Every Second Counts

I had walked back to Kris’s car in a zombie-like state. I couldn’t believe what the paramedic had said to me. He had to be wrong. Reed couldn’t be walking the line of life and death. He had to be alright. As I reached Kris’s car, I opened the door and sat down, not saying a word, as I stared straight ahead.

“Mara, babe, what’s going on?” I heard Kris ask, and I slowly turned my head to look at him, tears stinging the back of my eyes. “Mara?” Kris asked, obviously worried about me.

“They were in there when the bomb went off,” I began, trying to hold off the tears for just a little bit longer. “Davis and Fi are going to be alright. They walked out with some help. But, Reed…” I trailed off, not even knowing how to put into words how Reed was doing.

“Reed?” Kris urged me to continue. “What happened to Reed?” he asked.

“He…they…Reed’s hurt badly,” I finally choked out as tears instantly began falling down my cheeks. “He looked so bad. Kris, I could practically see his insides hanging out. I asked if he was going to be okay, and…”

“And?”

“They said that they couldn’t even say if he’d make it to the hospital,” I said through my tears. Kris didn’t reply but instead turned his car on and pulled out into the street, driving me to the hospital.

Kris wrapped his arms around, guiding me into the hospital, as I tried to keep my composure, which wasn’t working out too well, as tears filled my eyes, and I couldn’t see a thing. “Mara,” I heard Parker’s voice from down the hallway, and I turned towards him. “Hey, they said Fi’s going to be okay. She’s got some debris in her lung, and they’re going to keep her here for probably a couple of days to make sure she doesn’t get an infection or anything. What about Reed?” he asked, and I began sobbing at his name. “Mara?” Parker asked, and I could hear the fear in his voice, but I couldn’t pull myself together to even answer him.

“He’s in critical condition,” I heard Kris answer for me, and I slid closer to his body. “We’re trying to find out what’s going on right now,” he said.

“Let me see what I can do,” Parker said, turning around and going to the nurse’s desk. He spoke a few words and flashed his badge before he turned around and nodded his head, indicating he had gotten some information.

I waited off to the side, trying to control the tears that were still streaming down my face. Kris pulled me in closer and kissed the top of my head. Parker walked over a few minutes later, and I looked up at him. “So?” I asked, wanting information on Reed.

“He’s in surgery right now,” Parker said quietly. “It’s bad, Mara,” he admitted.

“Can I go see Fi at least?” I begged, needing to at least see that she was okay.

“Yeah, come on,” Parker said, leading me towards the elevator and up to Fiona’s room. As soon as I saw Fiona, I ran to her side.

“Fi, thank God you’re alive!” I exclaimed, taking a closer look at her. She was extremely pale, and simply didn’t look like herself. She had wires going every different direction, and she had a mask on, hooked up to an oxygen machine.

She moved the mask off of her mouth in order to speak. “Reed?” she barely uttered out before putting the mask back on. I glanced back at Parker, wondering if I should tell her or not. He nodded his head, and I looked back down at her. I could see in her eyes that she already knew everything wasn’t right with Reed and she was practically begging me to tell her.

“Reed’s down in surgery right now,” I began, and I could feel the tears filling my eyes once again. He eyes went wide at the news, and I knew I needed to tell her everything. “It’s not good,” I told her.

“He was right there with me,” she said after taking her mask off. She began coughing, and she put it back on, taking a deep breath before removing it again. “Why is he in surgery and I’m not?” she questioned.

Parker was immediately at her side. “Fi, that’s just what happens sometimes. You couldn’t have done anything different,” he said as I felt my cell phone vibrate in my pocket. I quickly excused myself and walked out into the hallway, picking it up.

“Mara McNamara,” I answered, and I heard Logan on the other end.

“Hey, Mara, I know you’re at the hospital right now, but I need you to come into work. Fi and Reed aren’t going to be in commission for a while, and Davis has to stay overnight as well. I’m getting ready to call Parker to have him come in, too,” he told me.

