reversed. In fact, someone would have to restrain me from running headlong into the hospital after him. Davis probably has that handled. He would handcuff Luca to himself if necessary.
“Go away. I only want more time with my brother. I have no one left,” Sergio replies to her.
“Why don’t you let Nurse Reynolds out and you can have more time with your brother alone?”
“No, once she’s gone, you’ll storm this room. I won’t get my time.”
Lt. Schor responds quickly. “We won’t storm the room if you release her. You have my word. Can you at least let us see she’s unharmed?”
I decide to speak up. “I’m fine, Lieutenant.” Hopefully not sharing my shiner will guide Sergio to heed her request.
“Glad to hear you’re uninjured, Willa. Is there someone we can call for you, Mr. Hernandes? A girlfriend, friend, or roommate, perhaps?” Lt. Schor suggests.
“No, it was only me and Mikey. Now he’s gone.”
“I understand your pain and empathize with you. I urge you to release Nurse Reynolds. You don’t need her to get what you want.”
“I want more time. Go away. I’m done talking to you,” Sergio shouts.
“Mr. Hernandes, I’ll be back in thirty minutes with food for you and a renewed request for Willa’s release.”
“Fine.”
I watch the shadows move away from the door. There is one small, petite shadow than remains a bit longer than the rest. It’s probably Lt. Schor. At least it’s my guess from Luca’s description. It’s likely I have thirty minutes to convince Sergio to release me.
“You can trust her, Sergio.”
“How do you know?”
I probably shouldn’t share how I know, but…
I decide the only way to get out of this is to explain he won’t be alone forever. “When my father died, I was alone too. I went through my days plugging away. I had no real plans, no goals, no one to share my life or pain with. For over three years, I didn’t consider allowing anyone in. Then I had a patient who was injured while at work. Initially he was a pain in the butt. He refused to listen to my medical advice and was generally rude. For whatever reason, he made a decision to tackle his injury and get his life back.” I know the reasons, but I won’t share them with Sergio.
“What does it have to do with me?” He’s listening, so I better make this work.
“Before leaving the hospital, he asked me on a date. I turned him down. I turned him down repeatedly for two years. He persisted though. I was determined not to give him a chance. I lost my father and refused to feel so deeply for anyone ever again. The universe had other plans. I was out with a friend, and I ran into my patient. Long story short, he gave me a lift home that night and ended up helping with a broken window. It took months, but I finally let him in. All this to say, the pain of tragically losing your brother will never go away, but it will lessen. The key is deciding to let someone in to help you heal. The moment I shared my dad with him was the moment everything changed for me. It may not be a girlfriend-type relationship, but someone will be there for you.”
Sergio looks directly at me. “Are you still together?”
I nod.
“Will you tell them it was an accident?”
“Of course, that’s the truth. Other than that, I have no control over what happens.”
He lowers his head. “I understand. Go, before she comes back. I’ll be out soon.”
“Thank you. I promise, the pain will lessen eventually.” Before he changes his mind, I part the curtain and slide through a small opening in the sliding door. Immediately the trooper posted outside the door calls Lt. Schor on his radio. One step later, Stacey is by my side.
“Are you okay?” Mama bear concern laces her tone while she examines my swollen cheek.
“It was an accident. Can you find Luca please?”
Stacey leads me to the small conference room as Lt. Schor hurries into the emergency department from outside.
“Glad to see you’re mostly uninjured,” she says, taking a seat.
“It was accidental. Use the information as you will. Mr. Hernandes was flailing in his grief and struck me by accident.”
“How did you convince him to let you out of the room?” Lt. Schor asks. Her demeanor indicates that she’s shocked by his change of heart.
“I shared my story about my father with him. I was alone as well right after his death. I may have left out some key details, like Luca being a trooper and I’ve had a bestie since I was six. The gist of the story is the same. He needs to let someone in to deal with his pain.”
Lt. Schor nods.
“I’m sorry to be blunt, but where is Luca?” The moment the words leave my lips, I hear rapid footsteps approaching the door. I turn and launch myself into his arms.
“Are you okay?” Luca whispers so softly I barely hear him. His arms reaching all the way around me, his fingertips are touching my rib cage.
I nod against his chest. With this audience, Luca won’t act normally. He’ll resist the urge to run his hands over my entire body to make sure I’m physically fine. He loosens his grip slightly, looking down into my eyes. Dragging his fingers lightly over my cheek, he winces. It doesn’t even hurt anymore.
