They made great time getting to the church. There was a bonus to traveling in a squad car in an emergency. Officer Ryan had her siren blaring. Soon, they closed the gap in time between when John had left and they had arrived. 

However, now they had to play the waiting game. Waiting here seemed wrong. His brother was out there, and so was Angelique. What if they were in trouble? What if they needed him? He paced back and forth outside of the rectory.

Officer Ryan rested a hand on his shoulder to stop his movements. "Reid will be here. Soon. I promise. We need you here. They won't know where to go otherwise."

Michael nodded. He understood, but his skin was still crawling and so he went back to pacing. He wanted to run the moment he had seen both of their cars parked in the lot. That John had gone after Angelique and that neither of them has shown up to Michael did not bode well.

He prayed harder than he ever prayed before.

Suddenly, a shot echoed through the woods. Michael became glued to his spot. His eyes met Mary's. She had her gun pulled and was trying to decipher where the sound was coming from when a second shot rang out.

Michael would wait no longer. He started running. Mary was close on his heels. They heard a third shot as they made their way to the glade that Michael knew was the spot Danny had chosen.

A fourth and final shot rang through the air. Michael felt sick to his stomach. He heard a scream, but it sounded like a man's voice. Soon crashing through the brush was Danny, looking like a madman. Running without direction, blindly almost barreling them down. He did not even take notice of them.

He just kept screaming as he ran past. Officer Ryan stopped running, now torn between following Michael or pursuing Danny.

"Go!" Michael told her, and she pursued Danny. Taking different paths they separated, each having their job to do. Michael entered the glade, and it looked like a war zone, bodies laying everywhere. There were four shots fired. Were they all dead?

"John!"

Recognizing him, Michael ran and slid to the ground next to his brother. He was bleeding, but alive.

"John!" he yelled again, but no response. 

He lost a lot of blood. Michael did what he could to stop the bleeding, wondering if John was in shock. He pulled out his phone and called 911; he gave the dispatcher his GPS location from his phone. Hoping it would help.

He ran to the next body. It was a teenage boy who had no gunshot wound but looked to be unconscious. The third was another teenager. Michael could tell as he approached, he was no longer breathing. He checked for a pulse, to be certain. He blessed the boy, and that's when he noticed the arm of Angelique's coat sticking out from under the boy's body.

Michael looked around wildly. "Angelique!" he yelled. She had been here. Where was she now?

He stood up and yelled at the top of his lungs, "ANGELGIRL! WHERE ARE YOU?"

Angelique's eyes flew open, and she gasped for breath. Her feeling of bliss suddenly became a wash of pain. She heard someone calling her name. She tried to get to her feet, but her body would not comply.

Michael's senses were heightened. What if Danny wasn't alone? If more of his thugs lurked in the shadows... Panicked, he called for Angelique again.

"MICHAEL!" Angelique recognized the voice and called back to him.

Michael ran towards her call. He found her in the brush. Just like the first time they found her, she was shot. Only this time, however, it wasn't a grazing blow but multiple wounds.

Fear gripped his heart as he reached down to pick her up, "I got you Angelgirl. Hold on." He carried her back to the glade.

"John? He..."

 "He's alive Angelique. He's shot, but he's alive."

Angelique smiled, then closed her eyes. She did not open them again.

"Angel? Oh, God no," Michael fell to his knees as he held her close and prayed, "Oh, God. Please, God. Spare her. She has to live. Please?"

Suddenly, there was more crashing through the bushes and brush surrounding the glade. The glade suddenly became a flurry of activity as officers and paramedics got to work.

"Michael?"

Michael heard Officer Ryan's voice but did not respond.

"They need to see her, Michael. You need to let her go."

A tear-stained face looked up at her. "She's gone."

"Let them see her?" she urged him again, taking his hand and pulling him away. The medics immediately jumped in.

"We were too late," Michael said, watching over them all. The response team took away the two boys on stretchers and soon they had John ready for transport as well.

Michael walked over to him.

"He's going to be okay," the paramedics reassured him.

Michael rested his hand on John's arm. He looked over to Angelique. The medics had pulled out a defibrillator. They were trying hard to bring her back.

He looked back at John. How was he going to tell him?

"We have to get him moving," the EMT said.

Officer Ryan approached. "May he travel with you? This is his brother?"

"Absolutely," the EMT said and Michael looked torn as he looked over at Angelique.

"I'll stay with her. No matter the outcome. Go, Michael. Your brother needs you."

Michael nodded and followed the Paramedics to the ambulance.

___________

Angelique opened her eyes and winced from the pain of the bright light shining in them. She felt as if she had not used them in a very long time. They teared up slightly as she tried to focus on her surroundings. The first thing she saw was John's face.

"My sweet, Angel!" John said, pressing her fingers to his lips. "Thank God!"

Angelique saw the pain in John's unshed tears, and suddenly she realized she was in a hospital. The last thing she remembered was John being shot. She struggled to sit up.

