“FUCK!” I’m not even sure how I heard Zane scream over my hysterical sobbing, but he was immediately by my side. He pulled off his polo shirt and put it on top of my hand. “It’s going to be okay, sweetheart; just don’t fucking move. Keep your hand there. You’ve done the right thing.”
He bent down to check Brandon, and Zane spoke to him but Brandon didn’t answer. Instead, he coughed and a massive amount of blood poured out of his mouth. I tried to move but found myself slipping in a pool of Brandon’s blood. I called Zane’s name but I wasn’t sure if he actually heard me. I tried to speak to Zane, but he was looking at Jessica and dialling numbers on his phone, screaming orders at someone on the other end of the line. It didn’t take long before Max and Marco came rushing forward. Behind them I heard a frantic Jada screaming, followed closely by a whimpering Milan and Winter. My brothers wasted no time springing into action. I did as Zane instructed and didn’t move from my position, continuing to press the two soaked shirts against Brandon’s stomach. Zane called emergency services, then threw his phone at Max and told him to call the police.
“Marco, take off your jacket and put it over Brandon,” Zane told him. Marco moved as if he was in a trance. He was the only one wearing a jacket, seeing as he had just stepped off a plane from a business trip.
Both my brothers looked at me and their faces held so much pain and grief that I started sobbing again. Oh, God, the look on their faces was one of absolute despair. And I put it there. I sobbed and screamed when an army of police and paramedics rushed in. The paramedics told me to move away from Brandon.
“No, no, no! He needs me. I can’t let him go!” I yelled, refusing to move away from him. If I let him go, I would lose that special connection I’d had with him. He needed me. Max and Marco finally had to drag me away from Brandon. I had no idea what happened to Jessica. I didn’t care.
Max ushered everyone else back out and stayed with Jada, Milan and Winter while I collapsed into Zane’s waiting arms. He held me tightly as I let out a scream of pure agony. Marco rode with Brandon in one of the ambulances, and Zane asked the paramedics to check me over from any possible injuries. While they were doing that, I observed everyone around me, taking in everyone’s grief-stricken faces. I heard Zane give a statement to the police and ask if I could give mine to them later due to the trauma I had been through. But I wanted to talk. I wanted to tell them my story. I just couldn’t speak. As Max was talking to the cops, Jada came to stand next to Zane and me as he continued to hold and rock me, whispering soothing words in my ear.
Everything else was a blur.
Chapter Twenty-Six
ZANE
We were all at the hospital when Mia gave her statement to the police. It had been almost four hours since the shooting. Marco contacted Brandon’s family and they had all filed in, waiting anxiously for some news. Jessica had survived; much to my horror, she only had a few minor wounds and a concussion. I never realised how sick she was or how obsessed she had become with breaking up Mia and me. It soon became clear she had been stalking Mia for weeks. When the police went to her house, she had pictures of us everywhere, both together and separately. The only difference was Mia’s pictures had most of her facial features cut out and mine had hearts and kisses all over them.
When I found out how sick Jessica was, I was disgusted with myself for not realising Mia was in such grave danger. I was a cop, for fuck’s sake; how could I not have seen the signs? I hadn’t been off the force that long not to realise the signs. I didn’t give a fuck where she ended up as long as it was as far away from us as possible. I hoped to God she rotted in a psychiatric ward or a jail cell where her life would be nothing but a living Hell on Earth.
Another hour passed before the doctor finally came out to talk to Brandon’s parents. The doctor’s face showed no emotion whatsoever when he addressed the waiting room, asking for Brandon’s next of kin. Brandon’s parents walked over to the doctor and they all spoke in hushed tones. I felt a pang in my chest when I heard his mother sob, her body shaking. His father was shaking his head from side to side; his body language said it all. I looked over at Marco and Max as the realisation of what the doctor had just told the family sunk in. Brandon’s mother let out a noise so painful it almost split my heart into two separate halves. I slid Mia off my lap as I stood and walked over to the doctor, overhearing his last sentence.
“I’m very sorry...we did everything we possibly could but there was just too much internal damage. We lost him.”