“It was an accident,” I murmur.
He presses his lips to my forehead and says, “I love you,” against my skin. He exhales harshly and releases me.
“I love you.”
I take a seat in one of the chairs, and Luca sits beside me, his fingers linked with mine.
“You can stay only as her boyfriend, nothing more. No commentary,” Lt. Schor addresses Luca.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Miss Reynolds, I’ll have Sgt. Bridges take your statement. I need to talk with Mr. Hernandes. You handled yourself well this afternoon. I appreciate you giving us time to work with Mr. Hernandes.”
“Thank you, Lt. Schor.”
“Cappelli, I’ll see you Monday morning.”
“Have a good rest of the weekend, ma’am.”
Stepping to the threshold of the room, she replies, “You as well.”
The moment she leaves the room, Luca leaps to his feet and latches the door. “Come here please.” His voice is shaky.
I rise from the chair and move to him, placing my hand on his chest. “I’m fine, Luca.”
“Don’t care. I need to”—he surrounds me with his arms, holding me tightly against his hard body—“verify for myself. There are divots in the pavement outside from me pacing. It took everything in me not to act like the Tasmanian Devil and tear a path to you. Lt. Schor jettisoned me with Davis, Sgt. Washington, and Captain Ramirez. I couldn’t hear anything going on in the building. It’s the first time I was ever overcome with fear.”
“Not even with Lina?”
“No, only you can bring me to my knees.”
I tilt my head upward, rise onto my toes, and kiss Luca with every ounce of love I possess. The stories I’ve heard from Nonna and Nonno, along with the few Dad shared about his wife, show the same type of love. Love that transcends time and space. I always thought they were simply luckier than most. A love of such a high caliber doesn’t exist for everyone. I know now, I was wrong. Luca is that for me. Our alone time ends abruptly with a knock on the door.
“Miss Reynolds?” a deep voice calls from the other side of the door.
I smooth my shirt and kiss Luca lightly once more before answering. “Come in.”
“Sgt. Bridges, ma’am. Cappelli.”
Luca gives him a curt nod in acknowledgment.
“Hi. Pleasure to meet you.”
Sgt. Bridges rounds the table and sets up to take my statement. Luca has taken the inside chair this time, his fingers still intertwined with mine.
“Miss Reynolds, please tell me about the incident with Mr. Hernandes. I’ll attempt to allow you to relay the details with as few interruptions as possible.”
I nod and share the story of my day as Trooper Bridges records and types on a laptop. The entire time, Luca is beside me holding my hand through it all. Under an hour later, we leave the hospital after I refuse X-rays on my cheek. Luca forces me to leave my car at the hospital. I sit in the passenger seat of his car and check my messages. There are a few from Luca, two from Tabi, and two from Stacey. I reply to Stacey and Tabi, indicating I’ll call them tomorrow.
It’s been over sixteen hours since I left for work this morning and nearly eight since I’ve eaten. I place a takeout order for the Mexican restaurant Tabi recommended when she got her promotion. Tonight calls for margaritas and relaxation. Despite my assurances that I’m fine, Luca is fawning over me like my injuries are as significant as his were. I’ll give him tonight. Hopefully tomorrow will be like yesterday… normal.
Chapter Forty-Five
Luca
Even though she assures me she’s fine, I have been watching her closely. I heard every word of her statement to Sgt. Bridges last night. I believe it was unintentional when Mr. Hernandes struck her with his elbow and the situation got out of control with his grief. It’s the only thing that makes her demeanor plausible. She bears no ill will toward him and has no concerns with going back to the hospital on Monday to start her new job. I’m crazy proud of her.
After a breakfast fit for a queen made by yours truly, we curl up on the couch to watch a movie. Lately Friday night movies have been chosen but go unwatched. I’m not complaining, but I miss sharing my love of old movies with her too.
Near one I slip outside and call my mother.
“Mama, we’re going to skip dinner tonight.”
“How is she?” Her concern for Willa is heartening. She still listens to the scanner and called me about the call while I was pacing like a crazed lunatic outside.
“She claims she’s fine, but I’m still deciding if I believe her.”
“Luca Salvatore, Willa is a strong woman. If she tells you she’s fine, I’m sure she is.”
“Yes, Mama.”
“If you change your mind, let me know.”
I’m surprised she’s letting dinner slide, but I go with it. “Thanks, Mama.” I end the call and return inside.
