a place we know| ✓

seventy two

"And find a place where every single thing you see tells you to stay."
S E E K E R
.
.
March 20th
9:00 PM
San Diego
- - - - - - - - - -

"Mommy, when's daddy gonna wake up? He's been sleeping for so long."

"Soon, sweetheart. And we're gonna be here when he opens his eyes."

"But you said that yesterday, and the day before, and the day before. I'm tired of waiting. Can't I just get on the bed with him? He always wakes up when I do that."

"Not now, Leah. He's really hurt."

The sound of a gunshot seconds before her husband went silent was a moment she'd have permanently ingrained in her mind. She hadn't been able to shake off the horror of listening to the man she loved die in front of her, even when she wasn't physically there, but felt her soul leave her body, as if it were searching for a way to reach him.

She should have known from the voice he used when he told her he loved her. She should have known Ace wasn't as lenient as they thought him to be. She should have known to stop him from making that trip. She should have fought harder for him to stay.

She should have prevented any of this from happening, and she failed him as his wife and lover. What had her vows said? To hold for better or worse, in any circumstance, till death did them part.

And death came so close to undoing them. It captured him in its embrace, it robbed him of his breath, of his life short-lived, of his hopes and aspirations for his family, of all the wrongs he tried to right.

Of her and their children.

The only motive Ace had for letting her experience Gunner's suffering was merely a ploy at power, to demonstrate his control over their livelihoods. Even as she sat in his hospital room, miles away from New York, she anticipated the minute he'd barge in through the door and deliver the final bullet. That was why she was so afraid to sleep, to do anything other than keep watch over her husband, because she wasn't going to idly stand by as he fought for every breath.

She had been promptly contacted by the hospital in a matter of hours. A security guard on nightshift had found his body, and although he was barely alive and unconscious, was alive enough for EMS to sustain him. She couldn't afford a plane ticket to San Diego on such short notice, so her and Leah had taken a Greyhound on the road for two and a half days. All that mattered was they made it and Gunner was going to recover.

He had flatlined more than once in the past week and every time Audrey prayed to whoever was listening to give him another chance. Looking at his chest move up and down, then for him to suddenly convulse while all she could do was observe helplessly as a team of doctors and nurses resuscitated him.

Her husband survived a bullet to the heart. It somehow missed every major artery and as luck would have it, he only suffered a hemorrage. It seemed that even near death, he wanted to keep his promise. He wanted to make it home.

Now Audrey's only wish was to see those beautiful eyes of his, to watch recognition flood him when she held his hand.

"Mommy, I'm tired. Can we go back to the motel?"

Slivers of guilt dribbled into her mind for using Gunner's money without his knowledge. She had found thousands he saved just sitting in their closet behind his clothes. She'd explain it to him later or hopefully work it off before he noticed. She had to begrudgingly thank Ace for all the payments he awarded Gunner.

"You don't wanna stay the night with daddy?" Audrey kissed her daughter's cheek and wrapped her arms securely around Leah in fashion of never letting someone she loved go. She wasn't going to repeat that mistake. "We can go back tomorrow, but lets stay here tonight."