Chapter Forty-Five

Jon couldn't remember the last time he sat in an ambulance. Maybe it was when Jake broke his leg trying to play superman off the the large oak tree in their yard. It turned out he was more excited than scared to ride in the ambulance and the medics had a ball entertaining him all the way. This however, was entirely different. They worked on her like clockwork as they ripped open packages of gauze pads and set up an IV for her.

"You look OK Mr Bon Jovi but I'm just going to check for any injuries."

Jon nodded but his eyes remained on Kenzie for any signs of life as the medic carefully patted him down. 

"Did you want me to ring someone? We're about two minutes from the hospital. Is there someone we can ring for her or you?"

Jon reached into his pocket for his phone and stared at it. Who did he call for her? He knew her well enough but he didn't know anything about her family. She had parents just like him. Did she have a close friend? God, he'd lived with this woman for weeks and they knew each other on a different level but what else did he exactly know about her? He didn't even have David's number but her Blackberry would.

"Uh, her partner...will be David on her Blackberry." He nodded towards her. 

"And you?" He leaned in and slid a stethoscope under his sweater.  

"Yeah. I"ll call a friend." Jon blinked as he shone the pen light in his eyes. 

"Great. You're visibly OK.  Do you feel dizzy or sick?"

Jon shook his head. Ok well that was a lie. He could do with throwing up. She was lying on that gurney because of him. She came down here because of him. She just took a bullet because of him. For once in his life he was wrong and he knew it. Jon's finger hovered above Richie's number. What did he even say? For a man that could pen the brilliant lyric now and again. He was stumped.

The ambulance stopped and the back doors popped open with emergency staff waiting on hand to carry Kenzie out. He didn't want to let her go, he wasn't sure when he'd see her again. 

He swallowed, if he'd see her again.

"Come with me, we'll get you somewhere private and you can make that call Mr Bon Jovi." He was assisted out of the ambulance and was led to a private room.

"Where are they taking her?" He turned his head as they whisked her down the corridor. 

"They'll take her to trauma so we can get a better view of her condition. Don't worry she's in the best possible place. She worked with you for long?"

Jon raised his brow. "Yeah, a few weeks." Of course, they wouldn't assume she was anything more than his bodyguard. He wondered how that would effect getting any information on her condition but he wasn't about to pour his damn heart out to a medic. He stood and stared at the small consult room. They were here because of him and his stupidity and that in itself was a bitter pill to swallow. 

He reached for his phone and pulled Richie's number up. Richie would come down here in a flash he had no doubt about that. He just wasn't sure if he wanted him here right now. He was still coming to terms with what had just happened and tried to make sense of it all in his head. He needed a minute and he needed to be with MacKenzie. He slipped his phone back in his pocket, he'd call Richie later after he'd seen Kenzie. After he knew for certain she was going to be ok because if she wasn't, he didn't want anyone to see him have to deal with that. 

"All done?" The medic popped his head in and smiled.

"Yes I'm all done. I'll have someone come in soon. Is there somewhere I can get a cup of coffee while I wait?" He would kill some time while they worked with MacKenzie.

"Yes, at the end of this wing there is a small cafe. Are you sure you're ok? I can have one of the nurses stay with you if you want?"

Jon held his hand up and shook his head. "I'm ok. I just need a minute. I'll get a coffee and wait."

"There's something else. The police will be wanting to speak to you at some point but we held them off for a wee bit."

He managed a small smile. "I appreciate that." He wondered if he could get arrested for stupidity as that was the only cause in this situation.

"No problems. The nurse's station is just out here. If you need anything you just ask or if you start feeling funny."

Jon nodded and thanked him again. Was it even safe to go and get a cup of coffee? He honestly didn't know anymore. Surely the gang wouldn't be so stupid to try anything here in the middle of a public place. But he'd been wrong about a lot of things. He smiled at the nurse who nodded in his direction as he made his way down to the cafe. He had a coffee, he wished he had something stronger to slip into it and he could have killed for a cigarette but they were in his car. 

