Page 48 of Married With Lies

Cale is awake but I’m terrified by how pale he looks. He’s sitting up, just barely, and my heart shrivels when I get a closer look at all the blood.

“You really need a hospital,” I whisper as I attempt to peel his jacket away.

His eyes roll to me and his breathing is labored. “I said no. Not negotiable, Scraps.”

Well, if he thinks I’m going to just let him bleed out in the Halloween room he’s got another thing coming. I have a million questions but the answers may not be to my liking. If Cale is shot that means someone shot him.

Did he shoot back? Did he kill anyone? Is this a mafia vendetta thing?

Clearly, there’s a reason why Cale refuses to go to a hospital.

I have very limited medical skills but I did take a first aid class when I was a teenager. I don’t remember much but it seems like the first important step would be to stop the bleeding. Everyone’s questions, including mine, will have to wait.

With Jasper and Peggy hovering in shock, I turn to Cale. “You’ll need to take off your shirt,” I tell him.

He nods and get unsteadily to his feet. He starts to peel off his blazer but changes his mind and reaches for something. I’m not sure what happens next but a gun falls to the wooden floor with a clatter and everyone goes bananas.

“It’s a gun!” Jasper yells and throws himself on the ground.

“Get it out of here!” Peggy shouts and tries to attack it with her broom.

Apollo and Zeus bark ecstatically and run back and forth.

Cale removes his jacket, sits back down on the bed and looks disgusted with every single one of us.

I kick to the gun to the corner of the room for now, pick up his jacket and whip out my phone to dash off an urgent text because my first aid skills won’t be enough for this mess.

Emergency. Please come.

The dogs lick Jasper’s face and Peggy helps him up off the floor. Poor kid, he’s looking rather dazed. I can relate.

Cale’s jacket buzzes in my hands and I nearly drop it in fright. He reaches out an arm to snatch it from me and then stops, wincing, obviously in pain.

“Sadie, give me my phone,” he says, more calmly than he has any right to be considering the state of things.

I grope through the jacket’s pockets (why are there so many pockets?) until I find the source of the buzzing. The phone is handed over to Cale and he answers by saying, “Yeah, I’m here.”

He listens to whatever is being said on the other end. The rest of us just kind of stand around and stare at each other. Even Apollo and Zeus take a seat on their back legs and wait for the next exciting incident.

“I’ve got this,” I tell Peggy, who stands in front of a wide-eyed Jasper. She looks like she’s ready strike Cale with her broom if he moves too suddenly.

Slowly, her gaze shifts to me. “This man is a friend of yours?”

“Yes.” I glance at Jasper.

After Cale collapsed, I sort of blurted out that he’s my husband and asked Jasper to help me drag him inside. That’s a lot of weird information in a short span of time. Luckily, Jasper doesn’t say a word. I’m grateful. Right now I don’t have time to explain to the whole world the specifics of my intricate relationship with Cale Connelly.

“His name is Cale and he’s a friend,” I assure Peggy.

Peggy lowers her weaponized broom. Her expression loses its battle ready status. My word is always good enough for her. “I’ll get some towels,” she says, eyeing the blood. “And I’ll brew some tea.”

“That would be great,” I say.

Peggy prods Jasper to follow her down the hall. She whistles and Apollo and Zeus follow, hoping for a biscuit. Within seconds she returns with a pair of clean towels. She doesn’t say a word as she hands them over, asking a silent question with her raised eyebrows.

“I’ll explain later,” I whisper.

She peers over my shoulder and eyes Cale. “He better not try any funny business.”

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