Chapter Twenty-Two
~ Ashton ~
Panic. I didn’t know what to do. The long, incessant beep of the heart monitor made my blood run cold. “Anna?” A sob rose in my throat. Her face was so still, her eyes closed. Her hand fell back to the bed with a soft thump. “Anna!” I cried, shaking her desperately. I jumped up and grabbed the medic roughly. “Do something! Don’t just fucking stand there!” I screamed at him, shoving him towards her. I stepped back to give him room as my world crashed down around me. I gripped hold of my hair as he started trying to resuscitate her.
She’d lost too much blood; she was going to die. I was going to lose her, the love of my life, my perfect angel. I was losing her, and there was nothing I could do about it. The shrill, unbroken tone from the heart monitor was incredibly loud in the small space; the sound of it literally driving me insane as I just stood there barely able to breathe. She was killing me. She was literally ripping my heart out. This must be what it felt like to die.
The medic looked up at me with hopeless eyes as if trying to tell me that what he was doing was going to make no difference. I shook my head. I refused to allow him to give up. “You get her back or, so help me, I will throw you out of this fucking ambulance while it’s still moving!” I growled angrily.
The medic jumped a little at my words and turned back to her, working her chest and squeezing air into her lungs. I watched with wide eyes, not knowing what to do, what to say or what to feel. I watched her face, willing her to take a breath, willing her heart not to give up on her, willing her to come back to me. I was more scared than I had ever been in my life.
After what felt like the longest time of my life, the medic moved back, looking a little shocked. “She has a pulse,” he said breathlessly. They were the four most beautiful words in the English language. “It’s weak, but it’s there,” he said, shaking his head. He looked a little scared of me, but I didn’t care about that.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I chanted over and over as we pulled into the hospital. As doctors ran out of the doors to meet us, I hung back, trying not to get in their way as I followed wearily behind them. All of my energy was gone. Now that the adrenaline from the fight was gone, I could finally feel the pain. It was burning through my chest and shoulder and my arm felt like it was made of concrete. Bolts of pain shot through my whole body every time I moved. One of the agents had followed behind the ambulance, so he slung my arm around his shoulder, helping me walk in, which I was grateful for. My legs felt like they would give out at any minute.
I followed her through the hallways but was told I wasn’t allowed in the treatment room with her, so I slumped into a chair outside. I put my head in my hands, praying with my mind, body and soul for her to be alright. If we could just get through this, I could make her my wife and take care of her forever. I’d make her the happiest girl in the world, she deserved that.
“Let’s go get you looked at,” the agent suggested, nodding down the hallway and the emergency check in desk.
I shook my head. “I’m not leaving her.”
“You’ll just be down the hall,” he encouraged, looking at me like I was stupid.
“Are you not fucking listening to me? I said I’m not leaving her!” I shouted, making him shrink back from the anger in my voice. He sat back down and didn’t speak again. The pain in my upper body was excruciating, but I just didn’t care, it didn’t matter, the pain was insignificant when compared to the pain that I felt in my heart.
After about ten or fifteen minutes, I heard a commotion down the hallway. I looked up to see Anna’s mother and father almost running towards me, surrounded by six secret service agents. They both looked grim so obviously they’d heard. I stood respectfully as they got to me.
“Agent Taylor, what the hell happened?” President Spencer cried as he gripped my hand tightly.
I gulped. “I followed a lead that turned out to be right. Carter was there, he stabbed her and she got banged up pretty badly. She’s losing too much blood, I don’t know if they can stop it,” I rambled, all my words slurring into one where I spoke too quickly. My heart was breaking as I said the words out loud.
“Where is she now?”
“Treatment room. They’ve been in there for ten minutes working on her.” I eyed the heavy-looking wooden door, watching for signs of news, but there was nothing.
“I was told Carter was killed, is that correct?” President Spencer inquired.
I nodded weakly. “Yeah, he’s dead. She’s safe now.”
He seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as he nodded. “What were you doing there? You aren’t assigned to her anymore. Why were you even there?”
I smiled weakly. “Sir, I love your daughter. I couldn’t very well stand back and do nothing.” I shrugged, immediately wishing I hadn’t because the pain tripled. “I’m just sorry that I couldn’t protect her. I couldn’t even stop her being hurt. I’m so sorry,” I croaked, looking down at the floor. I bowed my head. He could do what he wanted to me, it didn’t matter anymore; all I cared about was in that room, fighting for her life. I was probably going to be in trouble for getting emotionally involved with my charge, but I couldn’t care less.
“You mean, you and my daughter are really together?” he asked quietly, running a hand over the back of his neck.
