I watch Evans fall. I watch him hit the ground with a sickening thud as Joe pulls me back over the balustrade, onto the balcony.
Rachel is passed out on the floor.
I crawl toward her. “Rachel.” My voice is hoarse desperate.
“She’s passed out.” Joe’s voice is calm. “You’re bleeding. I’m calling an ambulance.”
As the adrenaline recedes, the pain in my shoulder seizes me. Joe, done with his call, pulls me off Rachel’s inert body, takes care of my jacket, and starts to bind my shoulder.
My vision blurs. I hear sirens. I try to reach out to touch Rachel’s face but she’s too far away.
I panic. “I need to talk to her.”
“You will.” Joe’s voice comes from far away. More people enter the balcony. “He’s lost a lot of blood,” I hear him say. “She passed out.”
“Rachel…” I say her name, again and again. My voice rises. I see a strange face peering at my eyes. Then, I feel a pinprick, and everything goes from blurry to black.
When I wake up in the hospital, Rachel is on a chair beside my bed. I try to reach for her, and the machines around me go off. Medical personnel rush into the room, and I try to see her between their scrub-clothed bodies. They feed me some more drugs, and I’m sleeping again.
The next time I wake up, Rachel is still there. Now, she’s asleep, and I watch her for as long as I can before I drift off to sleep again.
“He’s stable now. As you know, the bullet barely missed a major artery. He’s very lucky.”
“As am I.”
I open my eyes to see Rachel talking to a man in scrubs. I try to say her name, and it comes out as a croak.
“Look who’s awake!” The doctor sounds too cheerful for his line of work.
“Rachel,” I croak again.
She’s already beside me, taking my hand, her eyes full of tears. “Landon.”
I try to smile, but my mouth feels like dust. “Rachel.”
“I’m here.”
I squeeze her hand then go under again.
They move me home the next day, with a nurse to help change the dressing on the wound and feed me pain medication.
The pain in my shoulder is a dull thud, nothing compared to the relief I feel when I see Rachel beside my bed.
I kept her safe.
For the rest of my life, I will be grateful that I was there, to put myself between her and Evans.
I kept her safe.
This time, I didn’t fail.
I wake up feeling peaceful, not sure if it’s morning or night. My shoulder is aching dully, but Rachel is beside me on the bed, and I can bear any pain just for the pleasure of watching her for a few moments.
I watch her sleep for a long time, curled up on her side, facing me.
My angel.
How did I get so lucky?