Promises
        Chapters 5 & 6
 

Michelle tried to lift her head, but it felt so heavy. "Danny," she whispered. When she didn't get a response, she looked all around the room. "Danny."
Her heart began to beat a little faster and a lump had suddenly formed in the back of her throat. He promised he wouldn't leave. Something must have happened. What if he found out who had done this to her? Had he gone after them? She had to find him, to make sure he was okay. With every ounce of strength she had, she pulled the covers off of her and swung her legs off the side of the bed. If only she didn't have this stupid IV stuck to her hand, she could move a lot easier. She was a medical student, she should be able to figure out how to unhook this thing without ripping the needle out of her hand, but her head was such a blur. That damn sedative! She had begged Rick and Dr. Sedwick not to give it to her, but they said she needed to rest. No, what she needed was to find her husband. Slowly, she pulled up on the IV stand and was on her feet. She steadied herself and gingerly walked toward the door, leaning heavily on the rolling stand. Her hands suddenly began to slip as her feet didn't want to cooperate. Suddenly the room started spinning and she knew she was about to faint. She would have hit the floor if it hadn't been for the two strong arms that caught her.
"Michelle!" Danny cried out. "What are you doing?"
"Danny," she whimpered, searching his eyes. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he said as he carried her back to the bed. "You didn't hurt yourself, did you? What were you doing out of bed?"
"I was looking for you," she whispered. "I didn't know where you were."
"I was just making a phone call," he explained, pulling the sheets over her. "You shouldn't be out of bed."
All the emotions of the day came barreling down on her and she began to sob. Danny sat down on the edge of the bed and wrapped his arms around her. "Baby, please don't cry."
"I'm just so tired," she cried. "I'm tired of all of this."
"I know," he sighed, kissing her forehead and gently rocking her in his arms. "I'll take care of everything, I promise."

Danny stayed with her while she slept, trying unsuccessfully to get some sleep of his own in the chair beside her bed. Despite the sedative, she was restless, having one nightmare after another. She was back on that fateful day a year ago when hers and Danny's lives changed forever…

