Page 81 of Sheriff's City Girl

“Why don’t you go ahead, Jess,” Lily placed a hand on her shoulder.

She shook her head, her eyes glistening with tears. “I don’t wanna go first…”

“Lucas?” I suggested, catching his eye.

He let out a heavy sigh. “Why don’t you go ahead and go back, Emma? Then after you, maybe Jess will feel comfortable enough to go.”

“Okay,” I choked out, nodding to the nurse. “Lead the way.” My eyes were dry as I followed her down the hallway to the cramped ICU room.

“He’s really doing well,” she said, giving me a smile over her shoulder. “He’s still sedated and will be for a while, but I think he’ll be out of ICU and into a regular room soon. Dr. Hernon is just trying to get his vitals to level out—which appears to be happening.”

“That’s great,” I said, my voice flat. It was really good news, but the fatigue was setting in as the shock waned. I was exhausted, and honestly, I wanted to just curl up next to Mason and fall asleep.

But I wouldn’t be able to do that.

“Okay, here we are,” she gestured to the room.

I nodded and peered in, my heart jumping as I took in the sight of the big, strong sheriff lying there motionless in the hospital bed. The monitor was beeping slowly but surely, and his breaths were long and deep. His face looked strikingly peaceful, which I had to admit made me smile. It wasn’t that often the serious man didn’t have lines around his eyes.

“I’ll be back in a little while,” the nurse said as I stood there, watching him.

“Thank you.” I gave her a slight smile before taking a seat in the chair beside his bed. I scooted it up to the very edge, and then reached out to grab his hand, careful not to pull any of the IVs out.

“I’m so sorry this happened,” I whispered, giving his hand a light squeeze. “But thank you for saving me.” I hadn’t been filled in on how he found me, but that was something that in the moment, didn’t really matter to me. I was just glad he did…

Well, mostly glad.

Part of me wished that we could’ve replayed the moment, and somehow ended it without him being shot. I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting to hold back tears. It was painful to think about that blur of a moment—and I knew that once this had settled, I’d have to give official statements to the police about what happened.

I sat there for a few more minutes before deciding it was best for Jess to come in and see him. It felt wrong for me to be the first one in the room, given that out of all the people sitting in the waiting room, I had been the one who had known Mason the least amount of time.

“How is he?” Lily greeted me as I reappeared in the waiting room.

“He’s okay, I think,” I said, trying to make my voice lighter than it felt. “You should go in and see him, Jess,” I turned to her. “He’s just sleeping.”

“Is he snoring?” Jess asked, a tinge of amusement in her voice. “Because if he is, I don’t know if I can handle that.”

I shook my head, letting out a laugh. “No, he’s not snoring, thankfully.”

“Oh, okay, good,” she said, smiling and pushing herself to a standing position. “I guess I’ll go see him then.”

I admired her courage. Being sixteen, she handled the trauma well. Jess was a strong girl—even stronger than I had thought she was. I gave her directions to the room, and she nodded before slipping off, her arms wrapped around herself.

“I can’t believe this happened,” Lily said, her eyes searching my face. “Like… When Mason called me looking for you, I never thought that something bad had happened. I just assumed you got mad at him and left, honestly.”

My brows furrowed. “He called you?”

She nodded. “Yeah, when he couldn’t find you, he said something about me coming to pick you up—over the fight.”

“Ah, so you know…” my voice trailed off as I blew out a sharp breath. “It felt so major in the moment, but now it feels so… minor.”

“Yeah, well, on a normal day, it would’ve been a pretty major fight given the topic, but I don’t think you should worry about it now. He really honestly took it well.”

“Took what well?” Lucas leaned forward in his chair, his eyes narrowing as his gaze bounced between the two of us. “What did he have to take well?”

My eyes widened, having forgotten that Lucas was even sitting there at all. “Um…”

“She’s pregnant,” Lily answered for me, shaking her head. “There’s no point in making it a secret anymore. Secrets just make things more complicated, and Lucas is Mason’s best friend,” she turned to me. “No need to keep it quiet here.”

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