Chapter 8, Part 1

Denise woke up the next morning and came out of her room. Andy was already cooking bacon and omelettes for breakfast.
“Mmmm! Breakfast smells fabulous!” she exclaimed.
“Thank you.” Andy beamed. “Only the best for you, my dear,” he bowed gallantly. Denise swatted his arm.
“Wise ass,” she chuckled.
“Always,” he retorted. “It’s good to see you smile. It’s been a rough few days.”
“I feel safe with you, and appreciate you taking me in. I realized that even with the neighbors staying with me and Anne, we wouldn’t have been safe. We’re no match for a baseball bat. And God forbid he gets a gun or some other weapon.” She sighed heavily. “I just feel horrible that I’ve put so many people in danger.”
“YOU didn’t put anyone in danger. Mitch did, and the rest of us put ourselves in danger to save you. You have nothing to feel guilty about. Mitch is crazy, and if helping you stay alive puts us in danger, so be it.” Andy pulled Denise toward him gently, and held her. “I’d rather die than see anything happen to you and the baby.” Denise leaned lazily against him.
“I’ve never been held like this. I’ve never been kissed the way you kiss me. I’d rather die than lose that or you.” She looked up at him with eyes full of wonder. “I know we haven’t been friends for very long, but I really feel like I’ve known you all my life. It’s a nice feeling to connect like that.”
“I feel the same way.” He kissed her lightly. “Breakfast is ready.”
After breakfast, the couple lounged on the couch watching television. Andy sat with Denise stretched out across his lap with her head resting on his chest. He stroked her hair and cheek warmly and she sighed contentedly.
“This is what I always dreamed a relationship should be like,” Denise murmured. “Then I met Mitch, and I thought that’s what was real. I never knew it could be this wonderful.”
“If you’ll have me, it can always be this wonderful.”
“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I may never get married again. Too gun shy now.”
“I’m okay with that. As long as I can be part of your life and the baby’s, I don’t care if we get married. We’ll just take things one step at a time.” Denise leaned up to kiss him.
“That sounds like a plan to me,” she whispered.
Andrew pulled her gently to him so he wouldn’t hurt her ribs, and began kissing her more and more passionately. Denise moaned with pleasure, leaning into his kisses and giving back as good as she got.
She relaxed her body, allowing his hands to explore her. She trusted him completely, but then he stopped and just held her.
“What’s wrong, Andy?” she asked meekly. “Is it me? Did I do something wrong?”
“No, no, Denise,” he replied, kissing her softly. “This isn’t the right time. You’re hurt and in pain. I want to do this the right way.” He held her to him lovingly. “I won’t ever hurt you, Denise. Not ever.”
They remained on the couch cuddled up, just enjoying each other’s company. Denise nuzzled her face into his neck and kissed him.
“I can’t believe how strong my feelings are for you, and we’ve known each other for only a short time.” She kissed Andy’s neck again. “It almost scares me,” she whispered, “but it excites me and makes me happy more than it scares me!”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Andy replied, gently stroking her forehead and cheeks, “because I feel the same way.” He kissed her passionately again. “I promise when the time is right, we’ll be together and I’ll make sure your every need is met.”
“You already have,” Denise breathed between kisses. “You already have!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So, Anne is coming over soon to stay with you while I’m at work?” Andy asked.
“Yes. She’s due here about eight thirty.”
“Good, I’ll feel better knowing she’ll be able to keep an eye on you and help you if you need something. You may THINK you’re healed, but you’re NOT. Not quite yet.” He held her close and gave her a long passionate kiss. “Call my cell if you need anything.”
“I will. But I’m sure we’ll be just fine.”
Andrew got in his car and headed for work. He had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He picked up his cell phone and hit one of the speed dial buttons. “Hello? Hey, Chief, would you mind having a car patrol around my house tonight? I’m worried that her husband is going to try something stupid.”
“No problem,” came the reply from the other end. “I have a couple patrol cars in the area and will be sure they drive by every hour or two.”
“Thanks, Chief. I really appreciate it. I owe you one.” Andy hung up the phone and continued driving.
Anne arrived right on time. Denise disarmed the system to let her in, then reset the alarm for no entry delay, as she agreed with Andy.
“This is a lovely house,” Anne said, glancing around. “Are you still in the guest room? Or is that mine now?” Her eyes twinkled merrily. “I mean, it’s obvious you two have developed feelings for each other.”
“Okay, if you’re fishing for info, you’re barking up the wrong tree.” Denise laughed. “I don’t kiss and tell.”
“Since when?” Anne retorted. “You’ve always told me everything, now spill!”
The friends settled in on the couch to talk. They were like high school girls at a slumber party catching up on dating experiences.