"No," John said. Holding her in place. "Don't move. You've been shot. Multiple times. They had to put you in an induced coma. They told me you'd recover but... I've been so worried about you."

She tried to speak, but her voice felt hoarse. John got her some water, which she gratefully drank.

"Danny? John, it's not safe. How did you...?" she tried to move again but John had a firm hand keeping her still. He hit the nurse's button to let them know she was awake.

"Please, try not to talk. You're safe. Danny can't hurt anyone anymore."

"Is he?" 

John nodded.

"How?" Angelique's voice was but a whisper.

John touched her face, trying to calm her but also to reassure himself that she was indeed alive and well.

"I know little about the details. All I know is that the officers he came upon deemed him a threat. One of them had tackled him to the ground, but he disarmed her. They wrestled for the gun. He had gotten ahold of it and he took his own life."

Angelique just blinked slowly as she tried to absorb what John was saying.

"He's really gone?"

John nodded again.

Angelique knew she shouldn't be happy, but she couldn't help the feeling of relief she felt knowing Danny could never harm someone again. That relief was short-lived however when another thought sprung to mind. 

"Rebecca. John, one boy, said Danny had her in somewhere in the woods."

"We found her," John told her. "They tied her to a tree close to the glade. She's safe, not a scratch."

Angelique sighed in relief, but her eyes filled with tears as she looked at him. "I thought I lost you. I thought you died."

John smiled. "Guess God had other plans for me. I have a pretty nice scar though," he said, pulling down the collar of his shirt. "Thankfully, Danny is a lousy shot."

A nurse popped into the room. She smiled the moment she'd seen Angelique. "Look who's rejoined us. I'll go get the doctor," she told them and left again. 

Angelique stared at John in disbelief. How could he make jokes about his almost dying?

Seeing her look, he frowned. "What have I done now?"

"Do you have any idea what it would do to me...to...to lose you?"

He thought of how he woke to discover what happened to her through Michael. How powerless he felt knowing he didn't protect her. That he couldn't bring her back. All he could do was wait... sit here day after day and wait for her to return to him.

"I think I have an idea," he said plainly.

It was then Angelique remembered John's sacrifice. He took a bullet for her. He loved her. There was no doubt about that. It must have been a torment for him to sit and wait for her to awake. 

Angelique reached out to touch his face. "I'm so sorry, John. I didn't stop to think..."

"No more talk of what could have been. I'm too grateful for having you here."

He gently kissed her palm that he held pressed against his cheek. He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. 

 "You, my Angel, are a gift from God for me to cherish and love and I plan on doing so for the rest of our lives." 

John sealed his declaration of love with another kiss. This kiss wasn't quick. It was the kind that put into action exactly what he said in words.

"Ah-hem!" John heard someone discretely clear his throat to let them know they were no longer alone and John reluctantly broke away.

"Although I'm sure the medicine you could provide is much more powerful than anything we have here, now that the patient is awake, it's time to make sure she's in good health," the doctor said, grinning. "Do you mind stepping outside?"

John stood.

Angelique immediately protested.

"I'll be back soon," he told her, but Angelique hated to see him go. She stared at the door he left through. There was so much more she wanted to say. 

"You gave us quite a scare young lady," the doctor said, calling her attention back to him.

Angelique sighed. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Nearly two months. You've suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Three, to be exact, truthfully, it is a miracle you are alive. When the EMTs found you, you had a pulse, but it was nearly non-existent. They brought you back and stabilized you. Somehow, despite the blood loss and trauma, your vitals never dropped. You are a walking miracle, Angelique O'Bryan. By all accounts, you ought to be singing with the choir of angels in heaven."

Angelique felt truly grateful. She was alive, John was alive, and Rebecca was safe. Nothing could make her happier at this moment.

"We will keep you for a couple more days. Just to be sure you're fully recovered before your release, but it's my professional opinion that you are doing beautifully and soon will be back home with your family. There is one more thing... something we discovered while you were in your coma."

The doctor's sudden serious expression had Angelique concerned.

"Your HCG levels were raised and so ..."

"Are you telling me I'm..."

The doctor nodded at her.

"I am really...?"

"Yes, you are, and despite what happened to you, the levels have been on a steady rise. We believe this is a viable pregnancy," he told her.

The doctor looked relieved that Angelique took the news so well he worried this might have come as quite a shock to her. "Before you leave, we would like to do another ultrasound."

"Of course," Angelique said, excitement coursed through her at the prospect of seeing her child. She was smiling so much her cheeks were hurting. "Thank you!"

"Hey, don't thank me," he teased. "I had nothing to do with it."

Then she thought of John and blushed, knowing exactly who had something to do with it, how, and when. She only hoped he would be as happy about the news as she was.

Then something else occurred to her. "Did you say two months?"

"Yes."

Angelique immediately wondered, The Shelter! Heaven Sent! What's happened to them?