Just to hear his voice immediately makes me tear up again. "You have no idea how worried I've been about you," I softly tell him.
"You think a couple of bullets are going to what takes me down? I'm a lot tougher than I look," He tells me as he tries to sit up which causes him to wince in pain.
"Don't move!" I command before I sigh out. "You literally took two bullets, and you're already trying to sit up." I find his hospital remote and press the button to help him move. "You have to take it easy Alister, all jokes aside, I thought I lost you," I whisper.
He takes my hand in his again. "I know Cassandra, the nurses informed me on how you haven't left the waiting room since I was brought in." He sighs. "I didn't mean to scare you, but I also don't know what happened. One moment, I'm about to handcuff the guy before I felt this searing pain rush through my body. I'm then waking up here. What happened?" He asks me.
I bite my lip as I try to gather my thoughts. "It's my fault," I whisper out. "All of this is my fault from you getting hurt to Kara's mom," I feel the tears start up again. "He got away because I was too much of a coward to pull the trigger, and she got shot due to me being here," I say as I bow my head in shame.
"Cassandra!" He exclaims. "Do not blame any of this on you, understand. You did nothing wrong except try to get away from this psychopath," He says sternly. "So you froze up on the guy, I'm not blaming you or mad. You going through something like this in real life is a lot different than preparing through scenarios," He tells me.
"I still shouldn't have frozen because of you preparing me," I mumble. "I should have taken the shot and dealt with the consequences of receiving my bullet," I add.
"So you should have died, and we maybe get a little bit of info from that manic while the real killer walks free," He retorts.
"At least no one else will get hurt because of me," I fire back at him. "Do you know how much this hurts me knowing that everyone is in danger because of me? Knowing that he can strike any second or hurt someone dear to me just because he can?" My voice is starting to crack again. "He wants me and only me," I tell him.
He forces himself up and grabs my chin, so I'm facing him. His green eyes filling with rage as he says through clench teeth, "He is not going to get you, and this isn't your fault, get that through your thick head."
"How is it not? A girl died because she was dressed like me. A random redhead dying a town over wasn't a coincidence. You guys getting shot at a party that I was my fault," I say as I jerk away from him. "He wants me, and he has made it clear that no is going to stop him," I tell him.
He sighs as he leans back. "That girl dying wasn't on you. That redhead hasn't been connected to you. Mrs. Michealson getting shot was obvious a distract, and I was thankfully in the right spot at the right time," He tells me.
I look back at him. "What do you mean you were in the right spot at the right time?" I ask him confused.
"Think about it, there were only two sets of footprints leading to the woods. One belonged to him, and the other belonged to you. So where was the shooter at that could have seen you from the small clearing?"
"He had to already be in the woods, or somewhere with a clear view of us. But, from that part of the woods, the hills were too far away. The house wouldn't have been in sight of anything," I wonder aloud.
"Exactly shortcake, Mrs. Michealson being shot was a distraction, so the crowd goes crazy and flees the scene. No extra footprints insight and close advantage points for them, so they were either going to take you or lead you there," He explains.
"But why just finish me in the woods? Why not shoot me at the party instead of going through all this trouble?" I ask him.
"That's what I need to figure out," He winces in pain, "I'll pass on the information you gave me, but you know that you're still going to be questioned along with your friends," He says.
"We're witnesses to everything, so I figured we would be," I look at him in concern, "Do I need to call a nurse or something?" I ask him.
He shakes his heads as he clenches his fists. "I need to be fully here when they come. They can dose me up later," He tells me.
"Alister, don't push yourself," I tell him as I look for his call button. I find it and press it before he can stop me. "You can be alert later. This isn't worth your health, or you getting hurt more. You just had surgery, and they can get over it," I tell him a bit harshly than I meant to.
He gives me a slight glare as a nurse comes in. "Brat," He whispers so she can't hear him.
