Kelsey’s Point of View:
Something was wrong.
I could feel it.
I didn’t know what it was or what it could be but it was there. That sinking feeling that always popped up when something terrible had occurred—the clawing of your insides being torn from within as the sinking of your heart washed away all your desires to think positively.
It made me sick to my stomach. Not knowing what was going on around you or even having remotely any hint on what it was that was warning me to keep together.
When Bruce called, I didn’t know what to think. He rarely ever called and the one time he did it was to ask me about Justin and that was something he never did before.
It’s one thing for me to worry but when it’s the other way around and Bruce is the one trying to remain calm, you know something just isn’t right.
Pacing the floors of my apartment, I held my lower stomach as I absentmindedly ran the fingers of my free hand through my hair, pulling at the ends and examining them every once and a while.
“You need to stay still before you give yourself an anxiety attack,” Carly suggested quietly as she stood off to the side, her eyes watching my every move as I walked in front of her.
Shaking my head, I ignored her, not even bothering to reply as I slapped my hands to my thighs in aggravation, “Where the hell is he? He said he was going to be here half an hour ago!”
“Relax, he was probably held up and needed some more time to sort things out. I’m sure everything is fine, you’re just overreacting.” Carly sighed, crossing her arms against her chest.
“I knew I shouldn’t have let him go.” I mumbled, refusing to pay any attention to Carly. “He still has to recover from what happened the last time and I just… I thought he’d be able to handle something on his own…” Pausing, I shook my head, “I just hope he’s alright.”
Giving me a sympathetic smile, Carly pushed herself off the wall as she made her way over to me. “I’m sure he’s okay.” Laying a comforting hand on my back, she rubbed it up and down in a soothing motion.
“But Bruce doesn’t even know where he is…” I began again, “He even called Carly. He never calls especially when it comes to Justin.”
“He probably wanted to make sure things were okay. You know how things have been these past few days. Everybody’s on edge with what’s been going on.” Pulling me into a side hug, Carly laid her head on my shoulder, “Don’t think too much of it. I bet you Justin will walk through that front door in a matter of seconds.” She gave me a smile.
Licking my lips, I shrugged, looking away. “If you say so,” Pulling away, I dragged my feet over to the couch as I slumped down on it, my foot repeatedly tapping against the hardwood—something I tend to do every time I’m nervous.
“Look—,” Carly began before stopping herself short, her eyes narrowing out towards the window as she took a step towards it, “Wait… is that their car?”
Jumping up to my feet, I ran over to where Carly stood, peeking over her shoulder to see that it was. “What is it doing here?”
“Maybe Justin took that car instead of his own,” Carly suggested as she gave me a pouted look of unknowing.
“Only one way to find out,” Brushing past her, I hurriedly made it out of the door and down the steps nearly tripping on my own two feet as I did so.
Following behind, Carly shut the door behind her.
The car door opened as I held my breath, hoping and praying it was Justin but was soon let down when instead Bruce walked out, with an unreadable expression on his face.
“Bruce?” I questioned out loud as I took a few hesitant steps towards him, taken back that he came here. “Where’s Justin?”
Looking at anything but me, Bruce rubbed the back of his neck as he swallowed hard.
“Bruce?” I supposed, the silence that engulfed us suffocating me.
Shaking his head, he turned his attention down to the floor as he watched the tip of his shoe scrape against the cement.
Looking back at Carly with a worried expression on my face, she simply bit her lip, not knowing what to say. Whirling my head around, I let out a frustrated lament. “Are you going to answer me? What the hell is going on?”
Meeting my eyes for the first time since he came, I nearly gasped at the redness that outlined his eyes, a distant look in the soles of his irises as he stared deadpanned at me, “I’m so sorry,” He whispered, his voice hoarse.
“Bruce…” I trailed off, “What do you mean? What are you talking about? What are you sorry for?” I looked at him, baffled. Standing on the tips of my toes, I tried to look past him, “Where’s Justin? Is he with you? Did he call?”
“Kelsey,” Bruce cut me off, “Stop.”
“What do you mean stop? Where the hell is my boyfriend? What the fuck is going on Bruce?” I spat, not giving a damn at all at this point if the neighbors heard me as I hurriedly threw one question after another at him.
“If you can just come with me,” Bruce took hold of my elbow, “I’ll explain on the way—”
“No!” Pulling out of his grasp, I took a step back from him. “What are you hiding from me? What is it that you can’t tell me right now?”
