Too Far

29: Awake

Watching Louise get shot was one of the hardest things I'd ever had to do. Watching anyone get shot sucked, but this was worse. It felt frustrating to just have gotten to her and then have her ripped away cruelly. When Louise managed to shoot someone and Katherine shot the other, I wasted no time in grabbing her and rushing out. She'd cried out at first, but then she'd passed out either from blood loss or pain and I'd quickly picked her up and carried her out.

The bodyguard outside was stunned, but didn't move to hurt us. He actually helped us, walking with us to make sure no one attacked us. When asked why he helped us, he informed us that he'd wanted to get away from Robbie for years but couldn't run. He said what happened to Louise would always happen if someone tried to leave Robbie.

Now that Robbie was dead, the guard, whose name was Gavin, could happily be a tattoo artist and own all the cats he wanted. You go, Gavin. Live your life on the wild side.

And we didn't dare call the police for Louise. They had never done her much good, anyway. Instead, we took her to the hospital and they rushed her to the ICU. Other than a few odd looks, they didn't ask questions. They said it had been very far off any major organs or arteries, so she was safe for the most part.

She needed blood transfusions. Selena knew her blood type, though I'd have to ask about that later, and they did it safely. We couldn't see her for a while. It took a lot of convincing for them to let us see her at all; Katherine had disappeared as soon as she wasn't needed, though I knew she'd be in Virginia when we needed her at the trial. They said only family could see her.

"She doesn't have a family," I said, and at the same time Selena informed her that we were her family. She'd awkwardly caved and nodded.

"When the surgery is over, we'll inform you when she wakes up."

Selena and Jay sat close; she was currently sandwiched between us and laying her head on my shoulder while clinging to Jay's arm. "They said she'd be okay," Jay promised.

"This wasn't the first time she was shot," I muttered, still processing this. "They said there was a recent bullet wound in her leg, too. She shouldn't even be able to attempt to walk right now."

"She's strong and stubborn," said Selena, smiling. "The worst combination."

"I don't understand how she could sass Robbie and be completely terrified around cops," Jay remarked, laughing once. I silently agreed, my lips curling into a smile. "I never got that close to her," he said wistfully.

"I think she kept anyone that wasn't Emmett at arm's length," Selena said in amusement, looking up at me. "You were just irresistible, Emmett."

"And I forced her to talk to me," I added, grinning. "I never thought it would come to this." I took a long gulp of water, my mind whirling with thoughts of our first conversations.

"At least you'll remember how you came together so you can tell your kids the stories," she quipped.

I choked on my water. Before I was forced to formulate a reply, Jay said, "Selena, she probably won't want kids for fifty years after she's been through this."

"We're lucky if they don't throw her in jail," I muttered, shaking my head. "Or worse, a psych ward."

"She's been through so much!" Selena cried, shaking her head. "It'd be purely rude to lock her up after all this. She was forced into a lot of stuff."

"They don't care about that," Jay said in annoyance. "But we don't know. I'm sure we have a good chance for the trial."

"Why do you say that?"