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A doctor turns to me.

“We’ve got it from here.”

“I’m not leaving,” I say. “She needs to know I’m here.”

She studies me for a second, then steps aside.

“We have blunt force trauma,” she calls out.

“Trauma bay four is open,” someone answers.

I stay behind them as they work. They scan her head, check swelling, and treat the wound. No surgery is needed, but the swelling must be monitored.

I hear them confirm her heart rhythm is stable.

I let out a breath I did not know I was holding and drop slightly back.

“She’s going to be okay,” the doctor says.

“Stable. Move her to room twelve. I need to check the gunshot wound,” another says, heading out.

They transfer her to a quieter room. I stay with her the entire time.

Once she is settled, the doctor turns to me again.

“Are you family?”

“I’m her boyfriend. Her brother is in California.”

“She is stable for now. We’ll monitor the swelling and run more tests.”

“Thank you,” I say.

She leaves.

I sit beside Jola and hold her hand. She does not respond.

I knew she might not yet, but I still wait for any sign.

She is alive. No surgery. That is what I keep repeating to myself.

I do not know what I would do if it had gone the other way.

I hesitate on calling Jonah. I will wait until I am certain she is fully stable before I say anything that could cause panic.

My phone pings.

Ice is checking my location.

Chapter sixty-one

Lexi/ Jola

My skull throbs with each beeping sound. Unfamiliar voices move around me, clinical terms floating past like debris in water.

Only one voice anchors me. His. Rough with exhaustion and fear.

I want to reach for him, to calm the the worry I hear etched in his voice, but my limbs feel heavy and unresponsive.