Continuing to ignore my desperate pleas, Bruce merely stood there, lost in transition.
“Bruce—” I began before catching sight of the red residue smudged on the front of his shirt. Gasping, I slapped a hand to my mouth, “Is that—is that blood? Are you bleeding? Oh my God, what happened to you?”
“Kelsey,” Bruce shook his head, sadness overwhelming him as he stepped closer to me. “I’m fine, it’s not me who—”
“What do you mean you’re fine?! You’re bleeding Bruce!” I shouted, staring at him incredulously as if he’s lost his mind. “Oh God, did they come back? Are the Snipers back? Did they hurt you? Does Justin know?”
“Kelsey!” Bruce yelled, silencing me immediately. “It’s not my blood.” He murmured gently, taking me by surprise.
Furrowing my eyebrows together in confusion, I cocked my head to the side in wonder, “What are you talking about? What do you mean it’s not your blood? I see it with my own two eyes Bruce; it’s on your shirt.” I pointed out; puzzled beyond belief on what was going on.
Closing his eyes, Bruce took a deep breath through his nose. “It’s not my blood because I wasn’t the one who got shot tonight…”
Processing the words that just came out of his mouth, I felt my stomach drop to the floor, “Shot?” I whispered, the words coming out distant in my ears. “Someone was—if you didn’t get shot then who…?”
Finding my eyes once more, I tried hard not to collapse right then and there. The amount of emotions that ran through Bruce at once that traveled to my own was intense and it was then that I finally realized what it was that he’s been trying to tell me all along.
“Justin…” I mumbled more to myself than anybody else but Bruce heard me nonetheless and the moment his name fell from my lips in realization—though I had hoped I was wrong—a frown pulled at the edges of his lips, giving me all the confirmation I needed. “No…” I shook my head, “No, he’s fine. You’re lying.”
“Kelsey—” Reaching for me, I slapped Bruce’s hand away.
“No!” I snapped, refusing to believe anything. “I saw him Bruce, just a few hours ago. He was fine, he was okay…”
“I tried to convince him not to go alone Kelsey but he wouldn’t listen. He was persistent on handling it on his own.” Bruce inched closer, “Marcus was the one who found him. I’m sorry. Please, you have to come with me. We don’t have much time—”
“I don’t believe you.” I whispered with a forceful quiver of my head, “It’s just not possible. How can—how can he be hurt if he was okay just before—it just doesn’t make any sense. It doesn’t add up. If the Snipers are gone, who would try to hurt him?”
“There are a line of people who are willing to do anything to take him down. Kelsey, we can’t worry about this right now. We have to go.” Grasping my elbow, harder this time, Bruce began dragging me to his car. Tearing the passenger side door open, he sat me inside before slamming the door closed and making his way around.
Waiting until Carly sat in the back seat, Bruce didn’t hesitate before speeding down the street, not even caring about the cops as he ran through two red lights, his eyes focused on the road before him.
Swerving onto a separate lane, he rounded a corner before switching gears and stepping further onto the gas as it pumped him forwards. Managing not to hit any cars, Bruce swayed out of the way before slowing down near the exit that led us to the hospital.
Holding my breath the moment the glowing red letters that read EMERGENCY ROOM flashed before my eyes, I turned away from it, refusing to let the fact that we were here get to me.
Killing the engine in front of the entrance, Bruce hopped out of the car, throwing the keys over to Marco who I didn’t even realize stood waiting for us. Grabbing them, Marco took Bruce’s place as he sped off to park the car once Carly and I got out of it.
Grabbing my arm, Bruce led me in through the door and over to the elevator. Once inside, he repeatedly hit the number twelve button, his foot thumping against the tiled floors in impatience.
When the ding that indicated we made it to the third floor was heard, Bruce barely waited for the doors to open as he rushed out and through the open double doors where a series of doctors were spotted around a gurney, yelling phrases to one another as they checked the pulse of the person laying on it.
Doing a double take, I almost passed out once I realized the person lying unconscious was Justin. “Oh my God,” I sobbed; caving in as my knees fell weak. Pulling out of Bruce’s grasp, I shoved past the doctors surrounding my baby as I ran over to his side. “Justin,” I gasped, not being able to believe my eyes as I took in the oxygen machine and countless wires that were attached to him. Eyeing the blood stains on his chest, I squeezed my eyes shut once I saw the covered wound which I expected to be where he had gotten shot.