“Oh, Anne,” Denise breathed, “He’s so wonderful. I can’t wait for the day we make love. But he refuses until I’m healthy. He says between my ribs and the baby being under so much stress, he won’t go that far, he’s afraid of hurting me or throwing me into early labor. He’s just so sweet!
“Yay! That’s wonderful!!”
“I know. He makes me so happy, but I have to deal with Mitch first – it would be nice if the police could find the son-of-a-bitch.”
“Yes, it would,” Anne agreed. “This not knowing where he is or what he’s up to is scaring the shit out of me.”
“Same here. At least the security alarm here will help keep us safe.”
“All right, instead of worrying about HIM, let’s find a movie, have popcorn and relax. A comedy would be a good choice tonight, y’think?”
“Absolutely! Let’s see what we can find.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Andy arrived at work, parked the car and got out. He set the car’s theft alarm and walked through the parking lot toward the building. The uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach twinged again. He stopped walking, took out his cell, and called Denise.
“Denise? Is everything okay? Did Anne get there safely?”
“Yes, Andy. She’s here, the alarm is set and we’re watching comedies to keep us from thinking of Mitch being out there, god knows where.”
“Okay, call me in a few hours and let me know how you’re doing.” He paused. “I just have this feeling in the pit of my stomach that something’s going to happen. Keep the shades and curtains pulled, and turn off the lights.”
“Will do. Call me if you keep having this feeling, okay? You’ve got me worried.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you. I just don’t know what this gut feeling is about.”
“Well, be careful. For all we know he could go after you.”
“True. I’ll be careful. I promise.” They said good-bye and he hung up the phone. Andy continued through the parking lot to the building. He was nearly to the door, waving at his coworker who was getting ready to buzz him in when Andy heard something. A twig snapped behind him. He whirled around just in time to see Mitch emerge from the hedges with a gun. Instinctively, Andy dropped to his knees, the bullet just missing him as it lodged in the side of the building. Andy’s coworker sounded the alarm, and headed toward the door. Mitch shot him through the glass, then turned the gun back on Andy.
Andy leapt at Mitch grabbing his arm, trying to wrench the gun out of his grip. The gun went off as the men struggled and fought. Andy managed to flip Mitch over his shoulder, and as Mitch hit the ground, the gun went off one more time before Andy managed to kick it out of Mitch’s hand.
Andy looked down and saw blood. He wasn’t sure if it was his or Mitch’s, but Mitch jumped up, kicked Andy’s right knee, and ran off. Another coworker ran to Andy’s side, as Andy collapsed to the ground, and they saw Mitch get into a small car on the passenger side. They squinted to see the license plate, but it was covered with mud and the car sped away before they could get many details on it.
“Andy! You’ve been hit!”
“What, I feel… oh, wow,” Andy looked at his hand that had been clutching his stomach. He hadn’t even realized his hand was there, and when he pulled it back, he saw blood. “I am hit! You need to call Denise, the house phone is on speed dial…” Andy’s voice trailed off, he started to falter. “I think I’m going to pass out.”
“NO!” his friend shouted. “Stay with me, Andy! Keep those eyes open. The ambulance should be here soon. STAY WITH ME!”
Andy didn’t speak. He was getting weaker and weaker. He tried to keep his eyes open, but it was a struggle to do so. He heard the scream of the ambulance siren getting closer. His breathing became shallow as he went into shock. Not only did he have a burning pain in his stomach, he felt a searing pain in his right thigh, and his knee felt broken from the force of Mitch’s kick.
“Call Denise,” he said weakly. “She has to know… what happened…” his voice trailed off again. He was close to losing consciousness. “Promise me,” he whispered.
“I promise. I will call her just as soon as the ambulance and police get here. Just rest. Everything is going to be fine.”
The EMTs arrived in the nick of time, stopped the bleeding quickly and strapped Andrew into a stretcher. They hooked him up to a respirator, and other machines to monitor his blood pressure, heart rate, pulse, and his oxygen saturation. They also tended to the other man who had been shot trying to help Andy. They closed up the ambulance, and it screeched out of the parking lot on its way to the hospital.
The police arrived at the same time, and took statements from the witnesses, and bagged the gun for forensics. They hoped it had a history and could lead them to whoever was helping Mitch. Another all points bulletin went out for his arrest, and they added his accomplice to the warrant. Even though they didn’t have the description yet, they wanted to be certain they had a warrant for any person in close proximity to Mitch when they took him down. Andy’s friend called Denise as promised. The captain ordered a police cruiser sent to pick her up and take her to the hospital. No one knew if Andy would make it out of this alive.