Danny was in Chicago on business, continuing his effort to legitimize the business, all the while keeping Carmen in the dark. When he left he told her he was going on a business trip and that was all she knew. That's all Danny wanted her to know. He didn't want her interfering with this meeting. Not now, when he was so close to making his family name something to be proud of.
Danny and Michelle talked late every night so the last thing they heard before going to sleep was each other's voice. On his last night in Chicago, they talked for an especially long time. He had only been gone for a week, but they both missed each other more and more as each day passed. His plane was to land at 4:00 and she promised to meet him at the airport. Reluctantly they hung up the phone, hardly able to wait till the next day when they would be together.
Michelle woke up the next morning with a smile on her face. In less than eight hours, her and Danny would be together again. She was startled by the knock on the door. It was Dietz saying Carmen needed to see her. What did she want now?, Michelle wondered. She had done everything she could to avoid Carmen while Danny was gone. They had supposedly called a truce, but Michelle would never completely trust her. She knew Carmen well enough to know that she wouldn't give up that easily.
A little while later she found Carmen sitting behind her desk.
"Michelle," she said coldly. "Thank you for coming so quickly."
"You needed to see me?" Michelle asked impatiently.
"Yes I did," she smiled. "It's my understanding that Daniel will be returning home this afternoon." Michelle looked at her in disbelief. "I believe his plane lands at 4:00."
"What, are you tapping our phone now?" Michelle asked disgusted. "I can't believe you! All this talk of a truce and you bug our phone."
"You didn't really believe I would let you get away with what you've done," Carmen laughed. "I promised you that one day you were going to pay for taking both of my sons away from me."
"Mick may be gone, but you haven't lost Danny, at least not yet," Michelle snapped. "But when I tell him about this, he'll walk away from you."
Michelle turned to leave, but stopped when she heard a familiar click.
"Not so fast Michelle," Carmen smirked.
Michelle slowly turned around and found herself staring down the barrel of a gun. "What are you going to do Carmen? Shoot me? You think Danny will ever forgive you if you do this?"
"Danny's never going to know it was me," she smiled, walking around the desk, closing the distance between them. "That's the beauty of this whole thing. Nino Rivera is on his way over here as we speak. You know the families were not happy when Daniel said we were going to become a legitimate organization. Things just don't work that way, Michelle. The Santos' are a respected family and I'll be damned if I'll let you get in the way of that. I'm sure Nino and his family would understandably look for a way to get their point across. Considering, the bomb didn't work, they needed to find another way. What better than to kill the wife of the future head of the Santos family? The security camera will capture Nino walking in and tapes can be edited to show everything else that needs to be seen."
"So you've planned the whole thing out," Michelle said as calmly as she could. "You've wanted me dead ever since Mick died, so why don't you go ahead. You want to shoot me, pull the trigger Carmen! Go ahead and shoot!"
Unbeknownst to either of them, Danny and Ray were approaching the front door.
"Thank you so much Ray for picking me up at the airport," Danny smiled. "I was missing Michelle so much I decided to catch an earlier flight and surprise her. I can't wait to see the look on her face when I walk in."
Ray closed the door and followed Danny into the living room.
Danny's smile quickly vanished when he opened the door and saw his mother holding a gun on his wife.
"What are you waiting for Carmen?" Michelle yelled. "If you're going to kill me go ahead and do it!"
"No!" Danny yelled.
His voice startled both women. Carmen jumped and as she did she pulled the trigger. The shot rang in Danny's ears as he saw Michelle fall to the floor. He ran to her side and held her in his arms.
Carmen dropped her hands to her side, as Ray ran over to take the gun away from her. "Daniel, I'm so sorry."
Michelle's eyes were closed as Danny examined her all over looking for signs of a gunshot wound. He panicked when he saw blood seeping through her shirt at her shoulder.
"Michelle, baby, can you hear me?" he was trying to will her eyes to open.
Slowly her eyes fluttered open. "Danny?"
"I'm here," he half smiled. "You're going to be okay."
She blinked her eyes several times to clear her head. As she tried to sit up, she grimaced as a sharp pain went through her shoulder.
"Lie still," he demanded. "Ray, call an ambulance."
"I'm okay," Michelle reassured. "I think it just grazed my shoulder."
"It's bleeding too much," his voice was thick with panic and worry. "Someone needs to check you out."
"Ambulance is on the way," Ray said, hanging up the phone while holding Carmen back. "And so are the police."
"Danny, let me explain," Carmen begged.
"You stay the hell away from us," Danny screamed. "Don't you ever come near us again!"
"Please…" Carmen cried.
"Ray, get her out of my sight before I do something I would not regret," Danny said through gritted teeth.
Carmen continued to scream for Danny as Ray drug her out the door.
Danny turned his attention back to Michelle. He unbuttoned her shirt enough to get a look at her shoulder. "It doesn't look that bad."
"I told you it was just a graze," she said. "I'm okay."
She kept trying to stand up, so he held her tight and helped her to her feet. However, when her knees gave way, he picked her up in his arms and laid her down on the couch. "The ambulance should be here any minute and they'll look you over." He grabbed her hands and for the first time noticed they were shaking. "Your hands are shaking."
"I don't get shot at every day," she forced a slight laugh.
"Michelle, I am so sorry," he groaned. "I don't know what I would do if I had lost you."
"I'm okay," she whispered as he pulled her closer to him. "What are you doing here? I didn't think your flight landed until 4:00."
"I missed you so much I decided to take an earlier flight," he explained.
"Thank goodness you did," she said. "Your mother bugged our phone so she knew what time you were supposed to get back."
"I should have been here," he said as tears fell.
"Danny, you saved my life…again," she whispered. She reached to touch his face, but had to stop as the pain in her shoulder shot through her whole body.
"Please, lie still," he begged. "I think I hear the ambulance coming."
"What about your mother?" she asked.
"I promise you Michelle, she will never hurt either of us again," he glared at the door Ray had taken her through. "She's going to pay for this."