“Excuse me miss,” A nurse stepped towards me, a puzzled look on her face, “but you can’t be here—”
Opening my mouth to retaliate, Bruce silenced me as he turned to the nurse, speaking to her in hushed whispers getting her to back off.
Feeling all eyes on me, I disregarded them as I stared over at Justin’s closed eyes. Desperately wanting him to wake up, I let out a strangled sob. “Baby,” I cried, tears overwhelming my lids as they tipped over the rims, “I’m right here. I’m here and you’re going to be okay. You’re going to fight this because you’re strong… you’re strong and you can’t—you can’t die.” Reaching over, I shakily ran the back of my two fingers against the slight stubble on his chin, careful not to touch the wires as I did so. “You need—you need to stay alive because there—” Hiccupping, I swallowed hard, “there are people waiting on you. There are so many people who love you…” Brushing his hair back, I licked my lips, “You can’t leave… you can’t leave okay?” Letting out a soft whimper, I shook my head, “Please don’t leave.” I begged, desperate for this all to be a horrible nightmare.
Squeezing his hand, I ran my thumb across it. “You always told me I was a fighter and I’m fighting. I’m fighting for you. Right now, okay? But you gotta hold on, you gotta hang on because you’re a fighter too. You gotta fight; you gotta fight to live baby. You gotta live. There are too many people who need you…” A forced chuckle escaped through my tears, “me, most of all. You know? You’re everything to me. You just—you just gotta—”
“Pressure’s dropped,” A nurse called out to the doctor as she stuck a needle into the IV line that connected into Justin’s veins, “I’ve opened fluids.”
“Miss, we’ve gotta get him into surgery.” The doctor exclaimed as he stood on the other side of Justin. “I’m going to ask for you to please step aside and let us do our job.”
Looking up at him, I nodded my head as I licked my lips, turning back to Justin. “Do you hear that baby? They’re going to help you. They are going to bring you back to me.” I whispered while unsteadily trying to find some place I can caress him to let him know that I was present and that he can hopefully feel my presence beside him.
“Ma’am, please, we don’t have much time.” The doctor sincerely stated as he urged me to back away.
Taking a step back, I curled my arms around my body, my closed fist tucked under my chin as I watched them wheel Justin away.
It felt as though there had been a huge gap in my heart. I felt lost, scared… alone. The only person who could help keep me under control and thinking clearly was now on a bed in the ER being prepped for surgery and none of us has any idea if he was going to survive or not.
I wasn’t used to this. I didn’t know what to do… I had no idea if I should wait, find out what’s going on, pray in the chapel they held here in the hospital, ask to see if I could watch the surgery or wait in the room Justin would arrive in after they operated on him.
I didn’t know if he was going to make it.
I didn’t know if he was ever going to wake up.
I didn’t know if the last time I had spoken to him today would be the last time I ever said anything to him at all or if I’d ever see his eyes again. I didn’t know if I’d know what it felt like to be in his arms, what it feels like to kiss him or if I’d ever hear him say he loves me… I didn’t know anything and it was eating me up alive.
Nothing made sense to me anymore.
It felt as though no matter what I did, no matter how many times a day I prayed for things to just go back to normal, everything was meant to be shattered.
This entire idea that good things happen to good people and how they will be rewarded for all the things they have done in this world seemed lost. There are too many good people, kind hearted; loving people who do so much yet suffer far more than those who deserve the worst that makes this all too good to be true. Every day comes along and we ignore how entirely broken we all are and how fucked up this world turned out to be. We convince ourselves that everything’s going to be okay, we’re okay but it’s not okay—we’re not okay.
And once you accept that, there’s no turning back. There’s no more hope, there’s no more faith. You just know, you admit the fact that things justaren’t going to be the same ever again.
“We’re going to need more help,” A voice was heard from the right of me and as I turned, I noticed it was one of the nurses that were attending to Justin just moments before. “Contact Nurse Angeline immediately followed by Diane, Anne and Willis. It’s urgent and we need to do this now. We don’t have much time, is Nurse Jones in?”
A sudden light bulb went off in my head, snapping me back to reality as the realization sank in. I didn’t even wait to hear what the other nurse had to say before I twirled on the heels of my feet and darted through the double doors and down the hall ignoring Bruce’s calls for me to come back. Looking left to right, I decided to turn left, knowing there was a set of stairs that led to the next floor (being the impatient one of not wanting to take the elevator).
