Whispers in the workplace

Chapter 20

Sam's POV
Not only did I find out that my mother was alive for 7 years after being kidnapped, but I also have a sister, a psychotic one at that. I don't know how I should behave after learning all this information. I want to be a good brother to Scarlet and protect her from any dangers that she may face, but I feel as though she's been through everything already. Like if we were in a life or death situation she would have been through it 100 times more than me. I guess I'll need to start by getting to know her and showing her I can be trusted.

I sit on a bench in the garden, I like to come here when I need to think. It's secluded and peaceful, and exactly the right place for me to be right now.

After what felt like about an hour of sitting here I get a call from Elijah.
"Hey bro what's up?" I answer.
"Where the fuck have you been?" He growls.
"In the garden why?"
"I was trying to call you and tell you Scarlet had woken up, but we were attacked" he explained. "We're taking Jess and your dad to the hospital."immediately I feel my heart drop, I should have been there to help, but I was here instead. "How badly hurt are they?" I ask
"Jess has a serious gunshot injury in her leg, it's bleeding a lot" he sighs. "But your dad, he got shot in the rib cage, get to the hospital as fast as possible. It's not good, I'm sorry."

I hang up the phone, running straight to the front of the house where my car is parked. To say I was speeding on the way there is an understatement.

By the time I had reached the hospital, both my Dad and Jess had been rushed into emergency. Elijah is standing with Scarlet as she makes calls, the phone barely staying in her trembling hands. Levi is pacing, with his dad watching him, concern etched into his face.

I find my way over to Levi and Alexander, both of them turning to look at me with sympathy. "Do you know what's happened?" I ask.
"Luke has gone into surgery, the bullet only just missed his lungs" Alexander sighs. "Jess has also gone into surgery, they think there is a bullet fragment wedged into her bone. She has quite a bit of soft tissue damage to go with that as well."
"What are the chances of them surviving?" I ask, feeling my mouth and throat go dry.
"They have the best surgeons but we won't know until they are out of surgery" he sighs. "Are you doing okay?"
"I should have been there" the words leave my mouth before I can even think about what I am saying.
"There's nothing you could have done even if you were there" Levi sighs. "Your dad will be okay, he's tough."
"It's going to take a lot more than a bullet to take him down" Alexander adds.

We wait for about an hour before we get any news. "Who's waiting on news about Jessica Everly?" A nurse asks.
"That would be us" Levi states, his voice shaky even though he's trying to hide it. We all walk over to where the nurse is standing. Scarlet is hardly able to walk, her legs are shaky and she's on the verge of tears. Levi's trying his best to stay strong even though we can all see he's on his breaking point. Alexander is doing his best to comfort Levi and I, meanwhile Elijah's doing his best to keep Scarlet steady.

"The doctors were right, Jessica has soft tissue damage. The doctors successfully removed all bullet fragments. The bullet hit her femur resulting in a sliver of bone breaking off. She will have to stay in hospital for 2-3 months before she can go on to start physical therapy" the woman explains. "Do you have any questions?" Everyone looks around the group before Levi speaks up "could we go and see her?"
"She is resting at the moment but I will let you know when you can visit her" she replies, looking all of the men in this room up and down.

We wait for another while for either word on my dad or Jess. When a nurse comes out I shoot up and walk straight up to her. "Please tell me you have news on my dad, Luke Johnson" I plead.
"I do actually" she replies.
"Okay, and?" I growl.
"He is out of surgery, at the moment Mr Johnson is in a medically induced coma" she explains. "The doctors have put him in this coma to give his body the best chance to heal and recover. This helps with managing pain, preventing further damage and creating a controlled environment for Mr Johnson to rest and heal effectively. The coma also allows the medical team to closely monitor and care for him while his body works on healing."

Looking over at Scarlet she nods blankly her eyes distant, stained red from her tears. "When would we be able to visit him?" I ask, voice cracking.
"The doctors are just doing some tests at the moment. You can go visit Miss Everly though, she should be awake" she replies. This nurse is much more formal than the last and has not once looked at any of us in an unprofessional way.

The first two people in the room with Jess were Levi and Scarlet. "You look worse than me" Jess jokes, looking Levi and Scarlet over. "You're behaving like I'm dead."
"Already making jokes about hurting yourself and you're in a hospital bed" Scarlet chuckles.
"I was so worried that I'd lost you" Levi croaks.
"It'll take a bit more than that to take me down, and even then I won't go down without a fight" she teases. "On a side note, how's Luke? he was shot to, right?"
"He just got out of surgery, they've put him in a medically induced coma" I sigh.
"Oh, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine" I offer a weak smile hardly making eye contact.

"Ash, Matteo, Zara and Dmitri are all on their way. I called them when you were in surgery, they'll be here in the morning" Scarlet states.
"I, we haven't seen Zara in such a long time, I can't believe it" Jess squeals. In response Scarlet chuckles silently, the pain visible on her face.

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