The Step Brother

Chapter 22

If the bullet had hit me I would've been in too much shock to notice. I was rooted in one spot as all the panicked events unfolded in front of me. Liam ran across the room, almost knocking his mom over, and grabbed Brenda into his strong arms. She was wailing so loud I knew that the bullet hit her. 

Liam's mom hadn't moved either. She held the gun in the same position with trembling arms. Her gray eyes were wide and she was clearly speechless. But then again who wouldn't be after shooting their daughter?

"Let's go!" Liam bellowed, suddenly appearing in front of me. He was holding Brenda in his right arm while his left was carrying two full duffle bags. I stared back at him blankly in repsonse. My body still didn't know how to react. With one free hand he reached out and jolted me back into conciousness. 

"Brooklyn, we're leaving!" 

I nodded without another wasted second and ran right behind him, holding on tightly to his hot hand. 

"I'm so sorry!" Liam's mom cried after us. The gun fell to the ground loudly and she began to sob. She stumbled after us, screaming sorry repeadtly and asking if her baby was okay. 

The second we had stepped outside a few startled neighbors were outside trying to see what was going on. Cort stood by the door, his eyes wide and worried. Beads of sweat glistened on his forehead and he reached out to hug my shoulder, leading us back to his car. 

"Brooklyn is everything okay?! I didn't know what to do. Shit, I'm so sorry!" he muttered, looking us all over. "What's going on?!"

My mouth was so dry I couldn't even make out words but Liam, brave as always, explained quickly to Cort what had happened. 

"Brenda startled my mom. She was holding a gun and shot but we're all okay. Nobody got hurt."

"Brenda's okay?!" I choked out happily, reaching out to stroke the sobbing girl's hair with my own trembling fingers. 

"Yeah, I think she's fine. There's no bleeding," he answered. "Thank God," he added silently, kissing Brenda's sticky forehead. 

Cort ran ahead and tore open the door of his small sedan. As he helped Liam throw the bags in I rushed around to the other side and into the passenger's seat. Seconds later the car was fired up and Cort was speeding away. 

"You guys sure we don't need to go to the hospital?" he yelled back to Liam. He was checking Brenda in the backseat to make sure she wasn't hurt. However, besides the obvious emotional trauma, Brenda was physically fine. 

"No, Brenda's okay," he answered after a tense pause. The young girl had quieted down and was beginning to doze off in Liam's shoulder.

Cort turned his attention towards me, being careful not to lay his eyes off the road for too long since he was speeding. 

"What about you, Brooklyn?"

"I-I think I'm fine," I sttutered in reply even though my head was spinning and I wanted to throw up. 

"You don't look very good," he answered, sneaking a concerened glance at me. 

"I'm just shaken up. That's all," I replied quietly, looking down at my quivering palms. They were slick with sweat like every other part of my body. 

Liam's hand gently touched my head and he began to stroke me hair soothingly. 

"Don't worry, Brooklyn. Everything's okay," he muttered softly. I tried tilting my head to look back at him but couldn't bring myself to so I pressed against his hand instead. "I'm so sorry, Brooklyn. This could've been so much worse. I'm so sorry."

A wave of exhaustation flooded over me, casuing my eyelids to become heavy. Reaching my hand behind the seat, I found Liam's and grasped it, pulling his arm towards me. Moving it away from my hair and towards my chest I leaned against it and closed my eyes succumbing completely to sleep.