Running up the flight, I held myself against the wall, trying to contain my breath as I rounded a corner, shoving past nurses that stood talking amongst themselves until I reached their headquarters.
“Can I help you?” A short petite woman who goes by the name of Josie—due to her name tag—questioned me with raised eyebrows, a delicate smile on her lips. Her eyes however showed worry as she noticed the dried tears on my cheeks.
Ignoring her, I looked around the room. “Is Melissa Jones here?”
“She just walked out about an hour ago... are you okay dear? Would you like some water?” Concern laced through her words.
“No,” I spat, my eyes slicing through hers. “I just want her.” I mumbled despite the tears that threatened to fall. “I want my mom.”
“Your Melissa’s daughter?” Her lips parted as she took the information in. Shaking her head to rid of the surprise knowing that I was in no mood to waste time, she cleared her throat. “Would you like me to page her for you?”
“Please.” I desperately complied, my shoulders falling as I watched Josie press a few numbers on her pager.
Not even a second later, my mom came through the double doors just at the other end of the room, looking down at the clipboard in her hands. “Josie, what is it that’s so urgent that you couldn’t wait until I was done with my patient?”
“Mom,” I sobbed out, watching as her head snapped up in bewilderment.
“Kelsey,” She gasped, astonished. It’s been a good year or so since I’ve last seen her and that’s the longest we’ve ever lasted. “Sweetheart, what are you doing here? What’s wrong?” Tucking her clipboard under her arm, she fastened her pace to reach me.
Running over to her, I threw my arms around her neck. “You have to help me, please. Please mom?” I cried, “You need to make sure he’s going to be okay. You need to help him,” I gestured towards the hallway just behind me, “you need to—you need to keep him alive mommy because I need him.” Grabbing her shoulders, I clung onto her for support. “I love him so much, please mom.” I desperately choked between cries as I held onto her for dear life, afraid that if I let go, she’d leave.
“Kelsey,” She grabbed my hands, giving them a gentle squeeze, “One at a time. Calm down, breath for me honey. Breath and tell me what happened.”
“It’s Just—Justin…” I shook my head, trying to form a coherent enough sentence for her to understand. “Something happened and he was shot mom. He was shot and I don’t know why, I don’t know anything.” I covered my face with my hands, trembling as I clasped onto her once more. “All I know is that he’s going into surgery and I need you to help him. Okay?” I looked into her eyes, internally begging with all my might for her to listen to me. “You have to go there and make sure they don’t mess up. You have to make sure they bring him back to me because I need him.” My teeth sunk into my bottom lip as I inhaled a deep breath, “Please, you need to do this for me. I know you hate him. You probably hate me too and I don’t blame you but he’s everything—everything to me.” I shook my head as I collapsed into her arms, no longer being able to hold myself up any longer. “Please.”
Sinking down to the floor holding me, my mom dropped the clipboard, as she wrapped her arms protectively around me. “Shh baby, shhh, it’s okay. I don’t hate you baby, I could never hate you.” She soothed into my ear, her fingers brushing my hair back as she rubbed the side of my cheek. “Everything’s going to be okay. I’m going to make sure the surgery goes alright. I’m going to try my best to ensure his safety but I’m going to need you to breathe for me because Justin won’t be the only one in a hospital room if you continue this.” She sternly approached with a hard tone though the gentleness she always carried in serious situations carried across.
“How can I—how can I stop knowing he—God I can’t even finish that sentence.” I bowed my head, clinging onto my mom’s arm as I continued to cry into her shoulder. “Why—why does this always have to happen? Why can’t we just be happy? I don’t understand mommy. I do nothing wrong. I—Why can’t people just leave us alone?”
“We can’t question God’s motives, sweetheart. All we can do is pray and hope to God that Justin comes out of surgery alright.” Wiping away my tears, she caressed my cheeks with her thumbs. “Come on, do you think if Justin were here right now, he’d want to see you crying?”
“N—No,” I mumbled, sniffling.
“Alright then, come with me,” Standing, she helped me up before grabbing her clipboard off the floor and handing it over to Josie. “Make sure Katherine is given these records and tell her that I have an urgent matter to take care of in the O.R.”
Taking the clipboard, Josie scanned the papers as she nodded her head, not even a single word fluttering from her mouth.
