A/N: Welcome to Book 2 of the "I've Seen" series! I hope you like where I take the continuing story in this book. Please add it to your library so you never miss an update!
This is a continuation straight from Book 1. If you haven't read it yet, none of these first few chapters will make sense. Now, back to your regularly scheduled update ;)
"You've only been here since yesterday. What's the last thing you remember?" Tim began running his thumb over the back of her hand as he spoke.
"We were in the courtroom. The judge read out his verdict. (she scrunched her face up as she tried to remember) It...it went in our favor. We were hugging." She replied.
"Apparently you were shot in the courtroom. We haven't heard anything about the shooter yet. The doctor removed the bullet and said nothing vital had been hit. You'll need a blood transfusion but I don't know if they did that before moving you from recovery to here or not. You are stuck here for a few days, unfortunately." Tim tried to explain as calmly as he could.
"Where's Gen?" Kalene began to panic slightly.
"She's fine. Mostly. She has a moderate concussion. I don't know how that happened, you'd have to talk to her. Everyone else is fine though. They're all at the hotel. Luke extended our stay for a few days." Tim gave her hand a squeeze, "I texted Mom to keep her in the loop. She surprised us all by showing up here last night. Even brought us dinner which was awesome since none of us had eaten since breakfast and it was like 9pm already."
"I hate that she flew all the way out here just for me." Kalene looked down.
"You're family, baby. She wanted to be here to support you and us. She's always been this way. (He chuckled) Honestly, Gen and I have both needed someone supporting us. Besides the band, I mean." Tim looked down this time.
His phone chirped signaling a new text. With a sigh, making her chuckle, he took it off her over-the-bed table to look at it.
Luke: hey Tim! We're all on our way to the hospital & stopping to grab breakfast first. What would you like?
"Everyone's on their way and are stopping to grab breakfast. Would you like anything? I'm sure the hospital food isn't very good." Tim stated making her laugh then groan.
"Pancakes, eggs fried hard, and sausage please." She retorted.
Tim: order 1: pancakes, eggs fried hard & sausage, order 2: pancakes, scrambled eggs with cheese, and a double order of bacon. 2 glasses of oj, please.
Luke: two orders? 😯😯😯
Tim: don't tell anyone she's awake, please.
Luke: sure thing, see ya in a little while!
"They'll be here after breakfast. How are you feeling?" Tim asked as he began rubbing her arm.
The door squeaked open before she could answer him.
"Good morning, Mrs. Mercer! How are we feeling today?" The nurse asked as she began taking vitals.
"Kinda groggy. My chest and side hurt." She replied.
"On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the most pain you could imagine, where's your pain level at?" The nurse inquired.
"Hovering around an 8 I guess. Much worse than when I was stabbed." Kalene sighed.
The doctor came in fifteen minutes after the nurse had taken her vitals as he made his rounds. They talked for a bit as he looked over her chart. He wanted to take her down for more testing to make sure nothing had been hit that they didn't catch the previous day. As she was gone, their entourage arrived with breakfast.
"Where's mom? What happened?" Genesis exclaimed when she saw the empty bed.
"Relax. She finally woke up and they took her down to have more tests run. She'll be back soon." Tim explained.
"How is she?" Dena inquired as she handed a bag over to him.
"Shewas groggy when she woke up. In pain, naturally. Didn't seem to remember whathappened yesterday." Tim explained.
"Poor thing. We brought you breakfast figuring you needed it." Dena smiled at her son.
"I'm sorry I don't have any more details to share. Hopefully she'll be released soon." Tim ran his hand through his hair.
"It'll take time to recover from a gun shot wound. Remember that, Tim. She's not going to be 100% herself for a while." Luke advised.
The bass man sighed, "I know. She's a hell of a strong woman. She'll be fine eventually."
The group sat around chatting as Tim ate his breakfast waiting on Kalene to be brought back up. Genesis and Adam were talking about drumming and gaming in the corner of the room. Rob and Chance were discussing an upcoming movie they both wanted to check out. Austin and Luke were discussing their next bit of time off where they could fly home. Tim could only think about his girl and how this situation was affecting her daughter. Genesis seemed to be much more relaxed now that she knew her mother was awake but that didn't mean much.
The door finally opened making everyone stop what they were doing. Kalene was wheeled back so Genesis bolted from Adam to stand next to Tim. They watched as the nurse got her settled back in her bed then hooked her back up to all the monitors. "The doctor will be in shortly to go over the tests." was all she said before leaving.
"Mom! How are you feeling?" Genesis immediately asked.
"This is your breakfast. They were kind enough to bring us both something to eat this morning." Tim nodded towards the bag and plastic glass of OJ.
"Thank you whoever thought of bringing me breakfast. Hospital food sucks. (Everyone laughed) I'm in pain and very sore. I'm not sure when I'll be able to escape, I mean leave, the hospital yet. I apparently haven't been awake long." She dug into the bag as she spoke.
