I climbed in, heart hammering as they slammed the doors shut behind me. We started moving before I was even settled on the bench, and the paramedic immediately began cutting Wes’s shirt off and hooking him up to a bunch of wires. He slid an oxygen mask over his face and spoke to me as he worked.
“What happened? Is there any other trauma we should know about? A fight or anything before the GSW?”
I shook my head. “I don’t even know who shot him or where it came from.”
He nodded. “I won’t shake your hand. But my name is Cal. What can you tell me about your boyfriend? Any medical issues I should know about?”
“I don’t…I don’t really know. He’s healthy and only takes a vitamin in the morning. I know that.”
“That’s good.” He glanced at a machine flashing numbers. “His vitals are strong. We’re going to be at the hospital in less than five minutes, and then the doctors will take a look at him and probably run him right up to surgery to stop the bleeding.”
“Okay.”
Wes looked so pale, and it freaked me out how still he was. I sat frozen, clutching the rail like I needed it to hold me together. A few minutes into the ride, he stirred. His arms were strapped down, but he was clearly trying to move them.
“Wes.” I leaned forward. “Can you hear me?”
His eyes fluttered, then opened, and he looked around, dazed and confused.He tried to lift his head and speak, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying with the oxygen mask over his face.
“Easy, man. Don’t try to move,” the paramedic said. “You’re in an ambulance, and you’re okay. But we need you to stay still.”
Wes’s eyes met mine for a second before shutting again.
“What happened?” I asked, panicked. “He was awake.”
“Totally normal. People come to and nod off again.” He moved closer to Wes and spoke louder. “We’re almost there. Your girl is fine, buddy.”
The ambulance rocked as it sped through traffic, sirens wailing, and blue and red lights flashing on Wes’s face. When we pulled up at the hospital, the back doors burst open, just like in the movies. A team of doctors and nurses swarmed, lifted Wes out, and then we were running—pushing through corridors, wheels clattering, voices calling out numbers I didn’t understand. I jogged behind the gurney until a nurse held out her hand to stop me.
“You’ll have to wait here.”
“But…” I looked over her shoulder. Wes was already disappearing down the hallway.
“We’re going to take good care of him. The best thing you can do for him now is see the clerk at the admitting desk and give her whatever medical history you know. Is this your husband?”
I shook my head. “Boyfriend.”
“What’s his name?”
“Wes Callahan.”
She attempted to smile but didn’t quite finish the job. “I’ll give you an update as soon as we have one.”
I nodded, feeling helpless as the gurney turned a corner and vanished from sight.
***
A half hour later, I was pacing in the waiting room. I’d checked in with the admitting clerk twice already, and she’d assured me someone would come speak to me when they were done examining Wes and getting him stable. But every minute that ticked by felt like an hour.
The emergency room had a set of sliding glass doors that had opened and closed a dozen times since we got here. Each time I looked up, yet I couldn’t tell you what a single person who’d walked in looked like. Until now. Because this guy looked exactly like the men I grew up around—like someone from my father’s crew. Or…a rival family’s. He glanced in my direction, and my breath caught in my throat. Could he be the one who shot at me? At us? The reason Wes was lying in a hospital bed? I held my breath as he walked up to the admitting window. The clerk pointed across the room, and a moment later, he walked over and hugged a woman waiting in the chairs on the other side.
I breathed, but the knot in my chest didn’t loosen.
The guy didn’t seem to be a threat, but he was a much-needed reminder.I need to call my father.
I walked over to the woman behind the glass who had taken Wes’s information. “Excuse me. Can you tell me where the chapel is?”
She pointed to a doorway. “Down the hall, take the first right, and it’s the first door on your left.”
