"Everyone get down!"
"Oh my God,"
"Kelsey!"
"She's been shot!"
"Are you alright?"
"Move!"
"Call 911!"
"Are you alright?" Justin repeated for the second time after coming over to Kelsey once the shots went off. It all happened so fast, one second he was standing there and then the next everyone was taking cover and running.
He had to get to her first, his jacket having covered her body as he threw her to the floor, his own hovering.
"Kelsey!" Tanner came running in her direction.
Shaking her head, she stayed mute, her body frozen in time. She couldn't believe it.
"Kelsey—" Justin began, sitting back making sure she was okay.
"Baby—" Tanner continued, the two of them glancing at each other.
"No," she whispered, pushing them away with shaking hands to stand. She was startled, her eyes reaching every inch of the room until she landed on the one thing she never expected to see.
"Carly?" Tapping her face, John began to panic as he kneeled on the ground as her body followed suit along with him. He turned her onto her back, blood pooling from somewhere, but he couldn't tell from where. There was too much. "Baby, hey, hey... hey look at me," he patted his palm lightly against her cheek once he turned her back around.
"Stay with me," he continued to console her as she fell in and out of consciousness. "Stay with me, Carly." Tears engulfed his vision as he stared down at his wife – his wife, the term itself unable to register in his head. She was finally his and now there was a chance she was gone. "Don't go, baby." Squeezing his eyes together, John pressed his forehead against her shoulder as he sobbed, the shock radiating him numb. "Open your eyes."
"Is she breathing?"
"Where is he?"
"Who?"
"Fucking check her pulse!" Marco yelled over the chaos, fighting to retrieve his phone from his pocket.
Looking up, Justin couldn't believe his eyes as he soon followed after Kelsey, immediately taking her by the waist and pulling her behind him before reaching over and attempting to grab John.
"No!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, forcing Justin off of him as he continued to touch Carly's face, trying his best to get a reaction out of her. She couldn't die. She couldn't die like this – they were supposed to grow old together. They were supposed to live their life, with kids of their very own and a house. They didn't get to start their life together yet.
They didn't get to start.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no," he proceeded to repeat, his hands shaking as they touched her face now smeared with her blood.
"You have to back off," Justin urged, feeling his heart break for his best friend. He couldn't help but to put himself in his position.
"You fucking back off!" John barked angrily, afraid to let her go in fear that she would fall to pieces without him there to hold and protect her.
He had to protect her.
Shaking his head, Justin took another step closer, hand still on his shoulder. "Let me check her pulse, let me help."
He hesitated for a moment before Justin pulled on him once more. Doing a double take on him, John relentlessly allowed Justin to take over, blood all over his hands and chest.
Pulling his jacket off, Justin pressed it against her chest where the bullet was lodged inside. Reaching under her chin, he pressed his two fingers against the side of her neck. "Come on," he breathed out quietly, "come on – everyone shut up!"
Silence filled the air as nearly everyone cleared the room, a few people scattered in shock to what had just happened. They were waiting, watching to see what they were going to do.
A few seconds had passed before he felt something. There was a faint pulse. Small.
"She's breathing but barely. We need to get her to a hospital now," he breathed out, looking up at John who nearly drifted over them in panic.
He was panicking. "I can't lose her,"
"You're not," he reassured.
"Justin, I can't fucking lose her."
Standing, Justin quickly grabbed John by the back of the head pressing his forehead against his own. They remained quiet for a few seconds, "you won't, I promise – I promise, okay?"
Nodding his head, John grabbed Justin back by the back of the head as well, taking a deep breath.
"We got this. She's going to be okay."
Clearing the way for the ambulance as they rushed into the scene, John let Justin go, wiping at his face as he watched them check her pulse now too, speaking amongst each other as they pulled equipment out.
He couldn't understand what they were saying. He couldn't understand anything.
"Is she going to be okay?"
"She's got a faint pulse, there was an entrance to the bullet but no exit wound which means it's still lodged inside. We need to get her to the hospital, now. Call and make sure they clear a room for us and they're ready when we get there."
"Is she going to be okay?" John repeated, stepping around them.
"Sir,"
"That's my wife."
Sighing, he traded a genuine look of concern as two other paramedics crouched down grabbing onto Carly, helping her onto the gurney before pulling it up to its original height as they began moving out, pushing the gurney forwards. "We're going to do the best we can to make sure she stays alive."
"That's my wife."
"Sir."
"That's my wife," he repeated again in form of a whisper.
"We're going to do everything we can." Laying a hand on his shoulder, he gave it a squeeze before calling for everyone to make room.
Following after them without a second thought, John rushed next to them holding onto the gurney as he continued to whisper in her ear, reminding her that he was there and not going anywhere.
"We have to go."
"We need to find out who did this."
"Now isn't the time."
"When is the time?"
"He needs us right now. Everything else can wait."
