“What happened?”
Gran runs her hand through my hair. “You were shot, honey. They had to remove the bullet. You lost a lot of blood, but you’re okay. You’re going to be okay.”
I scan the room.How long was I out?
“Where’s Shane? Gabriel?”
Gran’s gaze flicks to my mother, then back to me.
“You’re brother’s fine. He came by afterhe was bailed out.”
“Of jail?”
My mother rolls her eyes. “He almost got you killed, Ashton.”
“No.” I whip my head in her direction, shocked by the bite in her tone. “No, he’s the reason I’m alive.”
She scoffs. “You wouldn’t have even been at that place if it weren’t for him and that piece-of-shit kid he hangs out with.”
“Gabriel? Mom, he’s not a piece of shit! He’s my boyfriend.”
She laughs. “No. You’re done with them. When you get out of here, I’m taking you home.”
“The hell I am.” I try to sit up, but my muscles feel like Jell-O.
Gran places a hand on my shoulder. “Okay, enough. She’s been throughenough,Brenda.”
Mom crosses her arms over her chest and leans back in the chair. “I’m not losing another child to this godforsaken town.”
I sleep most of the day, slowly coming out of the fog a little more each time I wake. The next morning, my thoughts are clearer.
Where is everyone?I know my brother can be unreliable, but I can’t believe he hasn’t come back. And Gabriel? Where the hell is he?
Gran said Nik was here yesterday, but I was asleep. She’s texted a dozen times to tell me I better be okay.
“Have you talked to Shane?” I ask.
Gran nods. “He called this morning.”
“Is he coming to visit?”
She sighs. “No. I don’t think so.”
My shoulders slump.
“It’s not you, honey.”
I know what that means. It’s because of my mom, butI’d rather have my brother with me than her. I wish she’d just go away. She doesn’t even know me, but she thinks she knows what’s right for me.
“Ashton, your mother means well. She’s just scared. We didn’t know if you’d make it through surgery. She thought she was going to lose you. Give her some time to process.”
Three days I sit in the hospital stewing and waiting for one of the guys to show up. No one does. On day four I wake to a text Gabriel sent in the middle of the night.
This isn’t working, sorry.
Nik called shortly after I got home from the hospital to tell me they’re doing Akers’s memorial today.
I immediately got ready. I’m sore and tired, but I don’t care. I need to be there.
