“We got this Jules,” Owen said. “Sit. Pray.” Owen took her over and sat her in a chair. Then he pulled out his phone and started making calls.
Jules closed her eyes and started praying and didn’t stop until she felt hands take her own.
“We’re here.” It was Zoey. She was kneeling in front of Jules, tears in her eyes. Everyone else she cared about, who cared about Damion, was gathered around her.
Jules jumped up and hugged her friends, holding on tight to them as if they could possibly will the last hours away.
“Why?” everyone asked.
She heard someone say it was all over the news, but she didn’t care. All she cared about was Damion. All she could think about was him. Time passed so slowly. Each heartbeat, each breath, pained her.
Lea and Brett arrived, and Lea quickly disappeared down the long hallway. Brett came up to her, knelt in front of her, and handed her a cup of coffee.
“Your favorite,” he said softly.
“Thanks.” She took it and was shocked at how hot it was on her chilled fingers. She hadn’t even realized she’d been cold.
“I know this is tough, but you might want to hear it, so…” he started.
“Lisa is dead,” she said firmly.
“Yes.” Brett sighed. “So is Joe, her husband. Shot by Lisa hours, possibly days, before.”
Jules let that bit sink in. The man who had aggressively flirted with her. He hadn’t deserved this. Jail. But not death.
Jules swallowed. “Why?”
Brett sighed. “There’s a video going around. She posted a video of her husband’s murder. We’ll go into it later.” He cupped her hands over the coffee. “This had nothing to do with you or Damion. It was just a very sick woman lashing out. The two of you just got in her way.”
Jules nodded then looked up when Lea came back.
“He’s just coming out of surgery,” Lea said with a smile. “He has a very good chance.”
Her words didn’t make Jules relax. She needed to see him. Needed to hold him. Needed to look into his eyes and see his smile. To hear his laughter.
Tears rolled down her cheeks. Her coffee was taken from her and arms wrapped around her as she cried until everything went fuzzy.
She snapped back to attention when she heard his parents talking. When had they arrived?
Wiping her eyes, she saw them standing across from her, talking quietly with her own parents. Her mother had Jules’s duffel bag in her arms.
When her mother noticed her looking at her, she rushed over.
“I brought you some clothes, sweetie.” Her mother knelt next to her and hugged her. “They said…” Her mother took a deep breath. “Let’s go get you cleaned up.”
Jules moved as a child would, unsure of each step, her mother’s arms wrapped around her, along with Aubrey’s.
“We got you,” Aubrey said with a smile.
Instead of leaving her alone in a massive bathroom, her mother and Aubrey helped her clean up and change into clean jeans and a T-shirt and sweatshirt. Her mother had even brought her another pair of shoes.
When they stepped back out of the bathroom, a doctor was talking with Damion’s parents. Jules rushed over.
“What?” she said eagerly. “What’s happened?”
The doctor turned to her and smiled. “He’s out of surgery and in the ICU. He’ll be waking up soon and can have one visitor at a time.”
Jules reached out and gripped the man’s hand as if it was a lifeline. “Thank you,” she said, tears rolling down her cheeks again. Then she burst forward and hugged the stranger as if he was her best friend.