Chapter 61

A few hours went by until they heard from someone. Angela kept glancing at her watch, at the clock on the wall and even at her phone. She was beginning to get frustrated, so she finally got up.

"Can we see him now?" She asked.

"At this time we are only allowing the immediate family."

"I'm his mother."

"This way."

They all looked back at Kim.

"Do you want to go in?" Bob asked.

"I have to get the kids." She disappeared down the hall and into the elevator. Ally stuck her foot in between the doors so they couldn't close.

"Get your butt back down that hallway."

"No."

"Don't you want to see him?"

"I don't want him to see me."

Stephanie came up behind Ally a few minutes later.

"Kim, you need to go see him. When he opens his eyes, you need to be the first thing he sees."

"He's not going to see my face all red and my eyes all puffy."

"Who cares?" Stephanie said.

"You don't care?"

"That's not what I meant."

"What did you mean?"

"He's not going to care if you were crying."

"I'm crying because he almost died."

"I'm trying to say he's not going to care if you're crying. All he wants is to see you."

"I need to get the kids. I can't talk about this right now."

She pressed the button and went down the elevator. The whole way to the school, she was still crying. Before she went inside, she wiped her eyes and re-did her eye makeup.

"Is everything alright?" The secretary asked.

"I'm not sure."

"Is it someone in your family?"

"My husband." She said, filling out release forms to get the kids.

"Oh my."

"We were taken hostage. We were both tied to a large pipe and had guns aimed at us. He was shot when he tried to fight back. He lost a lot of blood..."

"Oh dear. That's awful. I will be thinking of you and your family. I'm so very sorry."

"Thank you."

She grabbed the phone and pressed the loudspeaker button. "Will Brayden and Hannah Ruzek come to the main office please?" then she set it back down.

The kids were running down the hall within a minute and right into the office. They poked their heads above the desk.

"What is it?"

The secretary pointed to Kim.

"Mommy!" They both jumped into her arms.

"I'm going to keep them out for a few days. Family issues. Is there anyway I could collect the schoolwork they need to do?"

"I'll call Ms. Webber and she can run down the work for them."

"Thank you."

"Why are you keeping us out of school, mama?" Brayden asked.

"Mama will tell you later."

"Why not now?"

"It would be better if I show you."

"Where's daddy?" Hannah asked.

"He's in the hospital."

"Why?"

"I'll show you when we get there."

"Is he hurt?"

"A little."

Leslie was waiting outside the main entrance when they got there. She was too preoccupied with something on her phone to notice them. When Kim got out of the car, she came over and pulled her into a hug.

"I heard what happened to Adam. I'm so sorry."

"Why are you sorry about daddy? What happened to him?!" Brayden demanded.

"You might want to tell them."

"Kids, Ihave to tell you both something."

Hannah started crying. "Is daddy dead?" She asked.

"Oh no, no no no. He's just hurt."

"How did he get hurt?"

"Some bad people fired their gun at him."

"They shot daddy?"

Kim slowly nodded her head yes, as she fought back the tears.

"We wanna see him!" They both started pouting and soon, Brayden was crying.

Hank waved her over to him when they arrived in the recovery wing. The kids went into Adam's room.

"Voight, I'm fine."

"I know."

"Then why did you want to talk to me?"

"This stress isn't good for you or the baby."

"How did you know I was pregnant?"

"When you were here the other day bringing him lunch, I could just tell by the look in your eyes."

"How can you tell just by a look on my face?"

"I've been through three pregnancies between Camille and my ex."

"Your ex? Three pregnancies?"

"You never heard that."

"You have another child out there?"

"I never said that."

"But you said-"

"You didn't hear that."

"I clearly heard you say that you have an ex who had a pregnancy."

"This conversation never happened. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal."

"If you say one word about this to anyone-"

"I won't say one word."

He walked away and sat next to Camille. She walked into Adam's room and he was sound asleep. She refused to look at him. As the tube was being removed from his throat, his eyes started to open. When he saw her standing there, he smiled.

"Hey beautiful." He said in a weak voice.

She gave him a half smile and then looked away. Tears began falling down her cheeks.

"Don't cry, I'm okay."

He slowly reached for her arm and turned her around.

"Have you looked at yourself?!"

"I took that bullet for you."

"You didn't have to do that."

"I would die for you."

"I've taken bullets before and survived."

"I'd take a bullet for anyone I loved, especially you."

"I'd take one for you too, Adam. But I still think that was dangerous."

"I would give my life so you could keep living yours."

The kids started moving backwards to the door.

"It's okay."

"You guys were fighting."

"No we weren't, we're fine."

"I found something from our childhood that I think you might like."

"What's that?"

"Close your eyes."

"Okay." She closed her eyes.

He dropped a copy of "Shiloh" in her hands. It was lost years ago because she had left it at camp.

"Now open them."

"Oh my gosh how did you find this?! I left it at camp years ago!"

"I knew how much that book meant to you as a kid."

"Thank you." She leaned down and kissed him.

The kids made a face and said "Ewww!"

Kim laughed. "You guys will both get married someday and do that too."

"Boys have cooties." Hannah said, placing her hands on her hips.