Page 124 of Time to Bounce

“Felix,” Garnett jolted out of her seat. “Is he okay?”

“He’s okay.” He looked sheepish. “Barring infection,” he looked hopeful now. “A surgeon joined me shortly after I started. We were able to remove the bullets, repair the damage. Everything is good now. He’s stable. He’ll be in a lot of pain, but he’s awake.”

“He’s awake?” I breathed.

“And asking for you.” The doctor looked at me, then turned back toward Gable’s parents. “He also wanted me to say something.”

“What?” Garrett asked.

“He said ‘Addie says hi.’”

There was a sharp intake of breath and then Ande and Garnett burst into tears.

“Addie,” I breathed.

Addison.

His sister.

Holy shit.

Did that mean he died?

“Come on,” he gestured at me. “I’ll take you back.”

“I want to come!” Ande breathed.

Ande.

Addison’s twin.

“Two at a time,” he looked at the rest of the family. “You can file in one at a time, but Gable wants her to stay.”

I rubbed at my heart. “Maybe he should see y’all first?”

“Go,” Germaine smiled. “It’s enough to know that he’s okay.”

He pressed his fist to his heart.

It wasn’t enough for me.

I wanted to see him.

“Ande, me first,” Garrett said. “I just want to lay eyes on him, then I’ll go.”

Ande reluctantly hung back as Garrett and I left, following Dr. Felix through a maze of hallways.

He led us to the back of some long hallway and said, “Thanks to the shooting, the hospital is stuffed full. This is an overflow wing, and there’s one nurse working on seven rooms. This is also the old children’s wing, so don’t be alarmed by all the paintings on the wall.”

He wasn’t lying.

The hallway was bright and cheerful.

There was Dumbo flying over rolling hills. The girl from Brave running after a bear with her bow strapped to her back. There was even Elsa and Anna on the wall dancing in an ice storm.

He stopped beside a closed door and said, “None of the other people on this wing are involved in the shooting. These are all patients who were in surgery or just out of surgery before the shooting happened. You don’t have to worry about him being next to some gang member.”

Garrett growled beside me, and I reached for his hand and squeezed.

---