What could Maggie say to them? That she loved Michael so much it hurt? That, incapable of facing one day at a time, she had broken it down into minutes, surviving from one to the next without believing she could? Of counting the seconds in her head when she was certain she simply could not bear even another minute?
And what would they tell her? That Michael loved her? Maggie already knew that. That he only did what he did because of that love? She knew that, too. But it didn’t excuse him. She had given him her heart, her very soul. Had done so willingly and without reservation. But that night in the hospital, Michael had taken her choice away from her. Stripped away her freedom, made decisions for her.
And that was unacceptable.
Maggie had seen what happened first-hand to a woman who surrendered her free will to those who claimed to have her best interests at heart. Her entire life had been shaped by one well-meaning but tragic event. After a difficult pregnancy, Maggie’s mother began hemorrhaging a month early. She’d been rushed to the hospital where a doctor made the decision – against her wishes – to deliver her early. As a result, Maggie’s mother had been left unable to have any more children, and Maggie had almost died. Her father had been devastated. Unable to cope, they left Maggie in the care of her grandparents and returned to Ireland.
Maggie would never allow that to happen to her. No one would ever ruin her life like that. Her hand reached protectively around the slight swell of her belly. No one would ever risk her or her child. Ever.
The cold of winter slowly began to give way to the promise of spring. Maggie began plowing the fields, pruning the orchards. It was a long, arduous process, especially without her full vision. Even simple tasks like getting the tractor key into the ignition had to be done more by touch than by sight. But at least it kept her busy. She literally fell into bed each night, completely exhausted, where her dreams would take her back to Michael, to a time when she believed she had found true happiness.
One night Maggie had a nightmare. She dreamed that Michael was dying. With astounding clarity she saw him, heard his brother’s voice in her head. “Hang on, Mick. Don’t you fucking die on me, man, you hear me? Lexi’s going to kick my ass if anything happens to you.”
Maggie’s dream self recognized the voice as Ian’s. “And I’m not telling Taryn you got your sorry ass shot on my watch.” That was Jake. “Mick – goddamnit, Mick! Stay with us!”
The image was blurry around the edges, but Maggie could see Michael and his brothers clearly, as if her vision was perfect once again. They were all dressed in black – like the day they had come to pick him up at her house. Jake was holding Michael in the back of some kind of vehicle – a van, maybe – while Ian was pressing something to his chest. Another man was driving. Though they hadn’t actually met, Maggie recognized him as one of the men she had seen at the wedding, Michael’s older brother. She thought his name might have been Kane.
Jake was trying to hold Michael as still as possible as they bounced along, swerving from side to side, moving at great speed.
“ETA?” Jake yelled up.
“Five minutes,” Kane responded.
“Too long.”
Maggie heard Kane curse, saw the van lurch forward at even greater speed.
“We’re losing him,” Ian said, pressing his fingers to Michael’s neck. The entire front of Michael’s chest was wet. With growing horror, Maggie realized it was blood.
“Michael.” Maggie’s voice echoed throughout the back of the van. The others didn’t seem to hear it, but Michael did. His eyes popped open, tried to focus.
“Maggie,” he gasped.
Jake and Ian exchanged a glance. “Yeah, that’s right, man, Maggie’s waiting for you. You can’t let her down.”
“Come back to me, Michael. I need you.” Maggie reached out with her hand. The moment she touched his face – it felt so real – his eyes went wide. “I love you, Michael,” she whispered. “You promised you would wait, forever if you had to.”
The van squealed to a stop and they ripped Michael out of the van. Maggie tried to follow but she couldn’t, forced to stay behind and watch as they carried him out of sight.
Maggie woke with a start, covered in sweat. The clock read two twenty-two a.m. She could see the clock! Grabbing the cell phone, she dialed Taryn’s number. Taryn picked up on the first ring, sounding wide awake.
“Taryn, it’s Maggie. I need to speak to Michael.”
Maggie clearly heard Taryn’s sharp intake of breath over the line. “Maggie, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, but I need to talk to Michael, right now.”
There was a slight pause as Taryn put her hand over the phone and spoke quietly to someone. “Michael’s not here, Maggie.”
Dread curled in her stomach, writhing like a nest of snakes. Her nightmare couldn’t have been real, it just couldn’t. “Then let me talk to Jake, or Ian. Please Taryn.”
The long pause made her stomach roil. “They’re not here either.”
The truth came crashing down around her. “Michael’s hurt, Taryn. Badly. He’s dying.”