Tear Down These Walls (55 page)

She starts to take the next set of stairs. When Teagan gets to the last
flight of steps, her cellphone starts ringing again. “Okay, okay, okay,” Teagan
laughs. “Let me get into my apartment.” Finally, she gets to her apartment
door. Teagan puts her keys in the door and opens it. The alarm is beeping when
she walks in. “Gosh, I just opened the door,” she scoffs.  “This thing is
too touchy.” After she kicks the door shut, Teagan sets the box down. With a
sigh, she shakes her arms out. “Kellen and I need to work on my upper body
strength.”

Grabbing out her cellphone, Teagan starts to put in the code to open up
the screen.  Suddenly, something is being pointed at her head.
“Put…down…the…phone.” Teagan freezes. In her peripheral vision, Teagan sees a
gun. “I said put the phone down, you bitch.”  Teagan drops her phone on
the ground. Harry bends over and grabs it. He puts it under his foot and
crushes it. Teagan’s heart is beating hard and fast, as her mind freezes. Harry
continues to point the gun at her head and walks out in front of her. “Go over and
turn the alarm off.” Teagan shakes her head. Harry cocks the gun and holds it
up between her eyes.  “I said, go turn it off!”

Teagan turns around and goes over to the alarm. She punches the code in,
which silences it. “What do you want? I don’t have money.”

“Oh, I didn’t come for money. I came to shut you up,” Harry sneers
chillingly.

Turning around Teagan says, “They will know it’s you.”

“I have an alibi right now,” Harry scoffs. “Just like all the other
times. You would be surprised what the right amount of cash will do.”

“Kellen will figure out it was you,” Teagan replies. “He’ll make you wish
that he would just kill you.”

“He should be responding to an incident with his daughter right now,”
Harry laughs.  “Kellen won’t be coming to your rescue.”

A fury sweeps across Teagan. “What did you do to KYA!? I swear to God, I
will kill you myself!”

“Little hard with a gun pointed at her your head,” Harry snickers. “There
was an accident. Easy enough to cut someone’s brake lines.”

“Oh god!” Teagan cries, covering her mouth. “Is Kya okay?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” Harry scoffs snidely. “My attention is
on you.”

Teagan’s stomach turns. “Are you going to rape me?”

“I have thought about it,” Harry says. “I still need to show you that I
am a man, but that may point the finger at me. So, we are going to trash your
apartment. Make it look like a robbery.”

Suddenly, the door opens. The guy from downstairs walks in. “YOU!” Teagan
screams.

“You should remember Jarrod,” Harry states. “Your asshole of a boyfriend
broke his arm.”

Jarrod snarls, “I just got the cast off.”

“Good, I hope it hurt like a bitch!” Teagan shouts.

“Shut up!” Harry snaps. “We are going to make this look like a robbery
now. I need anything that you have that’s valuable. We made the mistake of not taking
anything last time.”

Getting an idea, Teagan says, “My grandma’s expensive jewelry is hidden
in the nightstand next to my bed.”

“Jarrod,” Harry instructs. “Take her into the bedroom and get the
jewelry. I will watch the door.”

“Let’s go,” Jarrod says menacingly. Teagan’s chest tightens and she turns
to the bedroom. The plan sounds good in her head, but Teagan doesn’t know if
she can pull it off.  They walk into her bedroom, and Teagan goes to the
nightstand. “Hurry up,” Jarrod snaps.

Teagan opens the drawer and puts her hand inside. With a jerk, she spins
around and shoots Jarrod with the Taser. He cries out and falls to the door.

Scrambling, Teagan grabs the pepper spray out of the drawer and runs to
the door.  She meets Harry in the hallway and sprays the pepper spray in
his eyes. Harry screams and drops the gun. Teagan pushes him over and takes off
to the front door. It suddenly opens, and Kellen is standing there, with his
gun drawn. Teagan yells, “He has a gun! He has a gun!”

For a split second Kellen turns his attention to Teagan. “Are you okay!?”

“Yes,” she replies, but as she says that, there is a gunshot. Teagan sees
Kellen jerk and then slowly drop to the ground. “NO!” She screams. Falling down
next to him, Teagan cries, “No, no, no!”

“That hurt, you bitch,” she hears Harry snarl.

As quickly as she can, Teagan grabs Kellen’s gun and starts blindly
shooting in front of her. She empties the whole magazine. When, her eyes
actually focus, Harry’s lying on the ground.