I nodded. “Yes, sir. I love your daughter more than anything in the world. None of that matters though if she doesn’t make it!” My legs gave out, and I slumped into the chair, putting my head in my hands as I squeezed my eyes shut.
Melissa scooted up next to me, wrapping her arm around my shoulder. “She’ll make it. Annabelle is one of the strongest people I’ve ever met. She’ll make it,” she cooed.
I bit my lip, not believing a word of it. Anna was going to die, deep down I knew it, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. While we were all sitting there in silence, the door to Anna’s room flew open and she was wheeled out on a gurney and rushed up the hall with four medical staff running along at her side. I gasped and jumped to my feet. “Where are they taking her?” I cried, shaking my head.
As I went to follow after her, a doctor stopped in front of us and held up his hands, smiling sadly. “Annabelle’s had extensive blood loss. The knife didn’t penetrate cleanly and has caused a lot of internal damage. The team are prepping her for surgery right now because she has some internal bleeding.”
My heart sank at his words. Melissa burst into sobs next to me, and President Spencer stepped forward, confidently asking the question that I didn’t dare ask because I wasn’t sure I could handle the answer. “Will she be alright?”
The doctor’s face was unreadable – probably from years of practice. “Honestly, it’s touch-and-go at the moment, Mr President. She’s lost so much blood that the surgery is going to be extremely dangerous, but we can’t not do it. By all accounts, we almost lost her in the ambulance, but luckily she has a strong heart and the medic was able to resuscitate.” He nodded behind him where Anna had been wheeled up the hallway. “I’d better go and scrub up, I’m assisting. As soon as there is any news, someone will be out to you. Please just wait here.” Without another word he turned and dashed up the hallway. Wordlessly, we all sat back down, just waiting.
“Agent Taylor, have you had treatment? You look like death warmed up,” President Spencer observed a few minutes later.
“I’m fine. I want to wait for Anna.” My whole body hurt, but I wasn’t leaving her again.
The agent that I’d walked in here with stepped forward, looking at the President. “He’s refusing to leave here, sir. I’ve tried to get him to have some treatment but he won’t.”
President Spencer sucked in a breath through his teeth. “Go get a doctor, tell them to come now, they’re needed,” he ordered one of the agents.
I shook my head. “I’m fine, I just need to be here for Anna,” I protested. They would have to drag me kicking and screaming away from here, there was no way I was walking away from her room of my own accord. He didn’t say anything in response.
The doctor arrived a few minutes later. President Spencer nodded to me. “My daughter’s boyfriend needs some treatment please, Doctor,” he requested. My head snapped up to him at the words. Did that mean he was giving me permission to date his daughter? He wasn’t going to have me shipped off to Antarctica or something?
“Okay, well, let’s get you to a treatment room,” the doctor suggested, holding out his arm to help me up.
I frowned. “I’m fine; I’m not going anywhere until I know she’s okay.” I flinched away from his hand.
“Doctor, please treat him here,” the President stated.
“But we don’t treat in the hallway,” the doctor replied, frowning.
“Treat him here,” President Spencer repeated sternly. The doctor hesitated for a few seconds, then nodded and walked off to fetch supplies.
I looked at President Spencer gratefully. “Thank you, sir.”
He nodded. “That’s okay, son. You really should go and get looked at properly, but for now, they can just check you over,” he replied, nodding.
The doctor came back with a nurse and a little cart full of medical supplies; they pulled a chair slightly off to the side and motioned for me to come over. “Take your shirt off,” he instructed, helping me to pull it over my head. I heard Melissa gasp behind me, and I grimaced apologetically, thinking of what I must look like.
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
“You got shot?” the doctor asked, shaking his head. “I can’t treat this here, I need to do x-rays and make sure everything’s out. You could have shrapnel in there.”
I sighed because this guy just didn’t seem to want to give up. “Look, Doctor, it’s all out, it didn’t hit anything major I can tell. I also have a broken rib or two. Please just patch me up so I can go back to worrying about my girl. I’ll get some proper treatment later,” I snapped, frowning.
He sighed but nodded and started to clean my wounds. I needed stitches in the back of my head, and butterfly stitches across the bridge of my nose. “Okay, that’s all I can do for now, do you have any cuts or anything on your legs?” he asked. I shook my head, I was pretty sure I had some bruises but no cuts. “But you’re covered in blood,” he protested, looking at my jeans.
“That’s not mine,” I answered quietly. That was Anna’s blood from when I’d carried her out of the building.
He nodded apologetically. “Right, well, I’ll order a chest x-ray and a scan for your bullet wound when you’re ready.”
“Thanks. You might want to go for a hand x-ray too, I think I’ve broken a couple of fingers,” I admitted sheepishly.
