Emma

No. No. No. I go from furious to terrified in moments. I can’t lose Jasper, especially not when we’re fighting. Not ever. Holding him, holding my hand to his head where a flap of skin is dangling I see at least three men on motorcycles racing away.

My door opens and I scream again. The petrified valet screams back, startled. “Miss, an ambulance is on its way, is he???”

“He has a pulse, but his head is bleeding, please, I need something.” I cry and he runs off, a moment later a different man comes up behind me.

“I’m a nurse, I was just checking in and…” He looks so scared but his words are calm. “Let me lean around you to see what we have here.”

“Go around the other side, I’m scared to move my hand.” I reply and he quickly follows my instruction.

“Are you hurt?” He asks me as he leans in to move Jasper’s seat back. “Wow. It passed right along his head. Can you keep your hand where it is? I can hear the ambulances now.”

I just nod and hold Jasper tighter to me, telling him over and over again that I love him, that I won’t leave him. When the paramedics come, I reach down for his phone and wallet and see a gun he has hidden next to the console. I quickly grab that and slip it into my purse before hopping out to get in the ambulance with him.

At the hospital, I ignore the frown the nurse gives me when she sees my Property cut and tell her I’m Jasper’s wife; she hands me a clipboard and waves at some seats. I take a breath and pull out Jasper’s phone.

“What?” Flint answers on the first ring.

“Flint, its Emma,” My voice hitches. “Jas was shot. We’re in Boise.”

“Fuck. Tell me where, we’ll get to you.”

“Flint, we were outside the Sheraton. I was mad at him,” I start after telling him the hospital name, trying not to sob into the phone. “His head, the paramedic said he was lucky but he wasn’t conscious. I don’t know…”

“Take a breath, kitten.” Flint says calmly. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, I don’t know. There were men on bikes, at least three, I don’t know. I don’t even remember hearing any gunshots. They were looking back at us. Someone else died there, Flint.” I start to hiccup, trying and failing to stay calm. The family sitting closest to me moves away, shaking their heads.

“We’re leaving now, you stay in that hospital. I have a friend in Boise, his name’s Mack. I’m going to call him next and have his stay with you until we can get there.” Flint calmly describes his friend to me. “Did you talk to the police yet?”

“What? No.” I whisper, looking around.

“Ok, don’t go anywhere with them and just start crying if they question you. Can you do that for me?” He pauses. “Jas is a strong man, Emma; just hold it together for us, okay?”

“Yes,” I don’t care about that, just that Jas will wake up. Flint disconnects and I’m left sitting there again. I get up to ask for an update and get the same canned response that a doctor will speak to me when he can and they ask for the paperwork again.

I’m struggling to fill that out, my eyes keep tearing up and my hand is shaking. Frustrated with my lack of progress, I look up to see an older man walking towards me, he smiles and nods reassuringly.

“Flint sent me, Emma.” He says, sitting beside me and wrapping his arm around me like I’m about to shatter.

“Hi.” I say as he takes the clipboard away from me. “Oh! They want that…”

“Never you mind that now. Which one of those battle axes have you been talking to and why has no one offered you a wash cloth?” He asks.

I point and he heads off, leaning over the counter and never raising his voice; the nurses all look at him with wide eyes before they collectively look over to me. He slams the clipboard down before heading back to me. Three of the nurses have scattered.

“They’ll get you all taken care of, Emma.” He says confidently, and almost immediately I see one of the nurses approaching me with a wet cloth and a water bottle.

“Mrs. Anders?” She starts timidly, sitting beside me. “Let me help you get cleaned up a bit?” I nod, reaching eagerly for the water, not realizing how thirsty I was until that moment. She tilts my chin towards her and starts to wipe away Jasper’s blood. My tears start all over as I see the stains on the white cloth.

“Oh, I’ll need some bandages and disinfectant. I didn’t realize you had these cuts.” She flashes me a remorseful look.

“Hush now, Emma,” Mack whispers. “He’s in good hands, someone will update you soon.” He adds with a stern look at the nurse.

“Of course, any minute now,” She eagerly agrees before rushing off for more supplies.

Indeed, just as she’s walking away, the doors to operating rooms swing open and an older woman in stained scrubs is pointed our way by an anxious looking nurse.

“Mrs. Anders?” She confirms upon arrival. “Your husband was extremely lucky. The bullet furrowed along his skull. We’ve scanned to make sure no chips were released inside his cranium and there was nothing visible. As you can imagine, there will be considerable swelling in the area so the Doctor has decided to keep him in a medically induced coma for the next thirty-six hours. This will help with the healing process. The tip of his ear couldn’t be saved, but I’m sure you’ll agree that is insignificant right now.”

“But he’ll be alright?” I ask; my knees weaken as I try to process what I’m hearing.

“Head injuries are tricky, we won’t really know until he wakes up.” She replies.

“I can stay with him though?” As her mouth draws into a straight line, Mack brings himself up to full height beside me.

“Of course you can, Emma. Hospitals nowadays have couches for spouses, right in the room.” He assures me and she reluctantly nods, her eyes darting down to my naked ring finger.

“If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to return to the operating room.” She leaves as determinedly as she had arrived.

“Mrs. Anders?” Comes a low voice behind us. I’m not even married to him and half the population seemingly knows me by Jasper’s name. I exhale as I turn around.

There are two men studying me, another two people who don’t seem impressed by the cut I’m wearing. I look down to their extended hands to see badges.

“We’d like to ask you a few questions.” The shorter of the two starts.

“Did you catch who did this?” I ask. My voice coming out higher pitched than normal.

“We were hoping you could shed some light on this.” The tall Hispanic man at his side responds.

“We came to do some shopping…” I start before I explode into tears again, turning into Mack’s chest, I let him hold me.

I didn’t even have to fake cry like Flint had coached me. Remembering how mad I was in the hours before the shooting is a dagger to my heart, one that I know won’t be soothed until Jasper wakes.

Flint

Connal, Jake, The Russian, and I pull up to the hospital hours after Emma’s call. For now, Vice can run things back in Rowansville and Gunner can plot out protection details and targets. There’s little doubt in any of our minds this was the Spiders.

We walk in to find Mack sitting in the waiting room alone.

“Brother,” I call out.

“Flint,” He rises to meet me. “They just let her back to see him. Bullet put a crease in his skull and they’re keeping him asleep for the next couple days while they watch the swelling. Got to watch out for blood clots but they won’t know much more until he wakes up.”

“Tough son of a bitch,” Russian grunts, nodding to himself.

“Cops were by,” Mack continues, shrugging his shoulders. “They didn’t get very far with Emma. Nursing staff was kinda shitty to her until I read them the riot act. They’ve stepped up since then. I’m going to take off, let me know if you need a place to crash.”

“We appreciate it.” I say, knowing how much he hates hospitals after his accident and months of rehabilitation.

We take a seat, waiting for Emma. When she does come out she crosses quickly to us, walking right into my arms. “Thank you, Flint.” She whispers, looking around. “I didn’t get to thank Mack.”

“He knows.” I assure her. “Can you tell us everything that happened?”

Judging the area around us, she quickly leads us to an empty corner and starts to fill us in. As the four of us will be taking shifts at the hospital with her, Connal and Jake head out to the secure the room Emma and Jas were supposed to have at the Sheraton.

Then there’s nothing to do but watch and wait.