Chapter 18

It felt like déjà vu walking along the halls of Tony's medical practice, only this time, Holly wasn't there for a stranger. Nick was talking, but  she could barely make out a word of what he was saying. She was still dazed from everything that had happened.

She stared at Mermaid's blood on her hands and couldn't stop blaming herself for what had happened. She may not have triggered it but it was her fault Mermaid was fighting for her life.

"Holly, we have to take a look at you," an attending said.

"I'm okay," she said, as the attending took her to a private room to examine her.

Nick stayed with her as they waited to hear from Tony. By the time her family came to the hospital, Holly felt like an eternity had passed. Nick was kind enough to explain what had happened, and for once, Holly was glad he was there.

Lori, who loved Mermaid like a daughter, broke into tears while Michael, Cassie, and Joshua were filled with grief, and sadness. She didn't realize she'd been sedated by the attending until she found herself drifting off.

She started dreaming of the life she'd wanted to live with Mermaid and in her dreams, she was happy. Hours later when she came to, she realized the nightmare was not about to end.

"Mom?"

Lori was sitting on her bedside, with everyone else silently waiting for news about Mermaid. The moment she spoke, they all got up and circled around her, asking if she was okay, how she was feeling and if they should call a doctor.

"How is Mermaid?" she asked.

The expression that came across Lori's face frightened her.

"She's in critical condition. She lost a lot of blood and Michael, who shares her blood type, had to donate," Cassie said.

"It's all my fault," she said now as tears filled her eyes.

"It's not your fault, honey. This couldn't have been prevented," Joshua said as he leaned forward and pecked her forehead.

"I went after her when Nick told me not to. She got shot trying to protect me." She would've preferred being in Mermaid's position lying in the intensive care unit in a critical condition because then, Mermaid would've been okay. "If she doesn't make it..."

"She'll make it," Michael said as he squeezed her hand in reassurance.

Before Nick had gotten to the ranch, right after Mermaid had been taken by Shawn, Holly had hysterically told them everything.

She'd informed them of Mermaid's true identity and where she was originally from. At the very end, she'd revealed her true feelings for Mermaid, which was why they were easily understanding of her now.

All types of thoughts were going through Holly's mind. She was thinking that if she'd let Mermaid leave the previous night as she'd intended to, Mermaid wouldn't have been fighting for her life. Or if they had woken up early and left before Shawn had shown up, they would've gotten far enough from him and Mermaid would've been okay.

After everything Mermaid had told Holly about herself, the horror she had lived through, she surely didn't deserve this. When was her suffering going to end? She'd been through so much pain. When was it going to stop?

"She's going to be okay, Holly."

She drifted off again as Cassie's words replayed themselves in her head. She wanted to believe her, because it was the only shred of hope keeping her own sanity intact.

If Mermaid didn't make it, she didn't know what she was going to do, and she feared to dare think about it.

*

"Aunt Holly, is Mermaid going to be all right?" Alanna's sad voice echoed through the hospital room, and Holly turned to face her lovely niece.

She wanted to say yes in order to erase the sadness across the little girl's face but the truth was, she didn't know.

"Is she going to go back to her sea kingdom?" Maddy asked after Alanna.

Holly's emotions, which were now triggered by anything, made tears fall down her cheeks. The two little girls hugged her, trying to comfort her.

Mermaid had been taken out of the ICU but she was still in bad shape. It had only been a day and a half, and Holly felt like it had been a lifetime. The waiting was killing her. She wanted Mermaid to open her eyes, and shine life back into her life.

"Hey, I brought you guys some snacks," Cassie said as she entered Mermaid's hospital room.

"Holly, you should go home and get some rest." She handed the snacks to the kids.

"I can't," Holly said.

"What about you two? Would you like to go back to the ranch?" she asked the kids.

"No, we want to stay here with Aunt Holly and Mermaid."

