Page 17 of Take Me to the Valley

“No, I'm going to go tell Cody now and take him with us to the hospital. Can you and Mom get Skye from school?”

“Of course. We will not tell her anything is wrong until we know more. How bad is it?”

“He was shot in the shoulder. I was able to stop the bleeding, so I don't think it hit anything major, but I have no way of knowing as he was really out of it.”

“Shit, okay. I will tell your mom. Go and let me know as soon as you hear anything,” Dad says as we pull into the distillery.

“Okay, I'm at the distillery now. I love you.”

“Love you too, sweet pea,” Dad says softly.

After I hang up and compose myself, Kylee and I enter the distillery. This isn't exactly how I thought my first time seeing the distillery would go, and honestly, I’m not seeing a single detail. I’m completely focused on Cody.

“Hey Kaylee,” Cody says, smiling happily until he sees me, and his face drops.

“What's wrong?” He rushes over to me.

“Cody, Evan's been shot. I was there, and they were airlifting him to Helena. We need to go now!”

“Fuck!” he yells, and my brothers Drew and Kaiden come running.

“What's wrong?” my oldest brother, Drew, asks.

Kaylee fills them in, and Cody turns to me.

“Skye?” he asks. Then pulls out his phone while going out the front door.

“Mom and Dad are picking her up from school,” I say.

“They will want to go to the hospital, too. We’ll close this afternoon, and I’ll call Colt. And we will relieve Mom and Dad so they can join you,” Kaiden says.

Colt is our youngest brother and a bit of a wild one, but he takes family seriously.

“Mom will have to pick Skye up, as only she and I are on the approved list,” Cody says.

“We got this. Go! Call with anything you need,” Drew says.

“Let's take my truck. I'll drive. Leave your keys with Kaiden and we will get it back to Mom and Dad's,” Cody says.

I hand Kaiden my keys, and both he and Drew give me a hug before I follow Cody out to his truck.

Kaylee and I both get in the backseat, and Kaylee wraps her arms around me. My heart is in my throat and I’m glad of the comfort Kaylee’s providing me.

“You ever have to work on someone you knew before?” Cody asks as we leave Whiskey River city limits and make the climb up the mountain.

“Yes, but this is hitting differently. He feels like family.”

“Now, what exactly happened?” Cody asks.

We spend the rest of the drive telling him the story, hoping it makes time pass faster.

Chapter 9

Evan

Fuck, I knew I needed a new bed, but I haven't ever woken up with every inch of my body hurting like this. When I try to move, but my body feels like it's being weighed down with lead. I groan and try to open my eyes, but it's so bright that I shut them again.

“Hey, take it easy. Cody, can you turn the lights down?” The sweetest voice in the world says.

---