"Shut up!"
Turning, they all stared at Kelsey, wide-eyed and panting.
Justin's face fell, "Kelsey—"
Guilt overshadowed their faces, having realized Carly was also someone very significant to her too.
Pulling herself together, she wiped her face clean in the face of four very strong men. She wasn't a weak woman, and she wasn't about to break down when her best friend needed her the most. "What are you guys talking about exactly? Because your biggest concern shouldn't be who did what, your biggest concern should be John right now and the fact that my best friend might die."
Marco shook his head, hating himself in that moment. "What happened today—"
"Is unfair, nasty and cruel. It's sick and twisted. What happened today shouldn't have happened but it did. It did and instead of standing around talking about who did what isn't going to help anything and it sure as hell isn't going to help Carly." Licking her lips, she swallowed, putting her hand up as she saw them about to interject with words of their own, "I don't care what you guys do, in fact, I don't want to know, keep that to yourselves, but what you should do is get to the hospital because your friend needs you right now. Carly needs you. Everything else can wait."
"We can't leave you here," they shook their head in unison.
"Yes, you can. I have my car and I'll be fine, Tanner's here." She avoided Justin's stare, "go. He needs you more than I do right now."
"I'll make sure she gets there," he relieved, coming up behind Kelsey and laying his hands on her shoulders, rubbing them in a comforting manner even though he knew, nothing would calm her down at this point.
Covering his hand with hers, she gave it a gentle squeeze, letting him know she appreciated the gesture.
"I'll keep you posted," Marcus reached forwards, giving her a hug as Bruce and Marco followed suit, Justin staying behind.
Looking at him, Kelsey didn't say a word and she didn't have to.
"I'll take care of her," is all he said before turning, following the guys.
________________________________________________________
The ride to the hospital was brutal, small machines around as they all kept Carly from dying on their watch, her pressure bottoming out every few minutes.
It was a lot to handle for anyone.
It was a miracle she was even still alive, they said.
That didn't help him feel any better.
His lips were attached to her cold knuckles, tears overflowing. He couldn't stop them from falling, having never showcased this side of him in person. But he didn't care. He just needed her to wake up, to talk to him. He needed to know this wasn't going to be it for them, that there was more.
"I need you to stay with me," he whispered in her ear. "And I know you probably already want to yell at me for repeating myself so much," he chuckled to ease the tension, "but I can't help it. We have so much we didn't get to do yet – so much we didn't get to see. I can't do this without you." Looking at her, he palmed her hair away, leaning over and kissing her forehead. "Fight this, baby. I need you to fight for the both of us."
"Sir," signaling towards the doors, the paramedic stood to open them.
Leaning back, John prepared himself for the chaos that was about to ensue as he stood to follow them out and into the hospital.
"She's systolic, given her first round of epi."
"She's still in V-Fib."
"Hang 4 units O-Negative, amiodarone – 300, push."
They rushed down a hall, going through several halls.
Asserting through the double doors, John was hurried backward as another group of doctors took the gurney away.
Squeezing her hand, he felt his head break as her fingers slipped from his hold, "wait. She needs to know I'm here. She needs to know I didn't leave!"
One of the doctors turned to him as they pushed her away through another set of doors, "I'm sorry sir, but this is as far as you can go. As soon as we find anything, we'll update you. I promise."
"But that's my wife," he whispered as he watched them take her away, disappearing down the hall.
"John?"
It wasn't long before the guys found him in the waiting room.
"I'm gonna kill him, I'm gonna –" before anyone could stop him or even attempt to calm him down, John turned to blow his fist through the wall.
He was disheveled, the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up to his elbows and his jacket dropped somewhere, long forgotten.
They had never seen him like this in all the years that they've known him.
He thought about this long and hard and it didn't take much to figure out who could have done this.
Laying his palms flat against the wall, he hung his head low, eyes closed. Breathing in through his nose, he exhaled through his mouth, trying his best to remain calm.
He should have seen this coming.
"She's going to be alright—"
"You don't know that!" he barked back, pushing himself off the wall and turning to face them all despite Marcus being the only one who had spoken, "none of us know anything! We're way in over our heads, we have been for a very long time."
"John—"
"We should have let them have it, we should have forfeited and then we would have our lives back. We were so concerned with our fucking reputations, we put the lives of everyone around us in jeopardy. What does that make us, huh?"
"We were protecting our assets, it's what has us all standing above ground right now. You and I both know that. Even if we did let it go, what? You think that would have stopped the rest of them?" Bruce interjected, "no. We're in this whether we like it or not."
"Bullshit."
"Don't be stupid. I get your mad and hurt and you have every reason to be, but don't act naïve."
"What if this were Kelsey?" John turned to face Justin, ignoring the rest.
"It almost was."
He fell silent.
"Fuck."
"It's alright."
"No, it's not." Sighing, he ran his fingers through his hair. "How did we let it get this bad?"
