Page 76 of No Sweet Goodbyes

“Dominic!” Emma shouts.

I sprint the short distance to her side just in time for Emma to pick up a rock and smash the rear window of the car and open the door.

“Bee?” She is crying now. “Please, Bee.”

I get to her and move her out of the way so I can get to the blood-soaked little girl. And a pair of blue eyes that are more hazel than blue stare up at me.

“Bee, you have to wake up, honey.”

“Where’s all the blood coming from?” Remy stares at Bee, who has a growing pool of blood under her body, even while she’s lying on the concrete driveway.

“She’s got a pulse!” Emma has her fingers to the girl’s carotid. “It’s weak but it’s there.”

I check her neck, coming away with sticky blood. “Give me your cover shirt,” I snap at Remy, who is already unsnapping his uniform shirt.

We use it to put pressure on Bianca’s neck while Remy calls in the ambulance.

“Hold on, Little Bee,” I whisper against her pale forehead. “Don’t leave Emma just yet. She needs you. We all do.”

26

EMMA

I ride in the ambulance with Bianca, covered in her blood, praying the entire time that she’ll survive. That she’ll be able to smile and call me on my bullshit again one day.

During the thirty seconds it takes for the ambulance to pull out onto the road to the hospital, every single officer in the county is made aware of what’s happening. I can hear it through the radio in the front. Almost immediately we have an escort through town. Not that we necessarily need it, but we have one nonetheless.

Then all I can do is wait. Sitting in the waiting room, surrounded by my family, Dom’s family, and our law enforcement family, I wait.

“The hospital, again.” Kennedy groans from the floor, where she has Nox lying in her lap. “I hate the hospital.” She looks over at Parker, who’s holding her youngest child in her arms. “So much. We need to find a better place to get everyone together.”

Our eyes are locked on the waiting room doors, like they’ve been for the last few hours, waiting for any update on Bee’s condition.

Bria Keller walks in through the sliding glass door and heads straight for me. “Emma.” Her voice breaks as she makes it to my side. “Emma, is she okay?”

I look up at the woman I’ve called my friend for years, and there’s nothing I can do to help ease the panic I can see on her face. I can’t even help myself.

“She’s not okay,” Dom answers for me, anger in his voice. “Her uncle, who you put her with, tried to kill her. None of us are okay, Bria. None of us are going to be okay for a long time. Even if she survives. They’re operating on her now, trying to get the fucking bullet out of her head.”

“Don’t you dare,” Ian snaps from his chair across from us. “Not only is that my sister that you’re being a jackass to, but it’s not Bria’s fault that she followed the law, Ortiz.”

My head snaps up. “Stop.” I don’t yell, but my voice carries a hell of a lot farther than anyone else’s has. “All of you just fucking stop. Bee needs us right now. So shut your mouth and pray to whatever higher power you believe in that she survives. Bria did her job, Dom. Don’t you dare put it on her. The only one responsible is the piece of shit who’s missing half his head right now. And you.” I point at Ian. “Don’t talk to my fiancé that way, or I’ll put sporks in your yard, and I know damn sure that Malone will lend me his kid to help get it done.”

If I don’t have everyone’s attention before that, I sure as hell have it with that announcement.

“Emma.” Dom lowers his voice and brings his mouth to my ear, pressing a kiss to the side of my head. “Really?”

I nod, unable to help it, and turn my head so that our foreheads are touching. “I’m not stupid, Dom. You tried to get in the way of a bullet for me. Why would I let you get away?”

Bria sits down on my other side, and I grab her hand, holding tight. “She has to be okay,” I cry softly. “She has to be.”

We stay.

We all stay.

And I’m not ashamed to admit that we pray, too.

Sometime after the sun comes up, I notice that half of the people in the waiting room have fallen asleep. The only two people awake besides me are Nox and Linc, who are playing an intense game of Go Fish on the ground next to me.

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