Atonement

•15•

Haz runs into the room, his gun held up and ready to shoot. Fear laced in his eyes as he scans the room, finally landing on me and my mothers dead body lying on the floor in front of me. He lowers his gun, relief washing over him once he realizes I'm okay.
"What happened?" He asks.
"I killed her." I say, barely above a whisper.
"Come on, we will have the guys deal with this." He says to me, grasping my hand in his to pull me out of the room. The power is back on everywhere now and I quickly remember that Eli was shot.
"Where's Eli?" I ask.
"Him and Tom are with the doctors right now." He says.
"Tom? What happened to Tom? I thought she just roughed him up?" I ask frantically.
"She broke his nose and Uh.. she stabbed him." He says and my eyes widen.
"She stabbed him?! How did I not notice?!"
"He's okay.. He's fine." He assures me.
"I need to see them." I say.
I hurriedly run down the hallway and down the stairs to our medical room. I see our doctor and Tom sitting in the chair, but Eli isn't here.
"Where is Eli?!" I exclaim, almost in tears.
"Mrs. Alderidge, please calm-" the doctor starts.
"Where the fuck is he?!"
"Darling it's okay, he went to the hospital he needs surgery." Tom interjects.
I let out a long breath, so grateful that my best friend isn't dead. I don't know if I'd be able to live in a world without him.
My focus moves from Eli, to Tom. He has a bandage over his side, blood showing through. I frown, stepping closer to take a look. His face is already starting to bruise, and he's obviously in pain.
"I'm so sorry Tom.." I sigh as I reach him, placing my hand over his.
"Don't apologize, you didn't do it." He says.
His fingertips glide down my cheek comfortingly, making a smile rise on my face.
"Besides, it was kinda cool getting to be the badass one for once." He laughs lightly, instantly reminding me that we are not alone in this room. I put a little more space between us, his hand falling from my face.
"I should go to the hospital.." I say.
"I'll take you." Haz offers.
"Keep me updated." Tom says as we leave.
Haz walks next to me closely as we go out to his car. I get that he's protective of me, and something crazy just happened but she's dead now. Everything will be okay going forward.
Although it'd be a lie if I didn't say that warning is still going through my head. I know I should mention it to Haz, but why make a big deal out of something that probably isn't even real. He will take it way too seriously and that's the last thing either of us need to worry about right now.
We get to the hospital and go to the surgical wing, waiting to speak with someone who knows what's going on with Eli. My nerves triple once I see a surgeon walking towards us.
"Are you two with Eli Mason?" He asks.
"Yes." I nod anxiously.
"We got the bullet out, and we're finishing up on repairing some damage to the vessels in his leg. He should make a full recovery and this will all be over with." He says.
I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding, relief washing over me.
"Thank you so much." I say.
"Of course, I'll let you know when he's in recovery." The surgeon nods to us, walking off.
"He's okay." I say more to myself than anyone.
I sit down in the waiting room chairs, and Haz sits next to me. I'm grateful that he's here with me, I really don't think I could be alone right now. Too much is happening and normally I'd have my dad here, but he's gone..
"Do you need to talk about it?" He asks.
"About Eli, Tom, or my mother?" I question.
"Any of them." He says.
"Well, Eli will be okay, I'm not too worried about him. I feel bad about what happened to Tom because it's my fault-"
"Your fault?" Haz says in disbelief. "Aurie none of this is your fault."
"She was trying to punish me." I say.
"I should have had more security down there. In fact I need to have the guys look over the security cameras and figure out how she escaped. We can't have the basement be unsecured." He says.
"I'm glad I did what I did. She deserved it. She hurt Eli. She hurt Tom." I state.
I know Haz is just sitting there thinking I'm going to regret what I did, that maybe I'll feel guilty or something. Maybe if she was still my mother then I would, but that woman was anything but my mother. She was cold, and evil. She let the promise of money pull her from me and never speak to me again. I'll never forgive her.
I always thought highly of my mother. I always thought she was the good one, the parent that should have raised me. Little did I know all I ever needed was my dad. He was a good man.
I miss him..
"Hey." Haz catches my attention, making my head crank to look at him. "You were amazing today. I didn't think you'd be a great underboss but you really are. I'm lucky to have you around."
His words bring a smile to my face and warmth to my heart. I truly despised Haz in the beginning, how did we get from there, to here? It's like it happened over night.
"Thanks Haz." I say.
____
"Aurie, wake up."
My eyes open, the brightness of the lights blinding me slightly as I sit up, realizing I was laying on Haz's shoulder.
"Mr. Mason is in recovery" the surgeon says. "Everything went smoothly."
"Oh thank god." I breath out. "Can I see him?"
"Of course, right this way." The man nods, and I stand to my feet.
"I'll be waiting here for you." Haz says and I nod, following the surgeon to Eli's room.
We walk through a door, and I see my best friend in a hospital bed, his leg fully wrapped up and an IV in his arm. He looks rough, and I can't help but feel like I'm to blame for this.
"He should be waking up in a bit. I'll leave you to it and come back to check on him soon." He says and leaves the room.
I walk along the side of the hospital bed, pulling a chair up. My hand grasps his tightly and I rest my head on his arm.
"Im so glad you're okay, Eli." I mutter.
I sit quietly for what feels like forever, but it's only been about an hour. I feel Eli's hand squeeze mine slightly and my head rises quickly.
"Eli? Are you awake?" I ask.
He groans a bit, obviously still really knocked out from the anesthesia, but awake. I press a kiss to his forehead, and he groans once more.
"It hurts." He manages to mutter.
The door opens and the surgeon comes in, a smile on his face when he sees Eli is awake.
"Hello, Eli. I'm doctor Willis I fixed your leg up." He says, lifting Eli's eyelids and running his flashlight over them.
"How are you feeling?" Dr. Willis asks.
"Pain." Eli says.
"We can give you some pain meds and that'll fix you right up." He says, writing something on Eli's chart. "I'll go let the nurse know. You did great, you're going to make a full recovery."
The surgeon leaves the room and Eli's eyes finally open, looking over to me.
"I heard you kicked ass." He says, a small smile forming on his lips.
"Where'd you hear that?" I ask.
"Tom. Said you basically saved his life." He mutters.
"He exaggerated." I roll my eyes.
"That's what guys do when they're into you." He says.
"What?" I ask.
"It's obvious Aurie. Toms into you. So is Haz."
The nurse comes in to give him his pain medication, interrupting the conversation. As she puts the meds through his IV, she explains to me that it will make him fall asleep.
"How about I come see you in the morning, okay?" I say.
"Okay. See you." Eli says.
I give his hand a squeeze, before leaving the room and heading out to Haz.