Part 21
Hours had passed, and not once had I walked out the doors of the hospital. Instead I stayed close by to the room where doctors were working tirelessly on Rich. I was still dressed in my suit, minus the coat, which had a place in the chair beside me, stained with Rich's blood. I was growing more impatient with every tick of the wall clock and tried various methods of passing the time - pacing the hallway, reading outdated magazines, observing London from the nearby window, chatting with staff and visitors, even rhythmically tapping my shoe against the chair. Yet no matter what I did, every minute that passed felt more like ten. Our immediate families were seated in no particular order in the waiting room, attempting to achieve the same distractions as I had but without success. Many prayers were being made for God to let Rich survive. He'd put up a good fight so far, but his strength was fading and it was now up to us and the expertise of the medical staff to help him pull through.
When the ambulance arrived at the ceremony, they acted as quickly as they could while I hovered around them, explaining what had happened. I was clinging onto Rich protectively and was getting in the way, but nobody did anything except gently nudge me aside a little. As they loaded him into the back of the vehicle, I insisted that I travel with him. Throughout the ride to the hospital I held his hand, never once letting go. I hoped that by knowing that I was there with him, it would give him comfort and encouragement to stay with me.
Once we arrived at the hospital, they told me that I had to stay outside the room so they could work quickly on him without me getting in the way. I was reluctant - if he'd been able to hold on for this long with my presence, I didn't want to leave him alone and run the risk of him having to struggle without me. I wanted to be there for him every step of the way.
"He knows you're here for him, Mr McDermott," a nurse insisted as she gently patted my arm. Doctors were rushing back and forth around me, calling to one another and bringing in objects and devices which I couldn't identify. Although I was frightened, I didn't want to be an obstacle for the doctors. As the nurse began to lead me out of the room, I leant down and placed a soft and comforting kiss on his forehead.
"You can do it, Rich. I love you," I whispered into his ear before turning and walking out of the room. Through the small window on the door, I peeked inside and choked back a sob as the doctors swarmed around him. I'd never felt so helpless in my life - I wanted to be there for him and see him through, the way i'd promised him I would in my vows. Already I felt as if i'd failed him and let him down. What kind of partner am I if I can�t be at his side in his hour of need?
Still, I�d done what I could. Rich�s life was now in the hospital�s hands.
Several hours later, my body now felt drained and fatigued. I had done all the crying that I could, leaving my face red and my eyes puffy. I was sure that I looked a mess, but I really didn't care. Saying one more prayer for God to look after Rich and to make sure that he emerges from the room with a great chance of survival, I curled as comfortably as possible into the chair, draped the blood-stained coat over my shoulders and closed my eyes, drifting off into a restless sleep.
-----
I lost track of how much time I had slept. The moon was shining through the window when I was aware of a hand gently shaking me awake.
"Mr McDermott?" a placid female voice roused me. "Hello? Wakey wakey."
The hall lights were momentarily blinding as I blinked my eyes open. My vision cleared and I looked up at the kind face of the same nurse who had ushered me out of the room where Rich was being treated. After glancing around quickly, I found that our families had left the area, most likely to their hotel rooms or the cafeteria.
"Rich..." I murmured, wearily sitting up straight. My body ached and cracked from spending so long in such an awkward position. The nurse smiled, soothingly squeezing my shoulder.
"Richard�s okay," she assured me. "The bullet didn�t cause any major damage. It only injured the flesh and a little of the muscle. He'll recover reasonably well."
"But what about the fainting?"
"That was simply from shock. There was blood loss, but thankfully no severe harm. He�ll be able to leave in a day or so � he needs his rest. He�ll be experiencing some pain so we�ve taken the liberty of administering some temporary relief for him. He�ll be alright."
Words could not describe the relief that flooded over me. Every muscle in my body relaxed and I smiled up at the nurse gratefully. She patted my shoulder.
"He�s asking for you."
-----
After calling our neighbours to ask that they look after Mandy and the apartment, the nurse escorted me to Rich�s bed, which wasn�t far from where I�d been sleeping. Strangely enough, the other beds in the room were empty, but the nurse good-naturedly said that I could pull the curtain around the bed if I wanted to give Rich and I a little privacy. After thanking her for what must�ve been the seventh time, she left me at the doorway, staring into the quiet room.
Rich had fallen asleep in a bed in the far-left corner with his back facing the door. Through his hospital gown, I could see the light gauze placed over the wound, from which the bullet had been removed and the injury had been stitched. As he slept, he sub-consciously toyed with his ring on his left index finger, running the top of his finger along the smooth gold band. I stepped into the room and made my way to his bedside, pulling the curtain around us for privacy although there was nobody in the room to watch. I pulled a chair closer towards him and sat, taking his hand in mine, lightly squeezing to let him know that I was there for him. As I did so, he batted his eyelids and smiled warmly when he saw me.
"My angel," he murmured. I leant forward and gently pressed my lips against his, remembering the terrifying moment when our last kiss was cut short by a gun. Rich was lucky to be alive � a centimetre further and his condition could�ve been a lot worse. The Gods must have been looking down on us. But then I thought � what kind of a God would justify this sort of cruelty? Why would he let someone destroy what was meant to be the happiest day of our lives?
"Are Mum and Dad still around?" Rich asked.
"They were here earlier. I�m not sure where they are now." I held his hand against my cheek. "Oh, God, I was so frightened."
"So was I. I know I�m going to be okay, but when I felt the agony, heard everyone screaming, and saw you crying...I thought for sure that..."
I bit my lip. "Who would want to do such a thing?"
Rich tenderly ran his thumb along my cheekbone, slightly raising his eyebrows. "I think we both know the answer to that."
We did. There was nobody else who would be capable of such a thing. I highly doubted that it was a random shooting � it was someone who knew us, knew our story, and wanted Rich eliminated. Those in England who knew us weren�t aware of our background. It had to be someone close to us, or was once close. And only one person sprung to mind.
"We have to stop him. We can't let him do this to us anymore."
"How? We have no proof that he�s here. He may not even know that we moved away from Australia."
I shook my head. "No, he�d find out somehow. He�s got insiders." Anger began to brew inside me. "I�m tired of running and hiding. I hate not being able to trust many people. I don�t want to live my life in fear of him tracking us down and breaking us apart."
Rich raised himself up on his elbow, wincing slightly in pain. "Paul, even if he did find us...do you really think he�d be able to separate us?"
"He almost killed you today, Rich."
"If it was him that tried to kill me, then he wouldn�t have succeeded. We�d still be together, even in death." His thumb moved under my eye, catching the tears that broke loose. "I�ll never leave you, Paul. Ever."
I could no longer keep a brave face. I buried my head in his shoulder, allowing the tears to fall down my cheeks. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and consolingly rubbed my back, planting soft kisses on my forehead and cheek. We remained like this for what felt like an hour or so, giving each-other the comfort that we needed. I felt so helpless - if there were some way that I could�ve stopped Rich from being hurt, even if it meant taking the bullet instead of him, then I would�ve more than willingly done so. Instead, here he was lying in a hospital bed. I felt horrible and he knew it, but he silently assured me that none of this was my fault.
But although Rich was going to be alright, the problem still remained: Tim. Although we hadn�t seen him, I had a very strong feeling that he was there, watching our every move and closing in. If he was so desperate to remove Rich from the picture that he would kill him, then I hated to think what other lengths he was willing to go to. He left us living in fear, and there was nothing we could do.
Part 22