'Til Death - Chris Motionless Love Story

Chapter Twenty-Three - Slap of Reality

CHRIS' POV
Ricky and I waited for two hours to see if maybe Salem would show back up, but I had still not heard from her even. My calls went straight to voicemail, and texts were met with 'Do Not Disturb' auto responses. I paced back and forth in the living room, then my phone finally rang.

"Salem!" I exclaimed. Only it wasn't her, it was a man on the other line.

"Mr. Cerulli, this is Officer Bradley with Scranton PD, you were listed as the emergency contact for Ms. Salem Alastair," my heart fell into my stomach, "we wanted to inform you that she's here at the hospital, she slid on the wet roads and collided with a light pole-" I didn't need to hear anymore, I hung up and raced out the door with Ricky following close behind. The thought of losing her... it made me sick to my stomach. The thought of having to bury yet another woman who had captured my whole heart and soul... I couldn't do it again. I couldn't bear the thought. I could see the concern on Ricky's face as we drove straight to the hospital. He didn't say a word, but his facial expressions told the story. He was also afraid of the endless nights and days where I couldn't pull myself up, where I couldn't sleep without waking up screaming from the nightmares. The moment we walked in the officers came up to us.

"Chris, she's fine. She's breathing, she's doing good. The airbags did go off, and the Challenger is totaled-"

"I don't give two shits about the condition of her car, that's replaceable. I can't replace her, though. Where is she?"

"They're doing scans right now so all we can do is wait, which I know for a fact you're horrible at." I ran my fingers through my hair and slammed myself down in a chair in the waiting room. Officer Bradley sat down next to me, his arms crossed. "How's the bullet wound doing?" He asked, breaking the silence. Honestly, it was the last thing on my mind. That pain could never amount the mental pain I felt as I waited to hear anything from the doctor.

"It's not that bad. It didn't hit any major organs. Honestly, it was a horrible shot. Did y'all catch them yet?" Bradley shifted in his seat, then leaned in.

"I'm not supposed to tell you this, but yeah. We caught them. I made them pay for it, don't worry." He whispered. I cocked an eyebrow as I looked at him.

"What did you do?"

"Don't worry about it, we've got your back. Who else is going to serve the community like you? We can't lose you. When we lost Lilith I wasn't sure what to do. She was the one that we'd always call to the scene, not that Jack ass that owns the mortuary company. He'd penny and dime the family for everything they had. Lilith and you did it for free, even if they chose a different funeral home." He was right. Lilith's philosophy was to serve the family, not our pockets. Jim's philosophy was to charge each family the amount of a new Louis Vuitton for his wife, plus some. I made a mistake. I made a major mistake. I shouldn't be selling the funeral home at all, not to Jim, not to anyone. No wonder Salem was so upset, she saw Jim for what he was.

"Chris? Are you okay man?" Ricky asked, waving his hand in my face. I rubbed my eyes and squinted.

"I made a mistake, man."

"Well, yeah I could have told you that. Dude, I know you want the safest possible place to raise your family, I know you're terrified of a Lilith repeat, but trust me. You're safe. Salem is safe. Little baby Cerulli is safe. Stay here, raise that kid to be a funeral kid. At least if you stay here the kid will have Uncle Ricky and Uncle Vinny to watch after it when you need us to." I scoffed at the thought of leaving my child with those two. God, we'd come him and the whole place would be in shambles.

"Or I can leave them with my mother, someone who actually knows how to take care of a kid." Then it dawned on me, my mother. She had no clue about any of this. I got so caught up, I never called her. I pulled my phone out to call her right there, but the doctor came walking out. The same one that stitched me up, that gave Salem staples in her head not long ago, that took care of her after the incident when she first moved here. Fuck, we're here a lot. I stood up and shook his hand for what felt like the millionth time.

"Christopher, I oughtta put you both in bubble wrap and a padded room. Salem is resting, she's okay. She hit her head pretty hard and we did staples again. We also did an ultrasound," he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled the pictures out, "the baby is just fine, that's it right there. Now, my suggestion is no more stress. She should probably take a step back from the business and really rest. I'm not saying she's bed ridden, but she doesn't need the stress of the funeral business. Maybe she can do administrative work." Yes, yes that could work. I knew I'd never be able to keep her out of the office, so it works perfect.
When I walked in Salem was sitting up eating a cup of jello and watching The Office. I had never been more ecstatic to see her and that tiny bump that was forming.

"The child demanded jello after the stressful event," she joked. She seemed to be in good spirits. I pulled a chair up next to her bedside, then placed my hand on her stomach. "Chris, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have blown up on you-" I cut her off. I didn't need her apology.

"Salem, I'm the asshole that didn't talk to you about this first. I talked it out, though, and I can't do it. I can't sell to him. We're in this together now. For fucks sake, we're about to be parents together! I promise to you, things will be different from here on out, and the next time you're in this hospital it will be because you are having that baby." Salem squeezed my hand softly, smiling. We were in this together from this moment on.