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“Bea! Oh my god, Bea!” It’s a voice I recognize. Madison. Madison is here, and she’ll know what to do. She can fix anything. She can fix this.
“Maddy!” I cry out for her, and she wraps her arms around my shoulders, surveying the situation.
“Oh, Bea. Oh god. Don’t worry, okay? There’s an ambulance on the way. It’s going to be okay.” She turns her attention to shouting at people around us. “Go downstairs, take two lefts and the physician’s office is down there. See if he or any of the trainers are there. Ask for any supplies they have. Tell them what’s happened. You! Go get security. I don’t care if someone else went. You run the opposite direction and find someone. Run like his life depends on it.”
I can hear the distant sound of sirens, and I pray that they’re on their way here, but the sound is drowned out by male shouting. Quentin.
I look up, and it’s Quentin trying to pull Ramsey from James’s limp and bloodied body. Using all his force to attempt to stop an out-of-control Ramsey from crushing the man’s skull in.
Another team member is shoving Ramsey at his shoulders while Quentin pulls back, and eventually, they’re able to pull him off James. The three of them tumble to the ground in a heap while Ramsey screams that he’ll kill James’s whole family. Quentin tries to say something to him. Something I can’t hear. But whatever it is, it’s not enough, and Quentin and the other guy are forced to physically pin Ramsey to the ground while they try to talk him down.
“I got you, Bea. I got you.” Madison hugs me tightly. “Help is coming, and you’re doing such a good job. Help is coming.”
“He can’t die. Lizzy needs him. I need him,” I sob as I stare down at Cooper, my vision blurring from the tears and the hopelessness.
“He’s not going to die. We’re not going to let that happen,” Madison promises me, even though we both know she can’t keep it.
44
Cooper
When I wake up, it’s a blur. There’s pain in my shoulder like I’ve never experienced before in my life. The room’s dimly lit by flourescent overheads, and I can hear the sound of a monitor beeping quietly in the distance. It’s enough to know I’m in the hospital, lying in a bed, and the pain is probably the reason why.
I groan and close my eyes when I try to move. Trying to remember how I got here. If I got hurt on the field or—and then it hits me. The stalker. Trix. Ramsey. The flash of the muzzle, and the searing pain in my shoulder. I feel panic swell in my chest, and I want to jump up. Want to run to find someone who can tell me what happened, and see if she’s okay. If Ramsey is okay.
I blink when I feel the weight of something against my side, stopping me from sitting up, and I turn my head to look down. Trix is there, curled up on the edge of the bed, wedged between me and the rail. Her eyes are closed, and the soft sound of her breathing tells me she’s asleep.
Asleep means she isn’t dead. My head falls back against the pillow, and I can feel the tears well in the corner of my eyes. I run my hand down her back, thanking every damn star in the universe that somehow we’re both still here.
“Dad?” I hear Lizzy’s voice, and I turn my head, realizing she’s sitting in the chair to my left.
“Lizzy?”
“Oh. You’re awake.” She stands up abruptly and comes to the side of the bed, worry fading to a smile as she studies my face. “Do you need anything? I can get a nurse.”
“I think… I think I’m okay right now. But yes maybe a nurse so I can talk to them.” I need someone to explain what’s going on.
Trix stirs, and her head raises, blinking before her eyes widen, and a smile forms on her lips.
“You’re awake.” She grins.
“I’m going to get a nurse,” Lizzy announces, moving toward the door. She pauses there and looks back at us, her eyes darting to Trix and then me before she smiles and takes off down the hall.
“Are you okay? Do you need painkillers? The nurse said when you woke up she could give you more if you need them. You just have to tell her.”
“I’m fine. Are you okay?” I see the bandage on the side of her face, and I reach for her chin, turning her head so I can get a better look.
“I’m fine. It’s nothing.” She gives me a soft half smile. “But you… you took the brunt of it.”
“That why my shoulder feels like it’s on fire?”
“Yes. Do you remember being shot?”
I nod silently.
“The ambulance got there just in time. The training staff saved your life. I was so scared.” She swallows back her tears, and I run my knuckles along her chin.
“I’m still here. Can’t get rid of me that easily.”