"We're glad that you're awake! Not knowing how you were was eating at all of us." Luke stated.
"How much do you remember from yesterday?" Chance inquired.
"Not much, apparently." She shrugged, "How did Genesis come to have a concussion?"
"You shoved me, mom. Hard. It was right after that, that this really loud bang was heard. I'm not entirely sure what happened after that. Jake kept us all together as he made sure the whole group was there. Then we were told to leave the courtroom." Genesis explained.
"Loud...bang?" Kalene dropped her fork making the group look at one another, "Loud bang..."
"Baby?" Tim picked up her fork and set it on her plate.
"Loud bang... 'If I have to lose someone I love, so do you'"
"Huh?" Austin crinkled his nose.
"That...that's what Mrs. Marion said to me. She...she...pulled out a gun...pointed it...at Gen." Kalene's body began to shake as she spoke making several people gasp, "I shoved her as hard as I could. To protect her."
"Oh my God, mom! You got shot because of me?!" Genesis' eyes welled up with tears.
"Mrs. Marion shot you? Attempted to shoot an innocent girl? In a courtroom?" Chance's jaw hung ajar.
"Howin the hell did she even get the gun into the courtroom in the first place?!"Luke furrowed his brows.
"Of course I did, pumpkin. I'm your mother, I'm supposed to protect you. I'd do it again if I had to. Yes, Chance, she apparently shot me. Better me than Genesis though. If she'd shot my child, I'd be sitting in jail for murder instead of a hospital with a gunshot wound." Kalene retorted making Tim grab her hand and the others laugh slightly, "I have no clue how she did, Luke. I hope she didn't get away, though. I really hope she spends time in prison with her worthless daughters."
Genesis tried to fight the tears but it was a losing battle. Austin wrapped his arms around the emotional teen as the group talked more of what had transpired in and outside the courtroom the previous day. Kalene began to get a better picture of what happened and it saddened her to hear how upset everyone was. There came a knock at the door and Kalene was sure it was her doctor. When she turned her head, she was surprised to see Miss Dena.
"Thank goodness you're awake, sweetie! We've all been so worried about you!" The elder Foust stated with a warm smile as she walked to the side of the bed, "How are you feeling today? Have you eaten?"
"You didn't have to fly down here to see me, Miss Dena. I'm actually in the middle of eating the breakfast that they brought me. I'm sore and in pain. It's manageable but definitely noticeable." Kalene replied as her not-quite mother-in-law bent down for a careful hug.
"I'm sorry you're in pain, sweetie. Is there anything I can do?" Dena questioned.
"No,Ma'am. They're giving me good painkillers. It's just not time for a dose yet."Kalene chuckled.
"To see you. I knew Tim and Genesis wouldn't be thinking clearly and would need looking after themselves. (Tim pouted but everyone else laughed) Besides, you're family to me and I wanted to see you were all right for myself." Dena smiled.
"Thank you for coming, Miss Dena. It means a lot." Kalene tried to keep from getting emotional.
"That's what families do, honey." Dena bent down and kissed her forehead.
"I think we'll head back to the family room. Let us know of any changes, Tim." Luke nodded to the rest of the group.
"We'll come check on you later, Kalene." Adam added as they moved towards the door.
"Thanks guys." She replied, watching them all filter out of her room.
"Are you sure you're ok, mom?" Genesis finally asked.
"Soreand in pain but I'm alive. Yes, I'm ok." Kalene chuckled making Tim smile ather.
The small family chatted about the court hearing and what had transpired afterwards until the doctor came in to check on her and discuss her tests. He wanted her to stay in the hospital at least one more night, if not two, because it looked like she was getting an infection and he wanted to stay on top of it. The idea of staying longer in the hospital annoyed Kalene but she also didn't want to risk her health. Tim could only chuckle while Genesis was slightly panicking hearing what the doctor was saying.
Once he left, Kalene sighed making Dena laugh softly. The elder woman reassured her it was for her own good and that before she knew it, she'd be out of the hospital and back to her life. Tim said she probably wouldn't be able to work for a little while but Luke was handling things for her. Kalene told Genesis she should go ahead and head back to her band and get back to her tour since she knew how she was and promised to keep her in the loop.
The teen wanted to protest but Tim sided with Kalene and promised he'd make regular postings in their Facebook group about her welfare and health. Genesis huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest and looked over at Dena for help. The elder Foust sided with Tim and Kalene making Genesis full-on pout which made everyone laugh.
"I promise sweetie I'll be fine. You don't want to miss your chance to head to Europe, Australia, and Asia with Shinedown do you?" Kalene stated.
"No." Gen hung her head.
"Then get back on the road. I'll be fine." Kalene smiled at her daughter.
"Promise?"
"Promise." Kalene smiled again.
A/N: Well, I hope this was a good start to Book 2! Please let me know your thoughts below. Don't forget to vote and add this to your library so you never miss an update!