Spark in the Dark

Chapter 143

Juice's phone ringing late the next night woke them both. He answered it and Shawn rolled over to fall back to sleep. Juice suddenly sat up, startling Shawn.

"What happened?" Juice asked the person on the other end of the phone. He paused as he listened for a moment. "Shit. Okay. I'm on my way."

Shawn sat up and touched his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Clay was just shot at TM."

"Oh my God."

"I'm going to head to St. Thomas. Go back to sleep, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Shawn said as Juice got out bed. She watched him pull his clothes on in a hurry. He bent to hastily give her a kiss before hurrying out of the room. She listened as he went down the stairs and out the backdoor. She could just barely make out the click of Juice locking the deadbolt on his way out of the otherwise silent house.

Shawn laid back down, but wasn't sure she could sleep. She rolled onto one side, then another a few minutes later. Finally, she sighed as she gave up and got out of bed. She went down the stairs to the kitchen, thinking a cup of tea might help ease her nerves, but her phone began to ring before she even started.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Shawn, can you do me a favor?" Opie's voice came through the phone.

"Of course. Everything okay? I heard about Clay being shot."

"Yeah, um, I'm at the Emergency Care Unit on Crane. Could you pick me up?" Opie awkwardly asked. "I'd ask Lyla, but..."

"I get it," Shawn answered when his voice trailed off. "I'll be there soon, alright?"

After putting her phone down, she went back to her bedroom to change out of her shorts and into leggings and added Juice's hoodie over her tank top. Then she left the same way Juice had.

Within ten minutes, she pulled into the parking lot of where Opie had said and saw him standing outside waiting for her. He got into the car and had to adjust the seat to accomodate his height. Shawn saw his bandaged hand.

"What happened to you?" She asked.

"Gunshot," Opie told her flatly and some hesitation.

"Oh, shit. By the same person who shot Clay?"

"Nope."

Shawn looked at him curiously, waiting for more details. "That's it? Nope?"

"Yup."

"Kay," Shawn said, now annoyed, and drove away in the direction of his house. She waited a couple of minutes before talking, again. "So... nice weather we're having, huh?"

Opie snorted. "That's what you want to talk about?"

"No. I want to talk about your apparent gunshot wound, but you turned me down there so I am making due with what I got."

"Fair enough," Opie said. "When's the wedding?"

"It was supposed to be in ten days, but I don't see that happening now after Clay was shot."

"Gemma will still do it."

"Her husband was just shot," Shawn argued.

"Have you seen her face?" Opie asked. "Or his for that matter?"

"Yeah. So, they did get into it then?"

"Oh, yeah. Trust me, not only will Gemma still do it, but she'll be pissed if you try backing out because of Clay getting shot."

"Well, that sure sounds like Gemma," Shawn said mostly to herself.

"You're still going to try backing out, though, aren't you?"