After I inform the nurse that his pain is getting worse, the police show up. She tries to stop them from coming in, but they persist and promise it will be quick. She gives in and tells them that it better be quick. She then leads me out with a huff. I go back to the waiting room where I see Ash talking to another police officer. I hang back to not interrupt anything, but he waves me over. I go and sit beside him as the officer makes us retell what we witness. He then asks me to give as best of a description as I can. "It was dark sir, and he was in all black. He had a black cloak on and a Halloween mask," I tell him.
"Halloween mask?" He asks as he writes it down. "Like a monster or scream mask?" He clarifies.
"No, it was like," I pause as I think back, "It was like the theater mask of happy and sad that you see," I tell him. "His mask was black instead of the usual white," I add.
He nods as he writes that down in his notepad. "Can either of you, remember anything else?" He asks us.
I shake my head as does Ash. He nods to us before he gets up and goes down the hallways towards the Michealsons's room.
"Think we should have warned him first?" Ash asks me as he slouches down in the plastic chair.
"I don't think it would have mattered. They have to get a statement, and the sooner they can get it the fresher it is," I tell him as I close my tired eyes.
"You need sleep Cas," He pulls me over to his shoulder, "You have to exhausted after everything that's happened tonight," He tells me.
"I am, but I'll be fine until I know what's going to happen next," I mumble as I get comfortable laying on him.
"In other words, until you know if Kara is okay," He scoffs, "You need to worry about yourself and not other people for once," He tells me.
"Other people are more important than me right now," I yawn, "I'll worry about myself once I know that they're okay," I tell him as I begin to feel myself doze off.
He mumbles something, but I can't hear it as I feel my body begin to succumb to sleep. After what feels like only minutes, he's gently shaking me awake. "Cas, wake up," I hear him telling me.
I groan as I sit up only to feel a pair of slender arms wrap around me. I open my eyes to see that Kara is hugging me. I hug her back while I try to get rid of the grogginess. "Hey, how's your mom?" I ask her as I hug her back.
"She just fell back asleep from the pain medicine, so my dad us sending me home. He'll be joining us shortly, so we can sleep and shower," She tells me as she hugs tighter.
I rub soothing circles on her back as we hug. "She'll be okay. She's getting the best care, and we both know that sleep is the best medicine," I tell her before she moves away.
"You're right," She says as she stands up. "Just everything seems so crazy right now that I don't even know how to feel. I know I'm upset with what happened to her, and I'm mad about the whole Andrew thing. I just can't seem to process everything," She tells me.
"So you heard about Andrew?" Ash asks her as he gets up from the chair and stretches. "We didn't want to say anything until you knew the news," He tells her.
"Yeah, my dad walked into the room and told us both that he quit. He said Andrew had some other job to do or something. How did you guys know about it?" She curiously asks us.
"We overheard part of the conversation," I honestly tell her. "But I'm sure he had a good reason for leaving," I quickly add.
"You're hiding something," She says as she looks at both of us. "Just spill it, please," She sighs out.
"I think it's best if you talk to your father about it, right Cas?" He tells her as he looks at me.
I just nod my head in agreement. I can barely keep my eyes open, and I don't want to touch that conversation since it's so personal. I'm saved as her dad rounds the corner and asks us if we're ready. We all nod and follow him down to the entrance where a car is waiting for us. Her dad gets in the front passenger seat while we all get in the back. Ash sits by the window and leans his head against it. I sit in the middle with a yawn while Kara sits beside me. I ignore the awkward atmosphere as I try to fight sleep as we drive to the house. I must have lost the battle since I wake to someone carrying me. I force my exhausted eyes open to see Ash laying me down on the bed. I grab his hand as he turns to leave. "Stay please," I whisper.
He sighs and runs a hand through his hair as he looks at the door then back at me. "I always have a hard time telling you no." He mumbles softly. "Scoot over," He tells me as he kicks his shoes off.
I move over, so he can lay down on the bed with me. He covers us up as I roll on my side to look at him. I can feel sleep calling my name as I mumble a simple thank you. He brushes the hair out of my face as he kisses my forehead, "Get some sleep Cas," He tells me as my eyelids close, and I fall asleep in his arms.