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My mother shakes her head. “No. Unless you want to pray. That’s all any of us can do now.”
The ten minutes until the doctor arrives tick by with agonizing slowness. I’m not sure if Bunny is praying, but he’s muttering to himself and pacing around the room, combing his hands through his hair from time to time.
Finally, the doorbell rings, and Bunny races to open it, practically shoving Laura out of the way in his haste to get to the door.
“Just the two wounds?” the doctor asks as he comes to join us on the floor.
“Yes,” my mother says.
“Do you have a strong enough stomach to help me try and get these bullets out?” he asks her.
She nods firmly. “I do. Alyssa, you’d better go with your sister. You look like you’re going to pass out.”
She might be right, but I don’t want to leave Antonio’s side. I shake my head, but my vision blurs and swims.
“You both can go get cleaned up,” my mother says again without looking up at me or Bunny. “The doctor and I have work to do here.”
Laura gently taps Bunny, who gets up hesitantly to leave his brother.
“Come on, Alyssa,” she says to me, practically dragging me to my feet. I clutch onto her, suddenly dizzy.
“The bathroom is just over there,” she says to Bunny as she leads me to the room I have been staying in since Antonio let me go.
He nods forlornly.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Laura snaps as she starts tugging off my ruined clothing. “You practically run away from home like a dramatic, spoiled teenager, then you return home with a man who is half dead—”
“He isn’t half dead. Don’t say that,” I snap.
Laura stares at me in disbelief. “That’s the only part of my sentence that mattered to you?”
I sigh. “Laura, it wasn’t supposed to be this way.”
“Clearly.” Laura’s lips thin out, and she glares at me. “Things were going just fine before you came back.”
The door opens before I can reply, and my mother walks in.
“Don’t speak to your sister like that,” she chides.
“But it’s true,” Laura cries, turning to her. “The minute I tell her to come back and start over with us, she goes and brings all this chaos down on us again.”
“Laura, that’s enough. Either help your sister, or go away,” my mother orders.
Laura looks at her, then me, before she storms out of my room, slamming the door behind her.
My mom lowers herself onto my bed, and for a minute, we sit in silence.
“Don’t be hard on Laura. She’s not wrong, ” I finally say.
My mother shakes her head. “You and Antonio saved our lives. She doesn’t need to abuse you like that.”
“Is Antonio…” I start to ask, but I can’t bear to finish the sentence. I swallow the lump in my throat.
“The doctor said both the wounds were clean. The bullets passed right through. He’s calling in favor to get some blood brought over to do a transfusion, but he’s got him all bandaged up for now and he’s giving him some fluids.” She smiles a little. “The doctor is very good at his job.”
My sobs of relief choke me. I pull away from her grip and cover my body with my hands as if they can shield me from the pain racing through my body.
“What’s wrong?” she asks me, watching me with a little frown on her face.