Letting out a deep breath, Bruce took a seat on one of the chairs. Putting his head in his hands, he shook his head before wiping his hands down the front of his face, glancing up at him. "I don't know, man." He leaned back, "I don't know."
Pulling his lips into his mouth, John took a deep breath, closing his eyes and for the first time, he prayed for a God to listen to his prayers.
He needed her to survive this.
Looking all around the room, Justin had his cheek pressed against his palm as he slouched over, elbows hanging from his knees.
Furrowing his brows together, he noticed someone was missing. Dropping his arms and sitting up, he straightened his back in concern. "Where's Kelsey?"
_______________________________________________________
"God damn it,"
Walking around the venue, Kelsey sighed to herself as she held onto one of the seats, exhaustion at the brink of taking over after using the phone to call her parents. She had been trying to find hers though she must have lost it amidst the chaos.
She covered her mouth, muffling the sounds before anyone could hear her crying.
"Excuse me, ma'am, you can't be here."
Looking up, Kelsey sniffled, wiping the tears from her eyes as she stood to her full height ignoring the few people left that filled the room making calls and taking pictures of the scene.
"Oh,"
"Yeah, oh," licking her lips, Kelsey looked at him. "Justin's not here, neither are the guys if that's who you're looking for."
"I'm not,"
"Did you guys find anything? Do you know who did this?"
"Seems like they made a clean break. They weren't inside the building when it happened, that much I know. Anything else is purely confidential." He looked at her, "would make good bait."
"You really think they have anything to do with this?" she laughed sarcastically, "you guys really are something else, you know that? Maybe if you focused on your job and not on Justin and his friends, you'd make a dent in the world."
"I never said that—"
"But you might as well because you sure as hell are implying it." – "My best friend got shot, shot Martinez, and the first thing you think to do is to ask John if he did it? Justin? Do you even hear yourself think sometimes?"
"Then why are you still here?"
"What?"
"I'd assume if it were your best friend then you would be with her right now."
She stood silent, anger bubbling to the surface as she stared at him with nothing but hatred. "I don't have to explain myself to you so either cuff me or get the hell out of my face."
"No need to get hostile, Jones. It's my job to question anyone in line with what happened and considering your boys aren't exactly model citizens, I wouldn't be surprised if one of them had anything to do with this."
"Screw you."
"If there's anything you know—"
"I don't know anything."
Licking his lips, he pushed his suit jacket out of the way as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his pants. Stepping closer to her, he leaned down locking eyes with her, "If they retaliate – if I see even one more person dead after tonight, I promise you, tonight will be the last you see of your boyfriend."
"Not unless he gets to you first."
Locking his jaw, he stood up, "is that a threat?"
Shrugging, she held her dress up from stepping all over it. "If that's how you want to take it."
"You b—" Cutting himself off, his name was called from the distance causing him to look over his shoulder to see another officer standing in the entrance.
"There's nothing here, but we found something in the building across the street. Doesn't look like much but some ammo was found at the scene."
"Copy."
"We got to head out."
"On my way, Sir." Turning back to look at her, he cocked his head. "Guess we'll see which funeral will come next. Mine or your best friends."
Watching him walk away, Kelsey fought the urge to scream at him – throw something at him, anything.
She hated him. She hated herself, and despite not wanting to, she hated her best friend.
"Boyfriend, huh?"
Turning, she saw Tanner standing there with a blank expression on his face.
Her shoulders fell, "I was just angry," she whispered, "And he's always trying to push people's buttons, I was just doing the same back."
"Right. I'm going to get the car."
"Tanner—"
Putting a hand up, he shrugged, "your best friend needs you. Be out in five minutes."
Licking her lips, she nodded, watching him disappear out the back door. Turning back around, she took a look around the room. Just an hour ago everything was fine, her best friend was getting married, and everyone was happy.
Happy. The word seemed foreign to her now.
She couldn't understand how they got here. How everything got so messed up.
One second they were Juniors in High School and then the next second they were a target to some of the most dangerous men in Stratford.
Who knew falling in love could be a crime?
Wiping at her face, Kelsey scrunched her face in confusion as her ringtone traveled throughout the empty venue. Looking around before she began moving, glancing down each aisle, rushing to find it before it stopped, having gone through nearly an hour trying to find it earlier, Kelsey caught sight of it in the back corner.
Bending down to retrieve it, letting out a deep breath, she saw Justin's name pop up across the screen.
Licking her lips, she took a deep breath before swiping to answer it when a hand covered her mouth.
Letting out a scream, she began kicking immediately, moving her body in every direction she possibly could in order to get away. All she could think to herself was not again.
Fighting the urge to breathe in the fumes from the rag placed over her nose and mouth, Kelsey groaned, feeling her body getting weaker by the second. "No," she mumbled sleepily, her body slouching. "Please."