“Parker’s here with me,” I told him. “I’ll tell him. There’s no need to call him. We’ll be there as soon as we can,” I added before hanging up. I walked back into Fiona’s room and told Parker what Logan had just said.

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” Kris asked, and I looked over at him. “Mara, look at you. you’re a wreck. Do you really think you should be going to work right now?”

“I’ve got no choice,” I told him. “Fi, Davis, and Reed can’t. I’ve got to go. I’ll call you when I get off, though,” I told him, pressing a kiss to his lips.

“Yeah, call me. I don’t care what time it is,” he said, and I nodded my head, walking out with Reed.

***

“Have they ID’d those bodies yet?” I asked Logan, hoping that at least one of them was Montenegro. We had been sitting in the crime lab for the past three hours, all of us too worried about Reed to get too much work done. We had gotten a call about an hour ago saying that Reed was out of surgery, but he was still in critical condition, and they weren’t sure of the extent of all the damage.

“Yeah,” he nodded, and I whipped my head up, looking at him, waiting on him to continue. “None of them were Montenegro. And, as far as we know, he’s still at large,” he added, and I sighed. “Sorry, Mara,” he said.

“It’s not your fault,” I told him, stifling a yawn.

“Why don’t you go home?” he asked me, and Parker nodded in agreement next to him.

“No, you should go home,” I told Logan. “I mean, your wife and kids must be worrying about you.”

“They understand. You should go home,” he repeated.

“Parker,” I began, turning to look at him. “Go be with Fi.”

“Fi’s going to be fine. I’ll visit her in the morning. You should go home.”

“I don’t want to go home,” I admitted, sitting down in a chair. “Guys, Montenegro’s still at large, and none of us know where he is. I’m not going to lie. I’m scared right now. I’m scared to go back to my apartment. He wanted me there tonight. He wanted me to be in that warehouse when the bomb went off. He wanted me dead. How do we even know what he’s up to next?” I asked.

Parker looked at me sympathetically, which was the last thing I wanted. “Mara,” he began, and I just shook my head. “Mar, why don’t you go home to Kris?” he asked.

“He still doesn’t know,” I muttered.

“Go tell him. I think it’s about time he knows,” Parker said. “I’m sure he’ll let you stay at his place. Or, go to my apartment. I can give you the key,” he suggested.

“No, I’d rather not be alone right now,” I told him. “I’ll go back to Kris’s,” I said.

“Good,” Logan said.

“I’ll be back in in the morning so you guys can get some time off,” I added, walking out of the crime lab and into the locker room to grab my things. I pulled out my cell phone as I walked to one of the police cars, which I was going to take home since my car was still at my place. “Hey, Kris,” I said.

“Hey, babe,” he said, and I knew I had just woken him up. “How’s everything going?”

“I’m heading home now,” I told him.

“Reed?”

“They still don’t know. He’s out of surgery, but he’s still in critical condition,” I said, unlocking the doors and getting inside. “Listen, Kris,” I began before stopping what I was saying.

“Mara, what is it?” he asked me.

“Do you think I can stay the night at your place tonight?” I asked him.

“Of course,” Kris said.

“Thanks. I’ll be there in a few minutes,” I told him, hanging up the phone.

Fifteen minutes later, I was knocking on his door, and Kris instantly opened it. “Is everything alright?” he asked me, knowing that I wasn’t okay at the moment.

“I’m fine,” I lied, deciding to put off telling him the truth about Montenegro for just a little while longer. “I just don’t want to be alone tonight,” I admitted, pulling my coat off and setting it on the couch.

“You don’t have to be,” Kris said, kissing me deeply.

“Good,” I said, intensifying the kiss even more as my hands moved up and down his back.

“Mara,” Kris said, breaking our kiss.

“Kris, just let me forget everything for just one night. Just one night,” I repeated softly, and he looked into my desperate eyes before nodding his head, pressing his lips to mine.

I wrapped my legs around Kris’s waist as he carried me back to his bedroom, gently setting me down on the bed, pulling my shirt off of me, letting it fall to the floor behind him.