Page 24 of Blue Summer

“Your poor face.” I gently touch his bruised cheek and drop kisses on the side of his face.

“Rome, where’s the rope you used to tie Summer’s sister up with? And do you have more of it?”

Roman runs to grab more rope just as his sister and Spade step across the threshold. “What the hell happened here? Joe is on the phone with the police and said something happened again. He looks like... well, you.”

“Oh my God! Summer, are you okay? Nolia, what are you doing here? Who is that?”

Pearl peppers questions at me and Roan before her brother comes back with a coil of rope in his hands. “Pearl? What are you doing here?”

“I came back to pack Summer’s things up. What are you doing here? You’re not supposed to be back for another week.”

“I got done early and came home to a surprise.” He looks over at Nolia who rolls her eyes at him.

In the space of a heartbeat, Spade is crying out and pulling Pearl closer to him. “Roan, look out!”

Everything happens so quickly that it takes my mind a minute to catch up with what actually has happened. The sound of a gun going off and more people filing into the room is all background noise to the realization that Roan has switched places with me, spinning us so that he is in front. The impact sends us both to the floor and has me screaming for help.

Somehow, Scott had crawled slowly over to his dropped gun after regaining consciousness and aimed it right at me.

I roll us so that I can check on Roan who jumped in front of me, “Roan! Roan! Oh God, please don’t be dead!”

Another shot goes off causing me to jerk and everybody in the room to look at Scott…who is not the one holding a gun anymore. Instead, he is on the floor, grabbing his leg. When I look over my head it is my sister that is holding the gun… the one Roan kicked away from us when Scott made him put it down. My sister just shot someone with Roan’s gun.

“No one is fucking up my sister’s happy ever after, you fucker.”

The noise around us grows as police officers start to pour into the penthouse as well as Joe, but all I can focus on is Roan.

“Roan, sweetheart, are you alright? Oh my God! You’re bleeding!”

“It’s not bad! It… Is he…?”

I look up to see several people surrounding Scott and give him a nod. He’s not going to hurt anyone for a very long time. John comes over to help me get Roan to his feet.

“You’ll do just about anything in order not to come back to work won’t you, buddy.”

“Fuck off, John!” He says it but with a smile, as he helps both of us help him on the gurney the emergency responders have brought into the room.

“Roan, are you…?”

“I’m fine, angel. As long as you don’t leave me, I’ll be fucking perfect.”

I walk alongside the stretcher as they wheel him out of the penthouse. “I love you, Roan. I love you.”

“I love you too, angel.”

I stay with him all through the ride to the hospital, but they won’t let me go back with him when they sew him up. I wait in the room for them to wheel him in and then wait for him to wake from the drugs they gave him. I must drift off because his voice is the thing that wakes me up.

“Angel? You shouldn’t be sleeping sitting up. It’s not right.”

I start crying and kissing him being very careful to watch his shoulder so I don’t jostle it.

“Don’t cry, sweetheart. It breaks me.”

“I just… I love you so much. I love you and I’m so happy you’re awake and alright.” My happiness quickly changes. “Don’t you ever put yourself in the way like that again! I almost died when I found out you were bleeding because you got fucking shot!”

He chuckles and winces then chuckles again, accepting my kisses right along with my bitching.

“I love you too, angel. I’m going to be alright as long as you stay with me... and marry me.”

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