“Gabby!” they said at the same time.
“Fancy seeing you two here,” Gabby said with a slight slur.
“She’s had some pain medicine,” I clarified.
“Tell me everything,” Keegan insisted.
“I will,” I promised. “Let’s get her inside first.”
Cam wheeled Gabby to a room and wished her a speedy recovery before he left. Then a doctor and two nurses came in to assess her. After a flurry of activity, Gabby was in a hospital gown, connected to an IV, and was resting in a hospital bed.
“I’m Dr. White. Are you the family?”
“Yes,” the three of us said in unison.
“I’m going to order some X-rays for her shoulder and her hands. I won’t know for sure until I see the films, but at this point, I’m more concerned about her hands than her shoulder. With the amount of swelling and bruising, I suspect multiple fractures. Her shoulder may require surgery to remove the bullet, but again, I won’t know anything until I see the X-rays. She appears to be resting comfortably, but please let us know if that changes.”
“Thank you, doctor,” Keegan said. “My husband, Jacob Marks, will be arriving shortly. Do I need to give his name to someone at the front so he’ll be allowed to come back and be with his daughter?”
“I’ll make sure they know to let Ms. Marks’s father back to her room.”
“Nicely done, Mrs. Marks,” I said once Dr. White was gone. It sounded weird to me to hear her refer to Gabby as Shaker’s daughter, but, technically, she was from the moment they adopted her.
“I only name-drop when it’s important,” Keegan replied.
“No judgment here. I would’ve done it if you hadn’t,” I admitted.
“Welcome to Club Marks,” she teased. “Now, tell me what happened.”
I exhaled heavily and dropped into a chair in Gabby’s room. “Lauren pretended to be a patient and pulled a gun on Patch and Gabby when they entered the room. She had Patch send the rest of the employees home so only the three of them were in the office. I don’t know the details, but Lauren shot Patch first, then Gabby. Gabby managed to take Lauren down while Patch got her gun.”
“That crazy bitch. Where is she?” Keegan demanded.
“Gabby arranged for her to be taken to another facility. She didn’t want anyone getting into any unnecessary trouble,” I explained.
Keegan smiled and Ranger shook his head. “I don’t have to kill her now. I can wait,” he grumbled.
“Please don’t, Papa,” Gabby mumbled. “She’s not worth it.”
“She tried to kill you,” he argued.
“But she didn’t. I whooped her ass.”
“Is that right?” Ranger asked.
“It is,” I nodded. “She beat the piss out of her. Seriously, I didn’t recognize her when I got there.”
“That’s my girl,” Ranger said proudly.
“Do we know why this girl has been terrorizing my sister?” Keegan asked.
“No,” I said at the same time Gabby said, “Yes.”
“You do?” I asked.
“I didn’t get a chance to tell you,” she croaked. “Can I have some water?”
“They don’t want you to have anything to eat or drink in case you need to have surgery,” Keegan said.