Page 1 of A Play for Love

CHAPTER1

Nathan

Jackson and I ran over to Henry and noticed two bullet wounds in his left leg.

“You shot him twice?” Jackson glanced at Aunt Barb.

“Once wasn’t keeping him down.” Her brow arched.

“Conner, get over here,” I said. “There are no exits wounds, and I’m pretty sure the bullet shattered his femur. I’ll go take a look at Aunt Barb.”

“What did he do to you?” Simon shouted.

I walked over to Aunt Barb, where she sat on the couch, holding a cloth on her forehead that Christian ran and got for her. Removing the cloth, I examined her cut.

“How did this happen?”

“He pushed me into the coffee table,” she said.

“What?!” Simon shouted and tried to run over to Henry before Sam and Shaun grabbed hold of him.

“Everyone just needs to calm down,” Sebastian said.

“You need stitches, Aunt Barb,” I said as I made her hold the cloth over her wound.

Simon pulled out his phone.

“What are you doing?” Aunt Barb asked.

“What does it look like? I’m calling this in. We need an ambulance. You’re most likely going to jail, Mom. I hope you realize that.”

“It was self-defense. I have the bruises and the cut to prove it.” She lifted the sleeve of her arm, which was already bruised, along with the bruises on her neck. “He tried to kill me.”

“She’s lying!” Henry shouted.

“You shut the fuck up!” Simon pointed at him.

“We need to get him for an MRI and into surgery,” Conner said. “Like now.”

“Well, Henry,” Aunt Barb said. “What do you want to do? You know how it will end if you choose to press charges against me. If you’re willing to spend the rest of your life in prison, be my guest.” She held out her wrists to Simon. “Go ahead. Arrest me, son. Take me down to the station so I can tell my side of the story and have an investigation launched on that lying asshole.”

Grace walked into the living room.

“Babe, what are you doing here?” Simon asked.

“Your mother called me right after she called you and asked me to do something for her. I’ll tell you later.”

“Excuse me? We need to get him to the hospital,” Conner said.

“Will he die if we don’t?” Simon asked.

“Well, no, but—”

“Then he can wait a while longer,” Simon said. “You are going to tell me what the hell is going on. Right now!” he shouted at Aunt Barb.

“I need to get her head stitched up, Simon,” I spoke.

“Can you boys fix his leg at the medical center?” Aunt Barb asked.

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