Older and Wiser

~Chapter Ten(It's All About Timing)~
Chloe rolled over sleepily and pressed the button on her alarm clock. It had been two months since the lonely night on the plane. She had kept herself so busy that she couldn't think, and it left her too exhausted to dream. The last month and a half had been utter hell. She was intimidated by the size of her summer school class and the students could tell. They had been loud, boisterous, and unruly. At least twice in the first week, she had been forced to take the backseat to a teacher from down the hall. She was embarrassed and angry with herself for letting it get out of hand. Finally, the students became comfortable with her, as she with them. The hardest part was remembering that the real school year was just around the corner.

After showering and getting dressed, she went over her lesson plan again. While the students were only in class for half a day, it was a full load of classes. And that equaled twice as much paperwork, twice as many tests, and twice as many things that couldn't be accomplished.

She sighed as she climbed into her car and drovrossross town. The freeways at 7 am were stuffy, but not jammed and the 10 mile drive was relaxing to her. She enjoyed listening to the news radio shows in the morning and sipping on her coffee. Altogether, she was the happiest when she drove to work.

The early summer sun shone down on her car as she pulled into the parking lot of the school. Other teachers were already inside the building, working quickly to finish last minute projects or begin new projects for the last two weeks of summer. Chloe hummed as she opened her door and pulled out her large cotton tote out of the backseat. But her humming stopped when she saw the two boys that were lingering in the playground.

One of the boys, a small framed dark-skinned boy, was holding his hands up in a surrender. The other, a tow-headed freckled boy, was screaming into the other boy's face. Chloe's protective nature jumped into her throat. Assuming the fight was nothing more than a tiff about breakfast money or playground basketball, she moved slowly towards the pair.

As she got closer, she could hear what the blonde one was saying.

"What do you mean, you don't have the money with you?" he screamed. "I told you that the package would be here by today and payment was due."

The dark one didn't flinch…much. "I'll get it to you by the end of the day, Chris. I promise. Just let me have the stuff, and I'll…"

He was cut off by the sharp choke hold that Chris had put on him. His eyes bulged slightly and his breathing ceased for a moment. "I don't think so. I don't give out my stuff on promises," he sneered.

Chloe moved faster towards them. Please let me get there in time, she prayed. I don't need a fight to deal with today. She jogged around the corner, tote bag swinging behind her and stopped when she saw Chris move.

"Hey, guys. What's the problem here?" she asked.
But she didn't have time to respond. Chris lunged at her, knocking her to the ground. A sharp pain shot up her side as she hit the grass. Seconds later, she looked up. The summer sun glinted off a short hunting knife…one that Chris held in his hand and that was now dripping with blood. Her blood. She gasped in response, but the air that came in her lungs escaped immediately.

"God, Chris…you killed her!" the other boy yelled before sprinting off in the other direction.

Chris's face turned two shades of white. He looked from his hand to her bleeding body before turning and and running. He dropped the knife beside her as he ran, rubbing his hand on his jeans. Finally, he was out of Chloe's sight.

She tried to lift her hand, but found that it was impossible. It was almost impossible to breathe as well, and soon, the sky around her blurred and faded. She could hear alarmed voices, but before they reached her, the darkness took over and she fell unconscious.

~*~

"Hello?"

"Mr. Black?"

"Yes?"

"What relation are you to a Miss Chloe Lane?"

Brady's head spun. He had been sitting at his dthinthinking of her all day, not paying much attention to the little work that he was getting done. Now, a quiet older man's voice came over the phone, asking about her. He wondered who it was for a moment, but when the voice asked for his attention again, he snapped back to reality.

"Why do you need to know?" he asked challengingly.

"Well, it says on the back of her medical card here that you are her next of kin?"

Brady jumped to his feet. The blood pumping in his brain became almost deafening. "Yes, I'm her cousin. Her only family member…what's wrong?" he lied.

"Mr. Black, this is Bethany Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas. I'm afraid I can't stay on the phone too long, but I need your permission to do an emergency operation on Miss Lane," the man sounded rushed.

"What for?" Brady demanded. Tears had already started to form in his eyes and the lump in his throat almost kept him from speaking.

"I'm afraid that she was in a confrontation at the school and she's been stabbed in the side. The wound went deep enough to puncture her right lung and we need to hurry to operate. She doesn't have much time."

"I give you permission…please just keep her alive," he bawled inte phe phone.

All that was going through his mind was her lying bloody and broken on an operating table waiting for his word. And her worrying if she'd be saved by him, or left to die. Everything about the last three months came crashing around him. He couldn't lose her now. He did love her and he was going to be with her…forever.

"It's not that easy," the man spoke softly.

At that moment, Brady's heart crumbled into a thousand pieces. His love may die and he wouldn't be able to do anything about it.