Cassie pulled a chair and sat down as Maddy went and climbed on her lap. One by one, the whole family came in to see Mermaid.

Holly never left her bedside, except for the one time she went home to shower, and change.

"How is she?" she asked Tony when he came to check on Mermaid.

"Her condition is improving."

She should have been relieved, but she felt like until Mermaid woke up, her life was still in the hands of her maker.

*

Mermaid had been in the hospital for four days now. Tony may have said her condition was improving, but she was yet to wake up. She was so beautiful, and peaceful as she slept, but Holly was starting to grow impatient.

"Mermaid, I need you to wake up because my days are full of darkness without your smile. I need you to make me feel complete again. You made me whole, and filled parts of me I never knew were empty." She didn't know she was crying until she felt her face get warm and moist.

"Why did you jump in front of that bullet? What were you thinking?" Her voice was heavy with emotion now.

She took a deep breath and calmed herself. "Shawn is gone. You have nothing to be afraid of now. No one else will ever hurt you."

She leaned over the bed, and buried her face in Mermaid's shoulder.

She silently cried, her throat clogged for a while, as her heart continued to break. Holly pulled back to look at the flawless face of the woman she was so miserably in love with.

She leaned over Mermaid's forehead and planted a kiss on her smooth skin as the last of her tears fell from her eyes and squarely landed on Mermaid's face.

Pulling back, Holly swiped the tears away with the back of her hand. She opened her eyes and her heart stopped.

Mermaid's mesmerizing blue eyes were stuck on her.

She froze, feeling as though she was imagining it because she was so desperate, but Mermaid's gaze did not falter.

It felt a lot like the first time she'd opened her eyes, when Holly had just found her washed up at the beach. It was so painfully similar, Holly thought Mermaid had lost her memory all over again because there was no trace of recognition on her lovely features.

Holly felt as though she was hypnotized, but forced herself to tear her gaze away, and went to call for help. A couple of nurses came in accompanied by Tony while Holly impatiently waited outside.

After half an hour of aimlessly pacing back and forth outside Mermaid's hospital room, the nurses walked out... shortly after, Tony followed.

"You can go in and see her," he said.

She should have asked if Mermaid was okay, but her excitement had her leaping to the room before she had the patience to ask.

Mermaid never took her gaze off of Holly from the moment she entered the room.

Holly approached her bed and fearfully observed her.

When she felt brave enough, she asked, "Do you uh..., remember me?"

She was terrified history would repeat itself. Her hands shook in dread as she waited for Mermaid to answer her.

Mermaid stretched out her hand, and gently trailed her fingers over Holly's cheek. "How can I forget the woman I love?" she asked.

Holly felt a rush of heat and warmth creating a force of unimaginable joy within her. She tried to speak but words failed her. It was Mermaid that rescued her this time by pulling her close and promising her forever with a kiss that gave Holly life again.

"I missed you," she said, resenting the last few days Mermaid's life had been hanging on the balance.

"I promised I'd come back to you," Mermaid said.

Holly smiled as she laid kisses along Mermaid's hand. "I'm glad you kept your promise."

"So am I," Mermaid said, pulling Holly closer for another kiss.

*

Within a couple of hours, the Mackenzie family had filled up Mermaid's room. Everyone was so happy, she could hardly believe her luck.

Shawn had been right. She probably did have nine lives. How many times had he tried and almost succeeded in killing her?

Maybe she'd died, and this was her heaven. It was perfect. She'd never been so happy in her life.

Shawn would never hurt her again.

She was finally free.

"You have the Mackenzie blood running through your veins now, you know that?" Joshua said and went further to explain how Michael had donated blood to save her life.

"You're one of us now. We never want to lose you again," Lori said.

"You gave us quite a scare," Cassie said.

As they all talked about how glad they were that she was alive, Mermaid looked beyond the distance, and saw Holly standing beside Michael.

They didn't have to say the words because she could see it in their eyes.

She was finally home.

*