“Awaken in the Night”

Colin was lying in bed, Ami happily asleep next to him, when the call came in from Arthur. The young man was frantic, prattling on about police chases and shootouts and such when Colin stopped him mid-sentence, “Slow down, Mate, I can’t understand you,” he told Arthur. When Colin heard Abby’s name mentioned, he sat up in bed, waking Ami.

“Shit,” he said more to himself than to Arthur, “She’s alright, though... Abby’s alright?”

Arthur went on to tell him what he’d heard, that Abby wasn’t injured, but Alex Ross had nearly bled to death and was still in critical condition, according to the hospital, and about Alistair and Maximus, as well.

“Thanks, Mate,” Colin told him when he’d finished filling him in on the news. “I’ll get down there as soon as I can. Tell Adam I’ll see him later back at home.” He hung up the phone, quickly jumped out of bed and began pulling on his clothes.

“Colin, what’s wrong?” Ami asked, worried by the way Colin was acting.

“Half the fucking town is in the hospital. Apparently there was some shootout, Abby... shit!” he picked up his phone again, started checking his messages. “I should have picked up the phone, this is my fault... Ross went there, he was pretty hurt badly... they’re not sure if he’s going to live. Fuck, why didn’t I pick up the damn phone?!”

“Sweetheart, it’s not your fault,” Ami told him, trying to comfort him. “I mean, she’s your ex... she’s the one that did that to your leg... why would you want to talk to her again? How could you have known what she wanted?”

“Drive me to the hospital?” he asked, as he pulled on his socks and shoes.

“Umm... yeah, okay,” she replied, reluctantly. “But I can’t stick around there all night, I’ve got work in the morning. You’ll have to find your own way back home.”

“Whatever, fine,” he told her, then hurried down the stairs, nearly pulling her along as he went.

TBC...