“Melissa,” Looking up, it happened to be the lady the nurse upstairs was talking to. “We have an emergency surgery taking place right now. A patient arrived just now with a bullet wound to the chest—”
Wincing at her words, I watched as my mom put a hand up to silence her. “I already know about the situation. Tell Dr. Francis that I’ll be there stat. I have a few things I have to take care of first.”
“Melissa—”
“My daughter needs me Janice.” She grabbed my hand, “I’ll be in the prep room in just a couple of minutes.”
“Of course,” Backing away, my mother gave her a simple gesture before leading me out of the room and taking us to the twelfth floor.
Walking me over to the waiting room in the main lobby of the emergency room, she sat me down in one corner of the couch. “I’m going to head in now. This process takes a while so I’m going to need you to hang in there for me, okay? It’s going to take hours to ensure all the necessary actions are taken.”
Tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, I curled my legs up behind me on the comfortable cushion, taking one of the pillows and hugging it to my chest. “Okay,” I whispered.
Wiping my left over tears from my cheeks, she pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. “I’ll see you soon.”
“See you.” I mumbled. “And mom?”
“Yes sweetheart?”
“Please bring him back to me.”
Her eyes dropped in a sad gesture, “I’ll try my best.” Patting my knee gently, she rose, giving me one last look of comfort before departing around the corner.
--
“Where the hell were you?”
Looking over in the direction the sound came from, I felt my stomach churn as Bruce made his way over to me, everybody else following behind. “You just ran out of the room without even letting me know where you were going.” Bruce hissed lowly, “Do you know how dangerous that is? What if that son of a bitch is still out there?”
“I’m sorry,” I quietly chirped, cowering away. “I just needed some air.”
Frowning, Bruce slumped forwards as he collapsed just a foot away from me on the couch. “It’s okay, I didn’t mean to flip out on you—I just—” Running a hand up and down his face, he slapped his hands down to his lap. “It’s been rough.”
“Tell me about it,” I muttered silently, picking at the lint on my jeans.
A silence fell over us as we indulged in our thoughts. Neither one of us said anything as the time passed by, ticking slowly, reminding us all why we were here in the first place. Thinking back to when I had first arrived, I cleared my throat. “He was pale…” I whispered, recalling the sight of him. “He looked like he was made out of stone but his hand—his hand, you know, it was warm. I’m sure…I’m sure that’s gotta be good, right?” Pausing, I swallowed hard, trying to block out the hard beating of my heart that rattled inside my ears, “That’s gotta mean that he’s not—”
“He’s going to be okay, Kelsey.” John mumbled, his eyes finding mine. “He’s been through a lot and each time he’s come out of it alive, stronger than ever. All you gotta do is have faith that he can pull through this.”
“That’s just the thing, John.” I supposed, “What if he can’t? What if—”
“Bruce Santos,” I pressed my lips together, knitting my brows together in confusion to see who it was now that began to talk only to see two police officers perched at the end of the sofa. “We have a few questions for you.”
Locking his jaw tight, Bruce snarled in annoyance, irritated that they had found us. “Whatever it is you want to ask, you can do it here.” Eyeing me from the side, Bruce gave me a slight nod, signifying that he was doing this so that I had the full story from his perspective.
I craned my neck so that I had a view of both the officers whom I’ve seen a few times before and Bruce, holding my breath for what’s to come.
Taking a seat on the chair adjacent from the lounger, Officer Bentley laced his fingers together as the other stood with a notepad in his hand, pen poised on a newly turned to page. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
Collecting his contemplations together, Bruce settled back in his seat, showing no signs of distress. “Justin was out. He told us he was going to be back by five thirty the latest. He planned to run some errands before stopping to pick up Kelsey from her apartment. He ended up never showing up and I called Kelsey to ask if maybe he had stayed over at her place. Turns out he wasn’t even there and he never called. He didn’t even pick up his phone and that’s when I knew something had to have happened so I took the car and went looking for him.”
“How did you know where to find him?”
Bruce growled lowly, his eyes staring daggers. “He told me he was going to meet up with Paul Dulasanti for bodyguards.”
“Why would you need body guards?”
“Why wouldn’t we need bodyguards?” Bruce shot back impatiently, “Better safe than sorry, no?”
Keeping quiet, Officer Bentley tightlipped, nodded. “What happened when you arrived?”
Repositioning himself, Bruce leaned forwards, “At first I didn’t see him but we saw his car. I went to check it out and John decided he’ll see the pier. The rest of us headed towards Justin’s car when Marcus spotted his body sprawled out on the floor. He had been already shot when we found him.”
