Chapter Twenty-Three

Charlie

Opening my eyes in the ambulance, the siren sounds pretty distant. Ada is holding my hand and there’s a police officer sitting in front of me. I feel an iv in my arm and some pretty intense pressure where the paramedic is holding something down on my shoulder.

“Mr. Maxwell are you able to identify your attacker?”

“I open my mouth to speak and find I can’t. Maybe I’ve lost a lot of blood or maybe I’m in shock but I can’t tell him anything.”

“He knew the second guy,” Ada says quietly. “The guy who tackled him. The one you actually have in custody, he knew him. I think they are friends.”

“You didn’t know the person who shot him?”

“No, I didn’t get a good luck at him. I just know someone drove him off. He ran to a car parked across the street and it left.”

As Ada describes the car to the officer I think about George and hope he’s okay. My brain is having a hard time figuring out what all is going on, but I heard they have George in custody. I fade out before any more conversation happens.

I wake up in the hospital for the second time. The first time I was in a lot of pain and in surgery. No one could come in and see me and then they drugged me out of my mind. The whole thing seems like a hazy dream. It took me a while to remember why I was in the hospital in the first place.

I had been aware Ada was nearby but was in and out so much I couldn’t really reach out to her. She had been there, Thomas had been there, Paulie had been there, but my father had not. It was in the papers that I’d been shot. If he cared, he’d have come to visit me.

Now there’s no one in the room with me and I wonder how long I’ve been out. Has Ada given up on me, did I go into some kind of coma. I panic thinking I’ve been out for years and she’s remarried and long gone.

“Hey, you’re up,” a nurse says as she comes in the room. “Was wondering if you’d wake up today.”

“How long have I been here?”

“Just two days, but I’m sure it seems a lot longer. Getting shot is no joke.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot I’d been shot.” I laugh and realize I’m still on some painkillers.

She checks my vitals and adjusts my pillows. I thank her and tell her I’ll write a song about nice nurses fluffing pillows. I realize I’m more screwed up than I thought I was as I start snapping. She laughs and I fall back into a deep sleep. When I wake again it’s dark and Ada is standing next to the bed.

“I heard you woke up earlier,” she smiles. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here. They convinced me to go home and shower. I knew that was going to happen.”

She comes over and kisses me gently and I’ve never been happier to see anyone. I try to sit up and wince in pain. Like I triggered a switch the nurse comes in and gives me more pain medication. I gladly take it.

“I’m so sorry you got shot, Charlie. And you almost got shot before that by Jimmy.”

“Hey, think about it. Now, I have street cred. I may be a rich boy, but I’ve been shot.” I laugh and then realize it hurts to laugh but she’s smiling at me and that’s really all that matters.

“We have a lot of work to do.” She looks serious as she says it with her hands on her hips.

“Baby I’ve got nothing but time. We can record while I recover. They actually think it might be a while. We may have to just write together, I’m going to need PT for my shoulder. I hope I’ll be able to play guitar after.”

“I have faith you’ll be able to, but if not, I’ll just learn.”

She leans over me and I inhale her sweet scent of strawberries and other intoxicating aromas. She puts her lips to mine and I can tell she’s trying to be gentle so I make a point of pushing my tongue into her mouth and grabbing her ass with my good arm.

“I think you’ll probably have to sleep here tonight,” I tell her and she sits on the bed beside me.

“They don’t allow visitors to stay overnight.”

“You can sneak back in.”

She kisses me again. “Hang tight, I’m going to go and gather us up a hospital feast.”

When she returns she has three to-go boxes and extra plates with cake on them.

“I cleaned them out.” She says and grins at me. “What will it be? Steak sandwich, grilled cheese, tilapia, or rice and steak?”

“Wow, you really did clean them out.”

I point to the things I want and happily eat them as Ada tries to find something to watch on the small television.

“Find the porn,” I tell her earning a swat on the arm.

“Thomas says if we get the album finished we can release it in two months. Do you think our whole lives are about to change?”

“I think our lives will change if we work hard and you sing your little heart out.”

“We won’t change though, right Charlie. I don’t want us to become rich assholes and demand strange things in our dressing rooms.”

“We’ll never change doll, we’ll stay just like this.”

“I saw this and thought you might want to see it,” she says and hands me a newspaper. The headline reads Drug Dealer Busted, Another One Off the Streets. The first words I see are Turner Conrad. I’m beyond thrilled he’s not going to be a threat to my life or George’s anymore.

“This is good news.” I read on to see that an informant came to the police to give them the information they wanted to know. The informant wasn’t named of course, but I know it’s George.

“George finally did the right thing.”

I smile and think at least some things are looking up and I got my girl with me. I can’t really ask for much better.

“I love you, Ada,” I say and I truly mean it. I reach out to take her hand.

“I love you too Charlie.” She bends over and puts her lips on mine. I kiss her gently and then hold her to my chest. She feels just like home.