Intercepting Love (Second Chances #5)(79)
“Thank God,” I replied, “because next time I don’t know if I can stop with just one swing to her head.”
Once the ambulances came, the medics loaded Marianne into one in—which Officer Stilwell rode in as well—while Cooper was put in the other one. Before I climbed in, Sam stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. “I wanted you to know that Emily called me this afternoon and told me some things. Apparently, Mrs. Easton was delusional.”
Yeah, I kind of figured that out today, I wanted to say.
“There were times when she claimed that Scott was still alive and that he was talking to her, demanding she seek vengeance for his death. There was also an incident up in Ohio when she tried to attack a girl that looked just like you. She wasn’t charged with anything so we had no idea that had even happened. They settled it without pressing charges.”
“Why didn’t Emily say something sooner?” I scoffed incredulously. “It would’ve been nice to know she was that mentally unstable.”
Sam sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “I know, but I guess she wanted to believe that her mother would get better. We all hold out hope for the best, right? Anyway, no amount of reasoning with her would’ve spared you. She knew about Scott’s cancer and chose not to believe it. I’m just glad Cooper called and got to you in time.”
“Me too,” I whispered, looking over my shoulder at the man who risked everything for me.
“Now go and get our star quarterback to the hospital so he’ll be ready for the game on Saturday. Just because he got shot doesn’t mean he can sit it out,” he added with a wink before ambling off.
After climbing into the ambulance, Cooper smiled and patted the bed he sat on. “You know, I think we should christen this ambulance. Don’t you think that could be kind of interesting?”
The medic blushed and cleared her throat, keeping her gaze on anything and everything other than me and Cooper. She had to be in her mid to late thirties with short, pixie-cut brown hair and a splash of freckles on her nose and cheeks. She tried to keep from laughing as I sat down on the roll away bed with Cooper.
“Yeah, right! I can see it now in the headlines … Star Quarterback Makes Daunting Play in the Back of an Ambulance. I think we’ve been in the papers one too many times already,” I chuckled.
“Not to barge in on the conversation,” the medic interrupted, gazing straight at me, “but I’m pretty sure you’re going to be in the papers again. Something like this doesn’t just happen, especially to people like him,” she said, nodding toward Cooper. “Everyone loves him around here, so they’re going to want to hear about his heroic attempt to save the girl he loves.”
Cooper’s wide smile was contagious. He had just gotten shot, but he looked happier than I’d ever seen him. “You see, love. Things are finally looking up for us. I found my redemption and a home here, and you finally have your peace. For once we can live our lives the way we want to and not have anyone hold us back. It’s going to be a new beginning for us.”
The medic, whose name happened to be Jennifer, shut the ambulance doors and we were finally on our way to the hospital. Thankfully, Jennifer moved up to the front and let Cooper and I have a little bit of privacy. Putting his arm around me, Cooper kissed me on the forehead while I snuggled against his chest. I didn’t want to think what would’ve happened if Marianne had better aim and really injured him. The thought of killing someone had never crossed my mind, but if she took Cooper away from me, I was afraid that nothing would’ve stopped me from killing her. Thankfully, I didn’t have to find out.
“So how did you know to save me?” I asked curiously, gazing up at him.
Sighing, he brushed his thumb across my lips and bent down to kiss me. “You don’t ever call me, Coop, Kate. I knew something was wrong the second I heard you say that to me. I wanted to ask you what was going on, but I didn’t want to run the risk of being heard through the phone. You have no idea how much it killed me to let you go. After that, I immediately called Sam and told him something was wrong. He told me to wait on him before I did anything stupid, but there was no way in hell I was going to waste another second. If I didn’t come when I did, I’m afraid it would’ve been too late.”
Skimming a finger across the bandage on his right side, I closed my eyes and squeezed them shut; they burned. When I opened them, tears fell down my cheeks. “Well, you came right on time. I don’t know how to thank you, Cooper. You saved me … in more ways than one.”
Tilting my chin up with his finger, he stared down at me with his watery blue gaze. “And you saved me, love. For however long you want me, I’m going to spend that time making it up to you … I promise.”
“Well, then it looks like you’ll be making it up to me for a really long time.”
Because I wasn’t planning on ever letting him go.
Four Months Later
After everything that happened, Marianne was put away for the rest of her life and even more insane than before she went in. Apparently, the baseball bat to her head didn’t knock any sense in her … it made her worse. One thing was for certain, she’d never see the outside world again and her daughter was finally free of her. Kate hurt for Emily and talked to her about once every week, but there was still some tension that would probably never go away.