Her Name Was Annie by Beth Rinyu (the little red hen read aloud txt) 📕

Kara nodded. “But I don’t want to leave the hospital. I want to be here as soon as he’s allowed visitors.”

“Okay, we can go to the cafeteria,” Lori suggested, wrapping her arm around Kara. I lagged behind them as they started off with Ian walking beside me.

“Ian?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“Were you there when it all happened?”

“Yes.”

“What happened to Guy Antonaci?” That name coming off my lips felt like a betrayal to everyone I cared about.

Ian stopped walking and stared straight into my eyes. “I shot him.”

My eyes widened. “Is he dead?” I swallowed hard, feeling like a horrible person for wanting the answer to be yes.

“No. As far as I know he’s been admitted to the hospital as well, but he’s expected to recover.”

“But he’ll definitely be going to prison after this, right?”

“I’d say, more than likely, without a doubt…yes.”

“Thank you, Ian. Thank you for helping Jack out in more ways than you’ll ever know.”

Chapter 37

THOUGHTS OF UNCERTAINTY whirled around in my head over my intention of paying Jack a visit upon seeing the state Kara was in after exiting his room. She was a total wreck once again. “Ian, why don’t you take her home?” I suggested.

“Come on, Kara,” he requested, helping her put on her coat. Ian had just reaffirmed what I already knew. He was all a mother could ask for in a boyfriend for their daughter. The entire day, he’d been so caring and patient with Kara after everything he’d been through as well.

“Mom, will you be okay?” Kara managed to get out.

“I’ll be fine.” I nodded, forcing a smile. I turned my attention back to Lori and Glenn, once Kara and Ian disappeared behind the elevator doors. “I don’t think I will be.” I sighed heavily. “But I’m going to try.”

I made my way to the nurses’ station, and the woman sitting behind the desk gave me Jack’s room number. My palms were sweaty and my knees trembled just as I stopped outside the door. Nothing could’ve prepared me for what I witnessed when I finally found the courage to take the few steps in. The man lying in the bed, hooked up to various machines, bore no resemblance to the Jack I knew. I even found myself taking a few steps closer to make sure I was in the right room.

“Jack.” I choked back a sob as I stood over his bed, confirming I was indeed in the correct place. His face was bloated and he had bruising along the multiple injection sites of the IVs and tubes everywhere you looked. “Oh, Jack. What have you done? You’ve got to get better because Kara can’t bear the thought of losing you…and neither can I. I’m so sorry for everything—for all the guilt I placed on you and never having faith in you. Most of all, I’m so sorry for making you feel like you had to do this. He took so much from us. I can’t let him take you as well. I love you, Jack. I never stopped loving you, and I’m sorry for being too stubborn to admit that until now. You need to get better, so I can tell you when you’re coherent. Please just rest up and heal.” I cautiously reached down and caressed the side of his face just as a piercing alarm went off. Stumbling backward, I panicked, thinking I had done something wrong.

“It’s okay,” a nurse who had just entered the room reassured me. “It’s just an alarm letting us know one of his medications is running out.”

“Oh…okay,” I whispered, watching as she unscrewed an empty bag of medicine and replaced it with the full one in her hand.

“He’s all good now.” She smiled and exited the room. As I watched his chest rise and fall, I knew he was far from being all good, but he was still alive and that was all that mattered. Just monitoring every breath he took somehow offered me comfort in knowing the situation could have been so different. Jack had been spared. Now he had to have the will to get better. I knew better than anyone the fight he had inside of him when something he valued was at stake. I just hoped the love we had for one another and the love of his daughter were enough.

_______________

After saying my goodbyes to Lori and Glenn, I stepped into the elevator, hoping the doors would close before anyone else could hop on. The tears were rolling down my face faster than I could catch them and the last thing I wanted was strange looks or pity from a stranger. I had almost made it all the way down without another passenger until coming to a halt on the second floor. When the doors opened, I instantly recognized the white-haired man stepping in. Ted Wagner—he had been a longtime friend and colleague of Jack’s.

“Stephanie? How are you?” he asked, instantly recognizing me as well. It had been well over eight years since I had last seen him. He was older than Jack and had been a mentor to him when Jack had first become an agent. Jack and I would go out to dinner a lot with him and his wife when things were good between us. “That was a dumb question…considering the circumstances.” He shook his head as if he were scolding himself.

“It’s fine.” I managed a smile as the doors closed and we began to descend to the ground floor.

“I heard he’s out of surgery,” Ted remarked when we finally reached our destination and stepped out of the elevator.

“He is. I just saw him.” I closed my eyes and swallowed the lump in my throat.

“He’s tough. He’ll pull through,” Ted reassured me when I was no longer able to conceal the despair on my face.

“Yeah.” I nodded and dropped my gaze to the floor.

“At least when he comes out if it, he’ll see that it wasn’t all in vain. It may be seventeen years after