The volume of the noise startles me awake. I panic the moment I realize that we are sitting in the middle of Times Square. Shaking myself awake, I look up and see Ben looking down at me with a grin.
"I got bored watching you sleep, so I decided to carry you here and watch these people." He points around us.
He helps me stand, I close my eyes and visualize myself wearing a tank top, jeans, and tennis shoes. When I open my eyes, Ben is frowning his disappointment. He liked the skirt.
"What should be do now?" Ben asks now that I'm awake.
"Good question. I guess we can do anything without consequences." I smile wicked.
Giggling, I run towards the river and jump in. Ben is shouting from the bridge above. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Swimming in a river I normally couldn't. What's the worst that's going to happen? I die." I laugh up at him.
Ben's body splashes me when he joins me. I wrap my heavy soaked denim legs around him. His arms wrap around my waist. "This is disgusting."
"Yep." I kiss him.
In a moment, we are on the Brooklyn Bridge - the very top next to the flagpole. I hold Ben tight - I hate heights and he knows this.
"Seriously? Why?" I shriek in utter fear.
"I've got you." He holds me to him tight.
"This is scarier than death." I look at him with big eyes.
He grabs my cheeks and forces me to look out from us. New York looks beautiful from here. The sky is clear, the buildings are shining with the bright sun, and life is busy below us.
I bring him to the Art Museum. He complains at first, and then I lose him because he gets lost in a painting. For years, I've been begging him to take me here, but he never did. We walk outside on our own, the sun is setting.
"One more thing, then we should probably head back to the hospital and check on things." Ben grabs my hand.
We are standing in the middle of Rockefeller Center, he is wearing a gorgeous three-piece suit, he has dressed me in the most beautiful evening gown. Holding out his hand, he asks me to dance in the middle of the rink.
"This is way too romantic for you." I tease.
"Marry me." He whispers.
"You have the worst timing." I shake my head with a grin.
"I know. I want to marry you as soon as I can. You pick - big or small celebration. We move to Vancouver and have more kids. I won't fight with you anymore." He promises.
Laughing, I shake my head. "You will never not fight with me."
He twirls me and then dips me for a kiss. "Guilty. It's too easy to get under your skin, and I do enjoy the makeup."
We kiss and dance in silence. It's nice enjoying to moment together.
I don't think we have ever had a moment more powerful than this one.
"We should check in with our bodies and families." Ben frowns at me.
Nodding, we kiss one final time before leaving the rink and walk back into the hospital. I sit next to Alex, and stare at our son. Ben is next to his sister, doing the same thing with Isabella.
"You know how they say that babies can see people on the otherside, do you think they can see us?" I ask him.
"I hope so." He smiles down at our daughter.
The doctor comes into the room. I hurry to Ben's side, he kisses the top of my head and wraps me tightly in his arm. I hold my breath while I listen to him tell our family the latest news. Ben's update is first.
Multiple gunshot wounds to his abdomen, shoulder, leg, and back. After we stabilized him in the emergency room, he was taken into surgery. We are happy to report that al the bullets were found and removed. He lost a lot of blood, but we are confident that he will make a full recovery. Once he's stable, he'll transfer to the intensive care unit.
"So it's me." I whisper.
"What?" Ben looks down.
"I'm the one with a giant battle ahead of me." I pout.
She had two wounds, one to the abdomen and one to the chest. Her blood loss is much more significant than Ben's. Allyson is being wheeled into surgery now, we are hoping to get the bullets out from her and find the source of the bleeding. Once we find that, we are hoping to stop it. We are not confident about her outcome as this point, but we will do everything we can to save your loved one.
"Can we go." I look at Ben.
He nods. Just outside the hospital, I lose it. I start crying and Ben picks me up. I bury my face into his neck. "I love you."
"Don't. We are not doing this." Ben pulls me away to face him.
"So we just keep pretending that nothing is going to happen to us? You heard him...it's not looking good for me."
"I know the outcome. I WON'T let them take YOU." He shouts.
"At some point, we won't be able to fight and I'm tired." I cry.
"Then I will fight for you when you can't."
I'm about to answer him when I feel pressure on my chest, tightness surrounds my neck. A wave of dizziness falls over me. I'm falling backwards, but Ben catches me before I hit the ground.
"ALLY!"
"I...can't...breath." I whisper.
It is painful and I want it to end. Over his shoulder, I see the bodies making their way towards me. The walk right through Ben and wrap around me. The pain is indescribable.
"FIGHT." Ben screams at me.
The urgency in his voice makes me want to fight for him, but when I try to get to my feet, I fall back to the ground. I start choking on warm liquid in my throat. Blood splatters on the sidewalk in front of me.
The blackness parts and I see Ben screaming above me.
I watch helpless from the ground as he starts fighting my fight. The pain grows stronger and stronger in my chest. Blood starts running out of my nose.
"Stop. Hold me. Ben, I'm scared." I beg him.
He doesn't hear me, or he ignores me. The fight continues around me, I see Andrew appear above me with a frown. I close my eyes, the pain and exhaustion is too much.
YOU ARE READING
Heartlines
Romance*** Complete Story *** Allyson Sicard was in her final year at Harvard and while her roommates were trying to get their Ivy League boyfriends to propose, Ally was trying to figure out which law school she wanted to graduate from. Columbia had always...