He welcomed the fresh air on the enclosed smoking balcony. God, why had he been such an idiot? He gripped the railing and kicked his foot against it. What he'd done was selfish. What if something had happened to her? Hell, to him? What would that do to his kids? The band? Everything that he'd ever worked for? Gone in the blink of an eye.

He crumpled the cup in his hand, tossed it in the bin and headed back in. He waited until a nurse recognised him, he wasn't above playing the famous guy if it got him what he wanted.

"Are you ok Mr Bon Jovi?"

He dug his hands in his pockets. "The woman that came in with me, I was wondering how she was doing?" He rolled back on his heels.

She looked over her shoulder. "She's been taken to a room but I'm afraid that until we notify the next of kin, I can't let you see her."

Jon winced and scratched the back of his head. "If I told you she's my fiancé would that change things?" He also wasn't above lying to get what he wanted. He needed to see her and he'd do exactly what it took.

The nurse's eyes widened. "I understand. Say no more. We pride ourselves on discretion here Mr Bon Jovi. Let me show you to her room."

His chest tightened. A ball of relief and panic bounced around inside of him, now he'd have to face exactly what he'd done.

"Thank you so much." He was shown into a room. She was lying in bed with a wide white bandage around her head and her eyes closed. She looked soft, relaxed, alive.

"I'll send the doctor in to talk to you." 

He took a step in and carefully closed the door behind him. "Kenzie?" He dragged the chair closer to her bed. She had a couple of colored tubes sticking in her but there was no beeps, no ventilator. No beeps was good right? He took her hand in-between both of his and lifted it to his lips. He closed his eyes and pressed her hand against his cheek, feeling the warmth of her against him. "Thank God." She mumured and he leaned in closer. "I'm here Kenzie. You're ok baby."

Her eyes fluttered open. "Jon?" 

He smiled and swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. "I'm here. You're ok."

Her fingers curled around his hand and she whispered, "you're not hurt?" Her sleepy brown eyes stared back at him.

He shook his head, the woman was amazing. Even now, she was concerned about his well being when he wasn't the one lying in a hospital bed. "I'm fine Kenzie. God, I thought..." His belly churned with just the thought of what could have been.

She smiled and blinked slowly. "Don't be silly. You were very brave Jon."

His eyes flicked back to hers. "Kenzie I was--"

"Incredibly stupid." Her voice was a raw wheeze. 

He nodded and tugged her hand to his chest. "I know. You can kick my ass later but just rest now, ok?" He leaned over dropped a light kiss on her forehead and then flicked his eyes down to hers. There was so much to say but now wasn't the time they had to get through whatever this was and her well being was for now the top priority. 

"K." Her head rolled into the pillow and her breathing became steady. She had no visible signs of anything sinister but he wasn't the doctor here. He wasn't going anywhere, he would stay at her side for as long as it took.

~

MacKenzie licked her lips, her throat was as coarse as sandpaper but she was ok. He was ok. She curled her hand but opened her eyes when it closed around nothing. She was sure Jon was here. She squinted and focused on the nurse that was adjusting her drip. She held her hand up and croaked. "Water?"

"Oh honey you're awake. Here, let me help you." She settled MacKenzie up into the pillows and handed her a plastic clear cup with a white straw. 

"Thanks." MacKenzie couldn't bite back the whimper as she handed the water back to the nurse.

"Just easy sweetheart. You're ok but just a little banged up."

Where was Jon? Had she dreamt he was here safe with her? Panic and nausea rolled through her. "Where is the man that came in with me?" He did come in with her right?

The nurse cheerily fluffed her pilows. "Oh your fiance?"

MacKenzie arched her brow. "Excuse me?" Her what?

The nurse winked and stood back. "Don't worry sweets. I won't tell a soul. He just needed some fresh air and a refill to his coffee.

Her eyes widened. "What? He can't just go roaming around out there alone. You do know what happened to us?" Fear collided in her belly. They could be anywhere.

"Relax, it's all enclosed and we have some policeman that have just arrived. He's probably talking to them."

