by B L Clark
“Zach, please, stay back.” Amber winced as Jeffrey moved his hand from her hair to the back of her neck.
“So, who do we have here? Who is your knight in shining armor, Amber? Someone you care a great deal about, I see,” Jeffrey said.
“Nobody you need to be concerned about.” Amber felt the gun pressed painfully into her ribcage.
“How did you know she was here?” Nicole hissed, her voice shaking with fear and rage.
“Now, now, if everyone behaves, you won’t have to worry about my sister’s safety. Your little desk girl and that annoying woman from the tire factory were talking at the bar last night,” Jeffrey said with an evil smile.
“Sidney,” Heather grumbled.
“Lori,” Erik grumbled.
“Yeah, those were their names.” Jeffrey smirked. “I’ve waited a long time for you to come back, sis…I knew you would. Dad thought you were smarter than to come back here, but I knew you weren’t.”
“Just let them all go, Jeffrey. Your beef is with me, not with them,” Amber said as Jeffrey took a step away from her but kept the gun aimed at her head.
“Oh, my beef is with you and the redheaded bitch. I’m very curious who pretty boy is, though. I thought you didn’t like guys, huh, Amber? Did you finally wise up in your years away? I always knew it was all your fault,” Jeffrey said, glaring at Nicole.
“Jeffrey, please, just let everyone else leave, or you and I can leave, but I don’t want anyone else getting hurt.” Amber moved toward him and stepped in front of the gun he had aimed at Nicole.
“I don’t think I care what you want. Now who is the guy? Or should I shoot him and see how much he truly means to you?” Jeffrey now pointed the gun toward Zach’s head.
“He’s just a friend,” Amber snapped, fear and panic coming through in her voice.
“Well, you seem a little too close for just being friends.” Jeffrey looked between Amber and Zach.
“We’re just friends. Now will you please stop pointing the gun at them? Point it at me if you have to point it at someone.”
“No, I don’t believe it’s like that.” Jeffrey aimed the gun back at Amber. Heather had started to move toward Jeffrey while his attention was focused elsewhere. Unfortunately, he saw her and backhanded her, knocking her back into the group. Nicole caught her before she hit the floor.
“I fucking said nobody moves. I mean it when I say I have no issues with shooting or killing Amber here and now. Does anyone else want to try to move forward and see if I mean what I say?”
They only shook their heads in response.
Amber took the opportunity while Jeffrey was distracted and moved forward, reaching out toward Jeffrey. When he saw this, he swung the butt of the gun and caught Amber’s shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain as she was knocked to the ground. Nicole and Zach instinctively lunged toward her but stopped short when Jeffrey pointed the gun at them, and Amber put her other hand up to stop them.
“Nicole, Zach, please, no heroes. I’m okay,” Amber said, not wanting to risk anyone else being hurt. She tried to get up but was unable to move her left arm.
“You know, sis, this is boring me. I think maybe I should just shoot you and get it over with.” Jeffrey lifted Amber up by her injured shoulder and shoved her in the direction of the others.
Jeffrey pointed the gun at Amber and smiled maniacally. Amber lunged at him and knocked the gun down, but not before Jeffrey pulled the trigger, hitting Amber in the side near where the puncture wounds from the belt were. Amber fell to the ground, landing on top of Jeffrey and knocking the gun out of his hand. Within a second, Nicole was there pulling Amber off Jeffrey and holding her hand over the wound that was seeping blood. Zach had hit Jeffrey and turned him over, pinning him down. Heather called Jill and told her to get an ambulance to the hotel in a hurry.
“Nicole, sit down,” Heather said as Nicole continued to pace in the hallway.
“How do you expect me to sit? Amber is in there, and we have no idea what’s going on or if she’s even still alive,” Nicole snapped as she kept replaying the events after the shooting in her head.
Nicole could feel the warm blood seeping out of Amber’s body. She made sure that Amber was still breathing. The room around her disappeared, and it was just the two of them.
“Don’t leave me again,” Nicole cried over and over again in her head. No sound could escape her mouth; fear had stolen her voice.
When the paramedics arrived, they gently moved Nicole out of the way and worked to stabilize Amber and to stop the bleeding.
“Is she hurt anywhere other than the gunshot wound?” one of the paramedics asked.
“Her left shoulder,” Erik said, pulling Nicole into his arms. “Take extra special care of her, guys.”
“We will. Do you and Nicole want to ride with us to the hospital?”
Erik and Nicole nodded and waited for them to load Amber into the ambulance before they got in.
Meanwhile, Jill arrived at the hotel.
“What the hell happened here?” Jill asked as she raced in behind the paramedics.
“Jeffrey shot Amber,” Heather said.
“What the hell happened to your face?” Jill noticed Heather’s swollen cheek.
“Jeffrey backhanded me,” Heather said as Erik handed her an icepack before heading to the ambulance.
Jill stomped over to where Zach had Jeffrey pinned, pulling her handcuffs out of their holster.
