Ma reached over, patting my hand that was still holding pressure down. “They’ll take care of her, son.”
The driver pulled up to the emergency drop-off lane andparked. Niko got out and opened the door, then ran inside to flag someone down. By the time I made it to the door, a woman in blue scrubs with her hair up in a ponytail was coming with a wheelchair. But then she stopped and turned around, shouting something.
Within seconds, a gurney was in front of me. A man, also wearing blue scrubs, was putting a drape over his front. His hands were gloved as he came over to take her from me. I kissed her cheek as I swallowed down a lump in my throat.
“Sir, let us do our job,” the man said.
I handed her over gently and he put her down, then things moved fast.
They started to wheel her away. I stepped in that direction, but the man stopped me. “Sir, you can’t go back there. But can you tell me what happened?”
“She was shot.”
“Hunting accident?” he asked with furrowed brows.
“Stop fucking around with me and go fix my wife!” I shouted pointing down the hall.
Niko stepped between us. “That’s his wife and my sister. Just please do what you can.”
The nurse nodded and said, “Go to that desk and get her checked in. They’ll tell you where the waiting room is.” He jogged down the hall.
Niko walked with me and was calm and composed, albeit a little more stone-faced than normal. He spoke to the woman at check in as I paced. After a few minutes, he passed a clipboardback to her and then said, “Down this way.”
We turned the corner down a hall and found the waiting room. Ma was there with the driver. The rest was empty. She was standing and rushed over when she saw me. “How you holding up?”
I blew out a heavy sigh and took two long strides to her and wrapped her up.
“Oof. Hey, she’s gonna be alright.” She hugged me tightly, rubbing up and down my back.
“I’m sorry, Ma.”
“Hey, we’re good, son. Everything’s gonna be okay.”
Reaching one hand up to pinch at my eyes, I wiped the small amount of wetness that tried to escape. “Thanks for being with her. And with me.”
She pulled away. “Hey, look at me. I’m always with you, son. I’m always on your side. You understand me? I know you have the weight of the world on you. We’re good. I love you, son. Okay?”
Nodding, I pulled her closer again. I was still worried about Kat, but the hug from Ma was melting some of the unnecessary tension that had been built up. Even though I had trust issues with everyone else, I never doubted Ma. “I still shouldn’t have been such a dick. But I worry about you, Ma. I lost Pops. I’m not ready to lose you, too.”
“Well, I don’t plan on going anywhere. But we can’t stop living out of fear.”
Finally releasing her, still gripping her shoulders, Inodded. “I know. We’ll revisit things once this is all behind us.”
Her brows raised as she looked over my shoulder. Glancing back, two officers stood at the door. They slowly walked over.
The one with an Earnhardt stache and brown hair asked, “Are you Hawk Jones?”
“He is,” Niko said. “But we won’t be speaking to you.”
The clean shaven man with silver hair put a hand up. “Now son, let’s not make this difficult.” He had a heavy southern accent.
“This ain’t Mayberry,” I shot out.
Niko gave me a look, so I let him speak.
“An agent should be here shortly,” Niko said. “I was instructed not to speak to anyone but that agent.”
They both crossed their arms. Stache said, “Well, we were gonna just ask a few questions here, but I think we need to take a ride.”
