They were about ready to put me in the ambulance when one of the SWAT members said he had movement on the roof; we all looked up to see Casey pointing a rifle in our direction as Aiden pulled me behind him and stepped in front of Adrian, we heard a shot ring out.
Aiden's body lurched a little into mine making me almost lose my footing and when he turned around I screamed. There was a crimson stain spreading on his shirt below his ribs; he looked at us before dropping to his knees and then onto his back.
His eyes were already starting to glaze over when I screamed again for a shirt or a towel, something that I could use to put pressure on his wound.
"Aiden!" I screamed at him. "Aiden Silvano! Don't you dare leave me!" I sobbed while pressing Aiden's shirt into his side. He was fading fast and I didn't understand with an ambulance right there why it was taking so long to get help. "Fight, baby, fight! For me! For us, your brother and I, your family! Don't give up! Aiden!" I screamed hysterically as I felt strong hands moving me from my fiance's body. "No!" I fought. "I can't leave him!" I realized it was Adrian that had me and I fell apart in his arms watching the scene unfolding in front of me and not being able to do a damn thing about it.
"Why?" I cried. "Why would he pull me behind him? Why?" I was in shock and seeing his blood all over my hands and clothing didn't help either. They finally got him stable enough to move, loaded him into the ambulance and told Angelo he could ride with him; Detective Chance put us in his car and followed the bus to the hospital.
I laid folded up in Adrian's arms as we both cried for his brother; we didn't know it at the time but we silently prayed for God not to take him. I died a thousand times over as the shooting scene repeated itself over and over in my mind. I did hear the SWAT leader say that Casey was dead and for that I was glad but if it hadn't been for me Aiden wouldn't be fighting for his life. The hospital was in sight now, one more intersection and we'd be there.
I heard Adrian make the heart wrenching call to Marco and Sylvia and I knew they would tell Monique; they would be here soon as well. As Detective Chance parked his car I saw them rush my Aiden in through the ER doors, doctors and nurses already waiting and then poor Angelo, standing there looking older than he should.
I felt my legs moving but I don't really remember walking in and if it hadn't been for Adrian I wouldn't have made it that far. I looked at the stricken faces of my family, not be able to find words to express how sorry I was, I sobbed and turned away to go stand by myself; I didn't think they wanted me around since I was the cause of all of this.
I stood in an empty space where the chairs in the ER ended and slowly slid down the wall and onto the floor, resting my head against the door frame; I just kept staring down at Aiden's blood on my hands and clothes; it made my stomach lurch. I jumped to my feet and ran to the small bathroom and just barely made it in time to empty the contents of my stomach into the toilet; I just kept retching and heaving even though there was nothing left to throw up.
I heard Adrian's voice, soft and strong all at the same time, telling me to just breath and try to relax; exhausted I leaned my head on the rim of the toilet and asked him "Why are you even talking to me? If it hadn't been for me Aiden wouldn't be here right now." Tears falling, dripping into the water of the toilet; I noticed that Adrian had squatted down on bent knees beside me and lifted my chin so my gaze could meet his.
"Chels" he began. "This isn't your fault so quit beating yourself up over it. It was Casey Livingston's fault. His. Not your's. The last thing Aiden would want is for you to sit in here blaming yourself. No more talking about this, okay?" I marveled at how he could forgive me but at this particular moment I would take it, even if it didn't last.
He helped me up, put the lid to the toilet down and told me to sit, that he'd be right back. He appeared a few minutes later with some wipes, a wash cloth and and small towel and started to clean me up. He used the disinfectant wipes to clean my wrists, knuckles and the palms of my hands; the wash cloth, wet with warm water, was used to gently wipe my face down to get rid of blood and dirt. I hissed when it hit the left side of my face and heard Adrian gasp.
"Baby we need to get you looked at by a doctor" he said concerned.
I shook my head no and said "Not until we hear something on Aiden. I can't begin to think about myself until then. I promise once we know something I will take care of my injuries." He wasn't happy with my decision but he didn't fight me on it either. He sighed and said that was good as it was going to get; at least I didn't see Aiden's blood on my hands anymore but my clothes were a different story.
I stood up and looked at myself in the mirror; my lip was busted, I had a cut over my left eye and my left cheek was bruised. I didn't even want to lift my shirt in front of Adrian because I could only imagine what it looked like under there; I would show the doctor later.
We started to walk out when Adrian looked down at my feet and made me sit back down; he tenderly washed the dirt and blood away from my feet so at least they looked clean now and he'd managed to sweet-talk one of the nurses into a pair of flip flops. Adrian grabbed my hand and squeezed it as we walked back to the waiting room and did just that...wait.