She quickly stands up and presses the panic button on her alarm. Dropping
back down, Teagan starts to cry. “Kellen, Kellen, Kellen.” The gunshot wound is
in his chest, and there is blood everywhere.

Kellen is gasping breaths. “Put pressure on the wound,” he instructs.

Teagan presses her hands down on the wound. “Stay with me!” she yells.
Kellen’s eyes start to roll into the back of his head. “NO! DAMN IT! You need
to stay with me! Think of KYA! God, think of Kya! DAMN IT, KELLEN!” Off in the
distance, sirens can be heard. “COME ON! HURRY UP!” Teagan cries, as tears
stream down on her face. “KELLEN! KELLEN! KELLEN! NO!”

A minute later, two cops enter the apartment. One cop starts talking to
dispatch.  “We need ambulances.”

“He was protecting me,” Teagan sobs. “Those two broke into my apartment.”

The other cop starts walking over to Harry. He bends down and checks his
neck, “He has a pulse.”

“WHO CARES!?” Teagan screams. “Kellen needs help!”

After that, everything is a blur to her. Help finally arrives, and they
push Teagan out of the way. She stands there in shock as they work on Kellen
and Harry. Finally, they put Kellen on a stretcher and start to take him out.
Teagan follows them. When they get to the ambulance, Teagan walks up to it. The
EMT puts up his hand. “You can’t come with.”

“I have to!” Teagan yells.

“I am sorry, Miss,” the EMT asserts, as he shuts the door.

“OH GOD!” Teagan cries out, grabbing her head.

A police officer comes up beside her. “Can I call someone for you?”

“Yes!  Victoria, please, please, call her!”

Fifteen minutes later, Victoria pulls up to Teagan. Teagan jumps in the
car and screams, “Take me to the hospital!”

“HOLY SHIT!” Victoria exclaims back. “Is that blood!?”

“It’s Kellen’s! Please, he’s been shot. Take me to the hospital!”

Squealing her tires, Victoria takes off down the street. She picks up her
phone.  “Kyle! Kellen has been shot. He is on his way to the hospital!
Yes, I’m serious. Okay, see you there.”

“Oh God,” Teagan sobs. “Kya may be hurt, too! I don’t have his sister’s
number. It was in my phone, and Harry crushed that.”

“Kyle has to have access to it somewhere,” Victoria assures her.

“They cut her brake lines!” Teagan cries.

Victoria takes her phone back out. “Get ahold of Kellen’s sister.
Supposedly, these guys cut her brake lines, and Kya may be hurt. 
Yeah…okay…bye.”

As they drive, Teagan cries and stares down at the blood all over her.
When they get to the ER, they are ushered into a small room. Teagan is full of
panic and dread, but all she can do is sob. A little while later, Kyle shows
up. “Hey,” he says, squatting down in front of Teagan. “Kya is okay. They were
only backing out of the driveway when the brakes gave away. She’s safe.”

“Oh, thank God!” Teagan exclaims.

Suddenly, a nurse comes walking in. She is carrying a set of scrubs.
“Here, go get cleaned up.”

Teagan shakes her head. Victoria takes the set of clothes and says,
“Thank you.” The nurse nods and leaves. “Come on, you can’t sit here covered in
his blood.” She grabs Teagan’s arm and helps her up. They get into the
bathroom, and Victoria starts to wash the blood off of her.

Whimpering, Teagan whispers, “He has to be okay. He just has to.”

“The doctors are doing everything they can,” Victoria says.

A little while later, they are sitting back in the little room. Kyle
comes in with a cup of coffee. “Drink this,” he instructs. Teagan takes it,
with her hands shaking.

Her eyes dart up when someone walks into the room. Two girls walk in
slowly. One of them is crying. Teagan sighs because she knows exactly how she
is feeling. Everyone sits in silence for hours, but it feels like days for
Teagan.

Finally, a doctor walks into the room with a clipboard. Teagan stands up,
shaking and hardly able to breathe. “Do you know about Kellen?”

The doctor opens his mouth and then closes it. He starts going through
the papers.  “You will have to hold on a minute,” the doctor replies. “The
name of the patient is missing.”

“Is it Kellen Grayson?” Teagan pleads. “Please, he was shot!”

A sudden look of sympathy crosses the doctor’s face. “May I speak to you
alone?”         

“NO!” Teagan yells. “Just tell me!”

Taking in a deep breath, the doctor says, “I am sorry, but he didn’t make
it.”

Screaming, her world goes black as Teagan falls to the floor. 