“Zach, I got it from here,” Jill said. “Jeffrey Knight, you have the right to remain silent—which I highly recommend. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney—not that you’ll need one since you’re guilty as shit. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. I feel sorry for that poor attorney. You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to the police and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future. Again, not that you’ll need one since you’re guilty. If you decide to answer any questions now, without an attorney present, you will still have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to an attorney, but I recommend keeping your mouth shut. Knowing and understanding your rights as I have explained them to you, are you willing to answer my questions without an attorney present?”
“Fuck you! I hope the bitch suffers and dies,” Jeffrey spat as Jill finished handcuffing him and two of her deputies picked him up off the ground.
“I’ll take that as a no. Get him out of here before I forget I’m the sheriff,” Jill said.
The two officers holding Jeffrey nodded to her, and when Jeffrey didn’t immediately start moving, one of the officers shoved Jeffrey hard, causing him to stumble face first into a wall.
“Heather, I want you to get that looked at when you get to the hospital. I have to go to the station to get Jeffrey processed. Zach, can you drive her?” Jill asked.
“Sure,” Zach said as he took the keys from Heather.
“Nicole, if she were dead, they would have come and told us,” Erik said, receiving a glare from Heather and Zach. “I’m sorry.”
Zach went over and wrapped his arms around Nicole, who broke down and cried. Zach murmured for her to let it out and that Amber was a fighter and she would make it through this.
“Have we heard anything?” Jill asked as she entered the surgical waiting room.
“No,” Heather said, walking over to Jill. “What happened to Jeffrey?”
“He’s been charged with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and stalking,” Jill said. “He won’t see the light of day until he dies.”
“Good,” Nicole said, pulling away from Zach.
“Heather, what did they say about your face?”
“They said I’ll be tender and bruised, but there’s no other damage.”
“Didn’t you have a flight today?” Jill looked at Zach, who was still holding Nicole.
“The second Jeffrey
hit Amber with that gun, that flight went out the window,” Zach said.
“I went online and got his ticket adjusted as soon as we got here,” Heather said. “I needed a distraction.”
Nicole started pacing again and waved off Zach, Erik, Heather, and Jill as they each went toward her to try to comfort her.
“Did they say how long she was going to be in surgery?” Jill asked.
“No, they just said it was serious, and they would update us when they could,” Heather said. “Erik tried to go back and get details and was told he was banned from the area.”
“Nic, Amber is going to come through this. I can feel it,” Jill said.
“You didn’t see her when we got here. She’d lost so much blood, and she hadn’t regained consciousness.”
Nicole sat in a chair away from everyone, pulled her legs up to her chest, and buried her head into her knees.
“Hello, Lucinda Baer, please,” Zach said into his cellphone. “Tell her it’s Zach Pellot calling.”
“She’s in a meeting, Zach,” the receptionist said.
“It’s important. Please, can you interrupt her?” The desperation came through in his voice.
“Zach, what can I do for you?” Lucinda said as she was connected with Zach.
“Hi, Lucinda. Amber and I are going to need some more time off.”
“Is everything all right? You told my assistant it was important.”
“Amber’s in surgery right now. She was shot this morning,” Zach said.
“Oh, no! What happened? She’ll be all right, though, right?” Lucinda had gotten to know and care a great deal about Amber.
“Yes, or at least that’s my positive thought. We won’t know anything until she comes out of surgery. As for what happened, it’s a long story. One better left for another time.”
“Take all the time you need and keep me updated. You have my cell, right?”
“Yeah, Amber has your number in her phone,” Zach said.
“All right, I’ll be expecting a call from you today.”
“As soon as we hear something, I’ll let you know. Thanks, Lucinda.”
Zach hung up and went back to join the others in their wait for news on Amber.
“Knight family?” a man in blue scrubs called out as he came through the heavy doors.
“That’s us,” Jill said as everyone gathered around her and the doctor.
“Well, she’s very lucky. The bullet missed her kidney and any other vital organs. We were able to remove the bullet and stitch her up. She has a broken collarbone and a hairline fracture in the humeral head, the ball that goes into the shoulder joint. Those should take a few weeks to a couple of months to heal. What does Ms. Knight do for a living?”
“She’s an artist, painter,” Zach said.
“Well, as long as she takes a lot of breaks and isn’t left-handed, I’ll clear her to return to work in two weeks, but no sooner.”
“She’ll be all right, though?” Nicole asked, barely holding back the tears.
“Yes, she’ll be all right physically. Mentally, that may take a lot longer.”
“Thank you, Doctor. Can we see her?” Jill asked.
“She’s still in recovery. I’ll allow one of you to go in and sit with her,” the doctor said.
“Nicole, you go.” Jill received nods of agreement from the others.
“Are you sure?” Nicole asked.
“Positive,” Zach said.
The doctor led Nicole back to the recovery room. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw Amber there, looking so frail and vulnerable. Wires and tubes were coming out of her, as monitors beeped with her heartbeat and tracked her vitals.
“You can sit here, hold her hand, just don’t disturb the wire leads. She should wake up any time now.”
“Thank you,” Nicole said.
The doctor left, and Nicole sat and took Amber’s hand, brought it to her lips, and kissed it.
