Every Second Counts

I felt my body being shaken, and I snapped my eyes opened, wondering what was going on. I was lying on my stomach, and I turned my head to see Kris lying on his side next to me, looking at me worriedly, his hand on my shoulder, still shaking me. “What?” I asked him. “Is everything alright? Did something happen? Reed?” I rushed out every question that was going through my mind.

“You were having a nightmare,” Kris said softly, and I felt my chest relax before it started to constrict once again, my heartbeat picking up as I recalled what I had just been dreaming about: Montenegro.

“I was?” I asked, trying to play it off like it was nothing, though I could tell by the look in Kris’s eyes that he was seriously worried about me.

“You kept calling out Montenegro’s name, sounding scared. Mara, is everything alright?” he asked me, and I knew it was time to tell him everything I had kept from him all this time.

“No,” I said, barely above a whisper, as I sat up, as I held the sheet to my chest, still naked from last night’s events. I took my other hand and pushed my hair off of my forehead, only to have my bangs go back to the exact spot they had been in. Kris continued staring at me, waiting on me to continue talking, and I took a deep breath before telling him everything that had happened to me since we had chased down Montenegro and I ended up in the hospital.

I told him about the person breaking into my apartment and how I thought it was Montenegro. I told him how I was wary of the new security guard, who had started working just when my apartment was broken into. I told him how I was scared and terrified of being alone in my apartment at the moment until Montenegro was caught.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?” he asked, and I could tell that he was hurt that I had kept this from him for so long.

“I’m sorry,” I immediately apologized, looking down at the bed and playing with the sheets in my hands. “I thought we’d be able to catch Montenegro quickly, and I didn’t want to worry you, especially in the middle of the season,” I told him, still not brave enough to look up at him.

“Mara, you have to know you’re more important to me than hockey,” he said. “The season’s not going to mean anything to me if something happens to you,” he added, and I could feel the bed shift as he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me towards him, kissing the top of my head.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” I told him.

“I’m just glad you told me eventually,” he said. “And, you know you’re more than welcome to stay here at my place. You don’t have to go back to yours.”

“I just might have to take you up on that offer,” I smiled up at him.

***

I walked into work, finding Parker sitting in the crime lab, looking at some evidence under a microscope. “Where’s Logan?” I asked, looking around but not seeing him anywhere.

“He went down to the ME’s office,” Parker replied without looking up. “Trying to figure out the cause of death on our vic,” he said, finally looking up. “Damn, Mar, you look like hell,” he said, taking in my appearance.

“Just what every girl wants to hear,” I told him sarcastically. I knew I didn’t look like I normally did. After having told Kris everything about Montenegro, I barely had time to go back to my place and change. I hadn’t even brushed my hair today, having just thrown it up in a pony tail, needing to make it to work on time.

“Is everything okay?” Parker asked me, and I could tell he was genuinely concerned about me.

“I told Kris.”

“Wow, really?”

I nodded my head. “Yeah, you were right. It was time to tell him. And, I’m glad I did. I’m staying at his place until we figure out what’s going on with Montenegro,” I said. “You wouldn’t happen to have found anything out about him yet, have you?” I asked hopefully, though I knew they hadn’t found anything. If they had, they would have called me immediately.

“Sorry, Mar,” Parker told me.

“It’s fine,” I told him. “So, any word about Fiona?” I asked, figuring it was best just to change subjects at this point.

“Yeah,” he sighed, and I turned to look at him.

“I don’t like the way you just responded to that question,” I said, having a sinking feeling in my stomach telling me that I wasn’t going to like whatever Parker was about to tell me about my best friend. “What’s going on with Fi?”

“The doctors are saying she’s going to have to stay in the hospital a little longer than expected,” he said, and I could tell he was downplaying everything.

“What? Why? I thought they were just keeping her overnight to keep an eye on her! What happened?” I questioned.

“She got an infection in her lungs, and they’re keeping her in the hospital. They don’t know how long she’s going to be in there for. She’s on a ventilator right now,” he said, and I could feel my heart dropping.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” I asked.

“Mara, when was I going to tell you?” Parker responded, and I knew he had a point. “It wasn’t going to change anything. Either way, she was still going to be in the hospital.”

“Sorry,” I apologized as Davis walked into the crime lab and a smile crept onto my face. “Davis!” I exclaimed. “It’s so good to see you here,” I told him. After seeing him come out of that warehouse, none of us knew how long he would be out of commission for. Now that he was coming back to work, none of us could have been happier.

“It’s good to see you, too, Mara,” he said with a low laugh. “Now, catch me up on everything I’ve missed since I was gone,” he ordered, throwing himself right back into his work.

I was just getting ready to leave for the night when I heard Davis on the phone saying something that made me stop dead in my tracks. As soon as he hung up the phone, I turned to look at him. “Was that who I think it was?” I questioned, and Logan and Parker looked over in our direction, trying to figure out what we were talking about.

“It was Montenegro again,” Davis announced, and suddenly all of our attention was focused on him. “Logan, Parker, get ready to head out in ten minutes,” he ordered the two men, and I stared at him with a look of disbelief on my face.

“You can’t stop me from going again!” I practically yelled.

“Mara, we talked about this last time,” Davis said, moving things around on his desk. “You are not going,” he stated clearly.

“Davis, Montenegro’s after me. I’m sick of everyone else going in and trying to fight my battles for me. I’m sick of everyone else getting hurt because of me. Let me go!” I knew I sounded like a child throwing a tantrum, but I didn’t care at this point. I just wanted Davis to understand where I was coming from and why I wanted to go so badly.

“You’re not going,” Davis said dismissively. “Now, stay here, and you’ll hear from us as soon as we have any information, okay?” he asked rhetorically, and I crossed my arms over my chest, pouting as I sat down in the chair, watching as the other three left.

The next hour felt like an eternity for me as I sat in the crime lab by myself. I should have worked on a case to keep myself busy, but I couldn’t seem to focus on anything as I worried myself crazy about what was going on with Davis, Parker, and Logan. If anything happened to them, I didn’t know what I was going to do with myself. My best friend was currently in the hospital with a lung infection and my other coworker was still in critical condition. Both of their injuries were directly because of me.

The crime lab door suddenly opened, and I saw Parker walk inside. “Well?” I asked him, my eyes wide.

“It was hard, but we finally caught him,” he told me, and I jumped up, enveloping him in a hug.

“Thank God!” I exclaimed. “And, Davis and Logan? Are they okay? Is everyone okay?” I asked, needing to know that Montenegro hadn’t injured anyone else.

“Everyone’s fine,” Parker assured me. “And, Montenegro’s now down in the interrogation room.”

“Good,” I said, walking towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Parker called after me.

“I’m going to go talk to that son of a bitch.”