Page 111 of Call Me Anytime
Hannah
Tuesday, June 25
12:30 a.m.
“Hannah?”
I look up from the light wood floor of the VUMC surgery waiting room and meet Shane’s eyes. I inhale a shaky breath and search his face.
“Any news?”
“Not yet.” He shakes his head. “How about some coffee?” he asks, already holding a fresh cup out toward me.
I take it, even though the only thing I want right now is to see Dom. I clutch the coffee as Shane sits down beside me. The warmth from the cup feels good against my cold hands, but I feel guilty for the sensation.
How can anything feel good right now? Dom got shot. And there was blood.So much blood.
He went unconscious in the hotel room. When MNDP police officers rushed onto the scene, followed by three medics, Shane refused to leave Dom’s side. Two officers took the woman—Edith Lewis is her name—into custody, and two others removed the zip ties from my, my mother’s, and Monica’s wrists and ankles.
I tried to go over to Dom, but they told me I needed to stay back as they hurriedly put him on a stretcher and rushed him out of the room.
Shane made me get looked at, even though I kept telling him I was fine. Thankfully, the doctor agreed—just some bruises and shallow cuts—and released me shortly after my evaluation.
Now Dom’s in surgery and all I can do is sit here, helpless and praying that he’s going to be okay.
“He’s a stubborn son of a bitch,” Shane says, and his hand squeezes my knee for a brief moment. “He’ll pull through.”
I meet his gaze, searching his eyes, hoping that whatever I find inside will make me feel better, but all I see is the same worry and fear I’m certain is stretched across my face.
I look across the waiting room, where Monica sits with my mother, who is currently sleeping with her head on my friend’s shoulder. In her mind, Tony will pull through. Because onNCIS, Tony always pulls through.
“She confessed, by the way,” Shane says, and I turn my attention back to him. “Edith Lewis confessed to Heather and Gwen’s murders. When Officer Marks took her to County to be booked, she broke down and told him everything. It’s going to be quite the high-profile case,” he adds. “News media is already hanging around the station like parasites trying to get Chief Willis to give a statement.”
My mother’s words echo in my mind:Always suspect the wife.
MyNCIS-obsessed mother with Alzheimer’s helped solve a murder case. If I weren’t so worried about Dom, I might actually laugh at the irony of it all.
“Wait ... high-profile case?” I ask, and Shane pops a toothpick in his mouth.
“Felix Lewis owns Platinum Nash.”
“Platinum Nash?” I question, the familiarity there, though I can’t quite figure out why.
“One of the biggest labels in country music.”
“Holy shit,” I whisper, and he nods.
“Tell me about it.”
“Shane?” a male voice calls out, and we both look over toward the main hallway of the hospital that leads to the surgical area.
Dom’s father, Jared, is striding toward us, concern on his face, and the rest of the Dunn family follows quickly behind him—Dom’s mom, Laura, and his sister, Dakota; his grandpa Louie and his uncle Patrick. The whole gang is here, and the vision of them only reminds me of how serious this situation is.
Shane stands up to greet Dom’s family, and I have to force myself to do the same. It’s not that I don’t want to say hello, but the fact that I’ve been trying to hold it together and seeing them has a ball of emotion sitting in my throat.
“Oh, Hannah,” Dom’s mother whispers and pulls me into her arms. She hugs me tightly and I hug her right back, and for the first time since we arrived at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, I let the tears stream down my cheeks.
Dom got shot.
