by Steph Nuss
***
It was noon when the phone at the clinic rang. We were usually closed over the lunch hour, but since Justin and Carter hadn’t arrived yet, I answered the call, thinking it might be a patient needing to reschedule an appointment.
Grabbing the phone, I answered in my normal cheerful voice. “Dr. Ellyson’s office, this is Tessa speaking, how may I help you?”
“Tessa.”
“Carter?” His voice was so wary. The way he said my name, along with the sounds of sirens howling in the background, immediately sent my body into a panic. “You never call the clinic. You usually text one of our phones. What’s going on?”
He took a deep breath and exhaled it. “There was a shooting on campus today. Washington Square Park to be exact.”
“Trey.” My eyes immediately filled with tears. His words were like a swift kick in the gut, sucking the air right out of my lungs as I covered my mouth to stifle a sob. “Do you know if Trey’s okay?”
“He’s fine.”
I wiped a tear away, and then I asked, “And Justin? Is he okay?”
He paused for a second, and that one-second pause told me all I needed to know.
He’s not okay.
“He was shot,” Carter finally said. “He’s lost some blood, so we’re headed to the hospital now. Trey’s riding with us, too.”
I covered the receiver of the phone with both hands, and finally let a sob escape from my chest. Elly walked into the lobby, and I did my best to compose myself as I explained what had happened.
She put the call on speaker.
“Carter, what hospital are you guys headed to?”
“I don’t know, babe,” he replied. “When we get there, I’ll text you so you know where to go.”
“Okay,” she said, grabbing my purse and coat. “We’ll get there as soon as we can. I love you.”
“I love you too, Elly.”
“Wait,” I interjected, before Elly hung up. “Can I talk to them? I need to talk to Trey and Justin.”
“Of course.”
I heard some shuffling on the other end, and then Trey’s voice greeted me. “Hey, Tess.”
“Hey,” I said softly, my eyes refilling with tears. I ached to physically touch him and make sure he was okay. It didn’t matter that he was an adult now and could take care of himself. I’d always see him as the little brother I raised. “You’re all right?”
“Yeah, I’m good. Although this ambulance could have more comfortable seating.”
I smiled at his sarcasm, and then thought about the reason they were in the ambulance. “Is he all right?”
“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” More shuffling ensued on the other end, and then I heard Justin’s breathing and started crying all over again.
“Don’t cry, panion. I’m going to be okay.”
“God, I hope so,” I said, my voice shaking with snivels. “I can’t lose you.”
“You’re not going to lose me.”
Taking a deep breath, I exhaled slowly in an attempt to calm myself down for him. His voice was deep and languid on the other end of the phone, which only worried me more. “Promise me?”
He laughed weakly. “I promise.”
“You can’t go into any lights or go through any pearly gates, okay?”
“Okay.”
“I love you.” We hadn’t said those words to each other yet, and I hated myself for waiting until now to say them to him. “I hate that I’m telling you that for the first time over the phone while you’re in an ambulance.”
“Then meet me at the hospital and tell me them in person after I get out of surgery,” he quipped, allowing me to hear the smile in his voice.
“It’s a date.”
“I won’t stand you up.”
“I know you won’t.”
“Tessa?”
I smiled, loving the sound of my name. “Yeah, panion?”
He cleared his throat, and in a tone slightly more upbeat than before, he replied, “I love you.”
“Okay, okay,” Trey griped, taking the phone away from him. “You guys love each other. We get it. Just meet us at Langone. We just arrived, and they need to get him in there.”
“We’re on our way. Keep me updated with texts until we get there.”
“Will do.”
Chapter Seventeen
By the time Elly and I arrived at Langone, Justin was already in surgery, and the surgical waiting room was filled with people waiting to hear about their loved ones. Carter had called all of our friends, and Fletcher picked up Bayler and Mrs. J. on his way to the hospital. Everyone was here for him, but the only person I wanted to see besides Justin right now was Trey.
I rushed over to him, relieved to see him with my own two eyes, and tightly wrapped my arms around his waist.
He sighed. “Tessa, I’m fine.”
“I know.” I pulled away and studied him closely. “But you could’ve been seriously hurt.” I noticed the sweatshirt he had on wasn’t his, but relaxed when I didn’t see any blood on him or any signs of injury.
“The sweatshirt is Carter’s,” he said, looking down at the black material. “I used my button-down to stop the bleeding.”
My heart ached for him because it’d happened to him again. All the blood. The fear of the unknown. The panic of trying to save a life. Those were Trey’s nightmares, even if he didn’t physically have them. I knew without asking that today brought all those memories back for him. Except instead of trying to save me, he’d saved the man I love.
Rubbing my hand up and down his arm, I leaned into him and rested my head on his shoulder. “Thank you for helping him. I know it wasn’t easy for you.”
“It was the right thing to do,” he muttered, looking away from me. “He was hit in the shoulder, but it was still a lot of blood. The EMTs said they’d seen worse, thought he’d make a full recovery, but shit, Tessa, you see shows all the time where they go in stable and still don’t make it.”
