Face the Music

Chapter 24

"Gabe?" Ella asked gently, shaking his shoulder. We were in the ICU at the San Diego hospital. Gabe had just gotten out of an all night surgery to remove the bullet from his gut. The doctor's said he was in rough shape, but they were confident he'd make a recovery.

"Why isn't he waking up?" I asked the nurse, perhaps a little too sharply. We'd been in the hospital all night long, waiting for Gabe's surgery to be completed. Though I'd never liked Gabe, I was worried about him for Ella's sake. She'd been through enough pain to last a lifetime - she didn't deserve to lose her best friend, too.

"He's been shot," the nurse said, patiently. Surely she was used to frustrated and exhausted friends of her patients. "And he's just been through an extensive surgery. It will take a while for the drugs to wear off - probably a few hours. Ben, I think it would be good for you and Ella to go get some rest yourselves." I'd given the nurse my real name. There was no need for any fake identities anymore. The threat was gone.

"I want to be here when he wakes up," Ella argued.

"We'll have to run tests as soon as he's awake, so you won't be able to talk to him anyway. We'll call you the moment we're finished running the tests. How does that sound?" She asked, herding the two of us towards the door. "Go check on your other friend." 

Collins had been checked into the hospital for the night so the doctors could watch him for signs of a concussion. He was in rough shape after his wrestling match with Tomlinson. 

The nurse continued, "There's a couch in his room that pulls into a bed. You're no good to anyone if you're crabby and exhausted." She looked pointedly at me, but her orders were well-intentioned and friendly.

"She's right, Ella," I said. "He'll still be here in after we sleep."

She let out a breath like she was going to argue, but I touched a quick kiss to her lips and tucked her under my arm, leading her out of the room. The nurse gave us a sweet smile and closed the door behind us.

Collins was asleep in his hospital bed when we walked in. His face was covered in one large bruise, and his right eye had disappeared almost completely under a swollen, bruised lump. There was a dark ring of purple around his entire neck from Tomlinson's chokehold. Collins was lucky his trachea hadn't been crushed.

I lead Ella to the couch, and folded it easily into a bed, just as the nurse had suggested. Since Collins wasn't in the ICU, he had a more visitor friendly room, with a television and a few comfortable places to sit or sleep.

Ella lay down next to me and curled into my chest. I wrapped her in a protective hug and tried to ease her trembling. It wasn't cold in the room, so I knew it was her fear finally catching up to her. My adrenaline had left me feeling shaky too.

"You're safe now," I whispered into her hair. I'd been expecting a happy response, after the shock had worn off, but Ella surprised me by letting out a sob. I felt my shirt grow damp from her tears.

"I never wanted anyone to die. I didn't want to kill him." She gasped into my chest. "I just wanted him to leave me alone. I never wanted to kill him." Her voice grew tortured and nearly incoherent as she cried harder. "Oh, God. I killed him. I killed him. I'm sorry. I didn't want him to die..."

I stroked her hair and held her, trying to calm her down. "Shhh.. Ella. It's okay," I murmured over and over again, even though it wasn't. She wasn't going to move on quickly. Her and I were both damaged now, but we were going to hold each other's pieces together.

Finally, she stopped crying. I pulled away just enough to see her face.

"What about Joel, and the Sheriff?" Ella asked. The fear was clear in her eyes. She was afraid of both of them. "They're here, right? They're in the hospital?" She glanced nervously at the door, but I cupped her cheek and pulled her gaze back to me.