“Teagan…” She doesn’t reply. “Teagan…say something,” Victoria urges.
Teagan continues to stare at the wall.

Kyle sighs and pulls her closer to him. “Hey, we need to make some phone
calls.”

Teagan starts to move and whispers, “God, Kya is going back to her mother.
We can’t let that happen.”

“I know for a fact that all of Kellen’s money is set up in trust for Kya.
She gets it in part starting at the age of 18,” Kyle declares. “Celine will
only get small amounts to support Kya.”

“That’s not my worry,” Teagan states, looking up at him through blurry
eyes. “Celine is heavy in the drug scene. Kellen was having her followed.”

“Well then, that will all be at the office,” Kyle replies. “We will do
all that we can.”

She pushes away from him and stands up. “We have to call his sister.”

“You can use my phone,” Kyle says. “Come on, we should do this
privately.”

Looking at the girls in the room, Teagan murmurs, “Yeah.”

Kyle takes out his phone and presses something on the screen. “That is
his sister’s number. She is waiting for you to call.”

With a slow nod, Teagan takes the phone and walks out into the hallway
and down to the far end. She presses send. “Hello!?” His sister yells.

“Oh, God,” Teagan gasps.

“Teagan!? WHAT HAPPENED!?””

“Jane…” Teagan starts. “I’m sorry, but….” There’s a scream at the other
end of the phone. “Jane, God, I’m so sorry,” Teagan cries. “He just…they did
everything they could.”

“NO!” Jane screams. “It can’t be true! It can’t! I’m on my way down
there.”

Teagan sighs, “Jane, the doctor came and told me.” The phone shakes
against her ear; she cannot stop her hands from trembling.

“I’m coming down there!” Jane yells. “He can’t be dead!”

That makes Teagan start crying again. “I don’t know what to do. I have no
idea what to do!”

“What do you mean you don’t know what to do!?” Jane shouts. “You are
going to suck it up and deal with this! It’s your damn fault!”

A pain instantly forms in Teagan’s chest, and it feels like the wind is
sucked from her lungs. “I…”

“He was protecting you wasn’t he!?”

“Yes…”

“My brother would be alive if you hadn’t come into his life!” Jane cries.
“Now, I don’t want you there when I arrive. Just leave. Stay away from my
family.”

Shocked, Teagan finally whispers, “Okay…I…can’t…I will leave.”

“Good.” Jane ends the call.

She puts her hand to her chest and stands there for a while. Shock
overtakes her body and cements her feet to the floor. She can’t be there to
face Jane, but she can’t just leave. Remembering her friends in the waiting
room, Teagan drags her feet back down the hall. She clears her throat as she
enters, and Kyle and Victoria look up. She opens her mouth and then closes it.
Teagan has no words. Finally, she says, “I need to leave.”

“What? Why?” Kyle stammers.

“Jane doesn’t want me here,” Teagan mutters, her chest tightening even
more. “I need to go.”

“No, Teagan,” Kyle says, standing up. “She’s just upset.”

Shaking her head, Teagan replies, “He’s gone.” She pauses. “There is no
reason to stay.”

“Just…” Kyle starts, running his fingers through his hair. “Just…go and
wait in the main waiting room downstairs. Let me talk to Jane.”

“I will go and sit with you,” Victoria stands and assures her gently. “We
can wait together. Jane’s just upset.”

Teagan shakes her head again. “No, she wants me gone.”

“We’ll go sit in the waiting room,” Victoria whispers. “Kyle will keep us
updated.”

“No, I should go,” Teagan exhales. “I need to get my stuff from his
house. I don’t want to cause them any more harm than necessary.”

“Are you sure?” Victoria asks. Teagan nods. “All right, let’s go.”

Putting up her hand, Teagan says, “Can I just use your car?”

“Teagan, you shouldn’t drive,” Victoria replies.

“JUST….just let me go. I need to be by myself,” Teagan murmurs. “I will
get my stuff and meet you back at your apartment.”

“Okay,” Victoria sighs. She takes out her keys and hands them to Teagan.
“Here, take my phone.”

Teagan shakes her head. “No, I just want to be by myself.  Let me do
this.”

