Light In The Darkness

24 - Lifeline

In my panic, I had no idea how much time had passed when suddenly we were surrounded with paramedics. I kept holding on to his hand the entire time. No matter what the paramedics tried, I wouldn't let go of him. Eventually they gave up and let me hold on all the way to the hospital.

I stayed with him until I wasn't allowed to go any further. My state of shock wore off as soon as I had to let go of his hand and instead it was replaced by fear, worry and an immense pain.

I let myself fall down onto my knees, breaking down as I did. Nothing had ever scared me like this. Seeing Windham get shot, knowing that the possibility of me losing him was suddenly very real. It was all just too much. My heart felt like it was shattering more and more with every second.

Suddenly I was engulfed in a hug. I looked at the person hugging me and realized that it was Windham's mother Stephanie. Once I realized that I immediately hugged her back.

Stephanie let me cry on her shoulder, rubbing my back in an attempt to comfort me.

After a while my tears slowed down. Stephanie took that opportunity to help me up and guide me to a sofa in the waiting area.

Windham's dad Mike joined us as well. He had been watching us from a distance, knowing his wife was well capable of comforting me.

"Have fate dear." Stephanie told me gently as she sat down next to me. "Want to talk about it?"

I nodded and sniffed "I just can't lose him. I can't imagine life without him anymore."

"He's a fighter. He'll pull through." Mike assured me as well as he laid a hand on my shoulder. "He has you and Levi to fight for now."

I smiled at the memory of what Levi had said in court. "He thinks of him as his father."

"So we heard." Mike chuckled.

Suddenly I heard a lot of people running towards us. I looked up to see my sister, son and all my friends

Levi immediately rushed over, he had tears in his eyes. I held him close as he sobbed into my chest.

"He's worried to lose him as well." Abby explained sniffing as her brother Taylor was hugging her.

"Oh baby." I sniffed as I looked down at my... our son and decided to take up the advice Stephanie and Mike had offered to me. "I'm worried too but we have to believe that he is strong enough. He's a fighter."

Suddenly Levi noticed Stephanie and Mike which reminded me that they had never met.

"Sweetie these are Stephanie and Mike. They are his parents. Stephanie, Mike, this is Levi."

Mike smiled softly and crouched down next to Levi "Nice to meet you kid. I heard you wished my son was your dad?"

Levi nodded slowly.

"Well in that case, if you want, you can call me grandpa. Okay?"

"Are you sure." I asked him. I was touched by the gesture but hoped that he didn't feel forced to make it.

"Yes, and you better stop calling me Mike as well, its dad. My boy loves you, that makes the both of you family."

-

A few hours later a nurse finally came with an update.

"Family of Windham Rotunda?"

Abby, Taylor, mom, dad, Levi and myself all got up at once.

"Is he okay?" I asked worried.

"The bullet luckily didn't hit any organs so there wasn't major internal damage. He lost quite a bit of blood though, which was the major issue here. It was touch and go for a bit but we were able to give him a blood transfusion and remove the bullet. He might be sore for a while but he will be making a full recovery as far as we can tell."

Everyone in the room let out a sigh of relief.

"He has been brought to recovery. He's asleep now but it's okay for someone to visit him. Only 2 people at a time until he's fully awake though. After that we leave it up to him to decide the number of people in his room as long as the visits won't take too long. He'll need his rest."

I stepped back, figuring that his parents should be the first to see him but both of them just looked at me instead.

"Go, we can wait." Ste-- mom told me "Take Levi with you."

It was weird yet oddly nice to refer to them as mom and dad. I could see in their eyes that they meant it. They wanted Levi and I to be there when he woke up.

I nodded and looked at the nurse "Where can I find him?"

The nurse led us to the room that Windham was currently in. He was still asleep.

He was hooked to an IV and a heart monitor. He looked a bit pale and had bandages around his shoulder and chest but, much to my relief, besides that he seemed okay.

I sat down next to the bed with Levi on my lap and took Windham's hand in mine.

"You see that?" I asked Levi as I gave a nod to the heart monitor.

Levi nodded sadly. He was still worried about Windham.

"That zig zag line on there is his lifeline. Each time it beeps, it means his heart beat as well. So as long as you hear that beep, he is okay." I explained to him, hoping that the beeping of the heart monitor would calm his worry.

I knew it had worked as I felt Levi relax with each beep.

After an hour of just sitting by his bedside, Windham began to stir and wake up. Levi and I quickly shot up so that he could see us.

"Why are you crying beautiful?" He asked me with a hoarse voice. It was only then that I realized that a tear had escaped my eyes again. This time it was a tear of relief though.

"Don't you ever scare us like that again." I whispered as I leaned in to hug him carefully. "We were so worried."

"I can't promise you that sweetheart." Windham chuckled softly. "I'd always catch a bullet for you."

"My hero, how will I ever repay you?" I chuckled as well.

"I might have an idea." Windham smiled softly before turning to Levi "Come here Firefly."

Levi climbed up on the bed with my help and gave him a big hug.

"I didn't have the chance to tell you sooner but you can call me papa for as long as you'd like." Windham told him. "I'm sorry I scared you."

"Really?" Levi asked him. "Even if you're not really my papa?"

"Even then but of course we could change that if you want." Windham whispered to him, which made Levi nod excitedly.

"What? You want to adopt him?" I asked him with a smile.

"I actually had an even better idea." Windham smiled back and took my hands in his "I wish I was able to do this differently. I know you aren't a big fan of hospitals after all."

I looked at him confused as he continued.

"When I realized that he had a gun, all I could do was jump in front of you and Levi to protect you both. I couldn't even bear the thought of losing you. I know what I did was risky and I'm sorry for worrying you. All I could see while I was out was you though. You kept me alive, like you were my life line. I want you to be my lifeline, my anchor, my forever.

Harmony Catherine Jones, will you marry me?"