“Rupert?” I asked quietly, standing in the doorway staring. He looked over at me and smiled when he saw me. I ran over to him and threw myself at him, holding him close and breathing a sigh of relief that he seemed okay. Or at least alive.
“Ow, not so hard Lara, they had to dig a bullet out of my shoulder. It hurts.” He said and choked back a half laugh and a half moan of pain. “I’m glad you’re here. I’m sorry I missed the appointment for the baby.”
“That’s not what matters right now, what matters that you are okay, what happened?” I asked him and loosened my grip so I didn’t hurt him. I sat next to him on the bed and held his hand thankful he was alive.
“We got off the plane, we were loading the car up and out of nowhere, this truck pulled up and shot at us. My father got out of the way, but I got hit. I guess they chased them down. It was a man and a woman. They apprehended the woman, but the man got away.” Rupert had a guilty look on his face and then took a breather and then explained the rest. “The shooter was... an ex. She heard about our wedding. Decided to get revenge and shot me. They assume the other person was her brother.”
“You had an ex that tried to shoot you? Not a political assassin, but a jealous ex?” Blinking at him in complete surprise I just stared at him. “Why would she do that?”
“It’s complicated, but I dated her when I was in high school for a few months. I barely remember to be honest. She was one of the women at the banquet we attended a few weeks back. She flirted with me, I ignored her, she was offended that I didn’t even remember who she was… and decided to get even.” Rupert scooted up in the bed and cringed, his shoulder hurting.
I couldn’t quite understand how someone would be so offended that you didn’t remember them that they’d try to shoot someone.
“I am having trouble fathoming what kind of screws you’d need to have loose in order to shoot someone. Especially years later.” I shook my head and saw the nurse open the door and walk in.
“Pain meds,” she held up a pink cup and walked over to the bed and handed them to Rupert, who took them and made a face when one got stuck in his throat. He choked it down and gulped some of the water down hoping to rinse it out of his throat.
“They got an update, they caught the other shooter.” The nurse smiled pleasantly. “So we can remove the guards off the door, and as soon as the doctor clears you, you can go home and recover with your family.”
“Thank you,” Rupert said politely to the nurse. He waited until she left and then looked around for a moment.
“What are you looking for?” I asked him finally when he looked completely baffled.
“My phone is missing,” he said.
“That explains why you didn’t text me back,” I said and patted his hand. “It’s okay, we can replace a phone, but I can’t replace you, so no more crazy ex’s okay, I can’t handle marrying someone that’s going to have women trying to shoot him simply because he doesn’t remember their name.”
“Her unpredictable behavior and odd choices and clinginess is why we broke up in the first place. When I was young, and a prince you get chased by women, but her obsession with me went a little deeper than my royal title. We didn’t last long, but I never would have thought she’d be so offended by not remembering who she was that she’d shoot me. That’s beyond a realm of offended and crazy that doesn’t even make sense to me.” Rupert was starting to talk a little funny, and I wondered if the pain meds messed with his brain a little bit.
“I love you Rupert, I’m really glad you are okay. This scared the life out of me. Can we just go live in a cabin somewhere and avoid people from now on?” I wasn’t entirely serious, but right now, I definitely felt the need to protect him. Which was such an odd feeling since normally I felt like he was busy protecting me.
“We can definitely go on vacation or a honeymoon once my shoulder’s healed up. I should at least be able to get into a tux and marry you on Saturday. I’m sorry if this screws up any plans.” Rupert told me and then yawned and shut his eyes for a minute. “Is the baby okay? I wish I could have been there.”
“I have pictures. The baby’s adorable, growing fine. The doctors very happy.” I told him and pulled an ultrasound picture out of my pocket. I set it on the table next to his bed, but Rupert was already snoring.
Leaning forward, I kissed his forehead and then adjusted the sheets around him before getting up. He was going to be okay, but now I needed to go somewhere safe to have a good cry and panic. Hearing he was shot took years off my life and now that I knew he was fine, I needed to have a little meltdown.