Page 79 of Hesi-Dating
"Alive." Isiah put a hand on my shoulder. "I'll call her sister and let her know what's going on and what hospital they'll take her to."
My radio alerted, "There's a 221 at Gillespie Elementary."
Shit. Now?Man with a gun at a school. Images from the last shooting flashed in my head.
I wanted to be here.
I needed to get on the road to the school.
"Sounds important," Isiah prompted.
Tortured, I said, "There's a man with a gun at an elementary school."
"You better go, Sheriff."
I removed my hat to fan through my hair and swallowed.
Isiah said, "I'll get her to the hospital. I'll keep you in the loop as long as I can. I'm not family so I'm not sure how much they'll let me know."
I stared down at Joley. Everything in me refused to leave her until I knew she was okay. Riding in the ambulance, waiting until she got the all-clear, and seeing her when she woke up were my priorities. I wished to share her pain and wipe away that of her past like it never happened. I wanted to help her understand what happened and why it went down this way. I didn't want her waking up and thinking I wanted to put her life in danger just to get Nosh.
The truth was, we had done that. Maybe I had gotten cocky about my plan. I thought I had all the angles covered. Obviously, I failed.
My radio alerted again with several messages. My team needed me. I had no choice but to go to work. I kissed her forehead and put her on the ground. "Take care of her for me."
* * *
By the time I made it to the hospital, it had been many long hours since she'd been admitted. Isiah texted me before he left the hospital that she didn't need surgery, which was a relief. I should've been here long ago. The urgency to see her eroded at my concentration while trying to work the elementary school threat.
The potential shooter had been neutralized, thank God. We were able to incapacitate him before he hurt himself or anyone else. After comforting what seemed like a thousand parents and speaking with the media, I picked up flowers at a gas station and made it to the hospital by 4 p.m. My phone still dinged with texts and alerts every few seconds, but I'd put it on silent before I came inside. I even left my radio in the car. I deserved a half hour break.
At the information desk I got directions to her room, but as I turned, I saw the guy I vaguely remembered from the day at the vet hospital. One of her brothers. The Latin man glared as if figuring out how best to murder me. He blocked my path.
"I'm Bruno, Joley's brother. We haven't officially met."
"Seth Briscoe." I held out my free hand to shake, but he didn't take it.
He crossed his arms. "She doesn't want to see you."
"You sure she said that?"
"The request is that you leave her alone from now on. Get out of her life."
"She told you to tell me to get out of her life?" I didn't believe that. "I didn't intend for anything to go down like it did. We had people everywhere, but it was as if Nosh knew our plans." That irritated the hell out of me. It meant I hadn't ferreted out all the problems in my department. I probably never would but I didn't know how to accept that.
"You almost got her killed. She's in there…" He pointed down the hallway. "With a bullet wound getting a blood transfusion because you used her as a decoy to flush out Nosh. They keep pumping her full of pain medication since every time she wakes up she says it hurts."
My stomach twisted.My fault. Damn it.I shouldn't have done it this way. "I need to speak with her."
"Is this speaking in a professional capacity?" Bruno scowled. "There was already a guy from the San Diego police who talked to her. The FBI just got done questioning her. There's San Diego police waiting on her to wake back up to get more questions answered. She doesn't want to see you."
Numb, I asked, "I can't believe she wants that."
"Believe it." Like a bouncer ready to toss me on my ass outside the door, he pointed at the exit.
"Can I at least confirm visually that she's okay?"
"No. You'll only hurt her further by going in there, by not listening to her wishes."