“Those are just shows, Trey.” I moved into his line of sight and made him look at me. I could still see the thirteen-year-old boy who’d been scared I wouldn’t survive a stab wound. “You have to think positive. What you went through today was awful. I can’t imagine the things you saw or the things you heard, but I need—no, we need—you to be optimistic. Can you do that? For me?”
“Yeah.” He nodded solemnly.
“Thank you.”
“I’m going to take a walk,” he said, smiling down at me weakly. “Will you let me know if you hear any updates on him?”
“Of course.”
He pushed off the wall and started down the corridor, running a hand through his short, brown hair. Exhaustion exuded from every one of his features. His normal, confident swagger was hindered, and worry lingered in his gray eyes.
It was early afternoon, but it felt like midnight. We’d all gone from thinking about lunch to hoping one of our own was going to be all right. And I needed to believe he’d be all right.
“You going to take your own advice?” Carter asked, grabbing me by the shoulders. He turned me to face him, and allowed a smile to spread across his face.
“He’s my brother. I have to be strong for him.”
“Then it’s a good thing you have us here.” He pulled me in for a hug, and I tightly clung to his back. “Justin’s going to be okay.”
Inhaling a deep breath, I mentally demanded my tears to stay away as I exhaled. “He has to be.”
He ushered me over to the chairs where our friends sat, and planted me in the seat between Elly and Mrs. J. I felt a hand cover mine, and I looked down to see Mrs. J.’s bony fingers wrapping around mine.
“All we can do for him right now is pray,” she said, relaxing back into her seat.
I’d never prayed in my life. Not about real, worrisome things, anyway. Leaning my head back against the wall, I turned toward her and whispered, “I’m in love with him.”
“I know.” She smiled sweetly, her bright blue eyes the sam
e as Justin’s gazing back at me. Her grip tightened on my hand as she closed her eyes. “But don’t let your love for him make you worried sick over him. He wouldn’t want that, and you know it. He’d want you to be proud of him because if he hadn’t taken that bullet today, someone else would have, and they might not be as strong as Justin.”
***
An hour later—maybe more—I wasn’t sure, I was still impatiently waiting for an update on Justin. I’d lost all sense of time while restlessly milling around. Even Mitzi and Burg had shown up at the hospital to see Justin. All of us were growing more anxious the longer we waited. Trey had come back to the waiting room and fiddled with his camera to pass the time. Maverick and Harper called Mav’s mom to check up on Seghen. Paige made a few calls for work. Carter massaged Elly’s swollen feet. The rest of us stared at the doors, willing any sort of hospital personnel to walk through them with news.
When I saw Whitley push through the doors wearing her nursing scrubs, I jumped up from my seat and rushed over to her. “Please tell me you know something.”
She smiled softly and glanced around at all of us. “He’s doing well.”
Thank God. I allowed the knots in my stomach to loosen slightly.
“They did encounter a minor complication, but—”
“What kind of complication?” Elly asked, brows furrowed.
Whitley kept her calm demeanor as she explained. “Justin’s right lung collapsed shortly after surgery began, but that’s very common among surgical patients who undergo anesthesia. The anesthesia changes a person’s breathing pattern, which can sometimes cause a collapsed lung. So, like I said, just a minor complication that they easily corrected, and then they moved on to fixing the damage caused by the bullet.”
“So, he’s okay?” Trey asked timidly.
At this point, Whitley was surrounded by all of us, eager to know more about him.
“Yes,” she said more cheerfully. “He should be back in his room now.”
A warm sensation spread through my chest as happy tears threatened my eyes. “When will we be able to see him?”
“Well,” she giggled, gazing at each of us. “I don’t think you’ll all fit in his room at once, so we might have you go in groups. But let’s let the anesthesia wear off and check him over once more before any visitors go back.”
Just like that, she’d given us the news we needed to relax. The gang dispersed around the waiting room. Some went to get drinks. Some were already on the phone ordering in food. Mrs. J. could finally go use the restroom. But I just stood there, smiling at Whitley.
“Thank you,” I said, wrapping my arms around her.
“Janice called me right after I got called in to work,” she replied, hugging me back. “I promised her I’d check on him as often as I could.”
I nodded. “I should probably let you get back to work.”
“The emergency room is completely full,” she stated, as she redid her ponytail. “So many people have come in just from injuring themselves trying to get out of the park with the snow and ice. Then there are the patients who were actually shot. But they’re all doing well so far, no fatalities. So, that’s good.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“I’ll come back out and get you when he’s awake and ready for you, okay?”
“Okay,” I said, grinning wider. “Thanks again, Whitley. I really appreciate you looking out for him.”
“Anytime!”
When I walked back over to my seat in the waiting room, Paige sat down beside me and smiled. “How are you doing?”
“Better,” I answered, relief washing away some of my anxiety. “Knowing he’s going to be all right helps.”
She nodded.
“I was just so scared he wasn’t going to make it, that he was going to be taken from me,” I confessed, shaking my head. I hadn’t really voiced those feelings or allowed myself to listen to those thoughts, but they were in the back of my mind taking root this entire time. “I know that’s selfish of me to think, but we just started dating, and then this happens. I feel so stupid for not telling him how I felt sooner. For worrying about such minuscule crap instead of pursuing a love I’ve always wanted. Now, I have him, and today, I could’ve easily lost him. Have you ever experienced a love like that, Paige?”
