“No!” she screams. My shirt feels wet, but warm, though I feel really cold. “Knox? Knox!” I try to respond, but I can’t make my mouth shape the words. The faint sound of Jackson calling for help meets my ears as everything starts to become hazy. “Please, Knox! Knox!”
But the pain is too much to bear, and I let myself slip under, knowing she’s safe.
32
DELANEY
There are some things in life that nothing can ever prepare you for. How hard parenting actually is. The first time you lose your mom or dad. And watching the life leave the eyes of the man you love. There’s no cure for it. No way to rid yourself of the traumatic memory. It’s like your world moves to the next chapter and you can’t go back no matter how much you want to. Everything just goes forward.
The sound of Tessa’s heart monitor is a constant reminder of hearing Knox flat-lining so many times I lost count. I sat in the corner of the ambulance, watching them send electric shocks through his body with an unmatched panic. And when they pulled him into the hospital, all I could do was stare at the amount of blood he left behind.
“Laney?” My sister’s voice pulls me from my thoughts. When she sees the look on my face, she sighs—knowing exactly what I was thinking about. “I love you.”
I give her a sad smile but don’t answer. Not because I don’t love her, but because the last person I said those words to never got the chance to say them back. There isn’t a thing in the world I wouldn’t sacrifice to hear it come from his voice, all deep and sulky. He’d probably make it sound indignant—like it’s a bad thing to open up to someone and let them in that way.
A knock at the door gets our attention. “Mind if I come in?”
The doctor is young, probably fresh out of residency, but thorough to a fault. Since the second we got here, he insisted on having us both checked out. I got a clear bill of health, pending a psychiatric evaluation, but Tessa is going to end up being in here for at least a day or so for observation.
“I just want to make sure you’re not feeling any pain,” he tells Tess, since her head has been throbbing.
“No, I’m okay, but is there something you can give Delaney? I’m worried about her.”
I want to scream, to tell her I’m fine and that I just need time, but I can’t find it in me to say a single word. My mouth opens, but nothing comes out. It’s been that way for two hours now and shows no signs of getting better.
He gives me a sympathetic look and nods. “I’ll call psych and see what we can do.”
GRAYSON AND ZAYN SIT across the room, texting Wyatt about deleting the evidence of Mr. Montgomery’s murder from Cal’s computer—now that there’s an open investigation. If anyone can do it, it’s him. Easton is next to Tessa in bed and Savannah is running her fingers through my hair. No one knows what to say, so instead, they all stay quiet—which may even be worse.
The doctors and nurses start to whisper, and as I glance out the glass door, I see their eyes widen. It isn’t until I get up and walk toward the hall that I see why.
A surgeon, covered in so much blood it’s alarming, asks the nurse at the desk a question. She nods and points at me, giving me a sad smile as he comes my way. Half of me is screaming to run—with him looking like that, after nine hours, it can’t be good—but my feet won’t move. They’re planted in place, practically cemented to the floor.
“Miss Callahan?” I nod slowly. “I’m Dr. Garrison. I was the surgeon operating on Mr. Vaughn.” He looks at me, expecting an answer he isn’t going to get. Finally, he continues. “As you know, he had a gunshot wound to the chest. The bullet had punctured his aorta, and the amount of blood loss was substantial.” I take a deep breath as I wait to hear the words I know will kill me inside. “With that being said, we were able to repair the damage and get his heart beating again. However, given the amount of blood loss and the amount of trauma, we’re still very much in a wait and see stage.”
My hand flies up to cover my mouth as sobs wrack through me. “He—he’s alive?”
“He is.”
In that moment, my legs give out and I fall to the ground. Savannah rushes to my side, wrapping her arms around me and pulling me into her chest. As I look back into the room, my eyes meet Zayn’s—finding the same tears in his as well. He’s alive.
THE SECOND THEY WHEEL him into the ICU, with a tube down his throat to breathe for him and more monitors than I’ve ever seen, I’m instantly by his side. The nurses try to work around me, getting him hooked up to everything they need and situated, but it becomes too difficult.
“Sweetheart, why don’t you go wait with your sister, and we’ll come get you as soon as he’s done.”
I nod reluctantly, stepping out of the room and into the hall. The second I turn toward Tessa’s room, however, a familiar face stops me in my tracks.
Carter stands there with a bouquet of flowers in his hand, sporting a weak smile. I take a deep breath before walking over to him.
“Hey. What are you doing here?”
He shrugs. “My dad told me what happened. I was worried about you.”
It’s sweet, really, but he deserves someone who can reciprocate his feelings.
“Carter,” I start but he cuts me off.
“You’re choosing Knox, I know,” he says. “I get it. I can’t really compete with someone who actually took a bullet for you. I just wanted to make sure you’re all right.” His arms wrap around me for a gentle hug. “He’s a really lucky guy, Delaney. I hope it all works out for you.”