Page 68 of First Time

“Help is on the way,” she said.

I hung up and lifted my gaze to Daniel. He rounded the car and pulled up short, hands raised.

No, no, no!

Someone knocked on the passenger window, and I shrieked, shying away.

A middle-aged woman waved. “Are you alright?” she asked, her voice muffled through the window.

I shot my gaze back toward Daniel. He hadn’t shifted from his stance, but his mouth moved.

A man entered my periphery on the right, stalking forward, gun in hand and held in front of his body like a police officer even though he wore jeans and a T-shirt. He crept around the back of Stephen’s car.

“Drop it!” I heard him holler—and all hell broke loose.

Gunshots erupted, making me scream again.

Daniel spun and fell to the ground.

“No!” I screamed and fumbled to open the door.

The kind woman hunkered behind the car beside me, hands over her ears, but I couldn’t spare her a second glance.

“Daniel!” I cried out, the ache in my chest attempting to pull me to the ground.

Daniel pushed up onto his knees, and I released a sob.

He glanced my way—back to Stephen behind his car—to me again. He held up his hand, asking me to stay put.

I halted my stumbling steps toward him, shaking my head. Shivering. On the verge of vomiting.

My ears rang as I went light-headed.

Breathe…

I sucked oxygen into my lungs. “D-Daniel…” I sputtered, barely putting tone to my single word.

He mumbled something to the gunman who’d stepped behind Stephen’s overturned vehicle. I could make out the top of his dark head.

Sirens sounded in the distance.

Daniel turned toward me—blood covered his left shoulder.

I swallowed hard, my legs going weak. The ground came up to meet me, but Daniel got to me first, his strong arms slowly lowering me to a sitting position.

“Head between your knees, sweetness,” he murmured, his voice steady. “The bullet barely grazed me—I’m fine.”

Struggling to breathe, I did as told, clutching at his hand. Warm. Calloused. Real—alive.

“S-Stephen?” I gasped out.

“Dead.” No hint of remorse lined his answer.

Nothing but relief swept through me, and I stared at the road beneath us, dry-eyed and silent.

Daniel wrapped his arms around me, clutching me close as emotion swamped my brain, filling my ears with loud static…like too many thoughts and feelings crowded in, fighting for dominance. I ignored everything. Chose the numbness of keeping the shit away. Nothing could hurt me—I wouldn’t have to face the truth of everything I’d experienced, all I had lived through, the previous handful of years.

I found peace that morning as sirens blared and voices hollered. Quietness in a way that helped me cope with what I didn’t want to face.

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