MacKenzie closed her eyes. She reached up to the side of her head, it still stung where the bullet had grazed her. God she was a lucky woman. "I need to see him, please. Can you go and get him?"

The nurse quickly nodded. "Of course." It all blurred. Her going after Jon to the steel mill, her body going into shock when she was scraped by a bullet. God. She'd tried to tell him she was ok but her body shut down in shock. All the training in the world couldn't stop her body from doing its natural reflex. He must have been beside himself. He was still pig headed and stupid for doing what he did but she was glad he was OK. She just had to concentrate on those facts for now before she ripped him in two. 

The door swung open and she felt her shoulders drop in relief. "Hey."

His jeans were all dirty, battered, and the ribbed grey sweater he was wearing was ripped at the edges and blood splattered. "Kenzie." He smiled and it just reached his eyes as he perched himself on the edge of the bed next to her. "You're awake."

"I was before, wasn't I?"

He nodded and placed his cup of coffee on her bedside table. "Yes but you were drowsy. They gave you some pretty heavy pain killers but on the face of it, you're ok." She watched his fingers dig into the mattress. "I thought you'd been shot in the head, there was so much...god, so much blood."

She covered his hand with hers and their eyes met. "I know, I wanted to tell you I was ok but I just couldn't. Everything moved in slow motion, it was just awful. I'm glad you're ok." Her eyes followed his lips as he moved in closer. The kiss was fierce but short. If she'd lost him, she would have never forgiven herself. 

"I'm sorry. I should have never gone out there." He didn't pull back his face hovered in front of hers. 

"No you should never have done that Jon, you could have been killed. There's one thing I can't work out though, how did you get hold of them?"

His eyes flicked down at her hand and then back to hers. "I read David's email. The interception of the email. They'd emailed me to call. I didn't even know that you guys were doing that, but I guess there is a lot of things I didn't know. I just wanted it to end, I hated it. I hated what it was doing to my life...to us." His eyes looked so sad that it melted her anger away.

She swallowed and squeezed his hand. "Oh Jon. I know you hated what was happening to you, to your control. But as much as you think it. You're not Superman. These guys are thugs, and to have any chance against them you need to think like a thug and you aren't trained to. You never had a chance."

He sighed. "You know that should hurt my ego but you're right."

A smile toyed on her lips. "I'm sorry, did you just admit that I was-" This time the kiss came longer, slower, deeper. His hand cupped the back of her neck and he poured himself into her. She moaned and threw her arms around his neck diving head first in. It felt comfortable, it felt easy, it felt right. So much was still up in the air and she was itching to get David in here and pick this apart before the cops got too involved. And her and Jon where did they stand? They clearly had things to discuss in that department and she wasn't sure after the fiancé remark if she was ready to. She'd admitted she loved him but she wasn't ready to admit it was forever. 

He pulled back and his thumb brushed her cheek. "Kenzie-"

The door popped open and the doctor strolled in. "Miss Cooper. It's good to see you awake. I'm here to let you know, you're going to be fine. We were worried about a little concussion so we're going to keep you in here just tonight but you should be fine. The wound is minor on your temple, but I'd like you to be on bed rest for a few days."

She groaned. She was fine for goodness sake and she had things to do. 

He lifted his finger. "Now now, Mr Bon Jovi has told me you'll be under his watch."

She arched a brow. "Oh really?" She couldn't be mad, they had a lot to talk about and she figured she would be going back to the apartment just not as his bodyguard. But not as his fiancé either thank you very much.

"David is on his way down here, he'll be able to take care of the business side of things." Jon added. Mind reader. 

"Fine." She crossed her arms but frowned when it tugged on her IV line.

Jon smoothed back her hair and kissed her forehead. "Oh yeah, you're going to make a fine patient Mackenzie." 

She didn't do sick and she certainly didn't do bed rest. There was still so much left unresolved that it sat uneasy in her belly. The doctor left them to it and she dropped her head back into the pillows. Damn pain killers. "Stay with me," she murmured and reached for his hand.

Just before she slipped into sleep she felt his lips against her skin. "I'm not going anywhere Kenz."