Next Time You Point a Finger, I'll Point You to the Mirror

I slowly opened the door, revealing Lgt. Walker… a worried expression on his face.

“Hey, Dustin. Dad forget something?” I asked, he just shook his head.

“Do you need, Autumn?” I was starting to worry when he just nodded his head. Autumn appeared not even a minute after I said her name.

“Dustin, why are you here?” She asked a hint of concern in her voice.

“Maybe you better sit down.” Dustin guided Autumn over to the couch and sat down next to her.

“Dustin… what happened?” I asked sternly, taking a seat on the opposite side of the couch. He took another deep breath and exhaled it slowly.

“One of the guys from Chesterhill was having a party, I guess, and he got pretty drunk. Well everything was fine and dandy until the son-of-bitch got his gun and drove off.” Dustin took another deep breath. “We chased him and he crashed, he managed to get out and…” Dustin’s voice grew quiet, “he shot Colton.”

“WHAT!?” Autumn and I practically screamed. Autumn fell back into the couch and I just sat there. Alex and Drake’s hard foot steps were heard, running down the stairs.

“What’s going on?” Drake asked, worried evident in his voice.

“Baby?” Alex as at my side, he took my hand in his and gently stroked it with his thumb.

“He was Med-Flighted to Good Sam.” Dustin stated simply. “He’s in critical condition. They don’t know if he’ll make it.” Silent tears made their way down my cheeks. My worst nightmare was coming true. Drake, who’d disappeared, came back into the room, keys in hand.

“Thanks for telling us, Dustin.” Dustin nodded and slowly left the house.

"Baby," Alex said again, concern lacing his voice. I couldn't talk, I could barely breath. "Kaitie?" I opened my mouth but nothing came out.

"Baby, it's okay." He tried to comfort me, but it didn't work. Finally I managed to get something out of my throat, a sob. Alex pulled me close and I sobbed, and i cried, and i couldn't stop. I was living part of my nightmare, and i just seemed to be getting worse.

After I finally quit sobbing, Drake drove us all up to Zanesville and to Good Samaritan. We drove in silence, none of us wanted to hear a thing, or talk to one another.

When we reached the hospital, the nurse at the front desk informed us that he almost flat lined in the helicopter and they just went ahead to OSU Medical Center. Autumn almost broke down again, falling into Drake and holding him for dear life. Alex held me tightly against him and kissed my temple a few times.

"He'll be fine. He'll be fine." He muttered, against my hair. At that point in time, I really didn't know if I could believe him.

Another hour on the road, not fun. I sat, leaning against Alex's side. I tried to fall asleep, to make the ride appear to go faster, but every time I closed my eyes, I couldn't help but see the images of what might be wrong with my dad. The endless possibilities of what I'd have to face when we reached the hospital. Tears never left my face, no matter how many times I'd wipe them away, they'd instantly be replaced. Alex kept his arm around me, his head ontop of mine.

"I love you." He whispered into my hair, before kissing the top of my head.

"I l-love y-you too." I breathed, trying to push the sadness out of my voice. I failed, like always, I've never been good at hiding my feelings from Alex.

"You okay?" Alex asked softly. I just nodded my head and snuggled into his side more. The rest of the hour drive was absolutely silent, besides the rushing of other cars and trucks. We made it to the hospital and Autumn and Drake rushed out of the truck. Alex followed slowly behind and I sat there, frozen in the back seat of the truck.

"Kate, Kaitie!?" Alex sighed and hopped back into the truck. He placed his hands on my cheeks and I slowly turned my head towards him. I didn't make an attempt to hide the faact that the tears were falling like Niagara Falls and I fell into Alex's shoulder.

"I can't lose him." I cried into the fabric ofDrake's his shirt. Alex wrapped his arms around me and held me against his chest, like there was no tomorrow.

"Shh..." He cooed, "let's just go in there, and we'll see what's happening before we jump to conclusions." I nodded my head and let Alex pull me from the truck cab. It took me from the time we started walking, to the time we reached the front desk of ICU to regain my composure.

"Uh, hi. I'm Colton Fisher's daughter. Do you know anything about him yet?" Quite shocked at how well I was talking, let alone about my dad. The red headed nurse looked up at me and studied my face a minute, then she went to typing away at her computer.

"Colton, AH! Colton Fisher, he's in surgery right now, but he should be out soon. His doctor will be out as soon as possible to tell you about your father's condition." She sounded slightly bored with me and I just nodded my head.

