“Hang on a second,” Cal commanded the paramedics, who paused in pushing me out of the room. His handsome face appeared over me. “I’m not leaving your side, Jill,” he assured me firmly. “I’m gonna make sure Harris knows the score with your sister and that other fuck. I’ll make sure he knows where to find me for a statement, and then I’ll be hopping up in that ambulance to ride with you.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay.”
He kept his word only a few moments later as he hopped up into the back of the ambulance, sliding onto the bench beside me. He took my hand, kissing my knuckles as the ambulance sped off.
It was only then I took what felt like my first real breath since this whole ordeal started.
****
“She needs rest,” Cal growled to the detective who’d been taking my statement for the past hour.
To say Cal was on edge was an understatement.
Having to hear firsthand what had happened had him fit to be tied. He also didn’t like how long it was taking or how close the detective had gotten to me.
The man had merely shaken my hand, a perfectly reasonable thing to do. But Cal was anything but reasonable at the moment.
I’d been examined and stitched up. All in all I’d been lucky, and all signs pointed to a relatively quick recovery. They still wanted to keep me overnight for observation.
Cal had nodded with restrained, albeit brooding silence.
The detective looked at Cal warily, his pen poised over the notepad he’d been taking my statement with. “I’ve got what I need.”
“What happens now?” I asked quietly.
“The DA will be bringing up charges. It’s far from a first offense for Miss Turner or Mr. Reeds,” he explained, referring to my sister and Brandon. “Based on the kidnapping plot and the amount of drug paraphernalia found on the premises, there will be serious jail time involved. That doesn’t include your being shot or the host of unlicensed weapons found at the house. And, as I understand it, she abandoned her children. The list of offenses is a mile long.”
My thoughts immediately went to Max and Emmie. I swallowed against the lump in my throat as my heart broke for them. Despite everything, they loved their mom. This would hit them hard, Max in particular. Emmie was still so young. I didn’t know what she’d understand.
I felt anger toward my sister juxtaposed with utter despair. She’d done this to herself, I knew that. That didn’t mean it didn’t pain me that she’d lost the opportunity to raise such amazing kids, that she’d wasted a life full of potential.
Cal took one look at me and knew I couldn’t speak. “Janelle’s children, Jill’s niece and nephew, have been placed in our custody,” he explained. “We’ll need this filed with CPS. We’ll be filing for permanent custody.”
My divorce lawyer had offered to take on our case. Though family law wasn’t his typical practice, this was, as he called it, an “open and shut” case.
The detective nodded.
Despite all the ugliness surrounding how it had come about, from the darkness had emerged something beautiful. A dream of family. And a family we would be.
****
Despite being utterly exhausted, I couldn’t sleep. I spent a large amount of time in a hospital as a nurse, but being a patient was something else entirely. All the noises were unfamiliar. Being checked every few hours by a nurse who, though capable, was somewhat brusque, made sleep feel impossible.
I just wanted to be home.
“Jill, you need to sleep, darlin’.” Cal’s voice sounded through the dark from his makeshift bed.
I sighed in exasperation. “I can’t.”
“What can I do?” he asked as I heard him sit up.
“Can you lie with me? Do you think you can fit?”
His deep chuckle rumbled through the room. “I didn’t think I could fit on this fuckin’ thing but somehow I did,” he replied, and I knew he was referring to his improvised bed. His large body loomed over me as he stood beside the bed. “Scoot. We gotta watch your leg, babe.”
I nodded, eager to have him close to me.
He eased down with remarkable grace and slid in beside me, pulling me carefully into his arms. He kissed my temple. “Okay?”
