Part 47 (1/2)
”Let's get you cleaned up before you go in there and scare her, okay?” Ellie said to her when Cain stood up. She took her to the bathroom and gently wiped Cain's face with a towel. ”Emma's a lucky woman,” Ellie told her as she rinsed the towel in cold water again. ”It's not often that a woman knows she's loved this much, but you've never kept it from her. That's what saved her today, and what will sustain her as she deals with the aftermath.”
”Thanks,” Cain said, feeling so tired she wanted to curl up beside Emma and sleep for a week. She stepped into the room and locked eyes with Emma. To Cain she appeared lost.
”I'll leave you two alone for a minute,then I'll come in and talk to you together,” Ellie said and stepped out.
”I'm so sorry, la.s.s,” Cain said, going to the bed and taking Emma's hands in hers. ”I'm sorry that the darkness of my life touched you like this.”
”I knew you'd find me. Juan and Anthony kept taunting me and telling me you'd never figure it out in time, but I knew. Just like that day with Danny, you made it before I could get hurt.”
”Shelby found you before I did.”
”She didn't tell you where she was, though, didshe ?” Emma brought their hands up and kissed the back of Cain's. ”You figured it out and you came for me. There's nothing else that means anything to me but that.”
”Did Ellie talk to you?”
”If this one's a boy, I want to name him William, and I have a feeling it's going to be a boy.” Emma kissed her hand again and tugged her forward to lie with her on the bed.
”What makes you so sure?” Cain asked, feeling the same relief as she had in the hall when Ellie had told her that Emma would be all right and so would the baby, with plenty of bed rest and peace.
Emma stayed on her back and smiled at Cain as she propped her head in her hand and placed the other one on her hip. ”Because I've given birth to two Casey children, and this one strikes me as a William, but we'll only call him that when he's in trouble. The rest of the time he'll go by the name Billy Cain Casey, a charmer who'll skip through a blessed life because of what happened today. Sort of like two other Casey siblings I know and love.”
”What happened today is something that won't be repeated, if I can help it.”
”I know that, and he knows that.” Emma took Cain's hand and placed it on her middle. ”He's a Casey through and through, which means he's a fighter. He can't help ithe's ours.”
”I love you, and you're no slouch in the fighter department.” Cain kissed both cheeks and gently tweaked the tip of her nose. ”And your number-one son is going to think you're the coolest with two black eyes.” She tried to joke it off, but the sight of Emma so banged up was tearing at her heart.
”Can you do something for me?” Emma whispered.
”Anything you want is yours.”
”Find him,” she said with authority. ”Find Juan and kill him. I don't care how you do it, or when you do it, but I do want you to tell me that it's done. I want him dead.”
”That's my promise to you.” Cain stayed until Ellie and Sam came by again and talked to them about Emma staying in the hospital for a few days, as a precaution. After that, Cain posted a man outside the door and Nick inside, in the chair she'd been using, so she could go check on Merrick.
Katlin was asleep in the chair next to the bed holding her lover's hand, but Merrick's eyes were open. ”I owe you my life,” Cain whispered to her after she kissed her forehead. ”Thank you for taking care of what's most precious to me.”
Merrick shook her head, not able to talk yet. From her expression Cain could tell she didn't believe her. ”When you get out of here, you're coming to stay with us until you're back on your feet. The day that happens, Emma will expect you at eight as usual with that surly att.i.tude in place. She wanted me to make sure and mention that last part to you.” Merrick finally smiled and nodded. ”You take care and I'll be by tomorrow to check on you. You bear no blame for what happened today.” Cain shook her head and placed her hand against Merrick's cheek. ”You did your job, got her out alive, and took a bullet for her. I owe you whatever you ask.”
”We just want to do our jobs and be happy together.” Katlin voiced what Merrick could not.
”And you'll have that, with every blessing I can give you.” Cain kissed them both before going down to stay with Emma for the night.
The kids and Ross came for a visit, and he asked for what Emma had requested, adding that he wanted Juan's head on a spike for what he'd almost done to his daughter.
”What are you thinking about, mobster?” Emma asked in the middle of the night. The hospital was quiet and Cain had taken her up on her invitation to hold her. ”I promise you won't hurt me if you fall asleep.”
”I was thinking about my mother, and I was enjoying watching you sleep.”
”What about your mother?”
”That day you came for dinner and met my family for the first time, she told me something that stuck with me.” Cain pulled the covers back and placed their hands over Emma's heart. ”She told me she wished my Da had lived longer so he could've met you. I'd dated plenty before you, and she'd never said that about any of them before, not that she'd met of any of them at Sunday lunch. No one was ever in the same category as you.”
”Why she'd say it about me?” Emma asked, turning on her side slightly.
”My mother wasn't what most would call an educated woman, but she was smarter than most people I've known. She figured something out that day, and because of it she said you two had a lot in common.”
”You've never told me that.”