Closing my eyes, I grimaced at the image of Justin on the ground bleeding, holding onto the thin thread that his life was hanging by.
“Was there anything left behind? Anything that could help tie us to our suspect?”
“Nothing at all, the only thing on the floor was Justin’s keys.”
Pointing over to the officer that stood next to him, he murmured something in his ear once he crouched down beside him.
Writing something down, he nodded, standing up tall once more.
Turning his attention back over to Bruce, Officer Bentley licked his lips. “Do you know who could have done this? Anybody you could possibly think of who would want to kill him?”
“No idea.” He shrugged, “It could be anybody in this town.”
“Anything else?”
Straining his face, Bruce furrowed his eyebrows, forcing himself to remember any minor details. “Justin…” Pausing, he pursed his lips in thought, “He was awake for a second before he passed out.”
“Did he say anything?”
Scratching the back of his neck, Bruce smoothed it over with the palm of his hand as he let out a sharp breath, “They’re coming.”
“Who’s coming?”
“No,” Bruce shook his head, “that’s what he said before he went.”
An uncomfortable quiet traveled throughout the room as he awkwardly sat there, not knowing what to say or do.
“Okay,” Officer Bentley got up from the chair, his hands falling to his pockets. “We’ll most likely have some more questions for you later on. Sometimes after something like this happens, you remember a few things a day or two later. If that happens, please give us a call.”
Looking away from him, Bruce refused to give them any more of his attention.
Patting the back of the other officer, Officer Bentley and him began walking away though not before he stopped next to me. “Kelsey,” He hesitated, “I’m sorry this happened.”
Looking down at my hands, I tightened my lips. “Just find the guy who shot my boyfriend.”
Inhaling sharply, he nodded. “We will.”
Once they left, I faced forwards, my head swirling with a million different things at once when a sudden thought occurred to me. “You know…” I began absentmindedly, “It could have been any one of you who got shot today.” I muttered out loud, “It didn’t have to be Justin…” I bit my lip to keep it from quivering, “It could have been any of you.”
“I don’t understand,” Bruce shook his head, confused.
“If you guys would have gone with him today,” I paused recollecting myself, “it could have been any of you who could have gotten shot. It may have been John or Marcus, maybe even Marco if any of you had been standing in front of Justin…”
“Kelsey,” Carly interrupted with a strict shake of her head, indicating for me to stop where I was heading with this.
Ignoring her, I continued, “It didn’t have to be Justin right now on the operating table. It could have been anybody.” I looked at him, “It could have been you.” I tore my eyes away, “It didn’t have to be my boyfriend who got shot.” I spat in bitterness to the entire situation. “It didn’t have to be Justin.”
“I’m sorry,” Bruce muttered humbly, his head hung low. Rolling his lips into his mouth, he squeezed his eyes shut for a second, “He told me to tell you something, Kelsey.”
“What?” I questioned in surprise.
“I didn’t want to say anything when they were questioning me because I didn’t think it was any of their business but this is very important to him and he wanted me to tell you something.”
“What is it?”
“He wanted me to tell you… that he loved you.”
Pressing the tip of my tongue to the top of my lip, I let the words sink in as I tried hard not to let this affect me. “He told you that he loved me?” I whispered.
“Yes. He said that if there’s anything he wanted you to know… it was that. He made me promise.”
“He’s on the ground with a bullet through his chest and the one thing he tells you is that he loves me…” I shook my head in astonishment, tipping my head back as I gazed up at the ceiling, willing myself to stay strong and not to break down. “I love him too… so much more than anything in the world,” I sniveled, with a shaky breath.
“He can’t die,” I spat forcefully as if I said that any stronger, God would listen to me and it’d come true. “He’s not going to die, right?” I cried, waving a hand in front of me, fanning myself to stay in course. “Cause he can’t because we need him.” I gestured between us.
Opening his mouth to retaliate, Bruce shut it the moment Marcus stood up.
“The nurse is coming.”
I mounted quickly, my eyes wide as I laid the pillow I had been holding down on the couch. Straightening my shirt, I watched as the nurse who happened to be the one accompanying this incident from the very start made her way over to us with an unreadable expression on her face.
"Did everything go okay? Did he get out of surgery alright? Is he alright?" I questioned all at once, my curiosity getting the best of me.
Licking her lips, she gestured towards the chairs that stood off to the side. "I'm going to need you to take a seat, Ms. Jones."