“Okay,” Victoria whispers. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Teagan chokes out. “I have to go.” Victoria nods. With
that, Teagan turns and leaves. When she gets into Victoria’s car, a single tear
runs down her cheek.  Shakily, Teagan wipes it away. Fifteen minutes
later, she is sitting in Kellen’s driveway, staring up at the house. She knows
it will be the last time she sets foot into it. Teagan sighs and goes to the
door. Stepping into the bushes, she finds the hide-a-key.  When she gets
inside, Teagan turns off the alarm and just stands there. That’s when the tears
start to fall again. She shakes her head and makes her way upstairs. While
sobbing, Teagan packs her suitcases as quickly as possible. Every once in a
while, she falls to her knees and cries into her hands uncontrollably.

As she zips up her last bag, Teagan exhales and looks around. That’s when
her eyes fall upon Kellen’s favorite shirt. She picks it up and brings it to
her face. It still smells like him. She can feel the pain and grief ripping a
hole in her chest to smash her heart. “This one thing I’m going to keep for myself.
He said I could have anything. This is what it will be.”  She nods and
puts it on top of her suitcase. “Crap,” she whispers, “I don’t have my
backpack.”  She opens her suitcase back up and goes into the office to
grab her homework. When the phone starts ringing, she jumps because it startles
her. Teagan stands there, staring at it. “I bet it’s a family member. God,
maybe it is my fault,” she whispers. Sweeping all her textbooks and papers up,
she leaves the office.

               
A few minutes later, she is carrying her first suitcase downstairs. The phone
starts ringing again. Teagan shakes her head. Suddenly, the answering machine
kicks in and she hears screaming, “TEAGAN! TEAGAN! PICK UP THE PHONE! TEAGAN!
ANSWER THE PHONE! IT’S JANE!”

Teagan runs into the kitchen and picks up the phone.  “Jane?”

“Come back to the hospital!” she yells.

“What? Why?” Teagan asks, completely confused.

“HE ISN’T DEAD!” Jane screams. “It was the other guy!”

“WHAT!?” Teagan cries out, wobbling on her knees. Relief weakens her
joints, threatening to throw her to the ground.

“Get here as quickly as you can,” Jane instructs. “He’s in the ICU but
should be coming out of anesthesia soon!”

“He….what….” Teagan barely breathes out. She can’t make sense of what is
happening.

Laughing, Jane reiterates, “He isn’t dead! You need to come back here.
I’m so sorry for what I said! I was just so distraught. Please, please, come
back here! He is going to want to see you when he wakes up.”

“You’re his family,” Teagan stutters.

“You’re the only woman he has ever loved. I bet he is going to want to
make sure you are okay before he even talks to me! Come on! Hurry up!”

Hanging up the phone, Teagan drops it on the counter and runs for the
door.  Speeding the whole way and rolling through a few stop signs, Teagan
makes it back to the hospital. She runs into the hospital and to the front
desk. “WHERE IS THE ICU!?”

“Go up those elevators to the third floor and take the first corridor to
your right,” the receptionist says.

Running to the elevators, she hits the up button about fifty times. The
guy next to her stares at her a little wide eyed. Teagan grins at him. “I
thought my boyfriend died, and he is actually alive. I
really
need to
get upstairs.”

“Well then, I will wait for the next elevator,” the guy chuckles.

The elevator dings and then opens. Teagan jumps inside and hits the third
floor button about ten times. The doors finally close, and the elevator whisks
her upstairs.

When she gets to the ICU, she turns in a circle. Suddenly, she hears, “Teagan!”
She turns around to see Jane waving her down from six rooms away. Teagan runs
down the hall. Jane grabs her into a giant hug. “Oh god,” she gasps. “Please
tell me you forgive me. I am
so
,
so
sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Teagan stammers. “Can I see him?”

“Yeah, he isn’t awake yet though,” Jane whispers, as they walk into the
room

Teagan’s hands come up to her mouth. Kellen is lying in the bed. Machines
are attached all over him, and he’s very pale. “What…how?”

“I was in the waiting room talking to Kyle. There were two other girls in
there,” Jane starts. “I was in the middle of yelling at Kyle when a doctor
walked in. He asked for the family of Kellen Grayson. I said that was me, and I
asked how they could have let him die.  The doctor gave me a puzzled look
and said, ‘He isn’t dead. Who said he was dead?’ Kyle explained what happened.
That’s when the doctor looked at us and then at the two other girls. He asked
if they were the family of Harry Colt. They said yes. The doctor sighed and
said there was some confusion. Harry was the one that died, and Kellen survived
surgery.”  Teagan grabs her chest and gasps. “Yeah honey,” Jane says.
“Harry was the one that died.  You have pretty good aim. You got him six
times.”

