The Bodyguard

Chapter 47

 He lifted a gun and pointed it at my head. "Please don't Adam, please..." 

 "Guess Garcia wasn't that good of a bodyguard, eh?"

 "Please, I love y..." 

Without listening, he fired the gun. He smiled down as I dropped to the floor and kicked me in my side. "Useless. That's what you are."

 I slowly lost consciousness. He's done it. He got his wish. He lifted up the scarf that was on the floor and dipped it in my blood until it was drenched in blood. Adam darted out the door before someone could catch him but it was too late. She heard shouting in the distance and people rushing to her side as someone dialed 9-1-1. "We need help!" A neighbor shouted. 

 "9-1-1, what is your emergency?" 

 "I need an ambulance! There's been a shooting." The 9-1-1 operator stayed on the phone while paramedics showed up while one of them asked one of the neighbors what happened and if there's any weapons that they know of in the house. 

 "We don't know. My wife and I heard a gunshot so we ran out here and saw her." 

Paramedics lifted her onto a stretcher and tried to bandage up the gunshot wound. 

*** At my parents' house: It was around six in the morning when Jamie woke up and saw Charlotte wasn't next to him. Panicking, he stood up and called her parents from the living room so they ran up the stairs and read the note. "Oh god. She went home." 

Jamie's face went pale. "We need to find her!" He and her parents got in his car and drove quickly to the house, seeing neighbors in full distress. 

 "Maurice, what happened?!" 

 "Helen, Adam shot your daughter. Laura and I heard a gunshot coming from their house so we had to rush over here, finding her unconscious." 

 "Holy shit. Oh my god." 

 "My wife and I will join you!" The drive to the hospital was a blur. Maurice was questioned many times and was ordered to write a witness statement. 

Hours passed and her family sat in a waiting room with Jamie bawling his eyes out. "I didn't pay attention. It's all my FUCKING fault."

 "No, it's not." Her father said, reassuringly.

 "How long does it take to remove a bullet?" Her mother asked in panic. 

They heard Hannah's footsteps running down the hall. "What the hell happened? Where is Charlotte?"

 "She got shot."

 "Oh my god."

 "I don't know how she's doing or ANYTHING!" 

 After several more hours, a doctor came out and told them she was alive. "THANK GOD!" He followed the doctor, her parents not far behind and ran into the room she was in. 

"All she needs is to hear your voice right now. All of you." Machines were hooked up to her, and Jamie's heart broke at the sight. Her eyes were closed, and a ventilator is forces oxygen into her body. The steady beat of the heart monitor was the only reassurance that she's still alive. 

"Charlotte?" Jamie grabbed her hand and felt tears slide down his cheeks. There's no movement or sign she heard him. "I love you, Charlotte. Please come back to us. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, I can't imagine a life without you in it." As he studies her face of possibly hearing him, there's no movement. 

 Not even a minute later, Hannah put her hand on his shoulder. "She'll make it, Jamie. I promise." 

 "She's been such a huge part of who I've become."

 "I know."

 "Like..I don't even know."

 *A few hours later: After talking to her for hours, he watched as her eyes slowly opened. Her facial expression was blank. She didn't react when she saw me. "Hey." 

He grins at her and she narrows her eyes at him. "You're okay. I was so scared you died Charlotte." Still no reaction. 

 "How um...are you feeling?" 

Without warning, she grabbed his shirt and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Did you miss me?" 

 He looked at me with wide eyes. "So fucking much. I love you so much."

 As I tried to touch him, he stops me. "Not now."

 "Oh. Okay." I slid my arms away from his shirt and laid them down flat on the bed. "You okay?" 

"Yeah."

 "You got shot and nearly died, yet you're still okay?" 

 "I chose to go in the house. I needed to find more clues." 

 "Do you remember anything?"

 "Only some financial stuff and life insurance under my name for five million dollars." 

 "Wow."

 "He mocked me while I was on the floor, bleeding out and blaming you. It's not your fault, it's mine." 

 He shook his head. "Stop. it's not your fault." 

 I sighed. "I guess." 

 "He'll get locked up for a long time, Charlotte. I can promise you that. Attempted murder is a serious crime. No judge will let him off for that." 

 Hannah came in and cleared her throat. "I need Jamie for a minute." 

 "Okay." He got up and followed her outside. "What is it?" 

 "Adam."

 "What about him?" 

 "The bastard got out of it. His mistress just got arrested for the attempted murder."