Page 43 of Finally

My head hurt and my brain felt foggy as I tried to make sense of what had just happened. One minute, I was listening to John as he skirted around yet another issue, and the next, I heard Greg shout and then he was running toward me. I knew something had gone terribly wrong by the wild look in his eyes and it scared me. I wasn’t afraid for myself, but for the man I loved. I knew that he would put himself between me and any danger because he’d done it before. A loud popping noise cracked through the air and then Greg was on top of me. My head slammed against the stage as we fell, and my vision went fuzzy.

I opened my eyes and blinked, forcing them to focus. I could hear people screaming and the sounds of hundreds of feet moving as the audience fled the grandstands. Greg was heavy on top of me, and as my brain began to clear, I realized he wasn’t moving. Something warm and wet dripped down the side of my neck, soaking the collar of my shirt. I lifted my hand and swiped at it. My stomach turned and a new fear raced through me as I pulled my hand away and saw it was coated in blood.

A quick inventory of my body told me that I wasn’t hurt other than the ache in my head. It wasn’t my blood, which meant it had to be Greg’s. “Greg! Greg, wake up. You’ve got to move, baby, so I can see where you’re hurt.” Tears filled my eyes when he didn’t respond. Please, don’t let me lose him now. Not when we finally got a second chance. Please, please, please.

I continued the litany in my head as I tried to figure out what to do. I needed to see where he was injured, but I was afraid of causing more damage if I moved him the wrong way. What if I hurt him more by trying to help? Tears filled my eyes at the thought of causing him pain. Greg would know what to do. He always knew what to do. He was the strongest man I knew, but he couldn’t help because he was the one who’d been hurt. Something had happened to him and now he was bleeding and he wasn’t moving, and I didn’t know what to do. Panic seized me and I started to shake, but I forced myself to remain calm. Greg needed me now. He’d stood in the line of danger to protect me and now it was my turn to take care of him.

Lifting him gently, I started to scoot out from under him. Suddenly, a pair of hands were there, helping me to move him. Brandon rolled Greg onto his side and relief flooded through me as he let out a thin, pained groan. “It’s okay, buddy. We’ve got you and help is on the way,” Brandon said soothingly as he moved his hands over his friend’s body, assessing the damage.

Greg sucked in a breath, his eyes screwing shut as Brandon ripped his own shirt off and pressed it against Greg’s shoulder. “Topher,” Greg rasped.

“I’m right here, baby.” I reached for his hand and he gripped it tightly.

His eyes opened, landing on me and I saw the fear that still lingered in their gray depths. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“Shhh. I’m fine. You kept me safe, just like you said you would,” I assured him.

“Good…tired…” His words were slurred, and his eyes fluttered shut. His skin had taken on a gray pallor that worried me.

I kissed his forehead then sat up. My chest tightened as I noticed for the first time just how much blood was covering the two of us. “How bad is he?” I asked Brandon.

Brandon’s mouth was set in a firm line as he kept one hand pressed to Greg’s front and the other to his back. “He was shot in the shoulder. The bullet went straight through, which is good. That means it’s not still moving around inside him, but he’s lost a lot of blood and I can’t get it to slow down. They need to get here quick or else…”

He stopped talking as he saw the stricken look on my face, but it was too late. I knew exactly what he was going to say. If Greg didn’t get help soon, he was going to bleed out. Tears rolled down my cheeks, but I brushed them away angrily. We’d been robbed of so much time, but somehow, we’d managed to find each other again and our love was stronger than ever. We’d earned the right to be together and I’d be damned if I was going to let him go now.

“What can I do?”

Brandon looked at me, probably making sure I wasn’t going to fall apart. When he saw the determination in my eyes, he nodded once. “Give me your jacket. I need something to hold against his back.”

I stripped my jacket off quickly and Brandon held his hand out for it, but I shook my head. “No, I want to. Just tell me what I need to do.”

Kneeling beside Greg, Brandon showed me how to hold the material against his wound. I hesitated, afraid to hurt him further by touching it. “Don’t worry about hurting him, he’s out. You’ve got to press it hard and keep it there. Keep a firm hold so we can get the bleeding to slow,” Brandon instructed.

I could see the tear in Greg’s shirt where the bullet had ripped through him and I swallowed hard as bile threatened to come up my throat. Forcing myself to do as Brandon said, I held the jacket firmly in place over the wound. I stared down at Greg and brushed my free hand over the top of his head soothingly. I hoped he could feel me there with him.

“What happened?” I asked quietly, not taking my eyes off Greg. In my periphery, I could see people crowding around the stage, some of them with their phones out taking pictures. The security team that had been hired for the debate was trying to get them to back off. I ignored them all, focusing instead on the man in my arms.

Brandon looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was listening then looked at me, lowering his voice so no one else could hear. “I don’t know all the details, but Greg got a phone call during the debate. My guess is that it was Micah with some new information because Greg sent us a text right away with a name and a photo. The three of us started searching the crowd to see if he was still here. Carlos found the guy sitting in the audience and he went to talk to him. He was going to tell him we needed his help with something so we could try and coax him away from the crowd before he could hurt anybody. He looked like he was going to fall for it, but then something must’ve spooked him because the next thing I knew, the asshole pulled out a gun. Carlos went for the gun and tackled the man to the ground, but not before he got a shot off.”

My head popped up, pinning Brandon with a glare. “Who was it?” I hissed as anger surged through me. I wanted to know who was responsible for almost killing the man I loved. My head was reeling from everything Brandon had just told me. This kind of stuff happens in the movies, not real life. Not in my life.

Brandon gave me an uneasy look. “Jared Conover.”

My eyes nearly bugged out of my head and I felt like I’d been sucker punched. Jared? But I’d trusted him. He’d been in charge of running my campaign and I’d thought he was my friend. Why the hell would he do this? What possible motive could he have? Questions swam through my mind, but I wasn’t able to come up with a single answer. None of it made any sense.

Sirens rang out across the fairgrounds and I turned to see them as they came to a stop near the stage. The crowd moved aside as two EMTs carted a stretcher up the ramp. I held on to Greg as Brandon spoke to the emergency crew, letting them know the extent of Greg’s injuries.

I bent down so I could whisper in Greg’s ear. “You’re going to be okay, baby. Help is here now and we’re going to get you to a hospital, so you just hold on. I love you and I need you in my life, so you’ve got to get better, okay? You’ve got to fight your way through this so we can be together.” Greg’s eyes moved beneath his lids, but they never opened. All I could do was hope that he’d heard me.

I was reluctant to let go, but I had to so the EMTs could do their job. I wrapped my arms around myself as I watched them take his vitals, checking his blood pressure and heart rate and listening to his breathing through a stethoscope. They held thick gauze pads against his wounds on either side of him and then secured it by wrapping tape around his torso. I stood as they strapped him onto the stretcher and lifted it up in the air.

“I want to go with him,” I told them. They seemed unsure as they looked at each other and then at me. “Look, this man is my bodyguard. I’m running for governor and he just saved my life. I’m not about to leave his side when he needs me. Now, I’m not asking you, I’m telling you. I’m riding with him to the hospital,” I stated firmly. I’d never used my position of power to get anything I wanted before, but somehow, it seemed appropriate right then and I wasn’t even a little bit sorry when I saw them giving in.

“Fine. You can’t ride in the back because there’s too much equipment, but you can ride up front with me,” one of them said.

“Thank you,” I said in a rush of air.

I turned to Brandon. “The police just got here. Let me talk to them and see if Carlos needs any help and then we’ll meet you there. He’s going to be okay, Christopher,” he said, laying a hand on my shoulder.

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