“Right okay, a hand x-ray too then.” He smiled weakly, scribbling on a pad.
The nurse handed me two pain killers so I swallowed them gratefully before moving to sit down outside Anna’s room again. I didn’t bother putting my shirt back on considering it was still wet with blood. I could see Anna’s parents staring at my two week old tattoo on my chest, but they didn’t say anything.
Melissa turned to the side. “Agent Franks, do you think you could get Ashton some clothes to change into?” she asked, smiling politely. He nodded and walked off, coming back a couple of minutes later with a surgical scrub set. I laughed humourlessly and quickly went to the bathrooms to change, washing my face at the same time. I was going to have wicked black eyes tomorrow – no wonder Anna thought I wasn’t a pretty boy anymore. I smiled for a split second before my heart broke again at the thought of her saying she’d marry me. I wanted to be her husband more than anything; I’d never let her down or hurt her. I sighed and went back to the chairs outside her room.
After about two hours of working on her, the same doctor came back down the hall. He didn’t look as tense as he had done earlier, and a spark of hope ignited inside me. My heart was beating erratically in my chest as I looked at him; waiting for them to say that words that would either make everything fine, or kill me. I felt like I was going to pass out.
The doctor came over to us, still in his scrubs. “Mr President, Mrs Spencer, your daughter has suffered immense bleeding, but we’ve managed to stop it at the source now. We had to remove part of her spleen, but she can cope without it. We’ve put her into an enforced coma to limit the damage and to give the site time to heal because we don’t want to have to go in again, that would be too risky. The operation was a success, and we’re very hopeful that she should make a full recovery, providing there are no post-operative complications,” he said, smiling.
I breathed a sigh of relief and closed my eyes; she was going to be okay. I couldn’t speak, I didn’t know what to say, this man had just saved her life and mine.
Melissa burst into happy tears and President Spencer put his arm around her, smiling. “Thank you, Doctor, can we go in and see her?” he asked, rubbing his wife’s back.
“We’re just going to have her transferred to a different room, after that you can go in to see her for a few minutes. She’ll be in the enforced coma for twenty-four hours to be on the safe side, and then we’ll bring her out of it slowly tomorrow. It’ll just give her body a chance to catch up,” he replied, smiling and turning to walk off.
“Doctor?” I called, stepping forward; he turned back to me and smiled. I held out my hand and he shook it. “Thank you. Thank you so much,” I said gratefully, feeling my heart start to slow down to a normal rhythm again. She was going to be fine; everything was going to be fine.
He smiled sadly. “You’re welcome.”
We sat and waited for a few more minutes while they cleaned her from surgery and then moved her to a private room in one of the wards. When we were allowed, the three of us, followed by the six secret service agents, followed the nurse to her room. As we entered, I stood back and let her parents approach the bed; he was still the President after all, not that it mattered either way, at the moment he just looked like a concerned father. They cooed and fussed around her bed, Melissa straightening the sheets and pillows, obviously not knowing what else to do.
Then President Spencer took hold of Melissa’s hand. “Let’s give Agent Taylor some privacy and go get a coffee or something,” he suggested. She nodded and they started walking towards the door. As he walked past me, he patted me on the shoulder affectionately, making me swell with pride. I ignored the pain that blasted in my shoulder and neck. I guess he really is okay with the idea of me and Anna dating. Either that or he’s lulling me into a false sense of security so that he can plot an assassination without me being aware. I smiled at my random thought.
Once they left the room, I walked to Anna’s side and sat on the edge of her bed, just looking at her. She was covered in red blotches and bruises on her face and neck. I smiled sadly and traced my fingers across her face; it was red and puffy from where he had hit her. She had a large lump on her forehead where he’d slammed her against the wall.
“Hi, Baby Girl. You scared me for a while there. Don’t ever do that to me again, you hear me?” I whispered, taking her hand and kissing it gently. “I love you, Anna. I love you so much, and I nearly lost you.” My body started to calm down; now that I was near her, I wasn’t as worried about her.
I sat there, just looking at her beautiful, bruised face until her parents came back in. I sniffed and moved to get off the bed to give them the space, but President Spencer shook his head. “No, it’s fine, you stay there,” he instructed, pulling over two chairs for him and his wife to sit in.
“Thank you, sir.” I nodded gratefully.
“Do you really love my daughter?” he asked suddenly.
I smiled. “More than anything,” I confirmed, rubbing my thumb over the back of her hand.
“And she loves you?” he inquired.
I nodded. “Yes, sir, she does,” I said confidently. I would never doubt that after what she was willing to do for me, to go with Carter just to save my life. To sacrifice herself, her whole life, just to save me.