“You know, sweetheart, this isn’t how I thought the day was going to go,” Nicole said. “When we woke up together this morning, it was the happiest I’ve been since you left. Now I’m so scared. I need you to wake up and show me those beautiful blue eyes.”
Nicole sat there holding Amber’s hand for at least thirty minutes before she felt Amber move and her breathing pattern change. The beeps on the monitors changed, which prompted a visit from a nurse. Amber was slowly waking up. She was groggy and disoriented, but seeing Nicole there, even with the fearful look on her face, helped her calm down.
“I hate hospitals,” Heather said. “Ever since Mom. I just can’t stand this place.”
“I know, Heather, I know.” Jill put her arm around her.
“Why don’t Zach and I go get us some coffee?” Erik suggested, wanting to give them some privacy.
“Yeah, we’ll go get some coffee,” Zach said, receiving a nod from Heather and Jill.
“Amber will get through this, I promise,” Jill said.
“So, you know what kind of coffee everyone likes?” Zach asked as he and Erik walked down the hallway.
“Yeah, they all choose mocha. Is Amber that predictable?”
“Yeah, although hers is always a caramel mocha coffee,” Zach said with a laugh.
“So, was there ever anything between you and Amber?”
“No, not that I didn’t hope. She was too hung up on Nicole and being gay. Although after seeing them together, I get it.”
“Yeah, the sad part is they were always like that. I mean before they started dating or even when we were at that age when romance was icky still. Do you think they could have a chance for something?” Erik asked.
“I wouldn’t count it out, but I don’t know. There are a lot of emotional scars there.”
“Yeah, and some pretty intense physical ones, as well. I just want ten minutes alone with Amber’s father and brother,” Erik snapped.
“You and me both. I can’t believe that Amber would put herself in that kind of danger to protect me,” Zach said as they stopped at the coffee machine.
“Trust me, that bullet she took for us all, that was nothing compared to what she would have done. Amber cares deeply for you. I know you helped her when she first got to New York, and she’s going to need that kind of help again.”
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else. I talked to the gallery curator and told her that Amber was in the hospital and we needed more time off. I have her covered on the New York end. Lucinda is holding her spot for the show, as well. Jeffrey isn’t going to take that away from her.”
“When is the show?”
“Two months from today,” Zach said, grabbing two cups of coffee as Erik picked up the other two.
“Is she that good? I mean we saw the proofs, but honestly, just between us?”
“She’s better than those proofs show. Amber has a lot of talent, and I agree with Lucinda that she can go far in the art world. Will she be a van Gogh or da Vinci? No, but she has talent and promise,” Zach said proudly.
“I’m happy for her then,” Erik said as they entered the waiting room and handed Heather and Jill their drinks.
“Any word?” Zach said.
“Knight family?” a nurse asked.
“Yes,” Zach said since he was closest to the nurse.
“Amber is waking up. Once we get her into a room, you’ll be able to see her. We tried to get the girl with the red hair to leave, but she was pretty adamant that she wasn’t going anywhere.”
“That sounds about right for Nicole,” Heather said as the group laughed.
Once settled into her private room, Amber reached out for Nicole’s hand.
“Hey,” Nicole said.
“Hey,” Amber replied tiredly.
“I know you must feel like crap, but the others are here to see you. If you would rather wait…”
“No, I know if it were me out there, I wouldn’t relax until I knew one of them was okay. First I want to hold you and talk to you about something.”
“Sounds
serious.” Nicole sat in the chair next to the bed.
“Cuddle with me?”
Nicole’s face lit up, and she adjusted the wire leads so she could lie next to Amber.
“I’m not hurting you, am I?”
“Not at all. I need to feel you close. You didn’t get hurt at all, did you?” Amber asked.
“No, but I am a bit mad at you.” Nicole saw the confused look on Amber’s face. “You said no heroes, and then you go and get shot.”
“Am I the only one that got hurt?”
“Well, Heather is going to have some bruises from Jeffrey hitting her, but the rest of us are fine. I think Jeffrey may be hurting for a while, but that’s just because he ‘resisted’ being arrested, and one of Jill’s deputies had to get physical with him.”
“So, just me out of the group, though? I mean with serious injuries.”
“Yes, just you, missy.” Nicole saw relief in Amber’s eyes.
“Nicole, I’m so sorry for what happened today.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. You aren’t responsible for your brother and his actions.”
“He does know how to ruin a day, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah, this morning and last night were perfect. Falling asleep and waking up with you was incredible,” Nicole said. “It felt like—no, even better than—it used to.”
“Sweetie, you know I have to go back to New York, right?” Amber held Nicole closer as she felt her tense.
“Yes, but I’m ignoring that for now.”
“I don’t want you to ignore it, I want you to talk to me,” Amber said.
“Baby, you’ve been out of surgery for an hour, maybe two. Talking about you leaving can wait. Please? For me?” Nicole’s voice got quieter as she spoke.
“All right, it’ll wait until I get released. Then we need to talk. Fair?”
“Fair.” Nicole leaned up and kissed Amber softly.
“Now go get the others, or they’re going to be absolutely horrible to get rid of.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Nicole said as she got up.