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I was sore, but at least my lips weren't chapped. Mariposa had taken care of that, citing that every time she saw some girl in a movie or on TV lying in a hospital bed the girl always had dry and cracked lips like nobody loved her enough to pass her some lip balm. Leave it to my best friend to care about the small things, even though there was no one to kiss me.
Neither Mariposa nor Hector spoke of Nash. Hector changed the subject every time I attempted to bring him up. There hadn't been a sign of him since I came to realize I hadn't died and had been through a surgery. I woke up late Wednesday night to see a bouquet of white roses at my bedside along with a big toy car that you could repair and take apart to put back together. The items were cute and thoughtful. Hector guessed they were from Jorge, but I'd only heard from him through Mariposa. Kent, my security detail, didn't acknowledge who it was from either. Together all three of them, Hector, Mariposa, and Kent were just being sketchy in my opinion.
Call me stupid, but even if I were lying in bed recovering from a bullet wound that left me with a nickel sized hole that required six stitches, all I could worry about was Nash.
According to my brother, the police and the news, Alec had died that night. Hector had shot him the moment I passed out in shock and hit the ground. The police kept our identities discreet, and aside from the rumors that it was gang related, no one knew the truth. In some ways, Hector and I were safe.
I could only imagine how Nash must've felt losing the only family he seemed to have left. I wondered if he hated me and that was the reason why he hadn't come to see me.
Was I crazy for still loving him? Even after taking a bullet for him?
I told myself it wasn't Nash's fault for Alec's actions. Alec had lost it and killed Chuy and he tried to make Nash choose, and then he so violently made the choice for him.
A smart girl would take surviving as a means to start fresh and move on and far, far away, but all I wanted to do was make sure Nash was okay and to be there for him. He still had to mourn, evil or not, Alec was his brother.
It saddened me to think he was somewhere all alone with no one to help him move forward. In the end, I had Hector and Mariposa, who did Nash have to offer positivity?
I was in and out of naps Friday morning when I opened my eyes to see a hazy figure hovering above me. When the haze cleared I saw a girl, an Asian girl I knew only in passing.
Yumi.
Once recollection settled in, I sat up, startled. Frantically I looked at the door and around my room, searching for my brother.
Yumi perked a brow. "Looking for Hector?" She gave a coy smile. "Don't worry about him, princess, it's all about you right now."
I swallowed. She was here, which could only mean the Dragons knew about the shooting and my connection. She was here to kill me.
