“Uncle Julian?” Caleb’s small voice echoed from the doorway. My eyes flew open, and I gasped for air. “Is my dad dead?” With wide, frightened eyes, he looked over at me, and then at the gun Julian was waving.
Julian pulled his gaze away from the boy and glared at me with a piercing stare. “This is all because of you.”
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t breathe.
Not Caleb. He was only a child.
He turned the gun away from me, toward Caleb. I couldn’t speak, I could only reach out as if that would help. Then slowly, Julian’s hand lifted higher and higher until the gun was shoved in his mouth.
“Juli—” I didn’t even get a chance to shout his name before he pulled the trigger and collapsed to the floor.
“No!” I screamed.
Caleb stood paralyzed, his small hands shaking at his sides, tears streaming down his face.
“Caleb, sweetie.” I swallowed back the sob that wanted to escape. This little boy was the only one who could help us now. His face grew paler by the second, but I needed him.
So I lied.
“It’s going to be okay. Can you grab the phone and give it to me? Please, honey.” I tried to calm my high-pitched voice. I could still feel Nate’s heart beating. It was faint, but it was still there. I hoped there was a chance to save his life.
“Is he . . .” Caleb asked. He took a step further, his little eyes stuck on Julian’s limp body.
“Don’t look,” I said when he moved closer to Julian. “I can feel your dad's heartbeat, but we need to call nine-one-one. Do you think you can do that for me?”
He nodded and ran to Nate’s computer desk. Dialing the emergency number, he placed the phone on speaker and held it up for me.
“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”
“There been a shooting. We need an ambulance.” I waited as the operator tracked where we were.
I looked over at Caleb. “It will be okay,” I reassured him, yet the way my heart pinched, I wasn't so sure I believed it myself. “Help is on the way.” I looked down at Nate. The color in his cheeks faded as blood drained out of his body.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “This is all my fault. Please don’t die.”
“Aunt B, I’m scared.” Caleb kneeled next to his father.
“I know. Me, too. But help is coming. Your dad will be fine.”
My biggest lie yet.
Our lives would never be the same.
Chapter 35
The world around me spun until I didn't know which way I was heading. All I knew was that I'd been adding pressure to Nate's wound. The paramedics arrived and rushed us to the emergency room. Waves of people passed me. I was incoherent to it all.
I stood in the sterile room. My eyes closed as I heard it all.
“His BP is dropping!”
“We have a 34-year-old male GSW to the chest.”
“He's going into cardiac arrest.”
“Starting CPR.”
“He’s in V-Fib.
“Paddles.”
“Charge to two hundred.”
“Clear!”
“Charge to three hundred.”
“Clear!”
Beep Beep. Beep.
“We need to get him into an OR.”
Doctors shouted at each other and I hugged Caleb, his head buried in my chest as I shielded him from the sight of his dad.
“Ma'am,” a young doctor said. “We're taking him up to surgery. Are you his next of kin?”
“No.” I shook my head. “His wife's at work.”
The female doctor shook her head sympathetically. Her eyes scanned my body and hands. They were drenched in his blood. “Because this is a gunshot wound, you will need to speak to the police officers and explain what happened. They have to open an investigation.”
“I understand.”
“I’ll get you something to change into.”
“Can I wait until his mother comes?” I held on to Caleb. “I don't want to leave the boy alone.” I pleaded. “Can I speak to the police after she’s arrived?”
“Of course.”
A nurse appeared and gave me a pair of scrubs, directed us to the waiting area, and said someone would be out with an update. I sat with Caleb in the waiting room; his glare was locked on the pale green wall. He hadn't said a word to me. He hadn’t spoken since I told him everything would be fine.
I closed my eyes and silently prayed for Nate.
“Caleb!” Delaney's voice ricocheted from down the hall. We’d been sitting there for an hour before she arrived. Her footsteps stomped across the floor as she hurriedly approached us.
“Caleb?” she said again. Caleb rushed to his mother and she hugged him tightly. “Oh, my baby. I was so worried.” She held his shoulders and examined him. “Are you okay?” Caleb nodded. Delaney held tightly to him and looked up at me. “What the hell happened?”