No harm list.

Part 4

Well, that would explain why I was lightheaded. The paramedic immediately grabbed my left upper arm and pulled me towards the ambulance, forcing me to lay on my stomach on a stretcher laid out on the ground. Once I had laid down, I obeyed the command to relax. Almost immediately, pain began to shoot through my side. I gasped in pain, holding back a groan as my newly discovered wound was poked and prodded. I whimpered as the stretcher was lifted into the ambulance, jostling me, and sending a lance of pain through my body. The last glimpse I had of outside was of Nicholas and his father staring after me with varying degrees of concern. When the doors closed the paramedic beside me made sure that I was strapped in and comfortable, before signaling to her partner to start driving. I bit back a groan as the ambulance moved forward, before finally succumbing to the darkness.

I was first aware of a consistent beeping, which after a moment got really annoying. I was next aware of quiet voices near me, talking about who knows what. All that I knew was that they sounded familiar. As I struggled to place the voices, I felt a throb of pain in my side as I shifted to get more comfortable. I gasped in a breath trying to muffle my moan of pain. Immediately the voices stopped, and I heard movement beside me before one of the voices spoke in a clearer voice.

"Seren, sweetheart. It's okay, we're here, honey." The concern and love in the woman's voice made me finally register who was beside me.

"Mom? Dad?" My voice was hoarse, as if I hadn't used it in a while.

"That's right, sweetheart. Boy, you gave us a scare when the police called to say you were in hospital. They explained everything and we also met the boy you saved, and he told us what had happened to you. He was a very nice boy, and his father –"

"Charles, that is enough. You are rambling. She doesn't need to hear everything right now. There will be plenty of time for that later. Now sweetie, do you want me to call the nurse, or do you want to talk for a bit first?"

I thought about the options. If mom called thenurse, then I was likely to be given pain killers and probably go to sleepagain. If we talked, that would mean that mom and dad would probably call theboys so that they were also updated. I didn't really have any energy to dealwith the boys, so I chose option one. 

"Could you call the nurse in? I don't think I have the energy to deal with the boys right now."

"Of course dear." Mum got up to go to the door, while dad sat back in his chair with a chuckle. I just smiled at him.

"You know, the boys are going to call soon. We didn't really tell them anything, except that you were in volved with a robbery and are now in the hospital."

Right at that moment, dad's phone rang. He pulled it out, glanced at the screen then showed it to me with a smile. I glanced towards the door, hoping that mom would return with the nurse in any second, if only so I didn't have to deal with my brothers. When I looked back at dad, he was smirking with his finger hovering over the answer button. I shook my head at him, desperately hoping that he wouldn't answer the call. Of course he didn't listen. Once he had accepted the call, dad put it on speaker.

"Hey Caspian. Are all of you there? By the way you're on speaker."

"Yeah, we're all here. Is Ren okay?"

"Well, Seren. Are you okay?"

I groaned and buried my head in my hands. Why did I have to put up with this? I grumbled an answer, dad's smug smile doing nothing to help. Mom and the nurse had not yet made an appearance, so I got ready to deal with my four over protective brothers.

"Sorry, what was that? You might have to speak up, so the boys can hear you."

"Shut up, dad. Hey guys, I am okay. My side is throbbing a little, so mom has gone to get the nurse so I can have painkillers. Who knew getting shot hurt so much." The last part was said quietly, but not quietly enough. There was silence on the other end of the line. All I could hear was the heavy breathing of four men.

"You were shot?" I winced. I had forgotten that Gilbert could yell really loud. The other three were muttering, though I couldn't tell if they were talking to each other or to themselves.

"Yeah, I was. I thought that mom and dad told you I was involved with a robbery, and that I was in the hospital."

"They neglected to tell us that you had been shot. We thought that you had broken a bone or fractured something. Nothing as extreme as getting shot." Alistair was normally the calm and collected one, so I was a little surprised to hear the slight hysteria in his voice. Though, I guess it was a normal reaction when you hear that your baby sister has been shot.

"Why were you shot? And where? Also, what were you thinking?" Trust, Alex to get to the point. I was silent for several moments, getting my thoughts together. I then launched into the story, starting at the beginning, just so I could unload about Tracy, as well as give the boys context.

"Then the leader of the robbers recognised Nicholas, and had his men drag the kid up to in front of him, where he proceeded to say that he recognised him, and how Nicholas' father had given him so much grief. The leader then decided it was a good idea to shot the kid. But before he could, I remembered the self-defence lessons you boys gave me, and I proceeded to kick ass." Hear dad coughed and looked at me in reprimand. I smiled sheepishly at him, then continued with my story. "After I had delt with the goons, I managed to get close enough to tackle the kid from the path of the bullet. As I did so, I heard the gun go off, but I didn't feel the bullet hit me. I guess the adrenaline kept me from realising that I had been shot. Then the police took care of everything, and I was checked out by the paramedics, told I was shot and whisked off to the hospital. And here we are."

Once I had finished my story, I heard several sighs come from over the line. Dad looked at me, slightly confused. But before he could ask me anything, Leo beat him to it.

"So not only did you get shot, but you also beat up several men?"

I gave an affirmative, then looked at dad, prompting him to ask me his question.

"When did the boys teach you self-defense?"