“What!?” Teagan yells.

“Did Kellen teach you how to shoot?” Jane inquires with a grin.

In shock, Teagan shakes her head. “No, I wasn’t even looking when I
pulled the trigger.”

“Wow, that’s pretty incredible,” Jane replies.

“How….what happened to Kellen?” Teagan asks quietly.

“They had to do some major surgery, but they got the bullet out and sewed
him up properly. He is going to be laid up for quite some time, but I figured
between everyone at work and us, we can take care of him.”

Teagan looks at Jane. “Kya, how is she? What’s going to happen?”

Jane blows a slow, heavy breath out of her mouth and pauses before
speaking. “I’m calling a lawyer tomorrow. She’s going to come and stay with me
for a while. Kyle told me about Celine. We will do our best to keep her out of
the picture.”

“You know I will help out in any way that I can,” Teagan asserts.

Laughing, Jane says, “That’s good because neither Kyle nor I will bathe
Kellen. That man is all yours in that department.”

That sends Teagan giggling, Jane laughs some more, and then they both
burst into hysterics. Tears stream down their faces, but this time, they’re
tears of joy.

Suddenly, they both see Kellen stir. Teagan rushes over to the side of
the bed.  “Kellen? Kellen, can you hear me!?”

“Yeah, you don’t have to shout,” he chuckles and then groans. “Holy shit.”

“You were shot,” Teagan says. “You had some major surgery done.”

“Baby, one does not forget getting shot,” Kellen retorts, smiling up at
her.

“Shut up,” Teagan giggles.

“Are you okay?” He looks her up and down.

She nods. “Yeah, I wasn’t hurt.”

“What happened?” Kellen replies.

“The whole story?”

“Sure.”

Teagan sighs and tells him everything. Finally, she whispers, “And I
guess I shot him six times. He died. Oh my god…I killed someone.”

“He tried to kill me and was going to kill you,” Kellen notes.

“But still…I saw his family,” Teagan whispers, running her fingers
through her hair.  “He was someone’s son, brother, maybe even husband.”

“Teagan,” Kellen starts. “You were defending yourself and me. There
wasn’t anything you could do. Thankfully, you are a really good shot.”

She pauses and then mumbles, “I had my eyes closed.”

“Really?!” Kellen sarcastically teases. “You are
my
girlfriend,
and you shoot a gun with your eyes closed.” Teagan shrugs and smiles. He grins
back and then winces. “Holy crap. I’m in a lot of pain.”

“I will get a nurse,” Jane says. She turns and walks away.

Teagan grips Kellen’s hand. “How did you know something was wrong?”

“Jane called me to tell me about her car. Her boyfriend’s a mechanic.
When he looked at it, he saw that the brake lines were cut.”

“Yeah,” Teagan says. “Harry told me about that. I wanted to kill him for
trying to hurt Kya.”

“I was about to call you when your apartment’s alarm was activated. I
tried frantically to get ahold of you. I had no idea where you were,” Kellen
sighs. “When you didn’t answer, but the alarm was deactivated, I knew something
was up. At that point, I was almost to your apartment.”

Getting down on her knees, Teagan kisses his hand. “I’m so sorry. This is
entirely my fault. If I had listened, nothing would have happened.”

“I would still have shown up there. I still ran the chance of getting
shot. It’s what I do, Baby. It’s my job. I’m in security.”

She puts her face in his hand. “You need to find a different profession.”

“Usually I’m not so easily distracted, but I saw you running with such
fear in your eyes. I lost all my training at that moment. All I could
concentrate on was you.”

“I don’t care,” Teagan whimpers, as she starts to cry. “I can’t lose you
again. I just can’t, Kellen. My heart hurt, literally. I felt my chest tearing
open. I couldn’t breathe or think.”

“Baby, normally in a situation like that, we go in with backup. We also
always wear protective vests. You were just different. My heart was on the
line. The woman I loved was in trouble. I would have walked in front of a
firing squad to save you.”

Teagan closes her eyes and savors his touch. “I never thought I would get
to do this again.”

“It hurts to move, but I would rub your head if I could,” Kellen
whispers. “Can you do one thing for me?”

She looks up, “Anything, what do you need?”

“Kiss me,” Kellen murmurs, his eyes softening. “I thought I was going to
die and never get to say, ‘I love you’ again.”

With a big smile, Teagan stands up and gives him a gentle kiss. There is
movement from the side as a nurse walks in. “How are you feeling Mr. Grayson?”