“Okay, well then I guess you should be calling me Tom,” he suggested, smiling slyly. I looked over at him a little confused. “If you’re going to be dating my daughter, then you should be able to call me Tom,” he explained, shrugging.
“Actually, I was hoping to be marrying your daughter, I asked her in the ambulance and she said yes.” I frowned as soon as I said it, knowing I’d just screwed up. I probably shouldn’t have just announced it like that.
His eyes widened. “You want to get married?”
“Um, yes, sir. Though Anna’s probably going to give me hell for coming out with it like that,” I winced, thinking of the scolding she would give me for blurting it out to her parents, and while she was in a coma to top it off. Great job, Ashton.
He laughed. “That’s okay, Agent Taylor, we knew you were serious about her when you refused to get treatment after getting shot. But I’m sure you’re right, Annabelle’s probably going to kick your ass,” he teased, grinning and looking at his daughter lovingly. “Can I ask now though, why did she ask me to transfer you? Did you two have a fight or something?”
I sighed and shook my head. “We didn’t have a fight. I think it was Anna’s stupid way of protecting me. I couldn’t understand it at first, but today she was so upset when I got there. She kept saying she couldn’t watch it again. I think this is deep rooted issues from Jack, and she didn’t want history to repeat itself.” I looked down at her peaceful face. I knew it would have destroyed her to see me murdered just like Jack, and I’d almost put her through that.
The President sighed and shook his head, rubbing at his temples. “That sounds like Annabelle.”
I nodded and shifted my weight on the bed, wincing because it felt like someone kicked me in the side. My whole body was aching now; I could barely think of anything else but the pain.
Melissa put her hand on my knee, squeezing affectionately. “Ashton, go and get your treatment now. She’s not going to wake up; they’ve drugged her so she can’t. You need to make yourself strong for her,” she suggested, looking at me kindly.
I sighed. I knew she was right, but I didn’t want to leave Anna, I didn’t want her out of my sight. “Yeah, I guess,” I nodded, and bent to kiss Anna’s forehead. “I love you, Baby Girl. I won’t be long,” I whispered in her ear, before pushing myself up and forcing myself to walk out of the room.
It took over an hour for all of the necessary treatment. I had x-rays to check there was no remaining shrapnel in my arm, and a splint for my two broken fingers, some strapping for my three broken ribs, and some more painkillers. They changed the dressing on my gunshot wound and added some more permanent stitches once they’d confirmed there were no foreign bodies inside. Once I was done, I walked back into Anna’s room and dragged another chair next to her bed so I could hold her hand.
I sat watching the rise and fall of her chest until one of the agents came in with a report pad. I sighed and looked regretfully at Anna. I didn’t want to leave her, but they wanted my statement.
“You can do it here if you want, Agent Taylor,” President Spencer offered, waving the agent in and pointing to a chair.
I smiled at him gratefully and went running through my statement. Everything that I saw heard or did from the point of hearing she was taken, to carrying her to the door. The only thing I left out was about her being married; she hadn’t told anyone for almost four years, so she obviously didn’t want it to be common knowledge.
When I’d finished, the President was staring at me in shock. “You took out twelve hostiles on your own?” he asked with wide eyes.
“Actually, eleven. Carter shot one himself,” I corrected.
He shook his head, looking at me in awe. “You truly are a gifted agent. Annabelle was lucky to have you watching out for her, and the agency is darned lucky to have such a fine agent working for them,” he stated. I smiled gratefully; the President of the United States had just given me a huge compliment.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Tom,” he corrected.
“Right sorry, sir, I forgot. I mean… Tom,” I answered, stumbling over his name. It just doesn’t roll off the tongue for someone like me, who had been taught for four years to respect authority, to call the President by his first name.
He laughed and shook his head, patting my knee. “You’ll get used to it eventually.”
“I hope so. I plan to be around a long time,” I replied. “Well, as long as she’ll have me for,” I added, smiling and looking at her beautiful face.
“You’re so good for her. From the moment you two met, we were all shocked at what she was like with you. You were holding hands and making her laugh and smile. It was so strange to see her smile after so long being heartbroken. Thank you. I owe you a debt of gratitude,” President Spencer said, smiling warmly at me.
“Sir,” I started, then stopped and grinned sheepishly, “sorry, I mean, Tom. You don’t owe me anything. I love your daughter. If anything, I should be thanking you for choosing me to guard her; otherwise I might not have met her.” I bent my head and kissed the back of her hand, stroking my fingertips up her arm, just waiting for the time when she’d open her beautiful, brown eyes and my world would suddenly fall back into place again.