"Thank you, ma'am." Alex said for me and she smiled a small smile at him before we turned towards the waiting room. Autumn was sitting in one of the chairs, head resting against the wall. I knew how she felt, but we both knew the consequences of dad being a cop. Yet do you think either of us were prepared for them? No.

We sat there for about another hour, anticipating the outcome. Drake sat next to Autumn, holding her hand and basically being her cry to cry on. I sat next to, well leaned on, Alex on the couch that was next to the row of chairs.

"Colton Fisher's family?" A tall, tan man clad in scrubs and a surgeon's cap, said as he walked through the double doors.

"Yes?" Autumn looked up from the floor to the man, her voice slightly unsteady.

"I'm Doctor Conway, are all of you the family?" He asked looking at us kids.

"Yes," Drake spoke sternly, "we're his kids." Doctor Conway nodded and sat on the arm of the chair that was diagonal from the couch.

"Colton's still in critical condition. The bullet only nicked his heart, but it severed a main artery. We've managed to stop the blooding and he's stable for the time being. There's no telling what will happen next." Autumn nodded her head and I tried to swallowing the ever growing lump in my throat.

"There's only a thirty-seventy percent chance for him." Autumn bit her lips together to keep from breaking down yet again. Alex's arm tightened around me, and I leaned my head onto his shoulder. "He'll be in ICU under close watch for now." With that, Doctor Conway left.

My heart felt like a hole had been dug out of it. I couldn't lose my dad, I just got him back. I'm guessing Alex sensed that I was about to bawl like no tomorrow because he practically drug me down the stairs. He lead me down to the ground floor, right beside the door before her stopped. He stood a few feet away from me, why I have no idea.

I looked into his eyes, they were swimming with sadness, regret and concern. Tears I had been holding back since Doctor Conway walked out of those doors to come talk to us, came rolling down my cheeks, and I literally jumped into Alex's arms.

"I-can't-lose-him!" I sobbed into his cheset, as he wrapped his arms around me.

"Shhh, it's okay. You won't lose him. You're dad's strong, he'll make it." Alex kissed my head adn ran his fingers through my blonde-ish brown locks. "He'll make it." He wihspered before pushing/squeezing me into his chest more.

"You- said that - before. How am I-I suposse to be-believe you? "I wanted to believe Alex, I really did, but last time he everything would be okay, my dad ended up in the ICU in critical condition.

Alex pulled back a bit and took my chin in his hand.

"Baby, look at me." I looked upto Alex's face and into his emerald green eyes. "I know you're doubting me becasue I told you he'd be fine, but you're dad is always careful someone just made it past him.He's strong, Kate... stronger than you give him credit for." I slowly nodded my head and dropped it onto his shoulder. Alex kissed my head and hugged me close.

"I love you," he whispered against my hair, "I love you, so much."

Alex's POV

Kaitie had been a wreck since Dustin walked through the door at her house, and told us about Colton. She wouldn't, no she couldn't believe me when I told her that her dad would be okay, because I told her this morning that everything would be okay and it wasn't. I hated that, she felt like she couldn't believe me, and I couldn't really do anything to change that. Colton's strong though, I know he's going to make it.

Now we were sitting back in the waiting room, waiting on the doctor to okay a visit. Kate's head was in my lap, my fingers running gently through her hair. Her breathing was deep and even, she'd fallen asleep about an hour ago, right after Doctor Conway told us it'd be another hour, hour-and-a-half before we could go in. Autumn kept her tears at bay, not really wanting to cry in front of us anymore.

"Mrs. Fisher?" I looked up from Guppy's sleeping face to Doctor Conway's.

"Yes?" She answered softly.

"Would you like to see your husband?" She nodded and walked through the double doors with him. I looked back at Guppy's sleeping face, and smiled. She looked peaceful and at ease. Something I hadn't seen in awhile.

"Hey Drake?"

Drake looked up from the floor and rasied his eyebrows inquiring, 'what?'

"That recruiter called me back."

"And....?" He said stressing the word.

"I leave for basics the week after the wedding." Drake smiled a little and chuckled.

"That's great. Now the million dollar question is... have you told HER that?" I shook my head. "When are you going to tell her, then?"

"After this settles down." He pursed his lips and nodded as if he were thinking about something.

"Is Bradley going with you?" He asked after a minute or so of silence.

"Yeah, well he's supposed to."

"Welll...." Drake let out a long breath, "...good luck telling her that. She's not too big on the 'girl of a soldier' thing." I opened my mouth to ask 'why' but Drake cut me off. "Don't ask, because I couldn't even begin to tell you." Drake gave me an apologetic amile and grabbed a magazine off the table. I really hope telling her won't take as much effort as it sounds.