She was quiet for a moment before she nodded. “Yeah, I have.”
I craned my neck, shooting her an incredulous stare. “What happened? How come you’ve never talked about it?”
She swallowed hard and a jaded smile curled at her lips. “It’s been more than a decade, and it’s still too hard to talk about. Even thinking about him still hurts.”
The sadness in her voice made my heart break as I reached for her hand and covered it with mine.
“But that’s how first great loves are supposed to be,” she concluded with a shrug. “They’re supposed to make you hurt. There’s nothing selfish about loving someone so much you’re afraid to lose them.”
***
I woke up with a huge bandage over my right shoulder. The room was empty, but I heard the sound of machines and the hospital buzzing outside my room. A nurse peeked in and smiled at me, and then called for someone over her shoulder.
“Your nurse will be right in, Dr. Jameson.”
I nodded carefully and relaxed back into the pillow. I tried moving my right arm, but a slice of pain shot through it, so I settled for keeping it stable. The rest of my body felt fine. Sure, I was a little tired, but I figured it was the drugs still lingering in my system.
“You’re awake!”
Whitley’s upbeat voice grabbed my attention and I smiled at her. “How long have I been out?”
“Not long actually,” she laughed, as she went about checking my vitals. “You have quite the fan club out there waiting to come visit you though.”
I appreciated all of them being here for me, but the one person I was most concerned about was Tessa. I remembered the discussion we had over the phone prior to arriving at the hospital. She was a mess when I talked to her, but she’d told me she loved me. “How’s she doing? Is she upset and crying, or under control and concerned?”
The smile on Whit’s face grew. “The latter. Tessa’s a strong girl.”
“Yeah, she is. And Grandma?”
“She’s lived through wars; she can handle her grandson being shot.”
I laughed weakly. “Now, you’re starting to sound like her.”
“She’s a wise old bird.”
Nodding, I closed my eyes for a second and allowed the hit of the pain medicine to take me while Whit went through her routine. I could still hear the cries and the shots being fired in the park. The sirens racing to the scene. An image of Trey’s distraught face as he tried to stop the bleeding crept into my vision, but I blinked it away. It felt like the shooting had happened days ago, but I knew it had been only hours.
“Whit?”
“Yeah?”
“How many people were shot?”
“Eight, including the shooter.”
“How are they doing?”
She placed her hand on my arm and smiled. “They’re all alive and doing fine.”
“Good,” I said, nodding. “That’s good to hear.”
“Yes, it is.” She looked through my chart, and then back at me. “Are you ready for some company or would you like to rest?”
“That depends …” I stated in my most charming tone, smiling to show off my dimples as I grabbed the remote and adjusted the bed so I could sit up. “Will you let Tessa stay with me?”
“You know I can’t say no to your dimples,” she said, shaking her head. “Of course, she can stay as long as she wants.”
“Then bring them on back.”
Minutes later, I could hear Grandma’s voice carrying down the hall. Then she appeared in the doorway with Tessa and Trey close behind her as the three of them led in our friends.
“I tried to get them to come in groups,” Whitley said, rolling her eyes. “Obviously, tha
t didn’t work.”
I laughed. “It’s fine.”
“Justin …” Grandma said with a smile, shaking her head. She patted me on the cheek and gave me a kiss on the forehead. “I knew you’d be okay. You’re not allowed to go on the menu before me.”
“I know,” I stated, appreciating her teasing nature. “That’s exactly what I told the doctors before they took me in to surgery.”
“Oh, I’m sure you did!” she laughed, and then studied my shoulder. “But you’re doing okay?”
“Good as new,” I said, catching Tessa’s gaze. She was huddled off to the side, gazing back at me like she wanted me all to herself.
The feeling was mutual. After all, I had a date to uphold.
But I’d entertain our friends until then.
Trey stepped up to my bed and took my left hand in his. “I’m glad you’re doing good, man.”
“Thank you,” I said, tightening my grip, “for not letting me bleed to death in a park.”
He laughed lightly and then shrugged. “It was nothing.”
“It was something,” I reiterated, glancing back at Tessa who was attempting to hide the fact that she was wiping a tear from her eye.
Then my friends surrounded the bed, eager to know every little detail about how it all happened, so Trey and I told them. Carter filled in the spots from how he experienced it, and told them about the ride to the hospital.
“Did they get the bullet out of you?” Cash asked curiously. “It’d be pretty badass if they didn’t. You can walk around with a bullet for the rest of your life, right?”
“Yes, but I won’t because they did get it.”
“Really?” Fletcher asked amused. “Where is it?”
Maverick smacked him. “Why do you want to see it?”
“I don’t know,” he replied with a shrug.
Carter shook his head as he wrapped his arm around Elly’s shoulders. “If it were me, I would’ve told them to get rid of it. That’s not a keepsake I’d want.”
“Same here,” Maverick said.
Agreed, I thought. I had no desire to see the bullet.
“Have you at least gotten to see your scar?” Cash asked.