Tucker tried to get me to sit down, even suggesting Evan run ahead to get help, but my focus was on getting to Jess and Grace, and so I pushed through. The walk stole my breath, forcing me to stop several times along the way as each step became more strenuous. The adrenalin that had been pumping through me since finding the girls began to wane, and the heaviness returned. So did the pain.
When we finally arrived at the outcrop building, I had to lean against the doorframe, so light-headed now that I could almost feel myself fading away. Evan knocked and identified himself. The door swung open, and out came the girls. Hands were on me, guiding me in. The black dots swarming my eyes returned, and I had trouble focusing on what was happening around me. I was lowered onto a chair.
Jess’s hands were on my face, her focus solely on me. “He’s clammy. His skin’s so pale. Someone hand me a water bottle.”
I could hear her talking, but the change in altitude from standing to sitting caused my head to revolve like a Tilt-a-Whirl.
Grace crowded me from the other side, pulling down my collar in rescue mode. At least she’d found her strength again, I thought. She was going to need it for what was to come. “Is it the shoulder? I can’t tell.”
Elliott didn’t wait to find out, instead ripping the material clean in half to reveal my bare, bloody skin.
“It’s not in the shoulder,” Grace said. I could almost taste her fear. “Where’s the ambulance? Why aren’t they here yet?”
I must have closed my eyes for a second because Jess was slapping me awake. “Quinn? Hey. Stay with me. Don’t you dare go anywhere.”
“I won’t.”
And then I was gone.
* * *
When I opened my eyes, I was flat on my back, with both Jess and Grace inches from my face. They were talking to me, asking me questions, but their voices sounded so far away. Both girls looked as if they’d been dipped in blood. It was on their hands, their faces, their hair, their clothes. I blinked, trying to remember who was injured.
Lifting a heavy hand, I touched a finger to Jess’s cheek.
“It’s not mine,” she said, instantly understanding my concern. “You’ve been shot, Quinn. You’ve lost a lot of blood. Help is on the way.”
I tried to sit up but was pushed back down by what seemed like a hundred hands. “Don’t move. Everything’s going to be fine.”
That wasn’t what it sounded like. Jess looked horrified. Grace looked worse. Even sedate Elliott looked panic-stricken. Was this really it? Was this really how I was going to die?
I grabbed Jess’s hand. “Kiss me.”
“Quinn, I don’t think that’s…” She met my eye. Whatever she saw stopped her protest. Sweeping her hair to one side, Jess pressed shallow kisses to my lips.
“My heart hurts.”
Tears flooded her eyes. “I know, babe. Hang in there.”
My eyes closed. She slapped my face. I opened my eyes.
“Hey. I love you,” she said through more kissing sobs. “So much. You’re going to fight for me, right?”
There was so much I wanted to say but didn’t have the breath for. “Yes.”
“For me and Noah. For us. You’re going to fight for us.”
“For us,” I agreed, struggling to keep my eyes open as I slid my thumb over her blood-tainted lips. So beautiful. “Marry me.”
A sad smile formed. “Quinn, you can’t ask me that now.”
Drawing whatever air I could into my lungs, I repeated, “Marry me, Jess.”
I didn’t get my answer because seconds after it was asked, the EMTs arrived, instructing everyone to back away as they assessed the damage and came up with a hasty plan to keep me alive. Jess stepped back but positioned herself in my line of sight. Our eyes held, and the love in hers soothed me.
She never looked away, even as I was lifted onto the stretcher and wheeled to the ambulance. And just as the doors were shutting, I implored her with my eyes. I needed an answer.
“Yes,” she called to me. “I will marry you.”
