Chapter Ninety-seven Estera Roberts’ POV (Two days later…)

I stood back from the grave unable to contain the anguish filling me up inside. It was pretty intense and it felt like I was drowning in it. My eyes stayed glued to the name on the headstone although unseeing. I was completely blinded by tears.
“Estera Roberts, I am so sorry for your loss…” a familiar voice said from my right and I raised my eyes to meet the older woman’s gaze. Mrs. Pincushion, my homeroom teacher, peered down at me with sorrow-filled eyes. A deep frown furrowed my eyebrows. Something doesn’t feel right. Why the hell would the petite woman be at this funeral? Wait… whose funeral is this?!”
“Roberts?” Cole's familiar husky tone called me. I jerked my gaze away from Mrs. Pincushion and my eyes opened and I found myself in a dim-lit room. The beep--beep sound of the heart monitor reminded me I was in the hospital room, lying next to Cole on the bed. I sat up, rubbing my hands over my face.
“Shit!” I muttered, realizing it was a mere dream. I let out a sigh. It was a no-brainer that I was having this kind of dream. I have been in constant fear of Cole taking a sudden turn for the worse for the past hours he had been operated on. He was in the worst state and had lost so much blood. The memory still makes me shudder. I wondered if I could ever get over it.
After Evan implored me to stay locked up in my office. I overheard some shouting instructions from outside my office and then running feet. It appeared one of ours had been shot and everyone was getting ready to play their part. Knowing I couldn’t just stay there in my office, I got up, having succeeded in calming my boys. I put them back into their strollers with their favorite toys and used protective earmuffs to cover their ears. We live in New York; the pair was essential.
I went to stand by the door listening in to the sounds and voices coming from the hallway, that was when I heard someone say Cole had been shot and the crazy shooter would not let them get him to be treated. My blood ran cold. Without a second thought, I unlocked the door and saw about four interns walking down the hallway. Hurriedly calling for them to watch my boys, I charged forward, running all the way up to the last floor of the new wing. The guards and police with a few men in black suits were preventing hospital personnel from getting through and when they were distracted, I slipped through, bending over, and peered down the hallway. I swallowed a gasp when I saw Ashley held threateningly against Edward’s front and the vile man was pointing a gun at his own son! Cole was on the floor and Ameera was evidently putting pressure on his chest which meant he was losing blood. ‘Dear God!’ the prayer sounded in my head.
With my heart pounding wildly in the wall of my chest, I witnessed the very moment Edward Sterling was shot straight in the head. I had to cover my mouth to keep from crying out loud. The man was despicable, but he was the father of the love of my life. My heart constricted with compassion for Evan. I automatically jerked my face in his direction, wanting to warn him to get out of the way, but he had already done that. My heart beat calm a bit. He stood with his back hugging the sidewall, holding his mother. He was safe -– my brain registered.
The silence afterwards was deafening. The hospital security and nurses ran down the hall to get Cole and I stood transfixed as they brought him closer. That was when I saw he was out cold and his entire front was covered with blood. There was a lot of it — his blood. I knew then it was Arterial bleeding. my heart almost stopped. With my attention solely on him, I didn’t see Ashley and Ameera's approach. And when I lunged forward to get to Cole, the two tried to stop me, but I evaded the attempt. Getting closer now I saw Cole's beautiful face had lost color; he looked dead. I knew I spoke but I couldn't recall what I said. The fear that we may have been too late was profound. My heart trembled. Everything that happened right after then was a bit fuzzy. I was terrified of losing him.
I recalled though that Evan had come to gather me in his arms. And I took solace in the feel of his protective arms. He kept saying he was sorry. I didn’t quite understand that part. What happened was not his fault even if he was Edward's son. And I made sure I let him know that before I rushed to the operating room. Evan had gone through so much -- we both had. The last thing I needed was to have him blaming himself for whatever happened up there.
Dragging my hands over my face, I let out a sigh.
"Roberts?" Cole called. I jerked my gaze to my side and found his eyes open and he was looking at me with a dark intense gaze.
“Cole, you are awake!” I cried, leaning over him gingerly to frame the side of his jaw with my left hand. “You scared me, shitless!” I said in an emotional rush and burst out crying.
“Oh, boy,” he said and the side of his lips tugged in a gentle smile as he slowly raised his free hand to frame the side of my face. "That bad, huh?" he added and made me press my forehead against his. “Stop, you will get yourself sick. Then who is going to take care of the two of us?” he rasped. I let out a shaky breath. “How long was I unconscious?” he asked.
“48 hours … twenty-seven minutes, and thirty seconds,” I whispered, glancing at the wall clock, and released a shaky breath. "The longest hours of my life," I added. He pressed a gentle kiss on the tip of my nose.
“Damn. And before then? What did you do to me?”
“The bullet missed your heart by half an inch and went out from your back, missing your spinal cord but it grazed it—you were extremely lucky,” I said, paused and shook with tears. He drew back slightly and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “It nicked your arteries though and we had to operate on you to stop the bleeding,” I finished in almost a whisper.
“Your call?”
“I was a mess, Cole … Doctor Yen and the hospital director did the surgery. I assisted.”